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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2017
NEW LEGISLATION
State lawmakers approved legislation this year
to lessen prison sentences for drug and property
crimes.
• House Bill 3078: Intended to slow the spike of
prison use among women and avoid opening anoth-
er women’s prison.
– Lowers the presumptive prison sentences for
theft and identity theft to 13 months, down from 18
months.
– Expands the short-term transitional leave program
for prison inmates to 120 days, up from 90 days.
– Creates the Family Sentencing Alternative Pilot
Program aimed at women with children.
– Devotes $7 million in grants to counties with down-
ward departure prison diversion programs.
• House Bill 2355: Designed to limit racial profiling
by police and the racial disparities among people
convicted of drug crimes.
– Requires the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission
to develop a method for law enforcement to record
data on pedestrian and traffic stops.
– Lowers the first-time penalty for possession of
small amounts of heroin, methamphetamine and
other illegal drugs from a felony to a misdemeanor.
Oregon Department of Corrections
Santiam Correctional Institution in Salem. Oregon will
spend another $40 million over the next two years on
incentives to counties to reduce prison use.
Prison use: County’s
60-bed jail in Astoria is
chronically overcrowded
Continued from Page 1A
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“I honestly believe we
are investing way too much
money in our prison system,
and we’re not investing in
people anymore,” said state
Rep. Tawna Sanchez, D-Port-
land, one of the chief spon-
sors of the bill approved by
the Legislature to reduce theft
and identity theft sentences
and expand short-term tran-
sitional leave. “Sadly enough,
we have a greater divide,
every single day, between
the rich and the poor. And the
investment in human beings
— that actual human capital
— is decreasing.”
• Read the bills at http://bit.
ly/2uyDh61 and http://bit.
ly/2v9fkOR
Slow the spike
The bill, awaiting Gov.
Kate Brown’s signature,
would lower presumptive
prison sentences for theft and
identity theft to 13 months,
down from 18 months. Law-
makers hope the change,
along with an alternative sen-
tencing pilot program aimed
at women offenders with chil-
dren, will slow the spike in
prison use among women and
help avoid opening a second
women’s prison.
Under the bill, prison-
ers would also be eligible for
short-term transitional leave
120 days before their sched-
uled release dates, up from 90
days.
Marquis, in an email, char-
acterized the bill as “hocking
a huge loogie into the face of
Oregon’s voters” who passed
Measure 57 in 2008. The
measure, a compromise sup-
ported by Marquis and other
district attorneys, increased
prison sentences for drug
and property crimes. It was
an alternative to a competing
measure that would have set
mandatory minimum prison
sentences, like the state does
for convictions for violent
crimes.
Marquis said state law-
makers have whittled away
at Measure 57, undermining
voter intent. The district attor-
ney also stresses that recid-
ivism — people who com-
mit new crimes after they are
released from prison — still
hovers around 40 percent.
“If all this ‘hug-a-thug’ is
working so well, why is recid-
ivism so bad?” Marquis asks.
Another bill passed by
the Legislature is intended
to address racial profi ling by
police and the racial dispar-
ities in convictions for drug
crimes. The bill would down-
grade the fi rst-time posses-
sion of small amounts of
heroin, meth and other ille-
gal drugs from a felony to a
misdemeanor.
Marquis predicts that
relaxing the penalties for drug
possession will weaken the
incentive for people to choose
drug court — a path that pro-
motes treatment — since they
will no longer be facing a fel-
ony. The district attorney said
the bill is like “sending up the
Parks: ‘Clearly, there’s a lot more to go’
“I feel very good about it,”
LaMear said. “I think that we
balanced the raising of funds
between the tourists and our
citizens.”
But, she said, “With the
voluntary donation, we need to
explain to them why the parks
are costing so much more.”
Continued from Page 1A
provide a measure of stabil-
ity for the parks department.
Since it is uncertain how much
money will come in through
donations, City Manager Brett
Estes recommended holding
off on bringing back parks pro-
grams cancel ed this year.
The City C ouncil’s decision
was unanimous, though Coun-
cilor Cindy Price was reluctant
to put the $3 parks fee aside.
She asked the council to con-
sider putting the fee in place for
at least a year and then move
toward voluntary donations.
The others were not convinced.
Councilor Tom Brown-
son was concerned about the
extra work and money it would
take to impose and collect
the parks fee; Mayor Arline
LaMear and Councilor Zetty
Nemlowill opposed it outright.
Councilor Bruce Jones, who
had previously supported the
idea of the fee, said he would
rather see residents give money
voluntarily.
Challenges
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Seating was at capacity at Monday’s Astoria City Coun-
cil meeting as residents crowded the chambers to hear
whether fees and taxes would be increased to finance
park operations and maintenance.
look at the best way to allow
citizens to donate.
“I think it’s a really good
step forward,” said Angela
Cosby, the director of the Parks
and Recreation Department.
She feels the department can
begin to implement a p arks
m aster p lan fi nalized last year.
She added, “Clearly, there’s a
lot more to go.”
Standing room only
The standing-room only
crowd spilling into the hall
and conference rooms outside
council chambers was divided
in its opinion of the parks fee,
but nearly unanimous in its
support of parks. Even those
who said they were against the
fee indicated they would hap-
pily donate money.
Since the ordinance was
only tabled, it could be brought
back up again if the City C oun-
cil believes voluntary dona-
tions will not be enough. For
now, Estes and city staff will
Concerns
“I have concerns,” Price
said afterward , “but I also have
faith in our community. … I
still think a $3 fee is a better
way to go. It’s budgetable, it’s
equitable.”
Parks and Recreation Board
President Norma Hernandez
shared Price’s reservations.
“I’m a little bit disap-
pointed,” she said. The future
of parks remains uncertain
until there is a dedicated fund-
ing source in place, she and
Price said.
But, Hernandez added, the
council’s decisions Monday
are “baby steps” in the right
direction.
“We have been too long
dealing with this,” she said.
“It’s too long.”
Up until the discussion
and vote Monday, Nemlow-
ill had thought she was alone
in opposing the parks fee. She
supported the idea of voluntary
donations, but argued Mon-
day and at past meetings that
the city shouldn’t impose a
fee on water bills unless cus-
tomers were receiving a bene-
fi t directly related to that utility.
Two people, both the own-
ers of bed and breakfasts,
spoke against an increase to
the lodging tax. They said the
town relies on tourism and the
increase, coupled with a state
tax, would actually bring local
rates up to over 12 percent.
There was little opposition to
the tax increase otherwise.
In the past 40 years, the
parks department has added 42
parks to a long list of respon-
sibilities that include numer-
ous programs as well as run-
ning the Aquatic Center and
maintaining the Ocean View
C emetery in Warrenton. Staff-
ing and funding levels have
not kept pace. Though Cosby
and her predecessor brought
in more revenue through pro-
grams and services, the money
has not been enough to keep up
with rising costs and increasing
responsibilities.
For the p ast six months,
City C ouncil and city staff
have examined a number of
long- and short-term funding
options, including the possi-
ble sale of park lands and the
fee and tax items on the table
Monday.
Echoing a comment from
another Astoria resident, Jones
said the city and council need to
take a hard look at how the sit-
uation came about and exam-
ine where the parks department
could be more effi cient.
“We really need to look at
how this happened and how
we avoid this happening in
the future,” Jones said, adding,
“We don’t want to be back here
in two years having the same
conversation.”
• See how the $40.1 million
would be divided between
counties at http://bit.ly/2v7zJoj
white fl ag in surrender to the
two most insidious and dan-
gerous drugs in our society —
meth and heroin.”
County strategy
The Daily Astorian
reported in March that Clat-
sop County was among the
top fi ve in prison use for drug
and property crimes above
a state baseline created by
the Oregon Criminal Justice
Commission to track justice
reinvestment.
Judge Paula Brownhill,
the presiding judge of the Cir-
cuit Court, formed a work
group to examine some of the
factors that contribute to the
county’s prison use. The work
group is made up of Brown-
hill, Marquis, Judge Dawn
McIntosh, Lt. Matt Phillips
at the county jail, trial court
administrator Lee Merrill,
and defense attorney Kirk
Wintermute.
Judge Brownhill said in an
email that the work group is
developing procedures for a
new pretrial release program,
which could take effect in
September. “When we fi nish
pretrial release, we’ll decide if
there is any need for the work
group to continue,” she said.
Lt. Phillips, in an email,
explained that the pretrial
release program is being
designed to help the Sher-
iff’s Offi ce better manage
the inmate population at the
county jail and provide mon-
itoring of the offenders who
are released.
The county’s 60-bed jail
in Astoria is chronically over-
crowded. Often, as many as
70 percent of inmates at the
jail are awaiting trial. One
of the concepts behind jus-
tice reinvestment is for coun-
ties to supervise more offend-
ers locally, but that is diffi cult
when the jail is constantly at
capacity.
County commissioners
authorized the Parole and
Probation Division to add a
specialist and a corrections
deputy for the pretrial release
and alternative custody pro-
gram using justice reinvest-
ment and state grant-in-aid
money.
“The pretrial release pro-
gram will evaluate arrest-
ees’ risk to the community
and make recommendations
to the court,” Phillips said.
“Risk and the current charge
the arrestee is facing will
largely determine the level
of monitoring the individ-
ual will receive while on pre-
trial release. Some individu-
als will be identifi ed as being
too great a risk to the commu-
nity for release and will stay
in custody.”
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
The needle-exchange program coming to Clatsop County in August would be the first on the North Coast and would
make the county the ninth in Oregon to establish such a program. The effort began sprouting nationwide 25 years ago.
Needles: ‘I’m sick of having needles in our parks’
Continued from Page 1A
Information about dates and
times will be shared through
social media and word of
mouth among those known to
use syringes. People who par-
ticipate in the exchange also
will receive sharps containers
and nurses will be available to
answer questions. McNickle
said he will direct nurses to
shut down an exchange site if
illegal drugs or drug parapher-
nalia are spotted.
McNickle has been prep-
ping for the exchange program
since he became health direc-
tor in September. “It’s proba-
bly overdue, actually,” he said.
“In the next few years, I see
that we’re going to be on the
forefront.”
Sheriff Tom Bergin and
other skeptics in law enforce-
ment agreed not to actively
attempt to block the pilot pro-
gram, but they made their con-
cerns clear.
“I don’t believe there is a
compromise when it comes
to free needles,” Bergin said.
“I think it’s a ludicrous, feel-
good program.”
Increase in heroin
Advocates for needle
exchange cite increases in her-
oin use nationwide and the
health risks from viruses such
as HIV, syphilis and Hepa-
titi s C, which can be spread
through intravenous drug use .
Since creating completely
drug-free communities is not
realistic , public health person-
nel focus on reducing harm as
much as possible, McNickle
said. One of the sources he
cites is a 2008 study from the
federal Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention that
found that the spread of HIV
from injection drug use had
decreased by 80 percent, par-
tially a result of the more than
200 needle -exchange pro-
grams operating in the country.
The price of a sterile
syringe, about 15 cents, is also
an enormous cost benefi t com-
pared to the hundreds of thou-
sands of dollars spent to treat
HIV infections over the course
of a lifetime, McNickle said.
Representatives
from
Columbia Pacifi c Coordinated
Care Organization and a local
nonprofi t offered their sup-
port for the program during
a work session Wednes-
day with the county Board of
Commissioners.
Needle -exchange programs
began sprouting nationwide
about 25 years ago. Today, the
issue is not as politically con-
tentious as, for example, taking
marijuana off the federal list of
the most dangerous drugs , said
Scott Lee, the board’s chair-
man . The board unanimously
offered its support during the
work session.
“Our goal is encouraging
safe disposal of the needles,”
said Debbie Morrow, a mem-
ber of the Columbia Pacifi c
CCO Board of Directors. “As
a mother, I’m sick of having
needles in our parks.”
Her concerns are not
unique. Warrenton Police
receive calls every couple of
weeks from someone report-
ing a needle in one of the city’s
parks, Police Chief Mathew
Workman said.
“It’s kind of counterintuitive
to provide the tools for drug
users to continue using, but
I am all for this program if it
reduces the number of needles
in our parks,” Workman said.
Kerry Strickland, founder
of Jordan’s Hope f or Recov-
ery, a support group for peo-
ple and families struggling
with drug and alcohol addic-
tion, said the exchange pro-
gram could be a step toward
reducing the stigma of drug
dependency.
“There’s a humanity side
to this program, as well,” said
Strickland, whose son, Jordan,
died from a heroin overdose
in 2015 . “To change the way
we’re looking at this disease
is a huge step in helping solve
the problem. I don’t know any
addicts that want to be where
they are.”
Numerous studies have
revealed that exchange pro-
grams do not encourage addi-
tional drug use, advocates say.
“No one is going to say,
‘Hey, Clatsop County has a
needle -exchange program now.
Let’s use heroin,’” Morrow
said.
‘Hugging and holding’
McNickle spoke to police
chiefs, Clatsop County District
Attorney Josh Marquis and
Sheriff Bergin during the plan-
ning stages of the exchange
program.
Bergin believes tougher
drug sentences are the most
effective option to counter
the spread of diseases through
syringe usage. When drug
users are in jail, he said, they
can receive treatment without
the access to drugs they nor-
mally would have .
“We’ve tried this hug-
ging and holding for the last
20 years and it doesn’t work,”
Bergin said. “It sounds like
we’re being heartless, but
it’s more humane to provide
treatment.”
Marquis added that, while
he saw value in the exchange
program, he is concerned
about a potential snowball
effect. He pointed to safe injec-
tion centers in British Colum-
bia, where users can legally
inject themselves with drugs
in a clean environment, as an
example of a measure he hopes
the county will never adopt.
Public health advocates and
law enforcement offi cials both
acknowledge the existence of
an insurmountable idealogi-
cal barrier . But, at least within
the scope of the pilot program,
the two sides have agreed to
coexist .
“They are good people,”
Bergin said, “They just think
differently from law enforce-
ment. B ut it takes all kinds to
make the world turn.”