Tri-County Chairs Call For Oregon Statewide ‘Stay Home’ Order
PORTLAND, Ore. — The chairs of Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington Counties on Sunday called for Oregon Governor Kate Brown to issue a “Stay at Home, Stay Healthy” executive order. Deborah Kafoury, Jim Bernard and Kathryn Harrington signed the letter.
This comes a day after 25 mayors in the Portland metro area called for the same.
The letter reads:
To the Honorable Governor Kate Brown,
It was just over three weeks ago, on February 28, that Washington County learned of our first positive result for coronavirus in our jurisdiction.
Since then, we have moved as quickly as possible as individual jurisdictions and jointly, as the tri-county region, to protect our residents. Now we believe it is time for us to act as a state.
As the Chairs of Washington, Clackamas and Multnomah Counties, we represent more than 1.8 million residents — nearly half the population of the State of Oregon. We are home to five institutions of higher education, host the state’s two major sporting teams, and are the home for the largest manufacturing plants in the state. We also are home to the state’s largest port of entry, the major airports, as well as one of the largest and most productive agricultural centers.
But we are also home to the largest homeless population and during the very best of times, have struggled to provide the services needed for the most vulnerable among us. During this crisis, we will need every tool available to us to serve our community’s most vulnerable.
That’s why today, we have joined together to support the Metropolitan Mayors’ Consortium (MMC) letter dated March 21, 2020. We ask that you move boldly to protect the residents of this great state by issuing a clear Stay at Home, Stay Safe Executive Order.
As the Chairs of the most populous region in the state, we are preparing to be hit hardest. But here’s what we know: our public health officials, as well as our hospital systems, are telling us that the time to act is now.
We agree with the direction being requested by the MMC and look forward to working with you and your staff to ensure we are taking every measure to protect the health and safety of our residents.
