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3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2017 Seaside: Public Legislative lawyer claims Richardson hearing Sept. 13 lacks authority to change petition rules Continued from Page 1A projects, with a maximum indebtedness of $68.5 mil- lion. The plan has a duration of 25 years. City data indicated the prior urban renewal area’s assessed value grew at 5 per- cent annually from 2008 to 2014, even during the reces- sion, consultant Elaine How- ard wrote in a report Monday. The city’s past urban renewal programs helped provide financing for The Turnaround and Prom, the city’s sewage plant, 12th Avenue improvements and construction of a new library. The urban renewal dis- trict could provide up to $45 million in funds for improve- ments to four bridges vulner- able to tsunamis, on Avenue A, G, S and U. Other projects could bring street and infra- structure improvements to the city’s south end, business assistance, property acquisi- tion and workforce housing. Priorities are determined by the Seaside Improvement Commission and may change over time, Howard wrote. If new projects are proposed, they must be added to the plan through an amendment in a public meeting at the improvement commission. Forestland a concern The elimination of the Weyerhaeuser property from the plan came after a City Council hearing ear- lier this month in which res- idents urged councilors to reconsider. Members of the Oregon Coast Alliance disputed find- ings that the county-zoned parcel owned by Weyerhae- user is blighted. “This urban renewal plan seems to be poorly designed, very conclusory and many questions have not been answered, including, but not limited to, why is 32 acres included since a forest par- cel cannot be blighted?” Ore- gon Coast Alliance Land Use Director Cameron La Fol- lette said after the meeting. “A great deal more needs to be done to make sure it is consistent with the Seaside comprehensive plan, and right now it is not.” This theme was repeated during Monday’s public comment period before city councilors addressed the concern by eliminating the property from the proposal. They also sought to calm fears of rising property taxes, use of eminent domain and to distinguish the plan from expansion of the urban growth boundary, a separate process based on population projections and other demo- graphic factors. “Hopefully a lot of those concerns were allayed, and people understand this is not an increased tax on homes,” Councilor Randy Frank said. Councilors also consid- ered an amendment clari- fying the plan’s water and sewer system policies. “It is not new language,” Winstanley said. “It is lan- guage that is intended to clar- ify. You’re not adding any- thing new to the plan.” Unanimous approval The City Council unani- mously voted to remove the Weyerhaeuser property from the urban renewal district, along with the new verbiage. The vote was followed by unanimous adoption of the ordinance approving the plan. The elimination of the Weyerhaeuser property won’t impact the building of the new Seaside School Dis- trict campus, Winstanley said after the meeting. “The ques- tion is: ‘Do we have to have this parcel in?’ And I said I couldn’t identify any partic- ular project that would be affected.” The Clatsop County Board of Commissioners, which held a public hearing on the urban renewal plan in July, meets Sept. 13 to con- sider the city’s request. If approval is granted, urban renewal district boundaries would be frozen and the land would be designated as a tax- ing district, possibly as early as October. “As the assessed value grows, the increment starts to build up,” Winstanley said. Rules meant to combat fraud By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — Secretary of State Dennis Richardson may lack the authority to change rules he has proposed for col- lecting initiative petition signa- tures in Oregon, according to a preliminary review by the Leg- islature’s lawyers. Richardson, a Republican, wants to allow petitioners to gather signatures while an offi- cial ballot title is still being drafted or remains in dispute. The ballot title is intended to be a neutral summary of what the initiative does. Richardson says his inten- tion is to stop opponents of an initiative from delaying signa- ture gathering by filing a legal challenge of a ballot title’s wording. “The reason the secre- tary has proposed this rule is to empower grassroots activ- ists and improve the demo- cratic process,” said Steve Elz- inga, governmental and legal liminary opinion that the pro- affairs director in the Secretary posed change may be outside of State’s Office. “It’s unfortu- the secretary of state’s juris- nate that the coalition of groups diction, because it would go currently in power are oppos- against “legislative policy ing changes that will empower choice” on the signature gath- ering process. the people of Oregon.” The secretary of state’s Critics say such changes would reverse restrictions that rule-making authority is lim- the Legislature and Richard- ited to administering legisla- son’s predecessors put in place tively enacted laws and pol- in the past several years to icies and does not grant the secretary “author- combat signature fraud ity to adopt adminis- by paid petitioners. trative rules that alter “The idea … was legislative policy you don’t want peo- determinations,” Gil- ple to gather signa- bert wrote. tures without a neu- Elzinga said he is tral title because that still reviewing Gil- could potentially mis- Dennis bert’s analysis. How- lead the voters,” said state Rep. Dan Ray- Richardson ever, Elzinga, Rich- ardson and Elections field, D-Corvallis. Rayfield, who is a lawyer, Director Steve Trout, who are requested the opinion from all lawyers, and two outside Legislative Counsel on the pro- lawyers reviewed state law and concluded the secretary of posed rule change. Richardson said his inten- state has authority to change tion is that petitioners would the rule. The two outside lawyers have to show voters the full text of their initiative in place were Dan Meek of the Ore- gon Independent Party and of the official ballot title. Deputy Legislative Coun- Eric Winters, who champions sel Dan Gilbert issued a pre- conservative causes. Both men Hagnas: Case a quarter century in the making Continued from Page 1A “It’s just an accusation. It may be true. It may not be true,” Clatsop County District Attorney Josh Marquis said. “There’s a process that’s often maddening for victims to go through, but they have to go through it.” Meanwhile, Hagnas con- tinued to foster his reputa- tion through volunteer work and by handing out candy to children. He was particularly known for helping to clean up the much-maligned Ocean View Cemetery, and many referred to him as the “candy man.” Ten years after the 2005 report, Hagnas allegedly com- mitted five more sex crimes against two other girls under 13 years old. Those acts were allegedly committed on ceme- tery grounds. The new crimes were reported in fall 2015. The reports from different sources, though separated by a decade, strengthened the case. “Having the two cases sup- port each other like that really bolsters each case,” Clatsop County Sheriff’s Detective Ryan Humphrey said. But police still had work to do. For the next year and a half, police continued to talk to witnesses and alleged vic- tims. Because of the lengthy process that had led to nothing at that point, those involved in reporting the crimes in 2005 were skeptical. Much of that time was spent repairing relationships. “It can be difficult some- times when they don’t trust law enforcement’s ability to do anything,” Humphrey said. Families of the victims, who were friends with Hag- nas, were aware of the allega- tions and able to keep the chil- dren away from him. Because he was no longer viewed as a danger to the alleged victims and due to the need to mend relationships, other cases with higher risks for danger to vic- tims took priority. “It’s kind of a slow pro- cess,” Humphrey said. “Unfortunately that’s just a judgment call that I have to make.” Humphrey was finally able to submit the case to the Dis- trict Attorney’s Office for review about a month ago, leading to last week’s indict- ment and arrest. When Marquis spoke at Hagnas’ arraignment Monday, it marked the beginning of a case a quarter century in the making. Hagnas’ volunteer work and generosity will be largely irrelevant in court pro- ceedings. Instead, the District Attorney’s Office will build a case based on the alleged con- tinuation of Hagnas’ dark past life. “Your honor,” Marquis said, “Mr. Hagnas has a long, concerning history.” P SHEE L LOCA ACLU: Marquis says reforms go too far Glastonbury Queen Size Sets Pillow Top $ 999 2014 14 - 2017 17 WOMEN’S CHOICE AW AWARD ® AMERICA’S MOST RECOMMENDED Individually wrapped coils with luxury cooling comfort Continued from Page 1A $ “Too many elected dis- trict attorneys are unwilling to change,” said the voice- over. “It’s time we hold them accountable.” Clatsop County District Attorney Josh Marquis calls the campaign a misleading effort aided by “out of state special interests” in both the left and the right. He noted that the ACLU announcement name-drops President Donald Trump, who has no connection to Oregon district attorneys, calling it a “sleazy tactic.” The multiyear ACLU cam- paign, conducted in partner- ship with the liberal advocacy group The Bus Project, is part of a larger national effort spear- headed by the Open Philan- thropy Project, a group funded in part by Dustin Moskovitz, a Facebook co-founder. The project aims to encourage lib- eral candidates to run for dis- trict attorney while “reducing the degree of deference that legislators and media outlets give to prosecutors’ positions on criminal justice reform issues.” A similar campaign was recently unveiled in California, called Meet Your DA. The ACLU of Oregon received $145,000 in seed money from the Open Philan- thropy Project in March to sup- port its local efforts. The cam- paign has hired director Daniel Lewkow, formerly a political director for Common Cause Oregon, to staff it. Rogers said the ACLU is not directly engaging in elec- tions, but he understands that other groups are recruiting candidates. He said a major focus of the campaign will be to highlight how the Ore- gon District Attorneys Associ- ation has obstructed criminal justice reforms in Salem that have been advocates of less restrictive policies that support grassroots democracy efforts. The secretary of state did not seek an opinion from the Attorney General’s Office, Elz- inga said. “Whenever we sent a request to the attorney general, they bill us for their time so when there is something clear we have legal authority, we don’t send (a request),” he said. More than 20 people com- mented on the proposed rule change Friday. Another 80 comments have come in via email, Elzinga said. Oregonians may submit comments on the proposed rule change until Sept. 14, after which Richardson can for- mally adopt it. Rayfield said there is inter- est in challenging the rule in court if it moves forward, but opponents of the change are hopeful their formal comments will help Richardson “see the light.” The Capital Bureau is a col- laboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. $ Mattress • Pillow • Box Spring Plush 899 Firm 899 Add this QUEEN MOTION BASE to any one of these 9 Queen Sets for only Dacosta Queen Size Sets Individually wrapped coils with luxury cooling comfort Pillow Top $ 1599 $ seek to reduce the use of prison time, increase racial profil- ing reporting and publicize the inner workings of grand juries that prosecutors use to charge crimes. The association is “the pri- mary roadblock to moving criminal justice reform at the Legislature and also at the local level,” Rogers said. “We’ve got this powerful set of elected leaders who have been flying under the radar of the general public. So, they have high lev- els of job security and low lev- els of accountability. That’s a bad combination for justice.” Clackamas District Attor- ney John Foote spearheaded the district attorneys’ research into the justice system. He said criminal justice data shows Oregon has embraced a “mid- dle-of-the-road approach.” “This is not the ACLU we grew up with,” Foote added. “This is a political action com- mittee masquerading as a nonprofit.” Marquis, for his part, says recent reforms go too far in moving away from account- ability for criminals, while prosecutors remain account- able. “I report to voters. I have seven times since 1994. Who does the ACLU ‘report to?’” Marquis said. Of course, even certified nonprofits can engage in voter education without crossing a line of legal propriety by get- ting active in partisan or can- didate elections. District attor- ney elections are nonpartisan by definition. Former Multnomah County deputy prosecutor Chuck French says of the new ACLU campaign, “I think it’s fine. 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