Appeal Tribune Wednesday, October 25, 2017 3B
Marion County DA reflects on career
WHITNEY M. WOODWORTH
STATESMAN JOURNAL
When Marion County District Attor-
ney Walt Beglau first took office in 2004,
a methamphetamine epidemic was grip-
ping the nation, the Great Recession was
still a few years away, as was the first
iPhone.
Marion County had 37,000 fewer peo-
ple. Facebook had just launched.
And, Beglau joked, he had a lot more
hair.
After 13 years in office, Beglau re-
cently announced he would not seek re-
election in 2018. Instead, he has thrown
his support behind Paige Clarkson, one
of his senior deputy district attorneys.
"It's been really rewarding, and hope-
fully, I've served the community well,"
he said, adding that he has "boundless
hope" for the office.
Belgau moved from Washington state
to Salem in 1986 to attend Willamette
University's law school. He and his wife
Helen Cooper, an assistant U.S. attorney,
raised their son and daughter in South
Salem, where the couple still lives.
Beglau recently sat down with the
Statesman Journal to reflect on his ten-
ure. His comments have been edited for
length and clarity:
Why did the thrice-elected prosecu-
tor choose to step aside?
"I've always felt that ... there would
come a point in time where I would feel
like I should move on," Beglau said. "I'm
starting to feel that."
After more than a decade in office,
now seems like the right time to let new
leadership take the wheel.
How did he come to be Marion
County district attorney?
Beglau joined the district attorney's
office in 1988 as a law clerk while he at-
tended Willamette University College of
Law. He graduated the next year and
eventually became a prosecutor, han-
dling cases ranging from child abuse and
murder to misdemeanors and property
crime.
When former Marion County District
Attorney Dale Penn left office in 2004, he
named Beglau as his successor, much to
the relief of his colleagues, according to
a 2004 Statesman Journal article, which
described Beglau as an even-tempered,
respected office "nice guy."
He began his time as district attorney
wanting to focus on violent crimes, espe-
cially child abuse and domestic violence.
He also sought to fight the explosion in
methamphetamine production, distribu-
tion, and addiction in the community.
What cases stand out from his time
as a prosecutor?
He said it's tempting to cite headline-
grabbing murder cases as the most trag-
ic, but as he's learned as a prosecutor,
there's tragedy everywhere. Sometimes
the lesser known cases can radically
change someone's life.
A misdemeanor child neglect case
helped him realize how much metham-
phetamine was destroying the communi-
ty. An addicted mother had abandoned
her young girl alone in a motel room to go
get drugs.
"It was one of those watershed mo-
ments, where you recognize: we got
something so evil it will cause a mother
to abandon her child," Beglau said. "So
from that point forward ... those years of
dealing with methamphetamine, the
meth strike force, homegrown labs and
kids being taken into care, all that for me
was set in motion by a misdemeanor."
What accomplishments have been
most important?
Beglau said he's proud to have led the
office as it refocused to address mental
health, addiction and child abuse.
Since adding an "aid and assist" prose-
cutor in January to help defendants with
mental illness get the right kind of treat-
ment, the number of people being held
for aid and assist at the Oregon State
Hospital declined from more than 30 to
10.
Adding the position wasn't only about
getting people out of the state hospital,
he said, it was about getting people the
right kind of treatment with the right
kind of community support.
"Community" is a reoccurring theme
with Belgau. Big changes like charging
possession-level drug offenders with
misdemeanors instead of felonies and
helping those experiencing mental
health crisis require collaboration
among law enforcement, prosecutors,
health officials, volunteers, and civil-
ians.
Simply not charging drug offenders
with a felony won't change much, he said.
But getting those addicted to drugs into
mandatory treatment and connected
with the community will.
What difficulties arose during his
tenure?
The meth epidemic was just one of the
difficult issues that arose during his ten-
ure as district attorney.
A man crashed his pickup into the
Marion County Courthouse and set sev-
eral fires, displacing 200 workers and
closing the courthouse for months while
it underwent $13 million in repairs.
Repairs to Courthouse Square also
left his office in limbo. And a wave of her-
oin and opioid addiction hit the area.
The Woodburn bombing case drew
national attention as the area mourned
two fallen police officers. The 2008
bombing at the West Coast Bank in
Woodburn killed an Oregon State Police
trooper and Woodburn police captain
and maimed the Woodburn police chief.
The ensuing investigation led to the
arrest of Bruce Turnidge and his son
Joshua Turnidge. The Turnidges' trial
lasted almost two months and attracted
massive public attention. Both were
found guilty, sentenced to death and re-
main on death row due to the state's on-
going moratorium on executions.
"That was probably one of the most
difficult and tragic experiences our
community has ever been through," Be-
glau said.
Why are district attorneys impor-
tant?
District attorneys play a major role in
making sure justice is served and issues
like police-involved shootings are trans-
parent. He's worked on setting public
safety policy with the Oregon Criminal
Justice Commission and advocated for
issues before the Legislature.
Decision-making is a vital part of
leading the district attorney's office.
He's been tasked with hiring new prose-
cutors and deciding whether to seek the
death penalty in nearly 25 aggravated
murder cases.
"It's been a rewarding career, and 'do-
ing the right thing' has always been our
motto," Beglau said. "That needs to be
protected and preserved for whoever is
privileged of being in this position."
What comes next?
Beglau's term won't end until his suc-
cessor is sworn in January 2019.
He said he's not sure what the future
will bring for him. When asked about
whether he would seek another public
office, he replied that he wasn't sure.
"There are no plans yet," he said. "No
second act has been designed."
For questions, comments and news
tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth
at
wmwoodwort@statesmanjour-
nal.com, call 503-399-6884 or follow on
Twitter @wmwoodworth
Parents can help teenage drivers stay focused on road
NIKKI COLEMAN
SPECIAL TO THE APPEAL TRIBUNE
Teen drivers in Oregon face several
challenges this time of year. Fog, slick
road conditions, and it’s getting dark ear-
lier each evening. Add distractions like
talking to passengers or texting to the
mix, and driving can end in tragedy.
Since Oregon’s tough new distracted
driving law kicked in October 1st, par-
ents should take this opportunity to talk
with young drivers about distracted
driving and perhaps look at their own
habits.
A driver’s license is a rite of passage
into adulthood for many teens. However,
they’re inexperienced, and not as re-
sponsible with cars as adults might be.
There are numerous dangers to consid-
er, from speed to alcohol, but helping
teens avoid distractions while they’re in
the driver’s seat is a major concern.
Many experts say distracted driving
among teenagers is an “epidemic” and
sobering statistics back them up. First,
nearly half of all teens will be involved in
a traffic accident before they graduate
high school according to the National
Safety Council.
Over the past five years, 56 Orego-
nians died and hundreds of others suf-
fered serious injuries in traffic acci-
dents involving teen drivers according
to the Oregon Department of
Transportation. AAA's Foundation for
Traffic Safety discovered that distrac-
tions such as using smartphones and
chatting with passengers while driving
are linked to almost six out of ten teen
crashes.
Distracted driving means anything
that diverts the driver’s attention off the
road. A study by Oregon State Univer-
sity of young inexperienced drivers re-
ported that glancing away from the road
for two seconds or longer can increase
the accident risk up to 24 times.
Besides smartphones, other distrac-
tions are fairly low-tech. Interacting
with passengers, adjusting climate con-
trols, fumbling for things in a glove box,
applying make-up, eating or drinking,
and looking at something on the side of
the road can all sidetrack a driver’s con-
centration.
A 2017 survey of high schoolers by
Students Against Destructive Decisions
and Liberty Mutual found 71% of seniors
use a phone while driving.
Young drivers may think it’s okay to
use their phones while driving because
their friends do the same thing. Grow-
nups have also become dependent on
their phones.
The message for teen drivers? What-
ever is happening on the phone is not
worth risking your life or the lives of oth-
ers. Leading researchers agree, parents
are the number one influence on teen
driving behavior. Here are a few sugges-
tions for parents to help drive the mes-
sage home:
Communication is a two-way
street: It’s important not to lecture but
give teens a chance to share concerns
about driving. Start the conversation
about distracted driving even before
children reach driving age.
Lead by example: Parents should be
good role models, demonstrating safe
driving practices.
Ride-along: Teens benefit when par-
ents ride along, coaching teens through
various challenges and offering advice
to adjust driving habits. Parents should
let their teens drive if they’re going
somewhere together and suggest helpful
driving tips.
Rules of the road: Establish clear
rules, such as no cellphones. If teens
need to take their smartphone in the car,
ask them to turn it off and make it inac-
cessible while driving. Families can
draft a parent-teen driving contract to
support distraction-free driving rules.
The agreement should outline conse-
quences for breaking the rules and
should be displayed near the family car
keys or on the refrigerator.
Accountability with technology:
There are several apps to track driving
habits based on a teen’s phone usage. Us-
ing positive incentives to drive changes
in behavior, these apps often reward
points for distraction-free trips.
Another motivation for teens to pay
attention to the road is Oregon’s new law,
making it illegal to drive while holding
any kind of electronic gadget. This rule
comes with a $1,000 maximum fine for
first-time offenders. Anyone under 18
can’t even use hands-free devices and
DMV could take away their driving
privileges for certain violations.
So, for parents who have teens driv-
ing into the next chapter of their lives –
don’t be surprised if they pull over and
send you a text that says TTYL (Talk To
You Later) the next time you need to
reach them in the car!
Nikki Coleman of Tualatin is Oregon
Connections Academy Drivers Educa-
tion Instructor, Health and Physical
Education, and Student Government.
She can be reached through the school at
www.OregonConnectionsAcademy.com
or by calling (800) 382-6010.
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