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Wednesday, August 5, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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Editorial…
Restoring the Hatfield legacy
The Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse in
downtown Portland, which has become the
epicenter of more than two months of pro-
tests and clashes between rioters and federal
law enforcement bears the name of one of the
truly great Oregonians.
Mark Hatfield was not a mere politician
4 he was a genuine public servant; a states-
man, in fact. A state representative, state
senator, governor and U.S. Senator, Hatfield
served Oregon and America for almost a
half a century, and was, with notable (and
honorably-earned) exceptions, loved, trusted
and respected by Democrats and Republicans
alike.
Hatfield was a Republican, but of a stripe
that, sadly, no longer has a place in the GOP.
He9d be known today as a RINO (Republican
In Name Only). He was pro-business (par-
ticularly small business) and favored limited
and fiscally responsible government and the
sacred rights of all individuals. But he under-
stood that government has an important role
in civil society, and that political divides can
and must be bridged in order to do the peo-
ple9s work; that politics and policy are about
good governance, not ideological and cultural
warfare.
Gerry Frank, who knew Hatfield for
decades, wrote a guest column in last
Sunday9s Oregonian contemplating what his
friend would think about the current state of
affairs in Portland, the state of Oregon, and
the United States (https://www.oregonlive.
com/opinion/2020/08/opinion-what-would-
mark-hatfield-think.html). It9s worth taking
the time to read.
There9s a certain symbolic poignancy to
seeing the landmark federal building named
after this towering figure in its current state.
<Mark would & have defended the abso-
lute right of citizens to peacefully protest,=
Frank wrote. <Mark was one of the earliest
and most prominent opponents of America9s
military involvement in Vietnam. He earned
his spot on President Nixon9s 8enemies list9
through his sponsorship of the McGovern-
Hatfield amendment, which called for a com-
plete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam.
Mark was heartened by peaceful anti-war
protests on the nation9s college campuses and
traveled to many of them to lend his prestige
and support.
<Republicans and Democrats alike agreed
that decency, civility and bipartisanship were
the hallmarks of Mark9s years in public ser-
vice. He was, first and foremost, a statesman.
For that reason, he would grieve over the lack
of those qualities coming from the White
House, Congress, social media and the streets
of Portland, where some have used the pro-
tests as an excuse for vandalism and violence.
A strong supporter of Oregon9s small busi-
nesses, he would also sympathize and stand
with the many shops and restaurants in down-
town Portland who have been harmed by their
proximity to the Hatfield Courthouse.=
The unrest around the Mark O. Hatfield
Courthouse will eventually abate, the damage
that scars it will be repaired; the graffiti will
be scrubbed and sandblasted away. The years-
long deterioration of the values of <decency,
civility and bipartisanship= that Hatfield
embodied will be harder to restore. But maybe
we owe it to him 4 and even more to our-
selves 4 to start.
Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief
Letters to the Editor…
To the Editor:
I am anxious enough living in a time of
pandemic and so limit myself to about 30 min-
utes of reading the news about the latest out-
rage from Trump. Unfortunately, I stumbled
across the opinion piece by Jim Cornelius
published July 29 opining on the Portland
Troubles (<Echoes of tumult,= page 6).
If evidence-free <both sides do it=
nonsense is the best thing he can do, he
should stop. <[S]omebody was going to take
action= he says. You mean like tear-gassing
peaceful protestors, stopping bystanders and
demanding identification with the threat of
arrest, taking media personnel off public
sidewalks and throwing them in unmarked
See LETTERS on page 7
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The Nugget Newspaper, LLC
Website: www.nuggetnews.com
442 E. Main Ave., P.O. Box 698, Sisters, Oregon 97759
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The Nugget Newspaper,
P.O. Box 698, Sisters, OR 97759.
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Editor in Chief: Jim Cornelius
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N
Police reform takes
leadership and time
By Chris West
Guest Columnist
<There is always a well-
known solution to every
human problem 4 neat,
plausible, and wrong.= -
4 H. L. Mencken, 1917
I9ve been thinking about
this quote recently because
it seems especially relevant
today, more than a century
later. My professional expe-
rience includes 30 years of
police work, both in the mil-
itary and as an officer, detec-
tive, and supervisor in Los
Angeles Police. The human
problem that concerns us
all is how best to rethink
and reform policing in our
communities.
Two questions must be
addressed: What can and
should the public reasonably
expect from law enforce-
ment? Given the current,
contentious debate about
policing, how can reform
best be done?
The primary mission and
top priority of law enforce-
ment is to keep the peace
and to provide protection
from injury or death while
upholding civil rights and
the law.
So, what should the
public expect from good
officers? Honesty, con-
stancy, practical knowledge,
respect, neutrality, compas-
sion, and stamina, all while
exhibiting a command pres-
ence and providing good
role models for their fellow
citizens 4 and of course,
to magically appear when
needed. Two bonus charac-
teristics: a sense of propor-
tion and an inherent sense of
right and wrong. An officer
is motivated by (and is paid
to have) an overt commit-
ment to law and to public
service, to exhibit physical
and moral courage in dif-
ficult circumstances, and to
endure potentially arduous
working conditions.
Police act as arbiters
much more often than they
do in stereotypical cops and
robbers scenarios. Problem-
solving skills are expected
and should be demanded.
Law enforcement officers
wield two solemn powers:
the power to arrest and trig-
ger a prosecution, and to
take a life without due pro-
cess of law (albeit in extreme
circumstances). If officer
candidates or serving offi-
cers are unable or unwilling
to fulfill these expectations,
they should not be trained,
hired, or retained. The public
is absolutely right to expect
this from those who pledge
to protect and serve.
But too often these
expectations are not met.
Several well-known reform
solutions 4 more training,
more money, a few high-
profile firings after the fact
4seem neat and plausible.
Even some ideas of <defund-
ing the police= can seem, to
a few, neat and plausible.
But, as Mencken points out,
that does not mean they are
right.
Let9s look at what
reform actually entails. Law
enforcement is an essential
component of local govern-
ment, and as such, wields
power and demands fund-
ing priority. These hierarchi-
cal organizations typically
exhibit internal solidarity
and value the shared experi-
ence peculiar to police work.
Selling major change to the
rank and file, never mind
the command staff, can be
daunting. It9s roughly analo-
gous to changing religion.
Additionally, finding
collaborative solutions to
long-festering problems is
especially challenging when
those problems explode. The
propensity to throw out the
baby with the bath water is
a dangerous solution that
serves no one.
But does that mean that
reform is impossible? It does
not. The harder the problem,
the greater the value of the
solution. Internal change in
response to external prob-
lems can help: new tech-
nologies, changes in the
law, and better policies and
procedures.
However, leadership is
key. Successful leaders will
have several traits: experi-
ence backed by a strong
intellect; moral certitude
and honesty; creative think-
ing and problem-solving
abilities; political skills and
proven consensus-building
attributes; iron willpower,
and an elephant hide.
Major stakeholders must be
included in the process.
Reform in a police
agency requires compli-
cated, expensive training
and re-training. Resources,
usually money, must be
identified. And then there is
luck and time. Luck is prep-
aration that meets opportu-
nity. Change 4 real change
4 will take time. Americans
are famous for perseverance,
not so for patience. We must
insist on leadership that
will provide a model for the
changes that are needed.
In the end, we have no
choice but to pursue a police
reform solution that is not
only neat and plausible but,
most important, right.
Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and
are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.