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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 11, 2019
Decades later, Courtney again
takes aim at DUII threshold
State senator
wants limit at
0.05 percent
By AUBREY WIEBER
Oregon Capital Bureau
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Bruce Jones took the oath of offi ce Monday as mayor of
Astoria from former Mayor Arline LaMear.
Astoria mayor apologizes
to city councilors
Jones tells his
colleagues he made
‘a rookie mistake’
By KATIE
FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
Astoria Mayor Bruce
Jones has apologized to his
fellow city councilors for a
tense exchange that hap-
pened between him and a
city board member during
a meeting Monday.
“I made a rookie mis-
take,” Jones said at a work
session on Thursday . “I
allowed myself to get a
little provoked and give
a response on the spur of
the moment that in hind-
sight I would have just
said, ‘Thank you for your
comment and if we want
to discuss it further, we
probably should set up a
meeting with the (human
resources) manager, the
city manager and the city
attorney.’”
Sarah Jane Bardy,
who serves on the Design
Review Committee, had
twice voted against a pro-
posal to build a four-story
hotel on the waterfront.
On Monday, she said she
received a closed-door
reprimand from Jones for
her comments and conduct
at an appeal hearing of the
Fairfi eld Inn and Suites
project in front of the City
Council in December.
At that hearing, Bardy
spoke against the project.
She also suggested that the
names of the city council-
ors who voted to move the
project forward be put on a
bench in front of the future
hotel so everyone would
know who helped approve
the hotel. Jones, City
Councilor Tom Brownson
and former Mayor Arline
La Mear had voted to
uphold the hotel develop-
er’s appeal.
“I was scolded for
attending, speaking and
clapping after public testi-
mony at the Marriott hotel
City Council appeal hear-
ing, all of which I believe
I have the right to do,”
Bardy told the City C oun-
cil during a public com-
ment period.
It is unusual for city
councilors to respond to
public comments, but
Jones replied at length,
defending the discussion
he had with Bardy and not-
ing that other city board
members and councilors
advised him to remove
Bardy from the Design
Review Committee over
concerns that she could not
be impartial.
Jones said today that he
believes it is the responsi-
bility of a mayor and any-
one on the C ity C ouncil to
listen calmly to public tes-
timony and address crit-
icism, like Bardy’s, in a
thoughtful way.
“It was a long day, a
long night and I let my
guard down and allowed
myself to be provoked,”
Jones said. “The wiser
choice would have been
simply to address the issue
later, not in the heat of hav-
ing just been attacked with
some comments that, in
my view, grossly mischar-
acterized our conversa-
tion. … It was not the right
time for me to address it.”
Bardy remains on the
Design Review Commit-
tee. Jones said he has not
spoken to her since the
Monday meeting.
As a state representative
in 1983, Peter Courtney
introduced legislation to
lower the drunken -driving
threshold from 0.10 blood
alcohol content to 0.08.
It was a radical move
from a new lawmaker who
was expected to bide his
time. Courtney had little
support outside of a bud-
ding advocacy group called
Mothers Against Drunk
Driving, but he introduced
the bill anyway.
It passed and Oregon and
Utah became the fi rst states
to move to a 0.08 threshold
for drunken driving. Court-
ney proved to be ahead of
the times, as it wasn’t until
1998 that President Bill
Clinton called on all states
to enact the 0.08 standard.
Now Courtney wants
Oregon to be a leader again.
He is taking the political
point to push Oregon to an
even lower limit — 0.05.
“You’re not as good after
you drink as you are before
you drink,” the Senate pres-
ident said.
Today, Courtney said,
drivers are confronted in
their cars with more lights
and screens than ever. Add
in bike lanes and homeless
people walking around at
night, and there is too much
distraction while driving
something that can be used
as a deadly weapon, he said.
The Salem Democrat
knows his proposal will be
unpopular.
“Sooner or later, you’re
going to have to fi ght that
battle,” Courtney said. “You
don’t wait until the timing’s
perfect. You don’t wait until
everything lines up.”
Courtney
said
he’s
always been keenly aware
of the downsides of alco-
hol, which has killed sev-
eral chronic drinkers in his
family. But this isn’t about
drinking, it’s about safety,
he said.
“I’m not trying to stop
you from drinking,” Court-
ney said. “I’m not trying to
stop this explosion of brew
pubs. Go, all of you. Go
tonight, go every night. I’m
AP Photo/Don Ryan
Oregon Senate President Peter Courtney wants to lower the
threshold for drunken driving.
‘SOONER OR LATER, YOU’RE
GOING TO HAVE TO FIGHT
THAT BATTLE. YOU DON’T
WAIT UNTIL THE TIMING’S
PERFECT. YOU DON’T WAIT
UNTIL EVERYTHING LINES UP.’
Oregon Senate President Peter Courtney
not trying to make a state-
ment about drinking.”
Utah is the only state
with such a standard, which
went into effect in Decem-
ber after nearly two years
of hot debate and push-
back from the restaurant
industry, citizens and some
lawmakers.
That was in teetotal-
ling Utah, where the reli-
gious beliefs of two-thirds
of the state mandate they
abstain from alcohol. It
was even fought before a
Mormon-dominated L eg-
islature, prompting former
state Sen. Jim Dabakis to
famously drink two mimo-
sas before a fl oor speech to
show he wasn’t impaired.
So far, Courtney is miss-
ing crucial allies.
Mothers Against Drunk
Driving so far isn’t endors-
ing the Courtney move and
the Oregon State Police are
neutral on the idea. Capt.
Tim Fox said there is no
research on the difference
of impairment at 0.05 and
0.08. Superintendent Tra-
vis Hampton said if the
new limit were to pass,
state police wouldn’t have
enough troopers to enforce
the new law.
Courtney is undeterred.
“I’ll be talking with
him,” Courtney said of
Hampton.
And that’s the law
enforcement and anti-drunk
driving community. Oregon
also has robust wine, craft
beer, spirits and restaurant
industries with powerful
lobbies.
Greg Astley, the gov-
ernment affairs director for
the Oregon Restaurant and
Lodging Association, said
the proposal misses the
mark, saying a 120-pound
woman could get arrested
for having one glass of wine
after work.
Courtney’s offi ce says
it would take a 160-pound
man three drinks in an hour
to get to 0.05. He also points
to the National Transporta-
tion Safety Board, which
has been promoting 0.05
since 2013, which says
someone between 0.05 and
0.079 blood alcohol con-
tent is seven times more
likely to be involved in
a fatal crash than a sober
driver.
A University of Chi-
cago study based on data
from international coun-
tries with a 0.05 limit esti-
mated 1,790 lives would be
saved each year if all states
adopted the limit. In 2016,
there were 2,636 crashes
involving drinking, caus-
ing 154 deaths.
Drivers can be cited for
being under the infl uence of
less than 0.08 but the penal-
ties are less severe. In 2017,
of the 4,671 DUII arrests,
184 drivers registered less
than 0.08, according to state
police data.
The penalties that apply
to the current limit would
also be linked to the lower
limit under Courtney’s pro-
posed legislation. That
means drivers involved
in fatal accidents who are
found to be impaired at the
0.05 level could face negli-
gent homicide charges.
Astley said reducing the
limit could make people
fearful of going to happy
hour or ordering a drink
with dinner. Meanwhile,
he said, there are more
and more people under the
infl uence of marijuana get-
ting behind the wheel.
“It seems like this bill is
trying to zero in on a very
narrow subset of people that
under current law wouldn’t
be impaired,” he said.
But Courtney said this
increased regulation is part
of the progression of soci-
ety. With ride-sharing apps
like Uber and Lyft, it’s eas-
ier than ever to not drive
after drinking. It’s a prac-
tice he’s started himself.
In recent years, New
York, Delaware, Hawaii
and Washington state con-
sidered but rejected moves
to the lower limit.
Courtney acknowledged
that may be the fate his idea
endures in Oregon.
“Well alright then, I’ll
lose, but I’m still not pull-
ing the bill,” he said.
Herrera Beutler joins Democrats in vote to reopen government
By MOLLY SOLOMON
Oregon Public Broadcasting
U..S. Rep. Jaime Herrera
Beutler bucked her party this
week, joining the increasing
number of Republicans who
want to reopen parts of the
federal government.
Herrera Beutler, who rep-
Please
resents southwest Washing-
ton state, has voted in favor
of three funding packages to
reopen federal agencies.
On Wednesday, she was
among eight Republican
lawmakers who voted to
reopen the Treasury Depart-
ment and the IRS. And
during multiple votes Thurs-
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It’s a reversal from her
stance a week ago, when
she voted against Demo-
cratic funding packages that
did not include funding for a
border wall.
“Ultimately, I want to see
those government responsi-
bilities fulfi lled and I want
to make sure people are
getting paid,” said Herrera
Beutler, R-Battle Ground.
“It just seemed like the right
step.”
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