Julia Brim-Edwards is unfit to lead Multnomah County

Seven Portland Public School Board members write a letter explaining to voters why Brim-Edwards is unfit to lead the County.

To the Voters of Multnomah County,

We served alongside Julia Brim-Edwards in leadership roles on the Portland School Board. We are deeply concerned about Ms. Brim-Edwards’ readiness to serve as Multnomah County Chair, and we believe it is important for voters to be aware of these concerns when deciding who should lead the county.

Ms. Brim-Edwards has put in long hours over many years in public service. That commitment is real and admirable. Unfortunately, dedication alone is not enough to be the kind of dynamic and capable leader that our county urgently needs.

Our concerns fall into four key areas: 

First, collaboration. Governing bodies function best when their members share trust, communicate openly, and work through disagreements constructively. Instead of engaging in honest and candid public debate on critical issues, we learned that on multiple occasions, Ms. Brim-Edwards privately lobbied against Board and District positions with public officials and community members, jeopardizing the integrity of District budgets and the effective pursuit of long-term improvement strategies. In 2019,  Ms. Brim-Edwards took a temporary position in the Secretary of State’s office while that office was conducting an audit of PPS. District leadership and her Board colleagues learned of this ethically questionable activity from press reports.  And while she consistently demanded materials for consideration far in advance from others, Ms. Brim-Edwards frequently withheld critical information and surprised her colleagues and the administration at the last minute.  This made trust and genuine collaboration difficult. The ability and willingness to engage in honest communication and effective collaboration should be pre-requisites for local leaders today.

Second, management and leadership.  Ms. Brim-Edwards’ tenures as Chair and Vice Chair were marked by secrecy, unclear or delayed decision-making, and an inability to unify the Board around shared goals. She frequently diverted Board attention and staff resources away from core priorities and toward peripheral issues. This made it extremely difficult to maintain organizational focus and create forward momentum. It is notable that her colleagues replaced her as Vice-Chair halfway through the school year, and she was not elected to board leadership again. True leadership is about guiding teams through complex work with a clear vision. In this, she was largely ineffective.

Third, oversight to achieve meaningful outcomes. Ms. Brim-Edwards has often stressed the importance of oversight. However, in our experience, she repeatedly veered from oversight into counter-productive micro-managing, creating a toxic environment that undermined the District’s functioning. Likewise, Ms. Brim-Edwards has claimed to be a champion of data-driven accountability to produce improved outcomes, yet she regularly struggled to understand how to use data effectively to monitor progress toward goals and make necessary adjustments along the way. Policy makers do not need to be data experts or program specialists, but it is crucial that they understand the mechanisms of effective oversight. 

Fourth, willingness to make hard decisions.  Public leadership requires balancing competing interests and making choices that will rarely satisfy all stakeholders. Ms. Brim-Edwards often deferred difficult decisions, requesting additional information in ways that appeared less about diligence and more about avoiding accountability. Time and again, Ms. Brim-Edwards aligned herself with the most politically expedient path, even when data and long-term student outcomes suggested a different course. For example, her last-minute intervention in a school boundary decision on behalf of a small number of parents disrupted six months of work by a community advisory committee and perpetuated enrollment imbalances that negatively impacted schools in our lowest-income areas. There are very few decisions in government that are easy. We deserve public officials who prioritize the public good over popularity.

Reasonable people can and do disagree when faced with the endless dilemmas of governing in times of high needs and scarce resources. That is precisely why our experiences in public service have reinforced our belief that understanding a candidate’s leadership style, governance approach, and decision-making practices is essential when evaluating any public official's record. 

The Multnomah County Chair has extraordinary authority over a sprawling system that has consequences – often life or death – for thousands of people. It demands a leader who can build trust, foster collaboration, manage effectively, think strategically, and deliver real results in service to the whole community. 

After working directly with her over many years, we do not believe that Julia Brim-Edwards is the leader Multnomah County needs.

Scott Bailey
Michelle DePass
Amy Kohnstamm 
Eilidh Lowery
Rita Moore, Ph.D.
Andrew Scott
Eddie Wang