OPINION
4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 2015
GUEST COLUMN
Plea negotiation serves a greater good
Founded in 1873
STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher
LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor
BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager
CARL EARL, Systems Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager
DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager
HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager
Are we doomed to unstable
county leadership?
S
cott Somers’ resignation as Clatsop County manager
reveals a startling dissonance. While the county’s cities
and major school districts have enjoyed relative stability in
top management, county government has not.
The startling detail in Kyle
Spurr’s Thursday story on Somers’
departure is that Clatsop County
has had nine top managers in the 15
years of home rule government. The
¿ rst manager, %ill %arrons, served
almost half of that period, seven
years.
$s the Clatsop County %oard of
Commissioners begins the predict-
able “nationwide search” for a new
manager, it is worth reÀ ecting on
what the past can tell us. There is no
consensus on whether Somers was
good or bad for county government.
While commission Chairman Scott
Lee praises Somers, that adulation is
not shared widely in among county
employees or the larger community.
Whatever you think of Somers’
record, the great omission was that
he did not become part of the coun-
ty’s cultural fabric. This was not
his permanent home. Somers is not
alone in that lifestyle. He is what
could be called a À oating municipal
professional who moves from city to
city, never setting down roots.
A large element in county gov-
ernment’s revolving door has been
the commission’s own instability.
While there have been a number of
long-term city councilors in Astoria,
Seaside and Gearhart, the county
commission has had none. Long-
term service brings institutional
memory. It is a good bet that sitting
commissioners have little or no
memory of where home rule came
from or of the miscalculations and
mistakes made by its predecessor
commissions.
County government — except
when it goes disastrously off course
— is generally less top-of-mind
than city governments. Citizens
have a much clearer image of the
city they live in — Astoria and the
rest — than they do of county gov-
ernment — even though it is a large
enterprise with around 200 full-time
employees and a budget of $52.2
million.
The commissioners are the elect-
ed board of directors of this large en-
terprise, and the manager is the hired
executive. Commissioners might
understand that intellectually, but at
times they don’t get it emotionally.
As the toll of departed depart-
ment managers mounted under
Somers, there was a moment when
it appeared that some of the com-
missioners, and Scott Lee especial-
ly, acted as though they were work-
ing for Somers. Collectively, they
lacked the will to openly question
whether the bloodletting was good
for county business.
A wise hiring decision must
begin with the commission it-
self. Unless commissioners have a
shared image of what they want, the
roller coaster ride will continue.
When sediment runs free
R
emoval of the Elwha and Glines
Canyon dams on the Olympic
(Wash.) Peninsula to improve salm-
on migration is revealing in dramatic
terms just how substantially a river
is altered by dams and what happens
when they are removed.
An Aug. 10 story in The New
York Times pictures the restored
Elwha River forming a large, sandy
delta in the Strait of Juan de Fuca
now since dams have been taken out.
This sediment is being carried well
beyond the river’s mouth, recharging
beaches.
“In the ¿ rst two years of the proj-
ect (between 2011 and 2013), ...
about 2.5 million cubic yards of sed-
iment had accumulated in the river
delta. As a result, the beaches there,
long starved of sand, began grow-
ing. The delta expanded hundreds of
yards into the strait and spread more
than half a mile to the east,” the U.S.
Geological Survey reported. Another
1.5 million cubic yards of sediment
have tumbled downstream into the
delta in 2014-15.
Eventually, the Elwha will return
to a natural state in which around
300,000 cubic yards of Olympic
Mountains sediment will be carried
into the strait each year.
It comes as little surprise to be
reminded that Paci¿ c 1orthwest
dams impound not only water, but
also sediment. The Columbia River
is one of the most drastic examples
of this, with a network of enormous
dams keeping sediment out of the
natural hydraulic system and out
of the river’s arti¿ cially enhanced
navigation channel. Of the 600 riv-
er miles between %onneville and the
Canadian border, there are only 47
miles of free-À owing — the rest of
the Columbia consists of slow-mov-
ing puddles of water and a vast mass
of entrapped mud.
Some small fraction of sediment
does still reach the tidally inÀ uenced
part of the Columbia where we live.
In addition, pre-dam sediment shifts
around inside the estuary, necessitat-
ing ongoing dredging to keep chan-
nels open. For the most part, this
dredged sediment has been redepos-
ited outside the waterway on upland
disposal sites or in deep water.
Even in light of the positive
experience on the Elwha, there
is no real discussion of removing
Columbia-Snake dams, which are
much larger and serve a far wid-
er set of interest groups. Even the
Lower Granite Dam on the Snake
River, controversially completed in
1975 and a favorite target of envi-
ronmentalists, is unlikely to be de-
commissioned in an era of western
water shortages and sensitivity over
carbon emissions.
What can and should be inspired
by the Elwha experience is placing
a higher value on making certain
that available sediments are not
wasted. It’s possible sea-level rise
will overwhelm all human efforts
to compensate, but beaches will
have a better chance of surviving
longer if sediments can reach them.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
is beginning to display more inter-
est in keeping sediment within the
beach-building system, for example
by exploring the idea of dispersing
it into fast-À owing portions of the
river after it has been dredged from
places like the Ilwaco, Wash., chan-
nel.
We may never return most Paci¿ c
1orthwest rivers to their natural
conditions. In the Columbia system,
doing so would make the river im-
passible for modern vessels. %ut we
still can learn from the Elwha and
endeavor to make sediment useful
again.
By JOSHUA MARQUIS and
DAWN BUZZARD
For The Daily Astorian
L
ate in July a well-known local man,
Michel Thomas Mitchell, was sen-
tenced after pleading guilty to charges
of attempted sexual abuse in the ¿ rst
degree, bribing a witness and tampering
with a witness. The victim, who was
not identi¿ ed, was under 12 years old
when most of the molestation occurred.
Like the vast majority of criminal
cases of the approximately 1,000 con-
victions that occur annually in Clatsop
County (and elsewhere) the case did
not go to trial but was the result of ne-
gotiation — what is sometimes called a
“plea bargain.”
If cases were not negotiated we’d
need triple the number of prosecutors,
defense attorneys and judges that serve
our county’s justice system. Far from
being some sleazy “deal” (the headline
on the story read “Plea deal reached on
sex abuse allegations”) a plea negotia-
tion trades the certainty of a conviction
for the state, the ¿ nality for the victim,
and a known and usually bargained for
resolution for the defendant. There is
nothing “alleged” about his actions. He
stands convicted of three serious felo-
nies, one of which will require him to
register as a sex offender.
Contrary to an angry letter written
by a friend who also happens to be a
prominent local business owner, Mr.
Mitchell had every opportunity to “tell
his side.” They are generally called tri-
als.
He had a right to remain silent in
court, but now some of his supporters
are trying his case in the court of public
opinion and in that forum he’s chosen
never to tell “his side.”
%ut he had the services of a private-
ly retained and highly skilled defense
attorney who negotiated the best result
possible for his client. The letter, pub-
lished July 31 in The Daily Astorian,
charged that he was “never given a
fair chance to defend himself.” 1oth-
ing could be further from the truth.
His computer had been professional-
ly wiped, he refused to take any tests
Dawn
Buzzard
Josh
Marquis
There are
several
teachable
moments in
this case.
offered that might indicate he did not
commit the acts to which he ultimately
admitted, and he chose to plead guilty
rather than face trial by his peers.
Unfortunately the news story told
readers he entered an “Alford plea,” but
then only later explained it was a guilty
plea.
There are three pleas in the Ameri-
can justice system — not guilty (mean-
ing either the defendant is claiming
innocence or declares the state has in-
suf¿ cient evidence to convict him), “no
contest” in which the defendant does
not contest the evidence against him
and a guilty plea.
The “Alford plea” comes from a
1970 U.S. Supreme Court case where
a murder defendant claimed he only en-
tered the guilty plea because of fear he
might be convicted of something worse
or receive a harsher sentence. The Su-
preme Court held that claiming you
were “really innocent but still pleading
guilty” meant … you were pleading
guilty … period. More recently, in 2006
a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge
held that an Alford guilty plea is a “vari-
ation of an ordinary guilty plea.” The
only difference is that the defendant,
who often has vehemently denied his
guilt to friends and family can claim,
“I didn’t do it, but they’ll convict me
anyway.”
Mr. Mitchell did not receive “60
days of alternative sanctions” in place
of “300 years in prison.” In order to
prevent a young child, who had al-
ready been sexually abused, threatened,
bribed and manipulated, the further
abuse of enduring a trial, our of¿ ce
agreed (with the consent of the child
and her parent) to a sentence that plac-
es Mitchell on supervised probation
as a sex offender for ¿ ve years. He is
required to serve 90 days in jail, 60 of
which can be served on what are called
“alternative sanctions” largely because
as is well-known we have almost no
jail space. %ut more importantly Mr.
Mitchell will be sentenced to 70 months
in prison if his probation is revoked.
There won’t be a further negotiation on
the term and he’ll serve every day of the
almost six years in a state prison if he
À unks probation.
There are several teachable mo-
ments in this case. Child sexual abuse
occurs across all ethnic, socio-econom-
ic, and gender lines. Most “child mo-
lesters” do not look like cartoon ¿ gures,
they resemble your neighbors. This
case no longer involves “allegations”
but proven and admitted facts.
The community should be sup-
portive, as it largely has been, of brave
young women (and men) who have the
courage to come forward and report
when adults in positions of trust vio-
late that trust in a way that sometimes
scars the child for life. To deny that this
occurred in the face of a guilty plea is
simply denial of facts and truth.
1ot everyone accused is guilty, or
maybe not guilty of all the crimes of
which they stand accused, but Oregon
provides some of the best levels of de-
fense, even for those without means
(not the case in this particular instance).
The people who sit on the grand jury
or, ultimately, the trial jury come from
our community and bring the collective
common sense of that community to
bear.
Joshua Marquis is the Clatsop
County district attorney, and Dawn
Buzzard is the senior assistant district
attorney.
The Racing Form, third edition
art is currently unemployed
already 1o. 1 in the “who
could you support” question
and at large.)
(at 62 percent), crucial in a
Meanwhile, over at the
17-member ¿ eld.
GOP ...
WASHI1GTO1 — %oth presiden-
Odds for each? Rubio
Donald Trump: Clear
tial nomination contests having been front-runner. Are you wait-
3-1. %ush and Walker 4-1.
scrambled by recent events — the F%I ing for him to bring himself
Ted Cruz, John Kasich,
taking control of Hillary Clinton’s pri- down? He won’t. He’s im-
Carly Fiorina: The new
vate email server and a raucous, roiling pervious to the gaffe. In fact,
second tier. And rising. Cruz
GOP debate — the third edition of the he has a genius for turning
had a strong debate, estab-
Racing Form is herewith rushed into a gaffe into a talking point,
lishing himself as the most
Charles
convincing
carrier of the
print.
indeed, a rallying cry.
Krauthammer
populist, anti-Washington
Legal disclaimer: This column is for
Since the debate, his
betting purposes only. What follows is numbers have plateaued, and in some meme.
Kasich was engaging and compel-
analysis — scrubbed, as thoroughly as places declined. In 1ew Hampshire,
a Clinton server, of advocacy. (Unless I for example, he’s gone from the mid- ling as the bleeding-heart conservative
simply can’t resist.)
20s to the high teens. And he had a and successful tough-guy governor.
Hillary Clinton: Ever since her di- rough debate, as reÀ ected in the Suffolk 1ot an easy trick.
Fiorina displayed raw talent that sur-
sastrous book-launch performance, I’ve University poll in Iowa taken right af-
thought her both (1) a weak candidate terward, in which, by 55-23, respon- prised everyone who didn’t know her
and (2) the inevitable Democratic nom- dents felt less comfortable with him as — and 6 million watched. Articulate,
knowledgeable and relentlessly com-
inee.
president.
1o longer. She has fallen from
1onetheless, his core support, bative, she took on Clinton, Trump and
her 95-percent barring-an-act-of-God somewhere around 20 percent (plus %arack Obama. %eing in the undercard
perch. The email imbroglio has already or minus a couple), remains as solid as was a stroke of luck. She took the stage
badly damaged her credibility. %ut now that once commanded by Ron Paul and and made it her own.
Odds for the second-tier? 9-1 but
that she’s lost control of the server, there Ross Perot. Which means Trump will
is potential for further, conceivably fa- likely continue to lead until the ¿ eld with high ceilings for each.
%onus Racing Form feature: the
tal, damage. It hinges largely on how whittles down to a handful, at which
successful she was
point 20 percent is no general election.
Conventional wisdom is that the
in erasing the 32,000
longer a plurality.
Current
emails she unilaterally
TeÀ on Don. Sol- GOP is tearing itself apart and headed
deemed private.
id constituency, ¿ xed south. What’s becoming clear, how-
Whatever happens, odds? GOP:
ceiling. Chances of ever, is that the Democrats are equally
she will stay in the 55 percent.
winning his party’s split ideologically — Clinton desper-
race. Clintons nev-
nomination? About the ately moving left as Sanders’ crowds
er quit. %ut if more
same as Sanders win- grow — and increasingly nervous
about her chronic, shall we say, charac-
top-secret information is found, if she ning his.
did destroy work-related emails and if
Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Marco Ru- ter problem.
%oth parties limp into 1ovember
her numbers continue their steady de- bio: Still the top tier. Walker just held
cline, the party might decide it simply his own in the debate. %ush slipped 2016. Current odds? GOP: 55 percent.
And note how thin is the Democrat’s
can’t afford to continue carrying her slightly, appearing somewhat passive
baggage.
and, amazingly, still lacking a good bench. After Clinton, no one, while the
Odds: 1-3.
answer to the “brother’s war” question. GOP stage sports perhaps eight to 10
Bernie Sanders: A less À ighty, more %ut he continues steady with a serious impressive, plausibly presidential ¿ g-
serious Gene McCarthy. Fiery and ge- follow-up foreign policy speech and ures, including (for those who count
nial, Sanders is the perfect protest can- stick-to-his-guns positions on Common such things) two Hispanics, a female
didate. %ut can a 73-year-old dairy-state Core and immigration — not easy giv- former Fortune 500 CEO and an Afri-
can-American brain surgeon.
%rooklynite socialist win? Of course en the current mood of the party.
And one white guy À uent in Span-
not. If Hillary falls, Joe %iden ¿ lls the
Rubio had the best debate perfor-
vacuum. Possibly even John Kerry. mance of the prime-time 10 — À uid, ish. Try engaging %ernie or Hill en es-
(1ote to Dems: The beati¿ ed Jon Stew- passionate, in command. And he was pañol.
By CHARLES
KRAUTHAMMER
The Washington Post Writers Group
Where to write
• U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici
(D): 233 Rayburn HO%, Washing-
ton, D.C., 20515. Phone: 202- 225-
0855. Fax 202-225-9497. District
of¿ ce: 12725 SW Millikan Way,
Suite 220, %eaverton, OR 97005.
Phone: 503-469-6010. Fax 503-
326-5066. Web: bonamici.house.
gov/
• U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D): 313
Hart Senate Of¿ ce %uilding, Wash-
ington, D.C. 20510. Phone: 202-224-
3753. Web: www.merkley.senate.gov
• U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D):
221 Dirksen Senate Of¿ ce %uilding,
Washington, D.C., 20510. Phone: 202-
224-5244. Web: www.wyden.senate.
gov
• State Rep. Brad Witt (D): State
Capitol, 900 Court Street 1.E., H-373,
Salem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-
1431. Web: www.leg.state.or.us/witt/
Email: rep.bradwitt@state.or.us
• State Rep. Deborah Boone (D):
900 Court St. 1.E., H-481, Salem,
OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-1432.
Email: rep.deborah boone@state.or.us
District of¿ ce: P.O. %ox 928, Can-
non %each, OR 97110. Phone: 503-
986-1432. Web: www.leg.state.or.us/
boone/
• State Sen. Betsy Johnson (D):
State Capitol, 900 Court St. 1.E.,
S-314, Salem, OR 97301. Telephone:
503-986-1716. Email: sen.betsy john-
son@state.or.us Web: www.betsyjohn-
son.com District Of¿ ce: P.O. %ox R,
Scappoose, OR 97056. Phone: 503-
543-4046. Fax: 503-543-5296. Astoria
of¿ ce phone: 503-338-1280.
• Port of Astoria: Executive Direc-
tor, 10 Pier 1 Suite 308, Astoria, OR
97103. Phone: 503-741-3300. Email:
admin@portofastoria.com
• Clatsop County Board of Com-
missioners: c/o County Manager, 800
Exchange St., Suite 410, Astoria, OR
97103. Phone: 503-325-1000.