Pressure builds for Chair Vega Pederson to create sobering center, reconsider deflection

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – In a public appeal on Monday, the Portland police chief urged Multnomah County to prioritize a sobering center as the county chair continues to champion a deflection program that would not fulfill his request until mid-2025.

Chief Bob Day sent his letter to Chair Jessica Vega Pederson as a plea to end the city’s public safety crisis. He said the county needs to begin picking up the pace to set up a 24/7 drop-off sobering center where drug users can seek treatment.

“It is clear we are in urgent need of a safe, secure facility that will hold people so they can be screened, assessed and provided with recovery options that can change the trajectory of their lives,” the letter said.

According to Day, his officers have routinely expressed needing a place to take people who are intoxicated—other than jail or the ER—and the city can't wait another two years. The county’s former sobering center shut down in 2019.

The chief's letter is the latest in a campaign to convince Chair Vega Pederson to think beyond her current deflection center plan, which gives those caught with hard drugs the choice between serving jail time or receiving a plan to treat a substance use disorder — without enrolling in any sobering services.

Despite vocal criticism from the public, the program passed with a 3-2 vote from the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners on Thursday. 

Controversy surrounding the program first stemmed from Vega Pederson’s decision to develop the plan behind closed doors — without her fellow commissioners — in favor of planning with other county leaders like Chief Day and District Attorney Mike Schmidt.

However, Day has since stepped forward in support of the sobering center plan presented months ago by Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards, featuring up to 50 beds where police can bring someone with drug or alcohol intoxication. Rather than offering a treatment plan, the center would serve as a place to literally “sober up” and then seek treatment. 

Northeast Portland homeowner and neighborhood advocate Mariah Hudson told KOIN 6 News these sobering centers need to come sooner than later.

“I was running just down Knot Street and came into a person who was in crisis — clearly a drug crisis there — just as a school bus was pulling up and picking up kids,” Hudson said. “I can tell you that this is not uncommon. It’s not just downtown, but we see it in the neighborhoods too.”

The state has already allocated $2 million to Multnomah County for their deflection program, but it’s up to the county how those funds are used.

Gresham Police Chief Travis Gullberg, who has also met with the county chair in recent months, said he would prefer to have a sobering center, too. 

So far, Chair Vega Pederson has not agreed to move forward with a sobering center. Instead, her focus is on getting a deflection center up and running by Sept. 1. She and her team have until Aug. 15 to bring in health experts and develop a plan that answers the board’s concerns.

A press conference about the deflection program is expected to take place on Wednesday.