Print edition · Portland City Council · November 3, 2026

Multnomah County Chair

3 candidates · Ranked choice · one seat · Research reviewed September 18, 2026 · Lines edition 2026-09-19.1

Official list checked. Candidates appear alphabetically by displayed name and receive the same structure. We do not endorse, rank or score.

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The choice in one paragraph

Our reading

All three criticize current county outcomes. The differences are in the remedy: one stresses service-system experience and collaboration, one implementation, contract accountability and tax relief, and one a more fundamental reset of how the county is managed.

Draft; human review pending.

Key

Said: A campaign statement, in our summary or their words.
Voted: A recorded Council roll call.
Not found: Not in the sources we reviewed. A research gap, not a position.
Yes No: The vote as the word, never as color alone.
Absent: Missed that roll call.
Not on committee: Had no vote in that committee.

Every candidate, A–Z

Name	Role	Summary	Rent and homes	Camps, crime and who responds	Your bills and taxes	Streets, buses and air
Julia Brim-Edwards	County commissioner	Promises faster delivery, scrutiny of contractors and a lower burden from local taxes and fees.	Wants more people connected to treatment, services and housing, with urgency.	Supports treatment instead of jail or ER, plus funding against property crime.	Wants fewer layers of local taxes and fees, and contractors reporting results.	not found in the sources we reviewed
Shannon Singleton	County commissioner	Emphasizes practical experience with homelessness and bringing service users and providers into decisions.	Wants homelessness systems rebuilt with providers, businesses and neighbors at the table.	Supports Deflection Center (arrest alternative) reforms linking addiction, housing and health services.	Wants taxpayer dollars used more effectively, with lobbyist disclosure and sustainable funding.	Backed the Rose Quarter project compromise and Interstate Bridge community benefits.
Sharon Meieran	Physician; former county commissioner	Argues that the county spends without clear goals and needs a different approach to management and accountability.	Proposes one coordinated homelessness-to-housing system judged by verified placement and retention.	Wants a plan moving people with serious addiction and mental illness off streets.	Wants budgets tied to results, every dollar accounted for, less spending overall.	not found in the sources we reviewed

Summaries are our one-line readings of what each candidate says. Issue lines are short forms of the positions in each brief, AI-drafted and awaiting human review; “—” means not found in the sources we reviewed.

Four votes that split this Council

No candidate in this race sits on Council today.

Not foundNo featured votes are selected for this race yet.

Candidate briefs, A–Z

County Chair candidate · Multnomah County · November 3, 2026

Julia Brim-Edwards

County commissioner; former school-board member and Nike executive.

Photo: Candidate-submitted photo · 2026 Multnomah voters’ pamphlet

In their words

Said: It’s great to say you have a plan. But it doesn’t matter unless you can turn it into action, and results.

Pamphlet p. 32

Candidate statement · November 2026 edition; extracted September 21, 2026

Multnomah County voters’ pamphlet · PDF page 32 ↗

Verbatim opening of the candidate's own statement; publication by the county does not verify the claims. The heading “WE’VE GOT PROBLEMS – TIME FOR REAL CHANGE” and an attributed Oregonian quotation are skipped; the first sentence is under 12 words, so two are shown.

The verbatim opening of their voters’ pamphlet statement, the same rule for every candidate. We chose nothing.

What they say they would do

Our summary of their platform, in our words

Promises faster delivery, scrutiny of contractors and a lower burden from local taxes and fees.

Connect people to treatment, recovery housing and shelter.
Require contractors to report spending and results.
Work with labor and business on jobs and affordability.

Our reading

Our interpretation, not their words

Results and accountability
Lower local taxes

Her program pairs wider access to treatment, shelter and housing with fewer layers of local taxes and fees; the statement does not say which taxes or which services would give way.

Multnomah County voters’ pamphlet · PDF page 32 ↗Brim-Edwards · campaign home ↗Brim-Edwards · Meet Julia ↗

Where they stand

Homelessness and housing

Treatment to housing

What: Said: Act with urgency to connect more people struggling with mental health and addiction to treatment, services and housing; she cites expanded shelter beds and recovery housing as part of her record.
How: Said: Expand and diversify shelter so people have basic services, safety and stability, with pathways off the streets to recovery and stable housing; County facilities must negotiate Good Neighbor agreements.
Measured by: Not in their sources

Crisis care, jail and deflection

Sobering center, not jail

What: Said: Give people in mental-health or addiction crisis treatment instead of jail or the ER through a rebuilt 24/7 Sobering Center; she cites securing funding aimed at auto theft, property crime and burglaries hitting local businesses.
How: Said: A replacement 24/7 Sobering and Crisis Stabilization Center planned with health-care, law-enforcement and treatment leaders; she says the funds are secured and it is under construction.
Measured by: Not in their sources

Taxes and the budget gap

Fewer local taxes, fees

What: Said: Reduce layers of local taxes and fees to make life more affordable, restore essential services by cutting administration, and require County-funded contractors to report their results and how taxpayer dollars are spent.
How: Not in their sources
Measured by: Not in their sources

Roads, bridges and air

Not foundNot found in the sources we reviewed. That is a research gap, not a position.

The choices this office faces

Every candidate in this race is asked the same 13 questions. Julia Brim-Edwards is on record on 11, with 2 still open. A question without an answer is a research gap, not a position.

No answer we could find

Rewrite the city-county homelessness agreement so one government runs shelters?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
Move day-to-day county management from the elected chair to an appointed administrator?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.

On record

Close shelter beds to keep people in housing as homeless-services money falls?
Said: Cast the lone no vote on the FY 2027 budget, saying it leaves too many gaps and will not reduce homelessness or deliver the change the community is asking for.
Back extending Metro's homeless-services tax past 2030 at a lower rate, with tighter spending rules?
Said: Told KATU in January 2025 she was really concerned about the timing of Metro's draft to extend and broaden the tax, saying the county spends it as taxpayers want; she has not said whether to extend it past 2030.
On the topic; the exact choice is unsaid.
Tighter contract monitoring and outside audits of the Homeless Services Department after Sunstone Way?
Said: Said after the Sunstone Way findings that the public and Commission should not have to rely on whistleblowers to expose misused taxpayer dollars, faulting the chair for not heeding the auditor's earlier warnings.
Keep and tighten the drug deflection center, or halt it?
Said: Co-sponsored the February 26, 2026 resolution that keeps the center with stricter 90-day completion rules and housing links, saying deflection cannot be a revolving door back to the streets.
Keep the 2027 Recovery Pathways Center on schedule and fund more detox and treatment beds around it?
Said: Her campaign says she led the effort to rebuild the 24/7 Sobering and Crisis Stabilization Center as the front door to addiction treatment instead of jail or the ER, and expanded recovery housing.
Close the county's structural budget gap by cutting administration before services?
Said: Says she voted against the FY 2027 budget because it missed the chance to reduce outgrown layers of administrative leadership and prioritize direct services with demonstrated results.
Keep delaying the Preschool for All tax increase, now set for 2028?
Said: Voted with the full Board on August 27, 2026 to push the scheduled 0.8-point increase to January 1, 2028, the ordinance's second reading.
Up to $101.6 million in county money for the Moda Center renovation?
Said: Voted for the August 6, 2026 resolution setting terms for up to $101.6 million, with a clawback, a 20-year Blazers commitment and a payment in lieu of taxes; Commissioner Moyer cast the only no vote.
Keep both jails at their current funded capacity as the General Fund shrinks?
Said: Her launch release says she offered budget amendments to fund public-safety positions and keep enough jail beds for serious crimes without emergency releases; it does not say whether both jails should keep their current funded capacity.
On the topic; the exact choice is unsaid.
Keep the county's sanctuary code and refuse ICE detainers under federal pressure?
Said: Voted for the April 9, 2026 ordinance writing sanctuary rules into county code, saying the action sends a message that immigrants belong here and the county will keep protecting civil rights.
Drop the two-paramedic ambulance rule for good?
Said: Cast the only vote for Meieran's July 2024 resolution pressing the chair to let ambulances run with one paramedic and one EMT, a week before mediation with AMR settled on a hybrid-staffing pilot.

Compare every candidate

A question the evidence leaves open

Which taxes or administrative costs would you reduce, and which services would you protect?

Sources (3)

Multnomah County voters’ pamphlet · PDF page 32Candidate statement · November 2026 edition; reviewed September 18, 2026Written by the candidate or campaign. Publication by the county does not verify the claims.
Brim-Edwards · campaign homeCandidate statement · Website reviewed September 21, 2026Campaign position. Claimed results and numerical premises have not automatically been independently verified.
Brim-Edwards · Meet JuliaCandidate statement · Website reviewed September 21, 2026Campaign position. Claimed results and numerical premises have not automatically been independently verified.

County Chair candidate · Multnomah County · November 3, 2026

Shannon Singleton

County commissioner; social worker, former JOIN executive director and housing-policy director.

Photo: Candidate-submitted photo · 2026 Multnomah voters’ pamphlet

In their words

Said: I’ve spent my career taking on the toughest fights: supporting sexual assault survivors, foster youth, and people experiencing homelessness.

Pamphlet p. 32

Candidate statement · November 2026 edition; extracted September 21, 2026

Multnomah County voters’ pamphlet · PDF page 32 ↗

Verbatim opening of the candidate's own statement; publication by the county does not verify the claims.

The verbatim opening of their voters’ pamphlet statement, the same rule for every candidate. We chose nothing.

What they say they would do

Our summary of their platform, in our words

Emphasizes practical experience with homelessness and bringing service users and providers into decisions.

Build more effective homelessness-service systems.
Support affordable housing and well-paid union jobs.
Work with providers, businesses, neighbors and people who disagree.

Our reading

Our interpretation, not their words

Frontline experience
Collaboration

She would redesign services with providers, business owners and neighbors at the table, backed by a record she describes as realigning funds to core services; her statement names no deadlines or costs.

Multnomah County voters’ pamphlet · PDF page 32 ↗Singleton · campaign home ↗Singleton · Meet Shannon ↗Singleton · record of reforms ↗

Where they stand

Homelessness and housing

Rebuild homeless services

What: Said: Find lasting solutions to the homelessness crisis by building better systems with the people closest to the problem; she says she realigned county funds toward shelter, outreach and housing and cut duplicated services in the Homeless Services Department.
How: Said: Realign county funds to core services that end homelessness (shelter, outreach and housing) and reduce service duplication with tighter oversight of the Homeless Services Department, as she says she pushed for.
Measured by: Not in their sources

Crisis care, jail and deflection

Reform Deflection Center

What: Said: Reform the Deflection Center (the police alternative to arrest for drug use) so it connects addiction, housing and behavioral-health services, saves money and drives outcomes; she also cites strengthening safety-net protections in response to ICE actions.
How: Not in their sources
Measured by: Not in their sources

Taxes and the budget gap

Effective use of dollars

What: Said: Lower costs and make more effective use of taxpayers’ dollars; she cites coauthoring the county’s first lobbyist disclosure rules and finding money in the budget to close a homeless-services shortfall while pushing for sustainable funding.
How: Not in their sources
Measured by: Not in their sources

Roads, bridges and air

Rose Quarter compromise

What: Said: She cites facilitating the compromise on the Rose Quarter Improvement Project, putting it in line for federal infrastructure investment, and leading the community-benefits process for the Interstate Bridge Replacement.
How: Not in their sources
Measured by: Not in their sources

The choices this office faces

Every candidate in this race is asked the same 13 questions. Shannon Singleton is on record on 11, with 2 still open. A question without an answer is a research gap, not a position.

No answer we could find

Drop the two-paramedic ambulance rule for good?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
Move day-to-day county management from the elected chair to an appointed administrator?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.

On record

Close shelter beds to keep people in housing as homeless-services money falls?
Said: Voted for the FY 2027 budget and said she is proud that housing stability and placement out of shelter are now part of the county's commitment, while noting District 2's voices did not prevail on every vote.
Rewrite the city-county homelessness agreement so one government runs shelters?
Said: Told OPB she wants an end to both governments running shelters and other programs, saying the plan was written without a budget or clear roles and has too much duplication.
Back extending Metro's homeless-services tax past 2030 at a lower rate, with tighter spending rules?
Said: In January 2025 backed Metro's proposal to let the tax buy and build housing, saying it would spare the city and state from finding gap financing; she has not said whether to extend the tax past 2030.
On the topic; the exact choice is unsaid.
Tighter contract monitoring and outside audits of the Homeless Services Department after Sunstone Way?
Said: Voted no on confirming director Nathaniel VerGow on April 9, 2026, preferring to wait for the chair election, after proposing commissioner-led reviews of the department in 2025; she has not said whether outside audits should follow Sunstone Way.
On the topic; the exact choice is unsaid.
Keep and tighten the drug deflection center, or halt it?
Said: Issued a November 2025 reform proposal tying the center to the by-name list, county sober shelters and outreach referrals, then co-sponsored the February 2026 resolution adopting stricter completion rules.
Keep the 2027 Recovery Pathways Center on schedule and fund more detox and treatment beds around it?
Said: Voted for the center's construction plan on March 12, 2026, saying she wants every opportunity for warm handoffs rather than referrals so care continues; she has not said whether to fund more detox beds beyond it.
On the topic; the exact choice is unsaid.
Close the county's structural budget gap by cutting administration before services?
Said: In March 2025 proposed moving $22 million in homeless-services tax dollars out of administrative and other programs outside the Homeless Services Department, plus a review of that department's administrative structure to prioritize service dollars.
Keep delaying the Preschool for All tax increase, now set for 2028?
Said: Moved the ordinance delaying the increase to January 2028 and voted for it on August 27, 2026; she and Commissioner Moyer had proposed the one-year delay in place of the chair's two-year plan.
Up to $101.6 million in county money for the Moda Center renovation?
Said: Voted for the August 6, 2026 resolution setting terms for up to $101.6 million, with a clawback, a 20-year Blazers commitment and a payment in lieu of taxes; Commissioner Moyer cast the only no vote.
Keep both jails at their current funded capacity as the General Fund shrinks?
Said: Voted for the FY 2027 budget that keeps both jails at full funded capacity; her budget statement speaks to housing stability and immigrant services, not to the jails.
On the topic; the exact choice is unsaid.
Keep the county's sanctuary code and refuse ICE detainers under federal pressure?
Said: Co-sponsored the April 9, 2026 ordinance writing sanctuary rules into county code, saying the county will stand up to bullies for immigrant and refugee neighbors and that restricted areas mean all county facilities.

Compare every candidate

A question the evidence leaves open

Which service outcomes would you publish, and what would trigger a contractor or program change?

Sources (4)

Multnomah County voters’ pamphlet · PDF page 32Candidate statement · November 2026 edition; reviewed September 18, 2026Written by the candidate or campaign. Publication by the county does not verify the claims.
Singleton · campaign homeCandidate statement · Website reviewed September 21, 2026Campaign position. Claimed results and numerical premises have not automatically been independently verified.
Singleton · Meet ShannonCandidate statement · Website reviewed September 21, 2026Campaign position. Claimed results and numerical premises have not automatically been independently verified.
Singleton · record of reformsCandidate statement · Website reviewed September 21, 2026Campaign position. Claimed results and numerical premises have not automatically been independently verified.

County Chair candidate · Multnomah County · November 3, 2026

Sharon Meieran

Physician, former county commissioner and founder of Fixing Multnomah County.

Photo: Candidate-submitted photo · 2026 Multnomah voters’ pamphlet

In their words

Said: Multnomah County is broken. As an emergency room doctor, every day I’d treat people with addiction, mental illness, abuse and neglect – the very problems the county is responsible for addressing.

Pamphlet p. 33

Candidate statement · November 2026 edition; extracted September 21, 2026

Multnomah County voters’ pamphlet · PDF page 33 ↗

Verbatim opening of the candidate's own statement; publication by the county does not verify the claims. The first sentence is under 12 words, so two are shown.

The verbatim opening of their voters’ pamphlet statement, the same rule for every candidate. We chose nothing.

What they say they would do

Our summary of their platform, in our words

Argues that the county spends without clear goals and needs a different approach to management and accountability.

Set specific goals and accountability for county spending.
Bring clinical experience to addiction and mental-health policy.
Challenge institutional delays in emergency services.

Our reading

Our interpretation, not their words

Structural reset
Budget for results

She would restructure county governance, budgeting and contracting around measured outcomes and spend less doing it; the plan’s one- and two-year targets depend on authority a chair shares with the board.

Multnomah County voters’ pamphlet · PDF page 33 ↗Meieran · campaign home ↗Meieran · the plan ↗Meieran · Fixing Multnomah County ↗

Where they stand

Homelessness and housing

One coordinated system

What: Said: Replace what she calls a layered “nonsystem” of homeless services with one coordinated homelessness-to-housing continuum under a clear chain of command, judged by verified placement and retention outcomes.
How: Said: Within one year: a clear chain of command and integrated operational structure, a validated baseline of need, budgets aligned to measurable outcomes and funding redirected from ineffective programs.
Measured by: Said: Within two years, a functioning homelessness-to-housing continuum with verified placement and retention outcomes and fewer returns to shelters, emergency rooms and jails.

Crisis care, jail and deflection

Crisis-system reset

What: Said: Get people with serious addiction and mental illness off the streets through an actual plan implemented by a chief executive who acts; she cites ending the county’s ambulance-response crisis as a commissioner.
How: Said: Extend the homeless-services turnaround approach to behavioral health, public safety and human services by restructuring governance, budgeting, contracting and performance management.
Measured by: Said: Reduced returns to crisis systems such as shelters, emergency rooms and jails within two years.

Taxes and the budget gap

Budget for results

What: Said: The county spends more per person than almost anywhere yet gets the worst results; she would budget for results, account for every dollar, redirect money from ineffective programs and deliver more while spending less.
How: Said: A real-time, validated baseline of need across departments and budgets aligned with measurable outcomes, with ineffective programs identified and their funding redirected.
Measured by: Said: Transparent performance dashboards published within one year of taking office.

Roads, bridges and air

Not foundNot found in the sources we reviewed. That is a research gap, not a position.

The choices this office faces

Every candidate in this race is asked the same 13 questions. Sharon Meieran is on record on 11, with 2 still open. A question without an answer is a research gap, not a position.

No answer we could find

Keep both jails at their current funded capacity as the General Fund shrinks?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
Keep the county's sanctuary code and refuse ICE detainers under federal pressure?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.

On record

Close shelter beds to keep people in housing as homeless-services money falls?
Said: Called the FY 2027 budget's closure of hundreds of shelter beds with no plan for the people affected a profound moral failure that will push costs onto emergency rooms, crisis services and jails.
Rewrite the city-county homelessness agreement so one government runs shelters?
Said: Her turnaround plan would lay the groundwork and evaluate mechanisms for city-county consolidation to address redundancies from separate oversight and funding of overlapping functions.
Back extending Metro's homeless-services tax past 2030 at a lower rate, with tighter spending rules?
Said: Her plan says the county got nearly $1 billion in Metro homeless-services tax money over four years with no way to tell where it went, and would redraft the SHS implementation plan; it does not address extending the tax.
On the topic; the exact choice is unsaid.
Tighter contract monitoring and outside audits of the Homeless Services Department after Sunstone Way?
Said: Would launch a public, independent performance and forensic review of county contracting on day one and adopt results-driven contracts, calling Sunstone Way a symptom of a system that spends first and asks questions later.
Keep and tighten the drug deflection center, or halt it?
Said: Would halt the deflection program in its current form and replace the system that produced it, defining success by treatment completion and stable housing; says $20 million has not produced one such case.
Keep the 2027 Recovery Pathways Center on schedule and fund more detox and treatment beds around it?
Said: Told the Board in April 2024 that a sobering center can stand alone and make a difference from the day it opens; she has not said whether the 2027 center should add more detox and treatment beds.
On the topic; the exact choice is unsaid.
Close the county's structural budget gap by cutting administration before services?
Said: Would adopt zero-based budgeting so every program justifies its cost, redirect money from ineffective and redundant structures and contracts, and deliver more while spending less.
Keep delaying the Preschool for All tax increase, now set for 2028?
Said: On a July 2026 podcast said Preschool for All must define its goal and forecast its money before raising taxes as promised while hundreds of millions sit unspent; she did not say whether the 2028 delay should stand.
On the topic; the exact choice is unsaid.
Up to $101.6 million in county money for the Moda Center renovation?
Said: On a July 2026 podcast called the Moda question an economic decision, said the Blazers' benefit is incontrovertible and the county should negotiate on costs and goals instead of a reset; she did not say whether to commit $101.6 million.
On the topic; the exact choice is unsaid.
Drop the two-paramedic ambulance rule for good?
Said: As a commissioner introduced the July 2024 resolution pressing the chair to let ambulances run with one paramedic and one EMT, saying speed to the emergency room matters most for survival.
Move day-to-day county management from the elected chair to an appointed administrator?
Said: Her plan calls the chair's power outsized and proposes charter reform to redefine the chair's and commissioners' roles, potentially hiring a county manager or administrator, after immediate team-based governance changes.

Compare every candidate

A question the evidence leaves open

What authority, staffing and service changes would your first budget propose?

Sources (4)

Multnomah County voters’ pamphlet · PDF page 33Candidate statement · November 2026 edition; reviewed September 18, 2026Written by the candidate or campaign. Publication by the county does not verify the claims.
Meieran · campaign homeCandidate statement · Website reviewed September 21, 2026Campaign position. Claimed results and numerical premises have not automatically been independently verified.
Meieran · the planCandidate statement · Website reviewed September 21, 2026Campaign position. Claimed results and numerical premises have not automatically been independently verified.
Meieran · Fixing Multnomah CountyCandidate statement · Website reviewed September 21, 2026Campaign position. Claimed results and numerical premises have not automatically been independently verified.