Washington County Board of Commissioners AM Work Session, part 1, 10/20/26 (Part 1)

At the October 20, 2026 Washington County Board of Commissioners morning work session, commissioners reviewed a draft letter supporting Oregon State University Extension’s effort to explore establishing a new service district in the county. They asked staff to broaden the letter and outreach beyond cities to include special districts and other community entities, and to make clear the goal of building broad community support. Staff agreed to revise the draft and return it before the lunch hour; no vote or spending approval was recorded.

The board also received findings from the second year of the Community Pulse Survey, conducted with DHM Research and funded through ARPA. The presentation covered residents’ views on quality of life, affordability, infrastructure, and county services. Commissioners noted the survey’s value for future decisions and discussed that continued trend tracking has no current funding. The two-survey project was described as costing roughly $150,000–$200,000 in total (about $100,000 per year), with the possibility of right-sizing future work to fit the budget; no continuation funding or contract action was approved. A commissioner connected residents’ perceptions of service access to reductions in county, state, and federal funding.