Longtime Multnomah County Administrator Named New Head of Oregon Measure 110

The 51-year-old longtime Multnomah County administrator will start work Oct. 15 as the new executive director of the Oregon Health Authority’s Measure 110 program. Stamp takes the helm at a time when Measure 110 has been at a crossroads since Oregon voters passed it in 2020 to decriminalize low-level drug possession and invest millions in programs for people with substance abuse problems. The state is recriminalizing low-level drug possession Sept. 1 as counties establish diversion programs to get people into treatment.

For the past 11 years, Stamp has served as executive director of the Multnomah County Public Safety Coordinating Council, which addresses criminal justice reform issues and policies in the state’s largest county.

In an interview with the Capital Chronicle, Stamp said she wants to change the perception of Measure 110, which has lost favor with law enforcement and the public due to its lack of enforcement of drug possession laws. Stamp said it was “really devastating” for her personally that the term “Measure 110” has become a pejorative term.

“I would like to do my part to change that,” Stamp said. “Measure 110 funding is still intact and can still do important things in our communities to help people start their journey toward recovery.”

Change of approach

The measure decriminalized possession of small amounts of hard drugs and introduced a system of $100 tickets without criminal penalties. But as public drug use became widespread and more than 1,000 Oregonians died of overdoses in 2023, state lawmakers approved a new misdemeanor penalty to encourage people to enter a rehabilitation program.

Still, Measure 110 will continue to play a dominant role in Oregon’s fight against addiction. The program, overseen by the Oregon Health Authority, will continue to receive millions of dollars a year in marijuana revenues for addiction programs and supports, including treatment, housing, support groups and peer-led services for people in recovery from drug addiction.

The agency has distributed more than $275 million in funding, health authority data shows, but implementation has been uneven. A January 2023 state audit found that the health authority’s implementation was fraught with obstacles and bureaucracy.

The office, which announced Stamp’s hiring on Wednesday, has struggled to fill the position. Angela Carter, a former program manager and naturopath, left in August 2023 and in a letter accused the agency of ignoring requests for staffing and resources, calling the office “maliciously neglectful,” The Lund Report reported at the time.

Stamp’s hiring will give the agency a fresh start with a management team that has experience as a social worker and administrator.

“As a licensed social worker and administrative leader, Abbey brings experience as a behavioral health provider and as an equity-focused policymaker to this position,” Ebony Clarke, the agency’s director of behavioral health, said in a statement. “Through her leadership, Abbey will continue to build and strengthen intentional partnerships with providers across the state to ensure individuals with substance use disorders have access to supports and services in their communities.”

Stamp’s annual salary will be $141,000, and her program budget — excluding grants — is about $7.5 million a year, with about 25 employees.

The path to the health authority

Stamp has worked for Multnomah County since 2004 in various capacities, first as a mental health consultant providing outpatient mental health services and alcohol and drug assessments for youth. She also served as a juvenile court improvement coordinator and consultant.

Before joining Stamp County, she worked as a social worker at Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center, a low-income clinic, where she provided counseling and advocacy services, including to Spanish-speaking clients.

Her path to social work began with an interest in law school. After graduating in 1995 with a bachelor’s degree in ethnic studies from Mills College in California, Stamp went to work for a criminal defense attorney in Portland as a Spanish translator and paralegal.

The experience made her realize the need for social justice, she said.

“That was my first trip, and that’s where I really started to develop my values ​​and ethics around criminal justice policy,” Stamp said. “I’ve always truly believed that only in very rare circumstances should a person ever be put in a cage.”

Because she saw what happened when people weren’t treated.

“I saw a lot of pain and suffering in the clients we defended, a lot of illness, a lot of trauma, a lot of untreated housing problems and mental health issues,” she said. “And that’s why I decided to go to social work school instead of law school.”

After graduating with a master’s degree in social work and management from Portland State University in 2002, Stamp began her professional career.

She added that after 11 years in her current role, which she described as “extremely political”, she is now looking for a change.

Stamp added that she would like to pursue a leadership position that would allow her to influence policies and programs rather than serve as a mediator and facilitator between participants and officials.

“I want to get back into real programming and agency work and take on a management and administrative role,” she said.

Stamp has seen Multnomah County’s response to the fentanyl crisis up close. She served as the county’s representative during the 90-day emergency declaration that the state, county and city of Portland issued in January to respond to fentanyl overdoses. She’s seen the efforts to coordinate resources and plan responses, such as bike cops responding to people on the streets and fieldwork.

She said this work shows how programs and organizations can work together, especially since new programs are being implemented under Law 4002, which re-criminals drug possession.

Stamp said as she starts her new job, she plans to travel around the state and meet with local residents.

Janie Gullickson, executive director of the Mental Health & Addiction Association of Oregon, said Stamp is well-suited for the position and is an advocate for social justice.

“Her approach is very organized, which I appreciate because it provides some structure when things can seem pretty chaotic,” Gullickson said. “I think that’s what she can bring to the executive director position.”

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