re ROCC

February 21, 2017

To the Boards of Commission of Marion and Polk Counties, and the Mayors of Salem and Keizer:

It has come to our attention that the Mid-Willamette Homeless Initiative Task Force recently approved a recommendation that Marion and Polk Counties “[a]ssess local inclusion in the Rural Oregon Continuum of Care” (ROCC) to determine whether it was in the community's best interest to remain within this 28-county organization, or to re-form the Marion-Polk CoC.

Having given the matter due consideration, our board has concluded that the goal of preventing and ending homelessness in Marion and Polk Counties could be advanced significantly if the community could concentrate its planning and coordinating efforts on Marion and Polk Counties, rather than continuing to try to plan and coordinate with the other 26 other counties in the ROCC.  We therefore favor a decision to proceed to the planning phase to determine how best to proceed with recreating a Marion & Polk Counties CoC .

Sincerely,


Bruce Hoffman
CANDO Chair

[Approved unanimously 2/21/17]