WEEKEND EDITION // FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2019
146TH YEAR, NO. 154
ONE DOLLAR
JUSTICE REINVESTMENT
Homelessness task force in
Astoria still looking for direction
Release
policy
shows
promise
Data analyzed after first year
By DERRICK DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Volunteers help prepare the Helping Hands facility in Uniontown in June.
Some see victories, while others want more than talk
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
One of the biggest fears of pretrial
release is that criminal defendants who
get out of jail will commit new crimes.
In the year after Clatsop County cre-
ated a pretrial release policy that takes a
scientific approach to measuring risk, the
initial data is reassuring.
From September 2017 through
August, 4.1 percent of defendants who
were released pending trial committed
new crimes, and the figure dropped to 1.5
percent over the past few months.
More defendants are also showing up
for court. The failure to appear rate for
the first year was 27 percent, the county
estimates, down from 32 percent.
“It shows that the decisions we’re
making are pretty good,” said Lt. Matt
Phillips, the jail commander.
The new policy has yet to make a dif-
ference in the high share of inmates who
are in custody awaiting trial — about 70
percent — but it has started to relieve
pressure on overcrowding at the 60-bed
jail in Astoria.
The county was forced to release
324 inmates because of overcrowding
from September 2017 through August,
down from 573 inmates the previous
year. The inmates who get out because
See Pretrial, Page A6
A
task force created over a year
ago to address homelessness in
Astoria feels like it can claim
some victories.
But not everyone agrees there is
progress. Under the leadership of a
new mayor, the group is now examin-
ing what remains to be done and what
is even possible.
The task force’s meetings have
exposed gaps and brought social ser-
vice, business and advocacy groups
together. The discussions deepened
the understanding of the possibilities
and limitations of the city’s role.
Last year, the task force provided
important support to a new Helping
Hands project in Uniontown. The non-
profit, based in Seaside, offers emer-
gency shelter, transitional housing and
re-entry programs.
One of the most visible actions the
task force participated in was the dis-
mantling of homeless camps in the
woods last fall.
A subcommittee helped the City
Council and police determine the best
way to humanely address removal of
the camps and the campers. The sub-
committee developed a list of recom-
mendations and policy procedures,
and tried to connect people to services
ahead of the sweep.
But the decision to move campers
was controversial and not everyone
believes the city should claim it as a
Supreme
Court backs
sentencing
reform law
Ruling finds in favor
of state Legislature
By PARIS ACHEN
Oregon Capital Bureau
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
John Nordquist, left, receives a notice prohibiting camping in an area near Astoria
from homeless liaison officer Kenny Hansen in November.
success.
The camps were dismantled right
before winter and before the Asto-
ria Warming Center was open for the
season. Many of the campers did not
find housing. Despite efforts by Clat-
sop Community Action to talk to peo-
ple directly, only a few campers went
to the agency’s office to seek services.
Some campers simply moved deeper
into the woods; others now sleep
downtown.
Critics have accused the homeless-
ness solutions task force of being all
talk and no action. This perception
was something former Mayor Arline
LaMear explicitly wanted to avoid
when she formed the task force with
Police Chief Geoff Spalding at the end
of 2017.
But some who had been skepti-
cal about what the task force could
accomplish now say the connec-
tions formed between social service
See Homeless, Page A7
ONE OF THE MOST VISIBLE ACTIONS THE TASK FORCE PARTICIPATED IN
WAS THE DISMANTLING OF HOMELESS CAMPS IN THE WOODS LAST FALL.
The Oregon Supreme Court on Thurs-
day upheld a law to decrease prison sen-
tences for repeat property thieves.
In a unanimous decision, justices
agreed that the Legislature’s change to
state sentencing laws, which included
reducing the base sentence for first-degree
theft from 18 months to 13
months, was done accord-
ing to state requirements.
Lawmakers
made
the change in 2017 —
via House Bill 3078 —
in response to addic-
tion-driven property crime
John
and to help prevent the
Foote
need to open a second
state women’s prison.
The new law put the Legislature at
odds with many in Oregon’s law enforce-
ment and judicial communities. Across
See Court, Page A3
Hospital to open new clinic in Seaside
Columbia Memorial
expands operations
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Columbia Memorial Hospital is
expanding into Seaside with a new
urgent care and multispecialty clinic
to open later this year.
“Our mission is to provide local,
high quality and convenient care in
the communities we serve,” Erik
Thorsen, the hospital’s CEO, said in
a news release. “The most recently
completed Community Health
Needs Assessment shows access to
care remains a significant concern in
the region.
“The addition of a Seaside loca-
‘OUR MISSION IS TO PROVIDE
LOCAL, HIGH QUALITY AND
CONVENIENT CARE IN THE
COMMUNITIES WE SERVE.’
Erik Thorsen, the hospital’s CEO
tion will help meet this need and
offer a convenient location for our
patients who currently travel from
south Clatsop County.”
Providence Medical Group oper-
ates a primary care clinic on the
main campus of Providence Seaside
Hospital off of Wahanna Road.
Columbia Memorial declined to
give the location in Seaside of its
clinic, which will be located in an
existing building and approximately
10,000 square feet. The hospital will
begin construction in the summer,
with an expected opening in winter.
The clinic will include primary,
specialty, urgent and virtual care,
along with diagnostics such as imag-
ing and lab work.
The announcement of a Sea-
side clinic comes amid a period of
continued expansion for Columbia
Memorial.
The hospital opened its first pri-
INSIDE
Clatsop Community Bank to merge
with Lewis & Clark Bank / Page A3
mary care clinic in the Warrenton
Highlands shopping center in 2013
and added another clinic in Astoria’s
Park Medical building last year.
Last year also saw the opening of
the Knight Cancer Collaborative, a
partnership with Oregon Health and
Science University for chemother-
apy and radiation therapy, next to the
hospital’s main campus in Astoria.
Clatsop County recently agreed
to sell the hospital nearly 8 acres
in the North Coast Business Park,
where it will relocate and expand the
Warrenton primary care clinic.