By Terry Murry on Monday, October 23rd, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – Pendleton City Manager Robb Corbett recently attended the League of Oregon Cities annual meeting. He said there were many good workshops offered, and the one dealing with behavioral health issues really resonated.
“One of the biggest issues in Oregon for cities is homelessness,” he said. “Homelessness is tied to mental health and addiction. There are a lot of people that are homeless because they lost their home or lost their job, but a vast majority of the people out on the streets have mental health and addiction issues.”
Corbett said it is incumbent upon the cities to meet the needs of those people, and talking with representatives from other cities helps.
“We quickly find out that the challenges that we face in Pendleton as community elected officials and city managers are very common,” he said. “Then we have conversation on how best to deal with it and we bring back things that we want to try to incorporate into our city. Corbett was not alone at the meeting. Council members McKennon McDonald, Carole Innes, and Linda Neuman also attended.