IN OFFICE:1999-2006

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A Track Record of Courage and Outcomes

When I was elected to the County Board in 1998 at age 31 — the youngest woman and first Latina ever to serve on it — I took office fighting for access to healthcare, housing alongside services, and human rights. 

Instead of just managing the symptoms of regional crises, I focused on building long-term, structural solutions:

• Bridges to Housing: I launched Bridges to Housing, a landmark five-year initiative that integrated stable housing with dedicated support services for homeless families. We won a $3 million Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant and built a successful, cross-border regional model spanning Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, and Clark counties.

• Priority-Based Budgeting: In partnership with Chair Diane Linn, I brought Priority-Based Budgeting to Multnomah County. This strict fiscal discipline matches public spending directly to visible community outcomes rather than departmental siloes, ranks services by their value, it requires programs to justify the program every year, and it builds public trust by making it easier to see what programs cost. It's a framework the county still relies on today. 

• Census 2000: I led the County’s Census 2000 Complete Count Committee, designing groundbreaking, grassroots outreach strategies to ensure that our immigrant, Indigenous, and communities of color were fully counted and received their fair share of federal funding.

Standing Firm to Make History

In 2004, I helped make history. Following a thorough legal analysis, our County Attorney determined that the Oregon Constitution required the county to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples equally. Commissioner Naito, Commissioner Rojo de Steffey, Chair Linn, and I agreed that aligning the county’s operations with the constitution was the only right thing to do. We backed Chair Linn and directed staff to begin issuing licenses.

What followed was extraordinary. Couples lined up around the block, and families were finally recognized, but we also faced intense institutional backlash. We received explicit death threats. We held firm.

While the courts eventually enjoined the county from issuing further licenses, our strategy showed the entire nation that no one was harmed when gay and lesbian families were allowed to marry. The Supreme Court settled the question federally a decade later. Today, with those fundamental rights under renewed threat across the country, I remain certain we made the right call. It is the exact same call I will make without flinching should these rights ever come under direct threat in the years to come. Standing alongside our resilient LGBTQ+ community, I know that love is love.

I left office in 2006 because the county charter’s term limits required it. I remain grateful for the opportunity to have served the County for those 8 years and am excited to continue the important work of building a high functioning County that works for everyone.