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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017
Police: ‘Essentially, it’s a rolling opening’
Continued from Page 1A
one year later, the department
released him from training.
Statewide trend
The difficulties that Astoria
Police faced in searching for a
new recruit are part of a state-
wide trend.
Eriks Gabliks, director of
the state Department of Pub-
lic Safety Standards and Train-
ing, said that, in Oregon, more
trained and certified officers
are leaving law enforcement
— through retirement, career
changes and other avenues —
than qualified applicants are
entering it.
In January 2016, the train-
ing agency surveyed police
agencies throughout Oregon —
state, counties, cities and Indian
reservations — and discovered
approximately 500 positions
open that month.
The agency trained about
400 new officers last year and
will be adding approximately
160 by spring. But the number
of Oregon’s officers eligible for
retirement will exceed 1,000
over the next two years, Gab-
liks said.
It recently took Sea-
side Police Department two
attempts as well to fill about six
positions, according to Seaside
Police Chief Dave Ham.
Recruitment challenges
A successful recruiting pro-
cess is increasingly rare. “I
would say that we have about
a 50/50 chance every time we
go out at finding a successful
recruit,” Johnston said.
And it usually takes
between a year and 18 months,
from announcing the opening,
to making an offer, to getting an
officer trained as a solo force.
Most applicants don’t survive
background checks and psy-
chological evaluations.
The Astoria Police Depart-
ment has slightly relaxed its
standards on candidates’ his-
tory of marijuana use: Poten-
tial recruits can have used the
drug after it became legal, but
not habitually. And, once hired,
they cannot use it at all. But
other standards remain high
and fixed.
“If we want policing to
move in the direction that I
want it to move in, which is a
very professional endeavor, we
can’t lessen our standards just
because it’s getting harder to
hire,” Johnston said.
Though many police agen-
cies are doubling down on
recruitment efforts, the days
of the large-scale recruitment
have subsided, Gabliks said.
local news,” Gabliks said.
If a person can make an
equivalent living in a job that
“won’t land them on the front
page of every paper in the coun-
try, that’s probably a good thing
to most people that are thinking
about entering the profession,”
Johnston said.
Understaffed
With a 16-officer ceiling,
the Astoria Police Department’s
ability to maintain a complete
roster of available officers —
enough to provide optimum
coverage — has been an inter-
mittent challenge.
‘Our staffing level is our
single most limiting factor.
And when we compare
ourselves to adjacent
agencies, either by
population or by activity, we
are understaffed — and, in
some cases, it’s dramatic.’
Brad Johnston
Astoria police chief, speaking to the Astoria City Council
Apart from law enforce-
ment’s high-risk nature, the
national conversation on polic-
ing — fueled by social media
— may have contributed to
a drop in the profession’s
popularity.
“I think it has discouraged
people who are on the fence,”
Johnston said. “Those that are
committed to a career of ser-
vice are still interested.”
Would-be recruits know
their decisions may draw a lot
of media attention, especially
after deadly force encounters.
“If a police officer shoots
and kills someone because they
have to, within a matter of min-
utes, somebody will have it on
a social media network, and, 5
o’clock that night, it’ll be on the
“Essentially, it’s a rolling
opening,” Johnston said. “With
it taking so long to replace an
officer … if we have a vacancy
every other year, we have a
constant opening.”
The department spends
most of its resources “covering
the clock” — making sure the
department has a minimum of
two officers on duty 24/7.
“Our staffing level is our
single most limiting factor,”
Johnston recently told the City
Council. “And when we com-
pare ourselves to adjacent
agencies, either by population
or by activity, we are under-
staffed — and, in some cases,
it’s dramatic.”
He estimates that, to enjoy
the same number of calls per
officer as the Clatsop County
Sheriff’s Department, Astoria
Police would have to add about
five officers.
During a three-week period
in 2016, the department had
only seven officers to work
patrol. This was due to a knee
surgery, an emergency appen-
dectomy, a scheduled vacation,
one officer out on protected
leave and another in training —
all happening at once.
Overstretched
It was the third time in the
last two years that the 12-per-
son patrol division stood at less
than 50 percent strength. John-
son, Deputy Chief Eric Halv-
erson and detectives worked
extra shifts to fill the gaps,
which meant that other import-
ant work did not get done.
The shortage became so dire
that Johnston and City Man-
ager Brett Estes discussed lim-
iting 24-hour police coverage if
the department lost one more
employee.
“We were talking about it
in concept, but we didn’t get
there,” Johnston said.
Meanwhile, the depart-
ment’s discretionary activities
— outreach events like Coffee
with a Cop and the Citizen’s
Police Academy — are diffi-
cult to pull off with limited per-
sonnel, and drive up overtime
costs.
“We have to bring people in
to participate in those because
we don’t have the staffing to do
it with who’s on duty,” John-
ston said.
With Berry, the department
is in a better position. Clatsop
Community College has rein-
stated its criminal justice pro-
gram, which has historically
been a source of promising
hires, such as Halverson and
Detective Nicole Riley.
However, “our reality right
now is that we’re stretched to
the point where things are going
to fall through the cracks,”
Johnston told the City Council,
“and I’m worried about that.”
PERS: Divided into City Hall: Building
three generations
is ‘cobbled together’
Continued from Page 1A
Some school officials, such
as Cheri Helt, the chairwoman
of the Bend-La Pine School
Board, said that cutting back
on PERS benefits is the only
option in order to prevent lay-
offs and further financial strain
on local governments.
Others, such as Paul Kyllo,
the vice-chairman of the
Salem-Keizer school board,
said that the cuts proposed
in Senate Bills 559 and 560
would worsen districts’ ability
to recruit and retain talented
people for positions that are
already hard to hire for, such
as math and science teachers.
Three generations
Over the years, PERS has
been divided into three gen-
erations, based on date of hire
— Tier 1, Tier 2, and the Ore-
gon Public Service Retirement
Plan.
Detractors say the pro-
posed changes disproportion-
ately affect current employees
— many of whom are on the
Oregon Public Service Retire-
ment Plan — and disincentiv-
ize new employees from enter-
ing public service professions.
Knopp said that accord-
ing to an actuary, the approx-
imate savings should Senate
Bills 559 and 560 be imple-
mented would be $5 billion to
$6 billion.
But Bob Livingston, a
Salem firefighter and presi-
dent of the Oregon State Fire
Fighters Council, said Mon-
day the actuary did not take
into account a significant prec-
edent: that more state workers
than expected retire in years
when the Legislature vows
to take up reforms to the sys-
tem. When that happens, more
employees draw on retirement
benefits.
Some witnesses testifying
against the reforms also advo-
cated for revenue increases.
The state faces two, some-
what interconnected finan-
cial problems: The nearly $1.8
billion shortfall in the budget
that lawmakers must address
by midnight July 9; and the
unfunded liability of PERS.
Personnel costs make up a sig-
nificant chunk of the state’s
costs every two-year budget
cycle.
Business taxes are another
subject legislative committees
are taking up this week, three
months after the failure of
Measure 97, a ballot measure
that would have raised approx-
imately $3 billion per year by
creating a gross sales receipts
tax on certain corporations
with more than $25 million in
annual sales in Oregon. Union
groups publicly advocated in
favor of the measure.
According to legislative
leadership, unions and the
state’s business groups, which
by and large have advocated
in favor of cutting PERS, have
started discussing possible
common ground behind closed
doors.
The Senate Workforce
Committee convenes again
Wednesday to discuss what
Chairwoman Sen. Kathleen
Taylor, D-Portland, calls a con-
troversial topic — refinanc-
ing PERS. The committee will
also discuss several “ideas”
Knopp is working on, none of
which were yet publicly avail-
able Monday evening as legis-
lative concepts or bills.
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
Continued from Page 1A
Among changes sought
were a new entrance, door-
way and storage for police.
Offices would have been
shuffled so building, plan-
ning and police visitors
could access those offices
through separate entrances.
Haystack Rock Awareness
Project offices would have
been moved and the finance
corner completely redone.
The Design Review Board
approved the final stage
of a plan to upgrade win-
dows, doors and exterior at
a December public hearing.
Other options
Grassick laid out the
city’s options after an
inquiry from City Councilor
Nancy McCarthy.
“You’re probably look-
ing at $1.2 million to ren-
ovate this entire building,”
Grassick said. “You’re faced
with about $3.1 million to
$3.5 million to replace it
somewhere else.”
“Somewhere else” could
be the 55-acre South Wind
property, located east of
U.S. Highway 101 almost
entirely outside the tsunami
inundation zone, which was
purchased by the city in
2013 with the goal of hous-
ing an emergency shelter, a
police station, fire station,
school, child care and a food
bank.
Grassick said the pres-
ent Gower Street building,
with its central location, “is
realistically the best place to
stay for now,” although he
fell short of recommending
a new building.
“Until you do something
with the South Wind facil-
ities, you would probably
not rebuild City Hall until
a tsunami takes this one off
the face of the earth,” Gras-
sick said. “If you’re going
to go forward staying here,
let’s renovate this build-
ing and make it livable and
habitable. It’s starting to fall
down around your ears.”
The integrity of the 1940s
structure is fine, Grassick
said at an earlier meeting,
but City Hall would likely
not survive an earthquake
under today’s standards.
The building is “cobbled
together,” he said, with the
exception of the renovated
bathroom and the kitchen.
“The police department
doesn’t have enough room
to basically function. It’s
wholly inadequate for what
they need to do.”
Hazards
Hazards in the build-
ing include heavy storage
in the attic that would crash
down in an earthquake, and
soft sand under the kitchen
floor requiring a redesign of
heating and air-conditioning
units. The northwest cor-
ner of the building is sink-
ing, Grassick said, and the
weight of the ceiling is mov-
ing the building to the west
continually at about a quar-
ter-inch every year.
Grassick said he plans
to meet with City Manager
Brant Kucera, City Planner
Mark Barnes and architect
David Vonada to determine
construction and engineer-
ing estimates.
Those results, Grass-
ick said, would likely be
presented to the council
in a March or April work
session.
Bill: Fashioned after Sen. Wyden’s proposed legislation
Continued from Page 1A
constitutional amendment to
ban public labor unions from
contributing to elected offi-
cials’ campaigns would hold
up against a legal challenge.
The bidder disclosure bill is
fashioned after legislation U.S.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon,
proposed at the federal level.
Brown’s office had no com-
ment on Buehler’s proposals.
“With the exception of
bills pertaining to her legis-
lative priorities, Gov. Brown
rarely indicates her predis-
position to sign or not sign a
bill in advance of it getting to
her desk,” said Chris Pair, the
governor’s interim communi-
cations director. “Before sig-
nature is considered, the gov-
ernor’s legal team reviews
WORLD IN BRIEF
every bill for legal sufficiency
(passes constitutional mus-
ter), and it is imprudent to get
ahead of that process.”
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
AP Photo/Susan Walsh
President Donald Trump passes Joint Chiefs Chairman
Gen. Joseph Dunford, left, and former National Security
Adviser Michael Flynn as he arrives via Air Force One
at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla. Flynn resigned
Monday after getting in the center of controversy.
Associated Press
Flynn, fired once by a president,
now resigns to another
WASHINGTON — Fired by one American commander in
chief for insubordination, Michael Flynn has now delivered his
resignation to another.
President Donald Trump had been weighing the fate of
his national security adviser, a hard-charging, feather-ruffling
retired lieutenant general who just three weeks into the new
administration had put himself in the center of a controversy.
Flynn resigned late Monday.
At issue was Flynn’s contact with Moscow’s ambassador
to the United States. Flynn and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak
appear to have discussed U.S. sanctions late last year, raising
questions about whether he was freelancing on foreign policy
while President Barack Obama was still in office and whether
he misled Trump officials about the calls.
The center of a storm is a familiar place for Flynn. His mili-
tary career ended when Obama dismissed him as defense intel-
ligence chief. Flynn claimed he was pushed out for holding
tougher views than the Obama administration about Islamic
extremism. But a former senior U.S. official who worked with
Flynn said the firing was for insubordination, after the Army
lieutenant general failed to follow guidance from superiors.
Once out of government, he disappeared into the murky
world of mid-level defense contractors and international influ-
ence peddlers. He shocked his former colleagues a little more
than a year later by appearing at a Moscow banquet headlined
by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Given a second chance
by Trump, Flynn, a lifelong if apolitical Democrat, became a
trusted and eager confidant of the Republican candidate, join-
ing anti-Hillary Clinton campaign chants of “Lock Her Up” and
tweeting that “Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL.”
Russian lawmakers mount
fierce defense of Flynn
MOSCOW — Russian lawmakers today mounted a fierce
defense of U.S. President Donald Trump’s former national
security adviser, who resigned following reports that he misled
White House officials about his contacts with Russia.
Michael Flynn resigned Monday night, conceding that he
gave “incomplete information” about his calls with Russia’s
ambassador to the U.S.
A U.S. official told The Associated Press that Flynn was in
frequent contact with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak on the day
the Obama administration imposed sanctions on Russia after
U.S. intelligence reported that Russia had interfered with the
U.S. elections. The Kremlin has confirmed that Flynn has been
in contact with Kislyak but denied that they talked about lift-
ing sanctions.
Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the foreign affairs commit-
tee at the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, said in a post
on Facebook that firing a national security adviser for his con-
tacts with Russia is “not just paranoia but something even worse.”
Kosachev also expressed frustration with the Trump
administration.
Damaged dam system threatens
Northern California towns
OROVILLE, Calif. — A huge Northern California reser-
voir, held in place by a massive dam, has always been central to
the life of the towns around it.
Now the lake that has brought them holiday fireworks and
salmon festivals could bring disaster.
Nearly 200,000 people, who evacuated Sunday over fears
that a damaged spillway at Lake Oroville could fail and unleash
a wall of water, have to stay away indefinitely while officials
race to repair it before more rains arrive Thursday.
Evacuees felt strange on Monday to see their beloved lake
associated with urgent voices on the national news.
“Never in our lives did we think anything like this would
have happened,” said Brannan Ramirez, who has lived in Oro-
ville, a town of about 16,000 people, for about five years.
Trump win on China trademark
raises ethics questions
SHANGHAI — President Donald Trump is poised to
receive something today that he has been trying to get from
China for a decade: trademark rights to his own name. After
suffering rejection after rejection in China’s courts, he saw his
prospects change dramatically after starting his presidential
campaign.
Trump’s late triumph in the fight to wrest back his brand for
construction services could prove to be the first of many intel-
lectual property victories in China during his presidency. Each
win creates value for Trump’s business empire, and ethics ques-
tions about his administration.
At stake are 49 pending trademark applications — all made
during his campaign — and 77 marks already registered under
his own name, most of which will come up for renewal during
his term. The construction-services case also raises the possibil-
ity that the president could claw back control of more than 225
Trump-related marks held or sought by others in China, for an
array of things including Trump toilets, condoms, pacemakers
and even a “Trump International Hotel.”
Ethics lawyers from across the political spectrum say the
trademarks present conflicts of interest for Trump and may vio-
late the emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution, which bars
public servants from accepting anything of value from foreign
governments unless explicitly approved by Congress.
Countries could use Trump’s desire to consolidate control
over his brand to extend — or withhold — favor, especially
a nation such as China where the courts and bureaucracy are
influenced by the ruling Communist Party and by design reflect
the leadership’s political imperatives.