MultCo commissioners divided on end of fentanyl emergency

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- With just two weeks left in the 90-day fentanyl emergency declaration, some Multnomah County commissioners are left wanting more.

The final update was presented to the county commissioners on Tuesday. Some of the commissioners, including Julia Brim-Edwards, maintain it's too early to end the emergency because they haven't seen noticeable change so far.

"I was also somewhat disappointed here this morning that the Fentanyl Emergency declaration may be ending because, certainly, we still have a fentanyl emergency," Brim-Edwards said.

Brim-Edwards said the emergency declaration should not end until there are noticeable decreases in people suffering from overdoses along with increases in the number of suppliers being held accountable.

The next step will be hearing the final recommendations from the Unified Emergency Command to the state, city and county.

So far, there has been a dashboard of overdose data created, a prevention ad campaign launched and a law enforcement outreach partnership program funded for a year as a result of the emergency.

The update Tuesday focused on the outreach partnership and revealed one of the gaps Brim-Edwards hopes to address. Of the 99 people contacted, 32 wanted detox or treatment beds -- but only 14 were able to get it that day.

"When they raise their hand, it's that we have the ability to provide that for them because that's the most important thing that we have that available when they're ready for it," Brim-Edwards said.

Commissioner Lori Stegmann is frustrated with how those beds are accessed. She said some people who reach out on their own are told there are no beds available.

"We are so reliant on who you know, not what you know," Stegmann said. "And people are moving around. And it's just frustrating because we want to have a system that is fair to everybody

The Unified Emergency Command hopes the coordination between governments and service providers that has happened over the past 75 days will be maintained after the emergency in order to have an effect on those outcomes.

But Brim-Edwards said it won't be noticeable unless it's a county-wide approach.

"Whatever we found that's working or the actions we're taking downtown, we should be spreading those to East Portland, to East County, because we know that in every neighborhood in this county, and especially in some very highly impacted neighborhoods, that fentanyl is ruining people's lives," she said.

On Thursday, she will also present a plan to reopen at 24/7 detox-sobering-withdrawal management center that she hopes will have an aggressive timeline -- to reopen within the next 10 months.