Lori Stegmann

Commissioner

Commissioner Lori Stegmann was elected to her first term as a Multnomah County Commissioner representing District 4 in 2016 and re-elected for a second term in 2020. Prior to serving on the Multnomah County Board, Commissioner Stegmann served six years on the Gresham City Council and as City Council President in 2014. In her time on the board, she has been a champion for underserved communities in East County addressing areas of housing stability, economic development and public safety. As board vice chair in 2018, Commissioner Stegmann introduced resolutions to create the Construction Diversity Equity Fund and to dedicate funding to supportive housing in Multnomah County. She led regional efforts for a complete and accurate Census 2020 count and represented Multnomah County in a national cohort through the National Association of Counties and the Gates Foundation to develop local strategies for economic mobility and recovery. One of her first budget amendments supported the creation of a new School Based Health Clinic at Reynolds School District, a multi-year project that just opened in 2021.

Commissioner Stegmann advocated for, and the voters passed a library bond in 2020, which will expand and renovate seven branch libraries, add gigabit speed internet to all libraries, create a new materials handling and distribution center, and create a new flagship library in East County for the community. With an estimated 95,000 sf, the East County Flagship Library will provide the underserved residents in East County the opportunity to dream big and create a community resource with a wide variety of programs and services. With 450,000 annual visitors projected to visit the Flagship, it has the opportunity to bring equity and access to patrons in East County. First as a Gresham Councilmember, and then as a County Commissioner, she has dedicated herself to elevating the potential of a 90 acre undeveloped parcel in East County called the Vance Properties.The Vance properties have the potential to be a much needed community asset in East County. For several budget cycles, with her team, they have chipped away at jurisdictional roadblocks - lot line delineation, brownfield identification, stormwater mitigation and watershed research. The site contains natural areas, an old gravel pit, a brownfield, and large undeveloped areas with multi-level lots. This is an exciting opportunity to mitigate some of the environmental challenges by redeveloping the area into a combination of light industrial and workforce development along with increased greenspace and natural areas for recreation. In 2022 the Vance Vision was brought before the County Board of Directors and continues to move forward towards becoming a vibrant community asset.

Commissioner Stegmann has also prioritized community resilience and the critical role it can play in protecting our communities and making our communities stronger. Multnomah County, along with many other counties across our nation, has seen extreme weather events. The Commissioner has spearheaded the effort to develop a virtual resilience hub to increase access to emergency services and is currently laying the foundation to create a physical resilience hub that will serve as a safe emergency site by providing needed resources and services to protect our community. Residents and community-based organizations will also be able to use this asset to access social services and build capacity when it’s not being used as an emergency center.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Commissioner Stegmann prioritized testing and vaccine sites at geographically specific locations, distributed over $1 million in business recovery grants to east Multnomah County, identified funding for a new pantry location to increase food access, and supported the capacity of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) serving organizations to stabilize community resources. She has secured $100,000 from the Gates Foundation to focus resilience and recovery efforts in East County, and has prioritized service delivery enhancements to the Tri-Met Transit Crisis Response Team and Multnomah County Sheriff's Office HOPE outreach team to better serve our communities.

Board Liaison Appointments and Committees:
● Library Advisory Board
● Greater Portland Inc.
● East Metro Economic Solutions
● Visitors Development Fund
● Association of Oregon Counties
● East Multnomah County Transportation Committee
● National Association of Counties' Large Urban Counties Caucus
● Urban Flood & Safety Water Quality Board
● Governor's Regional Solutions Leadership Council
● Transforming Justice Steering Committee
● Local Public Safety Coordinating Council Jail Management Workgroup
● East County Council on Homelessness
● Gorge Forum