FROM PAGE ONE
A6 — THE OBSERVER
SHORTAGE
Continued from Page A1
Eastern Oregon attorneys at the
time earned an average salary of
$84,000, while Portland attorneys
were paid $125,000 on average
— or nearly 20% more than the
Oregon average and roughly
50% more than those working
in Eastern Oregon. That $41,000
a year difference means student
loans can be paid off much faster.
And those averages, which
cover all attorneys, still are higher
than the advertised salaries posted
for prosecutors in many Eastern
Oregon counties.
Union County, which has one
open position, offers a starting
salary of just more than $56,000
a year and going up to $92,000
a year based on experience.
Morrow County, which does not
have a deputy district attorney at
the moment, advertises $68,400
per year with the ability to earn
up to an additional $30,000 per
year by doing county and city
work. Umatilla County pays up to
$77,000 for an entry-level deputy
district attorney.
Wallowa County’s open posi-
tion advertises a yearly salary
of just over $52,000 for a newly
minted lawyer. Frolander said the
salary for a prosecutor was raised
recently, but it has yet to attract
any prosecutors to join the team
in Wallowa County. While the
SPIKE
Continued from Page A1
work on,” said Dana Hargunani,
Oregon Health Authority chief
medical officer.
Omicron spreads twice as fast
as the delta variant that swamped
Oregon hospitals and peaked in
September.
Early studies show omicron
more easily infects fully vacci-
nated people compared to ear-
lier versions of COVID-19.
But people who have received
the two-shot Pfizer or Mod-
erna vaccine and also had the
recently added booster shot
are unlikely to suffer the worst
outcomes.
In so-called “breakthrough”
cases, people who have had the
maximum number of shots make
district attorney’s office waits for
applicants, the lack of qualified
staff to prosecute cases means
cases sometimes don’t receive the
attention they deserve.
“There are cases that I have
resolved for less than I wanted to,”
Frolander said, “and there have
been cases I’ve declined to prose-
cute due to resources.”
Frolander also said the coro-
navirus pandemic has created
a traffic jam of cases that has
yet to clear, further impacting
the office’s ability to prosecute
crimes.
“Prosecutors should be able
to make decisions on whether to
pursue a criminal action based on
the merits of the case, rather than
on the resources available,” Car-
penter wrote. “However, that is
exactly the position many pros-
ecutors in Northeastern Oregon
are in at the moment. The lack of
available deputy prosecutors and
the lack of funding to attract the
qualified applicants leave us in
the position of making resource-
based decisions every day.”
Umatilla County District
Attorney Dan Primus said his
office was able to increase the
salary, but he mused that money
isn’t the sole cause of hiring woes
in Eastern Oregon.
“I think that regionally, it plays
a role in what we’re doing. I think
it’s also less desirable to be a pros-
ecutor,” Primus said.
up about 4% of those needing
hospital care and 1% of deaths.
The average age of death for that
group is 81.
Sidelinger said omicron was
a “red alert” for unvaccinated
people, who make up the vast
majority of severe cases requiring
hospitalization, intensive care
unit beds, ventilators and whose
infections prove fatal.
But the severity of omicron
will be largely offset by the sheer
number of people who will be
infected.
“That doesn’t help with the
kind of all-at-once impact on hos-
pital capacity that we’re going to
see here, and hopefully prevent,”
said Peter Graven, the chief med-
ical forecaster for Oregon Health
& Science University.
The unvaccinated who fall
severely ill will require high
SaTuRday, JanuaRy 8, 2022
Soldiering on
Morrow County District
Attorney Justin Nelson is used to
working on holidays or late into
the evening. His phone and laptop
are never too far out of reach,
just in case the sheriff’s office or
the police need a search warrant
reviewed or a suspect charged.
However, he’s not used to
doing it alone.
“When it’s only two, when you
have one gone you definitely feel
it,” Nelson said.
The Morrow County District
Attorney’s Office held on to a full
staff through most of the pan-
demic, unlike Nelson’s colleagues
in Umatilla, Wallowa and Grant
counties. That meant the rolling
backlog of cases caused by the
court shutdowns in 2020 never
had a chance to metastasize into
growing problems, like those felt
in Wallowa County.
“I’m now experiencing what
Mr. Primus has been experi-
encing for quite a bit,” Nelson
said, referring to the Umatilla
County district attorney. “That’s a
unique thing for me to experience
now. We really went through the
COVID-19 thing fully staffed, so I
do think we were in a better posi-
tion than any of the other counties,
because while COVID affected
everybody, we weren’t also
dealing with a staffing shortage at
the same time.”
But Nelson, like district attor-
neys across Northeastern Oregon,
is used to the challenges and
the duty that is asked of them.
He noted that despite working
through every holiday — espe-
cially now with his office short
staffed — his troubles are
eclipsed by the officials and
public he serves.
“Anytime law enforcement is
working, I have to be working,
too,” Nelson said. “If there’s a
single officer out there that might
need to have a search warrant
reviewed, I need to be available.
If it’s a weekend and someone
gets picked up on a warrant, I
need to be available. But I’m
going home at night. I’m with my
family at night. You know, there’s
law enforcement officers out on
the street, and they have it harder
than me. At the end of the day,
I’m a lucky guy.”
And while other coun-
ties have their own version
of a deputy district attorney
shortage, and some noted the
lack of attorneys may make
cases take longer and require
more attention, none said the
lack of lawyers will affect their
ability to prosecute crimes and
defend victims’ rights.
“Our office has worked with a
shortage of attorneys before and
likely will again,” Union County
District Attorney Kelsie McDaniel
said. “We strive to make sure
that the citizens don’t see any dif-
ference in the work coming out
of our office on behalf of Union
County.”
levels of care that will make it
more difficult for already over-
stretched and exhausted medical
personnel to care for people with
heart attacks, strokes, and inju-
ries from vehicle accidents.
Gov. Kate Brown also ordered
the Oregon National Guard to
deploy what Sidelinger called 500
“non-clinically trained” mem-
bers to help relieve hospital staff
around the state whose staff are
depleted by infections among
their own ranks.
Which hospitals will receive
aid from the National Guard
is under consideration and
won’t likely be announced until
Monday, according to Brown
Press Secretary Liz Merah.
Under recent state guidelines
following recommendations by
the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention, anyone vac-
cinated who tests positive for
COVID-19 should isolate for five
days, then wear a mask in all
places for another five days.
The Oregon officials said they
were monitoring states to the
east, where the omicron spike
arrived earlier.
The ability of omicron to
infect vaccinated people has
led to staff shortages in medical
emergency responders, schools,
law enforcement, public transit,
private businesses and govern-
ment agencies.
COVID-19 will take its toll
on the schools, said Colt Gill,
director of the Oregon Depart-
ment of Education.
Keeping children in class-
rooms was the “north star” that
the state was following as closely
as possible.
But the virus is having an
impact on schools that is likely to
rise in coming weeks.
“I’m not saying students and
staff won’t be exposed,” Gill said.
Graven said the forecast
will peak with hospitalizations
30% higher than the peak of the
delta variant at the beginning of
September.
Sidelinger said that he under-
stood people are fatigued by
what are now six waves of the
virus since the pandemic reached
Oregon in February 2020. But
dropping masking, social dis-
tancing or not getting as many
vaccinations are recommended
will only extend the time before
new infections get low enough for
a return to some pre-COVID-19
conditions.
“We’re all tired of the virus,
but the virus is not tired of us,”
he said.
alex Wittwer/EO Media Group, File
Reed West, Union County deputy district attorney, sits in the Union County
Courthouse during arraignments on Tuesday, July 20, 2021.
WHERE WILL
MOMENTUM TAKE YOU?
HOME EQUITY LINE OF CREDIT
Don’t keep those home renovations or that
dream vacation waiting!
hzcu.org/momentum
*OAC. Introductory rate valid for 6 months from the date the loan is booked. After the first 6
months a variable rate will apply, based on the Wall Street Journal prime rate plus a margin and
adjusted quarterly; current rates range from 3.75% - 18.00% APR as of 12/2/21, based on credit
worthiness. Maximum APR = 18%. Borrowers may opt for interest-only payments during the initial
draw period (10 years). Monthly payments are typically lower with the interest-only payment
option; however your principal balance will remain the same until you made additional payments
to the principal. After the draw period, the monthly payment will be calculated to repay your loan
within the remaining 15 years and may adjust quarterly based on the prime rate.
NMLS 407890
With low introductory rates and our NEW
interest-only payment option, our Momentum
HELOC allows you to take advantage of your
home’s equity with low, manageable payments.