On February 22 we sent out 151 inquiries to candidates for state and local area offices, including Governor, US Senate, US House of Representatives, State Senate and House positions in the Portland metro area, county commissioners from Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington County, District Attorney – of Washington County, Metro, and Portland’s City Council.

We asked them to select and answer two or three five questions of interest to people with mental illness and in recovery from addiction, and to share their campaign contact information. We’ll posted these responses to our website as we receive them.

READ – All Survey Results

The Mental Health Association of Portland is a 501 C 3 nonprofit organization, prohibited from making candidate endorsements. We endorse no candidates.

As of February 23 – 10 of 151 candidates have responded.

Question One – People with lived experience of mental illness, addiction, alcoholism, and or trauma are under-represented in public office. What is your personal experience with these illnesses?

Question Two – Oregon ranks at the bottom of states in a well-regarded national survey of access to public treatment services for mental illness, addiction and alcoholism. What can you in office do to change this?

Question Three – In that same national survey, Oregon ranks at the top for prevalence of mental illness, addiction and alcoholism. What can you in office do to change this?

Question Four – A natural consequence of lack of access to treatments and high prevalence of mental illness, addiction and alcoholism is chronic homelessness. Why isn’t Portland’s strategy to reduce homelessness working and what could you do in office to change that?

Question Five – In 2015 the US DOJ found the Portland Police Bureau has a pattern and practice of harming people with mental illness. There’s little data to show that pattern and practice has changed, and no data to show other metro area police bureaus are any different. How would you in office engage with this problem?