(Update: Adding Tony DeBone comments)
Commissioner Patti Adair urges statewide emergency; Bend mayor pro tem supports county move
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Deschutes County commissioners will discuss next week whether to join the Portland area in declaring a 90-day local state of emergency to address the fentanyl “public health and safety crisis.”
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek joined city of Portland and Multnomah County leaders earlier this week in the joint declaration of a state of emergency to address the impacts of the fentanyl crisis in downtown Portland.
“As the dramatic negative impacts of fentanyl distribution and use exist across the state, the Board of County Commissioners will consider declaring a local State of Emergency regarding the significant public health and safety crisis arising from the presence and effects of fentanyl in Deschutes County,” next Wednesday’s agenda item states.
The item is on the agenda at the request of Commissioner Patti Adair, who told NewsChannel 21 Friday she’d sent the governor a text message and “told her it should be statewide,” since the same issues are affecting the entire state.