A2
THEASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2020
IN BRIEF
Fire season begins in Oregon
Fire season will begin on Wednesday.
Permits are required for bum barrels. All open
debris pile burning will close.
For more information, contact a local fire depart
ment or the local Oregon Department of Forestry
office at 503-325-5451.
Discrimination lawsuit against
mental health agency dismissed
A discrimination lawsuit against Clatsop Behav
ioral Healthcare has been dismissed.
Carole Purtle, a former adult foster home licenser
at the mental health agency, filed a $550,000 lawsuit
in August alleging gender discrimination and retalia
tion. She claimed she was subjected to sexual harass
ment from a co-worker and that her complaints were
ignored by her supervisor.
Purtle resigned in March 2018 but was fired before
her resignation date, which she claimed was retaliation
after she made reports to the state about the agency’s
misuse of Medicaid.
An attorney for Purtle declined to comment on
the factors behind the dismissal. Clatsop Behavioral
Healthcare also declined to comment.
The lawsuit was dismissed by Circuit Court Judge
Cindee Matyas last week.
— The Astorian
Six virus cases tied to family gathering
LONG BEACH, Wash. — Six coronavirus cases
in Pacific County were linked to a family gather
ing, the county Emergency Management Agency
reported.
The county reported the latest case on Saturday.
“The individual is self-isolating and close contacts
of the individual are currently being contacted by our
public health nurses with instructions to quarantine per
(Department of Health) guidelines,” the agency said
in a statement. “Through contact tracing, this individ
ual was identified as a close contact to the five cases
reported earlier this week.”
Pacific County has disclosed 18 coronavirus cases.
— Chinook Obsen’er
BIRTH
June 6, 2020
RUDOLFI, Brook and Tony, of Astoria, a girl, Rae-
lyn Shae Rudolfi, bom at Columbia Memorial Hos
pital in Astoria. Grandparents are Cindy and Tom
Rudolfi and Kent and Shandy Moreland, all of Asto
ria, and Doug and Kim Schmidt, of Albany.
MEMORIAL
Saturday, July 4
MOILANEN, Steven Roy — Celebration of life
and old hippie party at the property of his sister,
Sandy Moilanen, near Quincy. For information, call
503-728-1252.
ON THE RECORD
Unlawful possession
• Jeff Baker Bolles,
22, of Hammond, was
arrested on June 23 at
Fred Meyer in Warren-
ton for unlawful pos
session of a firearm,
possession of metham-
phetamine and delivery
of methamphetamine.
Criminal trespass
• Roy Douglas Hall,
44,
of Astoria, was
arrested Friday on the
Astoria Riverwalk for
criminal trespass in the
second degree.
DUII
• Tlaloc Garcia, 23,
of Astoria, was arrested
Saturday on the Old
Youngs Bay Bridge for
driving under the influ
ence of intoxicants.
• Donny Ray Sturgell,
45, of Warrenton, was
arrested Friday at the
Warrenton Mini Mart
for DUII, assault in the
fourth degree, harass
ment, menacing and dis
orderly conduct.
• George M. Owen,
38, of Warrenton, was
arrested Friday on Third
Avenue and N. Roos
evelt Drive in Seaside
for DUII.
• Julius Yu Wong,
40, of Tacoma, Wash
ington,
was
arrested
Friday on U.S. High
way 101 for DUII, reck
less driving and reckless
endangerment.
• Kenneth Brick Gil
man, 31, of Longview,
Washington,
was
arrested Thursday on
31st Street and Marine
Drive in Astoria for
DUII.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
TUESDAY
Astoria Library Board, 5:30 pm, Astoria Library, 450 10th St.
WEDNESDAY
Seaside Improvement Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 989
Broadway.
Gearhart City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 698 Pacific Way.
the Astorian
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Ben Davison
Ben Davison shared a photo of the Columbia River in Astoria.
Lawmakers tackle police reforms
First of two
special sessions
By GARY WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — One down
and one to go.
The Oregon Legislature
wrapped-up its first special
session and headed for the
exits out of Salem on Fri
day, leaving at least as many
questions as answers from
the three days of rapid-fire
lawmaking.
While the state House and
Senate met, Oregon’s rate of
new COVID-19 infections
continued to climb, the state
fell deeper into debt and
officials churned through
more of a record-setting
mountain of unemployment
applications.
Definitive answers on
those issues will linger until
Gov. Kate Brown announces
the second special session.
“I anticipate calling the
Legislature into a second
special session to rebalance
our state budget,” Brown
said on Saturday.
Oregon has to find a way
to plug an estimated $2.7
billion deficit caused by the
economic hit of the coro
navirus and steps taken in
March to slow the spread
that forced many businesses
to shutter. The resulting lay
offs led to 425,000 new
unemployment applications,
with some Oregonians still
waiting for checks to arrive.
Brown said she wants to
give Congress time to come
up with a plan to send aid to
state and local governments.
Billions of dollars in aid has
widespread support in the
Democratic-controlled U.S.
House, while its prospects
are questionable at best in
the
Republican-controlled
U.S. Senate.
Either way, Brown said
state lawmakers will have
to come back, most likely
at the end of July or early
August. She said her goals
included the full $9 billion in
funding for public schools,
which she said were still on
track for students to return
to classrooms this fall.
Plans for the larg
est cuts and possible tax
increases are just now get
ting underway.
For the first session, law
makers came to Salem to
pass 24 policy bills, high
lighted by a package of leg
islation banning chokeholds,
limiting the use of tear gas
and other law enforcement
reforms.
Brown called the session
as many legislatures across
the country met on the same
issue following worldwide
protests of the Memorial
Day death of George Floyd.
The Black man from Min
neapolis was killed when a
white police officer kneeled
on his neck until he was
unconscious.
In addition to the police
reforms, other bills voted
on last week included pro
tections for mortgage hold
ers who can’t pay on time,
a cellphone tax to pay for
rural broadband and more
than a dozen other topics.
Brown said the Legis
lature “shined” during the
session.
Watching the numbers
The next task, she said,
was to see how Oregonians
respond to an alarming
uptick in the rate of COVID-
19 infections in the state as
the Fourth of July holiday
approaches.
The response will deter
mine whether the reopen
ing of businesses, allowing
larger gatherings and lifting
of other restrictions that can
spur the economy can safely
continue.
Oregon’s overall official
COVID-19 infection rate
is among the lowest in the
nation, at less than 5% of the
population. But the rate of
infections has been trending
up in recent weeks.
maximum,
Kotek
tread
lightly, but firmly in sug
gesting that some Repub
licans might move to the
aisles, galleries or back to
their offices to make way for
the several Democrats who
had to come to the floor to
introduce — “carry” — bills
coming up for a vote.
“Carriers are in one cau
cus, that is just the way it
is,” Kotek said.
Republicans
expressed
their frustration at special
session rules which allowed
only the House speaker and
Senate president — both
Democrats — to submit
bills.
Sen.
Dallas
Heard,
R-Roseburg, said the ses
sion had resulted in some
“good, worthy” legisla
tion, but increased the ani
mosity between the major
ity and minority parties. He
acknowledged his own role
in the tension.
OREGON HAS TO FIND A WAY
TO PLUG AN ESTIMATED
$2.7 BILLION DEFICIT CAUSED
BY THE ECONOMIC HIT OF THE
CORONAVIRUS AND STEPS
TAKEN IN MARCH TO SLOW
THE SPREAD THAT FORCED
MANY BUSINESSES TO SHUTTER.
“I am asking Oregonians
to take this very, very seri
ously,” Brown said. “The
increase in cases is alarm
ing. We have done a really
good job so far.”
If the infections cannot
be kept in check, Brown
said she would use all the
“tools in the toolbox” to stop
the virus from getting out of
control as it has in several
states in recent days.
“If we continue on this path,
we will have to button down
the economy,” Brown said.
The
coronavirus
was
rarely far from the minds of
lawmakers, most of whom
arrived wearing face masks
or clear plastic shields to
avoid spreading infection.
State leaders decided to
go ahead with a session in
the Capitol despite fears that
the coming and going could
spread the virus.
The
session
required
calling 60 House members,
30 senators and scores of
staff, security and press to
travel from around the state
to Salem. After working
together for three days, they
would then fan out to return
to their homes and offices.
State House Speaker Tina
Kotek, D-Portland, wres
tled with a limit of 25 mem
bers on the floor at any time.
Over the first two days,
most shuttled between their
offices and the floor. But on
Friday, as the session ended,
many members chose to sit
at their desks.
Bumping up against the
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“It is quite obvious that
we have all grown to have
quite a bit of contempt for
each other,” he said.
Heard said more respect
was needed in Salem, oth
erwise the partisan divide
would be “the cause of free
dom dying and a lot of good
will squandered.”
Senate Minority Leader
Fred Girod, R-Stayton, said
that the decision to not allow
the public into the Capi
tol for the session — while
allowing for live video feeds
— was not in keeping with
what the building stood for.
“It’s not ours, it’s not the
Legislature’s, it is the peo
ple’s,” he said.
Maskless men
Politics
and
personal
space and expected privi
leges clashed at times under
the pandemic rules.
The 60-member House
made masks or faceguards
mandatory when in the
chamber. Senate President
Peter Courtney, D-Salem,
made it a strong request.
Sen.
Brian
Boquist,
R-Dallas, came to the Sen
ate floor with no face cover
ing twice during the session.
On Wednesday, Boquist
and Sen. Dennis Linthicum,
R-Klamath Falls, went with
out face coverings. Court
ney asked Girod to ask the
recalcitrant duo to cover up.
When the Senate next
met on Friday, Linthicum
had asked to be excused
from the session, which was
granted.
But a defiant Boquist
once again took his seat
without a mask.
“The flu is now the virus
completely
political
— lacking zero science,”
Boquist said in an email.
“Everything is the coronavi
rus. Every state that did not
lock down is doing as good
as or better than Oregon.”
Boquist said lawmak
ers never should have been
called to Salem for the
agenda they were dealing
with.
“Nothing about the spe
cial session is good — noth
ing,” he wrote.
In the House, the main
problem was herding law
makers whose total num
bers were double the 25-per-
son limit set for the chamber
floor.
That meant much com
ing and going from offices
to desks, with gaggles of
lawmakers sometimes pass
ing close to one another in
opposite directions.
Kotek admonished House
members on Friday about
getting lax on social dis
tancing minimums of 6 feet,
at one point saying if noth
ing else to think about one
member who is pregnant.
House members often
watched the proceedings
on a live feed from their
offices, then took the short
walk to the House chamber
to debate or vote.
The House normally uses
an electronic voting sys
tem, much faster than the
Senate’s historic but some
times tedious roll call. But
the virus forced even voting
in the House to be done in
shifts.
In a nod to the COVID-
19 reality, the House rules
were changed so that mem
bers could go to the aisle or
balconies of the chamber
and signal their votes with a
thumbs up or thumbs down.
Kotek
frequently
reminded lawmakers watch
ing elsewhere in the build
ing that if they wanted to get
into the queue for debating
a bill that they should text
caucus leaders. Virtual com
mittee meetings and video
press
conferences
often
were hung up by mute but
tons and video feed issues.
But over 100 people tes
tified remotely on bills and
600 documents and letters
were entered electronically
into the record. Staff dealt
with multiple drafts of 24
bills and 90 amendments.
Same date,
different history
The police reforms were
See Special session, Page A3
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