Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 2018)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2018 Local governments OK enterprise zone expansion Pamplin Media Group Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said Wednesday that House Bill 2355 has ‘made significant inroads’ in reduc- ing racial disparities and reducing the number of all Ore- gonians convicted of felonies for minor amounts of drugs. Report: Disparity in drug convictions has declined Early results from new law By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — A disparity in the rate of drug possession con- victions between blacks and whites has declined dramati- cally as a result of an anti-racial profiling law that took effect over a year ago, according to a report by the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission. The new law reduced from felonies to misdemeanors crimes for possessing personal use amounts of six drugs. A state task force earlier found that Oregon blacks were disproportionately being con- victed of drug felonies for hav- ing small amounts. “I am proud to report what appear to be positive signs that this legislation is working as intended,” Oregon Attor- ney General Ellen Rosenblum said in testimony Wednesday. She said the law — House Bill 2355 — “made significant inroads” in reducing racial dis- parities and reducing the num- ber of all Oregonians convicted of felonies for minor amounts of drugs. “This reflects the belief of the majority of our task force that addiction cannot be addressed through punishment alone and that a conviction with the potential to take away a per- son’s employment and housing leaves them poorly situated to overcome that addiction,” she said. The six possession charges reduced to misdemeanors were: • Less than 40 user units of psychedelic mushrooms • Less than 40 pills or units of prescription drug opioids, oxycodone or methadone • Less than 1 gram of heroin • Less than to 1 gram or five pills of ecstasy • Less than 2 grams of cocaine • Less than 2 grams of methamphetamine The report found that the number of drug-related felony convictions decreased by 2,000 in one year, a reduction of about 40 percent. That doesn’t mean they escaped prosecu- tion entirely. Drug-related mis- demeanors in the same time increased from 224 to 1,443. The disparity in drug pos- session convictions between blacks and whites declined by 80 percent, according to the report. In 2016-17, whites accounted for 83 percent of drug possession convictions, even though they make up 85 percent of the population, while blacks accounted for 3.6 per- cent of those convictions while they are 1.9 percent of the pop- ulation. The following year, that fell to 2.9 percent, while the percentage of conviction of whites remained the same. The reduction in convictions has had almost no impact on the prison population because probation was often the punish- ment for even a felony convic- tion. The reduced charge means first-time offenders avoid barri- ers to employment and housing that come with a felony. The legislation disquali- fied individuals with a pre-ex- isting felony of any type and those with two or more misde- meanor convictions from ben- efiting from the reclassifica- tion. Those with at least one prior felony or two prior misde- meanors still face felony prose- cution for even minor amounts of drugs. Members of the Oregon Association Chiefs of Police and Oregon State Sheriffs Association supported that approach because, they said, they wanted to target first-time offenders who were serious about addressing their addic- tion issues. But criminal justice reform advocates, including Bob- bin Singh of the Oregon Jus- tice Resource Center, argued in the past that the disqualifi- cation discriminates against people of color, because they already have a greater rate of conviction. The new law also required the state’s 12 largest police agencies to record race data during traffic and pedestrian stops. The Criminal Justice Commission plans to review that data for trends in racial pro- filing. In the next two years, the rest of the state’s law enforce- ment agencies will also be required to record that data. That work “will allow us a never-before-seen look into the everyday interactions between Oregonians and their law enforcement,” Rosenblum said, and will “provide us an even deeper dive into the mechan- ics, trends and, if present, biases embedded within those interactions.” The Capital Bureau is a col- laboration between EO Media Group, Pamplin Media Group and Salem Reporter. Disasters declared for salmon fisheries along West Coast Associated Press SEATTLE — Federal offi- cials have determined that com- mercial fishery failures occurred for salmon in Washington state, Oregon and California, making those fisheries eligible for fed- eral disaster assistance. U.S. Secretary of Com- merce Wilbur Ross on Tuesday also announced a commercial fishery failure for the sardine fishery in California, but not for the state’s red sea urchin fishery. The governors from Wash- ington state, Oregon and Cal- ifornia and multiple Native American tribes had requested the determinations between July 2016 and last March. Their requests noted unusually warm and poor ocean conditions that affected fish. The disaster determinations make salmon and sardine fish- eries eligible for sowme por- tion of $20 million in National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fishery disas- ter assistance. The Commerce Department is figuring out how to allocate that money to eligi- ble fisheries. WANTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 County backed expansion Wednesday By JACK HEFFERNAN The Daily Astorian Clatsop County has approved expanding the Clatsop Enterprise Zone to include most of the Asto- ria waterfront, representing the final nod needed for the idea. Commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to approve the expansion, fol- lowing Astoria, the Port of Astoria and Warrenton. The expansion will also include portions of downtown Astoria, the Port’s main waterfront, the East Moor- ing Basin and parts of the Youngs Bay waterfront. Astoria rejected the enterprise zone in 2015 over qualms about part- nering with the Port. City councilors reconsidered this year, while excluding hotels, motels and desti- nation resorts from the tax incentive. The shift came after a March presentation from Hyak Maritime CEO Rob- ert Dorn. The enterprise zone will now feature industrial docks at North Tongue Point owned by the tug and barge building com- pany, which plans to develop a maritime repair and fabrica- tion center. The enterprise zone offers three- to five-year tax breaks on improvements from eli- gible development projects. Enterprise zones are intended to attract businesses to areas experiencing economic hardship. expressed concerns about the expansion, citing possible traf- fic issues, a housing crunch and a lack of available workers. “The businesses currently operating in Astoria have not been given the same kind of support to expand and succeed, why are new businesses more deserving?” the letter asked. In other business Wednes- day, commissioners: • Took possession of a fore- ‘The businesses currently operating in Astoria have not been given the same kind of support to expand and succeed, why are new businesses more deserving?’ excerpt from a letter from the Sunset Empire Transportation District board, expressing concerns about the expansion The primary beneficia- ries will be manufacturers and other types of industries that are rare to the area, said Kevin Leahy, executive director of Clatsop Economic Develop- ment Resources. “We just want to show in this discussion that this is a business-friendly community,” Leahy said. In a letter handed to com- missioners, the Sunset Empire Transportation District board closed Jeffers Garden property on G Road about a year ahead of schedule. The property was foreclosed in October, and the owners had two years to keep the property under state law. But officials cited various sanitary and safety issues — including a lack of plumbing, water and electricity on the property that has often shel- tered large amounts of peo- ple — as a reason to take pos- session earlier than expected. After a first-of-its kind hear- ing for the county earlier this month, commissioners directed staff to begin the pro- cess of taking it over. The owner, Scott Wood, has 30 days to vacate the land. • Accepted the deed to the property that holds the now-shuttered North Coast Youth Correctional Facility. The state has owned the land, with an estimated value of $12.1 million, since 1996 and was required to hand the property back to the county after the closure. A $20 million bond in the November election would, if passed, remodel the facility into a new county jail. • Appointed Brittany Bod- way Israel, who owns the Dairy Queen on West Marine Drive, to the county Fair Board. She will serve the remain- der of the term vacated by Paul Mitchell, who resigned ear- lier this year. The term runs through 2019. • Agreed to purchase a roughly $400,000 Gradall excavator for the county Pub- lic Works Department. An excavator is a spe- cialized machine used to dig ditches and perform other functions like debris removal, bridge work and culvert instal- lation. The department has a 15-year-old machine that is experiencing many mechanical failures, wrote Ted McLean, assistant public works director, in an agenda item summary. Commission: Roscoe has raised $4,349 in cash contributions compared to Wev’s $2,835 Continued from Page 1A Mayor Vera Katz’s adminis- tration on a board that eval- uated the results of policy decisions on public life. Wev would push for more work sessions that involve citizen input, espe- cially during the county’s annual budget process, she said. “I would like to see a commission that is more col- legial and policy-focused,” Wev said. “Long-term plan- ning is kind of my forte.” Roscoe was elected to the Astoria City Council in 2005 and served until he was ousted by Drew Herzig in 2012. He has been a mem- ber of the Columbia-Pacific Economic Development District, the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association and the Columbia River Commercial Fishing Advisory Group. “I’ve been a part of this community for a long time and I’ve always been of service,” he said. “I think my track record and my community service speaks for itself.” In May, Wev earned 43 per- cent of the vote compared to Roscoe’s 37 percent. A third candidate, Doug Thompson, earned 20 percent. District 3 covers parts of Astoria, Miles Crossing, Jef- fers Garden, Lewis and Clark, Youngs River, Olney, Green Mountain and parts of Walluski. While Wev swept Astoria pre- cincts in the primary, Roscoe won in rural areas. The county commission is nonpartisan, but party politics could play a role in the election. Wev was elected as a Demo- cratic precinct committeeperson in May and is the vice chair of the Clatsop County Democratic Central Committee. “I think the fact that I’m the progressive candidate in this race will go a long way in help- ing me,” Wev said. Campaign finance As of Wednesday, Roscoe had raised $4,349 in cash con- tributions compared to Wev’s $2,835. Roscoe’s donors include Martin Nygaard, owner of Warrenton Fiber, Kurt and Jon Englund, who run Englund Marine Group, and Pepsi of Astoria, owned by former Asto- ria Mayor Willis Van Dusen. Wev’s contributors include county Planning Commissioner Chris Farrar and Dr. Thomas Duncan, an Astoria doctor and the county’s public health officer. Roscoe missed the dead- line to be included in the vot- ers’ pamphlet in the primary. He said he is counting on the typ- ically higher voter turnout in November general elections, in contrast to the 38 percent show- ing in May. “Our main focus is to tar- get the group that didn’t vote,” he said. Wev could benefit from a potential national surge behind women candidates this year in response to President Donald Trump. “I’ve had people tell me they’re only voting for women this year,” she said. Merkley sues to obtain Kavanaugh papers, vote delay By ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press SALEM — U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley filed suit Wednesday in federal court in the District of Colum- bia, charging that Trump administration violated the Constitution’s separation of powers by withholding from the Senate 100,000 pages of documents on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. The Oregon Democrat is asking the federal court to order the administra- tion to produce the papers and to delay confirmation hearings until senators can digest them. “This is an unaccept- able violation of separa- Clatsop Post 12 Sheppard’s Pie with salad & bread Friday, Sept. 28 TH 4 pm until gone $ 8. 00 tion of powers and I’m stand- ing up and filing this case to say, ‘this must end,’” Merkley told reporters in a conference call from the nation’s capital. “And we’re seeking the court to intervene and give sena- tors access to the nominee’s record.” Kavanaugh’s nomination has become more controver- sial after three women claimed he had engaged in sexual mis- conduct in the 1980s when he was in high school and college. Merkley said the women are being treated horribly, even worse than Anita Hill who tes- tified in Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ confirma- tion hearings in 1991, because no investigation is being car- Leinassar Dental Excellence Trusted, Caring and Affordable Dental Care Hear what loyal and new patients alike are saying... I tried your dental practice for the first time this week, WOW ! You guys are great! Starting with the ease of making my appointment, to the cleaning and charming office environment (not to mention the amazing view from the chair), to the efficient and professional experience with my hygienist, and ending with the very friendly and welcoming staff, I can’t say enough about the overall experience. Having been a regular patient with another area dentist; it is refreshing to be able to have affordable dental care in such a great environment. I have told family, friends and co-workers about my experience, and just wanted to thank you for a pleasant dental experience. I look forward to a long term dental relationship with Smile Astoria. - Carolyn W. 6PM “Karaoke Dave” ASTORIA AMERICAN LEGION Clatsop Post 12 1132 Exchange Street 325-5771 ried out. “The Senate Judiciary Committee is turning this into a ‘he said-she said’ presenta- tion,” Merkley said. Asked during a confer- ence call with reporters if he expects his lawsuit to have any effect, Merkley responded: “This is completely untested territory.” 503 325-0310 • 1414 Marine Drive, Astoria www.smileastoria.com JEFFERY M. LEINASSAR DMD, FAGD
