Multnomah County, Oregon

Multnomah County is one of 36  in the  of. Though smallest in area, it is the most populous as its, , is the state's largest city. The county is likely after  people first recorded in the journals of the, , who lived in a village on the east side of present-day. (An alternative theory holds that Multnomah is a corruption of nematlnomaq, meaning down river.) In 2000, the county's population was 660,486.

History
Multnomah County (the thirteenth in ) was created on, , formed out of the eastern part of and the northern part of  counties. Its creation was a result of a petition for earlier that year by businessmen in Portland complaining of the inconvenient location of the Washington County seat in and of the share of Portland tax revenues leaving the city to support Washington County farmers. County commissioners met for the first time on,.

At various times in the 20th century, an has been placed on the county ballot to. None of these proposals have been approved.

Since 2000
In the, Multnomah played a decisive role in determining the winner of the the state's. carried the county by more than 104,000 votes, enough to offset the nearly 100,000-vote advantage that had earned among Oregon's 35 other counties.

In February 2001, the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners unanimously accepted the recommendation of the Library Advisory Board and authorized the library to enter into a lawsuit to stop the. The ultimately decided in 2003 that the law was constitutional in US v. ALA. However, the library chose to turn down $104,000 per year of federal funding under CIPA to be able to continue to offer unfiltered Internet access.

Faced with decreasing government revenues due to a recession in the local economy, voters approved a three-year local income tax (Measure 26-48) on, to prevent further cuts in schools, police protection, and social services. Multnomah County was one of the few local governments in Oregon to approve such a tax increase.

In May 2003, the Multnomah County Department of Human Services named on a list of 55 languages for which it might conceivably need interpreters; this story was circulated out-of-context as an urban legend claiming that the department was looking to hire a Klingon interpreter. County Chair called the listing the "result of an overzealous attempt to ensure that our safety net systems can respond to all customers and clients."

On, , Multnomah County Chair Linn announced the county would begin granting licenses for , pursuant to a legal opinion issued by its attorney deeming such marriages lawful under Oregon law. Her announcement was supported by three other commissioners (Serena Cruz, Lisa Naito & Maria Rojo de Steffey), but criticized by Lonnie Roberts, who represents the eastern part of Multnomah county and was left out of the decision. Within a few days, several groups joined to file a lawsuit to halt the county's action; see.

Law and government

 * Elected Officials
 * County Commission (one chair, four commissioners; nonpartisan)
 * Chair: Ted Wheeler
 * Commissioner, District 1: Maria Rojo de Steffey
 * Commissioner, District 2: Jeff Cogen
 * Commissioner, District 3: Lisa Naito
 * Commissioner, District 4: Lonnie Roberts
 * District Attorney: Michael Schrunk
 * Sheriff: Bernie Giusto
 * Auditor: LaVonne Griffin-Valade
 * Circuit Court district 4


 * Appointed Officials
 * Elections: John Kauffman
 * Finance: Mindy Harris
 * Surveyor: Robert Hovden


 * Map of Multnomah County legislative districts

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,206 (466 ). 1,127 km² (435 sq mi) of it is land and 79 km² (30 sq mi or 6.53%) of it is water.

The county includes, an extinct volcano, and its northern eastern border forms the Oregon side of the.

Adjacent counties

 * , across the Columbia River - north
 * , across the Columbia River - northeast
 * - east
 * - south
 * - west
 * - northwest

Economy
The principal industries of Multnomah County are, , and  trade, and. Since Oregon does not have a, it attracts shoppers from southwest.

The, established in 1891 and combined with the City of Portland's Commission of Public Docks in 1973, ranks third in total waterborne commerce on the West Coast. Portland is one of the five largest auto import ports in the nation and is the West Coast's leading exporter of grain and lumber. The Port of Portland is also responsible for in the Northeast section of Portland.

The Multnomah County Library has a small impact on the county budget: the county library, which supplies Internet service to area libraries, turns down $104,000 per year in federal funding, starting in 2004, to obviate the need to comply with the so as to maintain unfiltered Internet access.

Tourism
The county is home to a number of Portland-area attractions and venues, including, , , , , , , , , , and.

It is also home to, , and.

Demographics
As of the, there are 660,486 people in the county, organized into 272,098 households and 152,102 families. The is 586/km² (1,518/sq mi). There are 288,561 housing units at an average density of 256/km² (663/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county is 79.16%, 5.70% , 5.67% or , 1.03% , 0.35% , 4.03% from , and 4.07% from two or more races. 7.51% of the population are or  of any race. 83.5% spoke, 6.3% , 1.7% and 1.3%  as their first language.

There are 272,098 households out of which 26.5% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.9% are living together, 10.8% have a female householder with no husband present, and 44.1% are non-families. 32.5% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.6% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.37 and the average family size is 3.03.

In the county, the population is spread out with 22.30% under the age of 18, 10.30% from 18 to 24, 33.80% from 25 to 44, 22.50% from 45 to 64, and 11.10% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 35 years. For every 100 females there are 98.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 96.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county is $41,278, and the median income for a family is $51,118. Males have a median income of $36,036 versus $29,337 for females. The for the county is $22,606. 12.70% of the population and 8.20% of families are below the. Out of the total population, 15.40% of those under the age of 18 and 9.80% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Cities

 * (small portion, most in Clackamas County)
 * (small portion, most in Clackamas County)
 * (small portion, most in Clackamas County)