Sharon Meieran is an emergency physician, a former lawyer, a community and public health advocate and a mother. She is also the medical director for the Oregon Foundation for Reproductive Health. She sits on the Community Oversight Advisory Board and is a board member of the Unity Behavioral Health Center.
Meieran is running for Multnomah County commissioner in District 1. Here are her responses to Street Roots' candidates pop quiz — a mix of short-answer, yes-or-no, and multiple-choice questions. (Read other candidates' responses.)
QUESTION 1
What area of the county government are you most interested in working with and why? (100 words or less)
Mental health care. As an ER doctor, I see how our system fails those most in need, and the way we provide “crisis care” often is more traumatizing than healing. I recently saw a youth brought to the ER because he was in serious mental health crisis. He was placed in a typical ER room, with no windows, no school, minimal exercise – and remained there for almost four weeks because there was no place for him to get appropriate treatment. This is unacceptable. Improving our mental health care system is one of the main reasons I am running for County Commission.
QUESTION 2
What is one solid step you will take to expand affordable housing countywide? (150 words)
As we all know, the homeless and housing crisis is complex, and will not be resolved with a simple fix. Therefore, the process itself is crucially important. One of my greatest strengths is my ability to collaborate with groups and individuals from many diverse backgrounds and experiences to work effectively toward common goals. I applaud the county’s efforts with the A Home for Everyone program. I also support the city and county’s commitment to break down silos that make it difficult to navigate services and create artificial barriers. I strongly support up-front investments in affordable-housing units, and ensuring people have the support they need to stay in their housing once they get it.
QUESTION 3
Yes or No: Would you support establishing a safe injection site?
Yes.
QUESTION 4
Beyond Portland, Multnomah County encompasses smaller municipalities all dealing with housing and homeless issues, with the county often picking up the slack. How will you get other municipalities to better address these issues? (150 words or less)
Working together and looking at the answers regionally is the only way we can address this complex issue. As our housing crisis grows, more homeless people are moving out of the urban center, and this creates more challenges when people become even further removed and disconnected from services. We need to find regional solutions that give people access to housing and services they need to be safe, healthy and live with dignity. Just like Chair Kafoury and Commissioner Saltzman are working on a city and county joint office of homeless services, we need to engage the mayors of Gresham, Troutdale, Fairview other municipalities in a comprehensive approach that makes better use of resources.
QUESTION 5
Story question: If Multnomah County’s budget projections showed a severe deficit by 2017, what would be your approach now to prevent or mitigate that situation? (150 words or less)
We must be prepared for an eventual downturn in the economy. No matter the timing, we must invest our resources wisely, truly understand where our money is going and focus on our core mission. I will work to avoid duplication of services and ensure that our limited dollars are being used to help the most people. I will also ensure that we leverage our information technology to create efficiencies without making our systems more complex than they need to be. Finally, we must invest in housing at the front end, because the return on this investment in the long term will enable people to live and function even in difficult times. If we are able to address these fundamental issues now, when we have the resources, we will be very well-placed to weather the storm when the inevitable downturn occurs.
QUESTION 6
Complete this sentence with the following options: I smoke marijuana ________________
a. For medicinal purposes only.
b. To decompress after a stressful day.
c. Recreationally. Hey, it’s legal.
d. Rarely.
e. Never.
e. Never.
QUESTION 7
Make one promise to the city’s people of color that you will deliver on as commissioner. Street Roots will check on its status every year.
First, we need to openly and directly acknowledge the serious racial inequities that exist in our county. On a broad level, and most importantly, I promise to engage and listen and be an ally in working to address these inequities. On
a more specific level, I will ensure that my own staff reflect the diversity that is our county. I will also ensure the voices of people of color are an integral part of all policy discussions and implementation.
QUESTION 8
How will you ensure young people of color will succeed in Multnomah County? (150 words or less)
We need to engage youth and their families early on. We definitely need to promote school-based programs that provide mentorship, education, parenting support, leadership training. But we actually need to start even earlier than school to meet people where they’re at, and provide effective programs that directly respond to the needs of traditionally underserved families and communities. I will work with community leaders and young people of color to understand the challenges they face and implement programs that will have the most impact. Ultimately, I believe we ensure the success of our youth when we can assure the financial security and economic viability for communities of color and offer meaningful pathways to higher education, training, apprenticeships and mentoring, jobs and housing/homeownership. We must find ways to ensure our county values, models and invests in these opportunities.
QUESTION 9
Pair the issue with the sentiment. Use each sentiment only once:
1. Sell Wapato Jail
2. Appointed (not elected) sheriff
3. Rent control
4. Regional Air Quality Bureau
a. Great idea
b. Good idea
c. Needs work
d. Nope
1. Sell Wapato Jail – a. Great idea
2. Appointed sheriff – b. Good idea
3. Rent control – c. Needs work
4. Air quality bureau – d. Nope
QUESTION 10
The county’s Racial and Ethnic Disparities Report reveals that black people are 320 percent more likely than whites to be prosecuted for a crime, 500 percent more likely to spend time in jail, and 600 percent more likely to be sentenced to prison. What will you do to help correct that? (150 words or less)
As a member of the Community Oversight Advisory Board that oversees the Department of Justice Settlement Agreement regarding Portland Police Bureau’s use of force against people in mental health crisis, our discussion has necessarily broadened to include addressing issues of racial disparity. Our first step must be to openly acknowledge the degree to which this disparity exists in our county. Next, we need to engage with people and groups directly affected to identify the underlying issues and create a plan and path forward.
QUESTION 11
What is one thing you will do to better serve people experiencing mental health crises? (150 words or less)
As an ER doctor, I see on a daily basis how we fail people facing mental health crises. We need better coordination of care and services to keep people out of crisis in the first place. However, despite our best efforts, crises will occur. Taking people to jail or boarding them in an ER is unacceptable. I will ensure that peers and people with lived experience inform every aspect of how we approach issues of mental health care. We are trying a new model with the Unity Behavioral Health Center. As an advisory board member, I am listening and aware of concerns expressed. But I see the potential for a paradigm shift in how we treat people with mental health crisis if we do things right. I will continue to engage people with lived experience as this new project unfolds so that we are truly meeting the needs of the community.
QUESTION 12
As the community faces a housing crisis and growing economic and racial disparities, services aren’t going to cut it. Give an example of one thing you will do to prevent this opportunity gap from widening.
First and foremost, I will listen. I will engage community leaders, private business leaders, nonprofit and advocacy groups, local elected officials and people most affected by these issues. I take a holistic approach to all the work that I do, and this will be especially the case at the county, where all the services provided are so integrally related. I recognize that people can’t take care of their mental or physical illness or find or keep a job if they don’t have a roof over their head. Working in the ER, I see interconnections, and where our failure to intervene at multiple points, in different areas, leads to people being seen in the most expensive and least effective place to deal with their underlying problems. People need housing, and they need services, but neither is sufficient without the other. I will ensure that we focus not only on single issues, but on the whole picture, so that all people can live safely and with dignity.
QUESTION 13
Select a local artist – professional or amateur – to draw your favorite thing about Multnomah County.