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Gov. Tina Kotek (D-Ore.), Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson, and Portland, Ore., Mayor Ted Wheeler all made 90-day emergency declarations for the city of Portland to address the fentanyl crisis that is sweeping the downtown area.
“We cannot underestimate the tremendous value of bringing leaders from different disciplines in a room on a daily basis who all account for a different part of the solution,” Wheeler said in a statement.
The emergency declarations «commit available resources» to a unified response to “address the public health and public safety crisis driven by fentanyl in Portland’s Central City,» according to the Associated Press.
“Our country and our state have never seen a drug this deadly and addictive, and all are grappling with how to respond,” Kotek said. “The Chair, the Mayor and I recognize the need to act with urgency and unity across our public health and community safety systems to make a dent in this crisis. We are all in this together. The next 90 days will yield unprecedented collaboration and focused resources targeting fentanyl and provide a roadmap for next steps.
