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
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“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-
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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.
I don’t agree with their pol-
icies that they might recom-
mend. But a lot of prosecutors
are somehow suggesting that
there’s something unseemly
about an organization run-
ning a political campaign in a
democracy. They’re entitled to
do that.”
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