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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 15, 2017)
OPINION 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2017 Founded in 1873 DAVID F. PERO, Publisher & Editor JIM VAN NOSTRAND, Managing Editor JEREMY FELDMAN, Circulation Manager DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager CARL EARL, Systems Manager OUR VIEW E ach week we recognize those people and organizations in the community deserving of public praise for the good things they do to make the North Coast a better place to live, and also those who should be called out for their actions. SHOUTOUTS • The more than 50 Clatsop County firefighters who were deployed with Oregon State Fire Marshal Incident Management to the Milli Fire in Sisters, the Chetco Bar Fire in Brookings and the Eagle Creek Fire in Multnomah County through- out late August and early September. A team of 13 firefight- ers at the Milli Fire in Sisters, another team of 14 at the Chetco Fire near Brookings and two teams of 13 and 14 in Eagle Creek have all returned home. According to Knappa Fire Chief Paul Olheiser, who is coordinating the county’s volunteer effort, it marked the first time in Clatsop County history two task forces were sent simultaneously to fight fires around the state. The team deployed to Chetco Bar broke state history for the most days spent on a fire as a part of a conflagration order from the state. Firefighters from Seaside, Gearhart, Olney, Lewis and Clark, Cannon Beach, Warrenton and Knappa fire districts were dis- patched to fires throughout the state. Natalie St. John/EO Media Group Rod Run is a family event and a chance to bond with other car enthusiasts on the Long Beach Peninsula. • Organizers and participants of the 34th annual Rod Run to the End of the World in Ocean Park, Washington, and the Seaside Downtown Development Association’s annual Wheels and Waves event last weekend. Both events attracted throngs of spectators to admire the vintage vehicles. In Ocean Park, more than 800 hot rods, muscle cars and other vehicles made in 1987 or earlier were on display at Beach Barons Wilson Park and participated in cruises around the Long Beach Peninsula. In Seaside, the event showcased more than 200 vehicles that were made in 1965 or earlier and brought out the crowds to see the vehicles parked along Broadway and cruising through town. • Linda Jones, race director organizer of last weekend’s Lower Columbia Hospice Race to the Bar. This year’s event raised nearly $20,000 for the hospice and had 208 participants with ages ranging from 7 to 89 who ran in a 10K race and a 5K race/walk. Although the weather threatened to dampen the event, it cleared an hour before the start and the participants enjoyed a sunset with camaraderie and snacks on the beach after the race concluded. • The Tongue Point Job Corps Center, which recently grad- uated 27 national Job Corps graduates who completed train- ing in their respective trades. Commencement addresses were delivered by state Sen. Betsy Johnson and Clatsop Economic Development Resources Director Kevin Leahy. In the past 12 months, 324 students have graduated with skills ranging from accounting to welding, and of those, 292 are now either working or are continuing their education. CALLOUTS • The Oregon Department of Administrative Services, which a Secretary of State’s audit showed isn’t playing enough of a leadership role in workforce succession planning to ensure continuity and effectiveness in the state’s executive branch. The department is the central administrative agency of state government and is charged with implementing pol- icy and financial decisions made by the governor and the Legislature. Auditors examined workforce succession planning practices at the department and eight Oregon executive branch agencies. They also reviewed state workforce data and prac- tices in other states. The audit was released earlier this week and found that the Department of Administrative Services has not implemented or even developed a state-level succession plan- ning framework. Suggestions? Do you have a Shoutout or Callout you think we should know about? Let us know at news@dailyastorian.com and we’ll make sure to take a look. GUEST COLUMN ACLU’s national campaign demonizes district attorneys By JOSHUA MARQUIS Special to The Daily Astorian T he American Civil Liberties Union began a national cam- paign titled “They Report to You” designed to help elect different people to the office of district attorney across America. The point of the clever and well-de- signed ads is that prosecutors are 1) unknown to their constituents 2) omnipotent in the justice system 3) unaccountable and 4) the gunk that prevents social justice. As with most things, there is a little truth there. In most of the country voters have no idea who their elected DA is. That has not been the case at any time in the almost quarter century I have been the district attorney of Clatsop County. From my first contested race to the many controversies into which I have inserted myself in the ensuing two decades, some voters might not agree with me, but they have never had to look far to find out my viewpoint or engage me in a discussion. What about the other claims? If being DA was such a great job and I have so much power, one would guess people would be chomping at my ankles to wrest the job from me? In another aspect, the ACLU is correct, like judges and congress- people, most people don’t pay enough attention to who is in office. As a colleague says, “the most important person in the justice system is whoever has control over you at a given point … when being arrested it’s the police officer, when charged it is the DA, when being judged it’s your neighbors/jurors, and when being sentenced it’s the judge.” Of course as comedian Chris Rock famously said to avoid being hassled, “Obey the Law!” Most people manage to get through life without stealing their neighbors’ cars, breaking into their houses or molesting their children. The ACLU video claims that a minor shoplifting in 1980 would be “a felony today” — impliedly because of nefarious lobbying by people like me. That is just non- sense. In 1980, it was a felony to steal something worth $150. Today you’d have to steal something worth at least $1,000. In other ads, the ACLU shows a cartoon DA furtively trashing evidence into the garbage. This kind of demonization is Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian David Rogers, the executive director of the ACLU of Oregon, spoke to an audience in Astoria in May. one of things degrading political discourse in America. It’s no better for an august organization like the The measure of a prosecutor is not how well-loved they are by the people they are prosecuting, but by the community and the people who find themselves victims of crime. ACLU to make such claims as it is for the current president to tell outrageous stories he’s told by his core of dedicated zealots. The belief that one possesses the only way to redemption is an extremely danger- ous concept. The district attorney’s job is to represent the people of the state of Oregon in all criminal proceedings. That means making sure people are treated fairly and equally. That certain people, or groups of people are neither indulged or targeted. It means that the relatively scarce resources of the justice system are made to work for justice when the social contract is violated in the worst ways possible — the moles- tation of a child, a drunken driver injuring or killing a passer-by, or, in the worst circumstances, a murder. The measure of a prosecutor is not how well-loved they are by the people they are prosecuting, but by the community and the people who find themselves victims of crime. Often the former find themselves the latter in the course of a short period of time. As my late father was fond of quoting Italian anti-fascist writer Ignazio Silone, “Never make fun of a man in jail.” I have never forgotten that I serve at the pleasure of the voters of Clatsop County. Joshua Marquis is the Clatsop County district attorney. WHERE TO WRITE • U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D): 439 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20515. Phone: 202- 225-0855. Fax 202-225- 9497. District office: 12725 SW Mil- likan Way, Suite 220, Beaverton, OR 97005. Phone: 503-469-6010. Fax 503-326-5066. Web: bonamici.house. gov/ • U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D): 313 Hart Senate Office Building, Wash- ington, D.C. 20510. Phone: 202-224- 3753. Web: www.merkley.senate.gov • U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D): 221 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20510. Phone: 202-224-5244. Web: www.wyden. senate.gov • State Rep. Brad Witt (D): State Capitol, 900 Court Street N.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. N.E., H-481, Salem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-1432. Email: rep.deborah boone@state. or.us District office: P.O. Box 928, Cannon Beach, OR 97110. Phone: 503-986-1432. Web: www.leg.state. or.us/ boone/ • State Sen. Betsy Johnson (D): State Capitol, 900 Court St. N.E., S-314, Salem, OR 97301. Telephone: 503-986-1716. Email: sen.betsy john- son@state.or.us Web: www.betsy- johnson.com District Office: P.O. Box R, Scappoose, OR 97056. Phone: 503-543-4046. Fax: 503-543-5296. Astoria office phone: 503-338-1280. • Port of Astoria: Executive Director, 10 Pier 1 Suite 308, Asto- ria, 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.