City council reconsiders joint homelessness agreement with province

Three Portland city commissioners are backing down in their quest to end the city-county partnership on the homeless crisis.

The council was scheduled to discuss an ordinance Thursday that would have terminated the intergovernmental agreement between the city and the province.

Commissioners Dan Ryan, Mingus Mapps and Rene Gonzalez said in a statement today that they decided to take that ordinance off the agenda to “give room for the current City Council, Mayor and County Commissioners to renegotiate the agreement if they want.”

The commissioners said they still believe “the city of Portland, Multnomah County and Metro can build a better system to address homeless services and pave a better path forward.