Commissioner Jesse Beason

01/12/2024

PLS SHARE: The following Severe Winter Weather Shelters are opening today at 8 PM

▫️ Salvation Army: 5325 N. Williams Ave., Portland, operated by Multnomah County
▫️ Cook Plaza: 19421 S.E. Stark St., Gresham, operated by Cultivate Initiatives
▫️ Friendly House: 1737 N.W. 26th Ave., Portland, operated by Do Good Multnomah
▫️ Ascension Catholic Church: 743 S.E. 76th Ave., Portland, operated by Multnomah County
▫️ Powell Shelter, 7332 S.E. Powell Blvd., Portland, operated by Transition Projects
▫️ Market Street Shelter, 120 S.E. Market St., Portland, operated by All Good Northwest

✅ No one seeking shelter will be turned away.

✅ All sites will welcome pets and be accessible to people with disabling conditions.

✅ Free transportation to warming shelters will be available by calling 2-1-1 or through TriMet.

✅ The link to this interactive map showing places to to get warm during the day, including Multnomah County Library branches ➡️ https://multco.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=ea68a290e47143a3b27ae716fa883ae0

✅ The County’s “Care for When It’s Cold” site at multco.us/cold will post shelter hours, locations and any updates as conditions change. That page will also include information as it becomes available on how to support the sheltering effort.

01/11/2024

As part of Multnomah County Library's transformative building projects, St. Johns Library will be renovated and expanded. To gather community input, the design team is hosting two community workshops at St. Johns Library. The design team will ask for community feedback on design ideas, answer questions and share excitement for the future of the library.

Event Information📚

When: Saturday, January 20 and Sunday, January 21, 12-2 pm

Where: St. Johns Library: 7510 N Charleston Avenue

Accommodations: ASL, Chinese, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese interpretation will be available. Free books and snacks will be offered.

01/08/2024

Last year ended with a joint meeting between the City of Portland, OR and Multnomah County, Oregon, and we kicked off the new year with our annual legislative breakfast. Much of our conversation centered around addressing homelessness, housing, and behavioral health. I also took the opportunity to ask for a more comprehensive picture of our region’s risk to chemical exposures following a megaquake.

I’m encouraged by the increasingly collaborative approach our region is taking to tackle our toughest challenges.

Boosting behavioral Health, public safety and mitigating hazardous plumes.

12/27/2023

My hope for 2024 is that we advance a more just, equitable, and inclusive county for everyone.

Wishing you and yours happy holidays and a joyful new year!

12/11/2023

Grateful for unanimous support from Multnomah County, Oregon colleagues and Ted Wheeler to carry on the work of my predecessor Susheela Jayapal through Reimagining Justice in Cully.

This exciting opportunity empowers community to determine what truly makes them safe.

I believe this project can help prevent Black and Brown kids & adults like me—and others treated differently—from being incarcerated unfairly.

Last week we allocated $ from this federal grant to begin the neighborhood planning process and on Friday we began that work. Thank you Native American Youth and Family Center for hosting our kick off!

The pilot project is designed to empower the residents of the Cully neighborhood in Northeast Portland to craft a localized alternative to existing law enforcement-focused models for low-level crimes.

11/30/2023

Today I was honored to carry on the work of my predecessor Susheela Jayapal as the Multnomah County, Oregon board approved the first allocation of a federal grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance to begin a community driven safety initiative in the Cully neighborhood.

Community members are often best positioned to identify what will make them safe. This project has at its core the chance for residents to determine just that, with the County supporting the work, not leading it.

Over the next year, we’ll be working with community based organizations, local businesses, and residents of Cully, to craft new solutions for solving public safety challenges in the area.

It’s the type of model that provides an opportunity to lean into the County’s values of equity and community involvement. Thank you Native American Youth and Family Center, LPSCC, and everyone who worked so hard to get to this point. I'm thrilled to get started.

11/22/2023

11/21/2023

Thank you for being there and your support Women's Foundation of Oregon!

11/21/2023

Today is - a solemn day to memorialize the individuals who lost their lives as a result of increasing anti-transgender violence. Their lives mattered. As we remember those lost, we must commit to ending all hate directed at those simply wishing to live as their true self.

"We should indeed keep calm in the face of difference, and live our lives in a state of inclusion and wonder at the diversity of humanity." — George Takei

Artwork by Rae Senarighi Fine Art

11/17/2023

I'm feeling immense gratitude after being surrounded by friends, neighbors, family, and my new Multnomah County, Oregon colleagues during my swearing in ceremony this morning. Thank you to everyone who came out, and for the kind words from Susheela Jayapal and Michael Alexander.

My parents were both County employees, so I’m no stranger to County government - to the many ways that counties take care of their employees and residents. I am honored to carry on the mantle that my predecessor, Commissioner Jayapal, has entrusted me with.

I am honored to serve the people of District 2, where I have lived, mostly in the same house, for the last two decades with my partner.

I closed my remarks this morning with a quote from my hero, Congresswoman Barbara Jordan: “What the people want is simple. They want an America as good as its promise.”

I believe in her words. I believe in America’s promise.

It is a promise we work towards everyday through both the ordinary acts of love and friendship we show our neighbors and perfect strangers—and the extraordinary efforts we make collectively through the policies and practices of our governments. Governments like Multnomah County.

Together, we have much to do here over these next months, playing our part in fulfilling America’s promise.

Let’s get to it.

11/16/2023

I'm inviting you to join me this Thursday, November 16th at 9:30 a.m. inside the boardroom of the Multnomah Building at 501 SE Hawthorne Blvd for my swearing in ceremony.

Representing District 2 is sacred honor and I'm looking forward to the work ahead. Hope to see you there!

11/14/2023

Hello 👋

I'm Jesse Beason, your new Multnomah County, Oregon Commissioner representing District 2 - North and Northeast Portland.

It is not lost on me that you did not vote for me, so I wrote a (kind of long) note about it.

The people of District 2 deserve continuous representation on the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners. The designee process makes sure they do. But I've realized that the designee process goes beyond the continuity of function—it also means a continuity of the values from which the voters chose their Commissioner to govern.

It was coincidence that Commissioner Jayapal & I were both wearing our best burgundy when staff convinced us to pose together. (Is it a coincidence we're both Scorpios?! ♏🔮🌚✨) But it is no coincidence we have shared values that I intend to uphold through this budget cycle.I look forward to rolling up my sleeves and getting to work.

I invite you to join me for my swearing in on Thursday, November 16th at 9:30 a.m. inside the boardroom of the Multnomah Building at 501 SE Hawthorne Blvd.

Thank you for the opportunity to represent you, however briefly. It is an honor - a sacred one.

I look forward to rolling up my sleeves and getting to work.