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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JULY 9, 2022
IN BRIEF
Police ID suspect in Astoria robberies
A suspect has been identifi ed in two recent robber-
ies in Astoria.
Astoria police say Donald Lee Sparling, 68, is
wanted for a robbery that occurred at Wauna Federal
Credit Union in Astoria on Friday morning and for a
similar robbery at Lewis & Clark Bank on Commer-
cial Street on June 30.
Astoria police said that, during the Wauna robbery,
Sparling wore a black baseball cap with a logo, sun-
glasses with blue polarization, a puff y orange jacket
and black cargo pants.
Witnesses saw Sparling head eastbound on foot
toward Ticor Title on Bond Street after the robbery,
police said.
In both incidents, Sparling allegedly presented a
note to a teller and left with money. Police have not
disclosed the amount stolen from either location.
Police ask anyone who sees Sparling to call 911, or
call the department at 503-325-4411.
Warrenton public works chief exiting
WARRENTON — Collin Stelzig, the city’s public
works director, is resigning this month.
Stelzig, who plans to open his own business, has
worked with the city for over 20 years. He was pro-
moted to director in 2017. His last day is set for July
20.
City Manager Linda Engbretson said the city is
looking at several interim options.
County reports virus death
Clatsop County has reported a 53rd coronavirus-re-
lated death.
A 69-year-old woman died on June 21 at an area
hospital, the county announced on Thursday.
The woman was fully vaccinated against COVID-
19, the county said.
— The Astorian
DEATHS
July 6, 2022
In JAGGER,
Brief
Donna Louise, 75, of Warrenton, died
in Warrenton. Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortuary of
Death
Astoria is in charge of the arrangements.
ON THE RECORD
Arson
was arrested on Tues-
On
the
• Preston
Blake Record
Pow- day at Merry Time Bar
ers, 18, a former Asto-
ria resident, was indicted
on July 5 for four counts
of fi rst-degree arson and
two counts of second-de-
gree arson. He was also
indicted in a separate case
in March on two counts
of fi rst-degree arson and
two counts of second-de-
gree arson. The two
indictments cover crimes
alleged to have occurred
in Uppertown in January
2018.
Aggravated
harassment
• Nathan Yesudas
Sathya, 41, of Gold River,
California, was indicted
on June 16 for aggra-
vated harassment and
second-degree criminal
trespass. The crimes are
alleged to have occurred
in Clatsop County earlier
that month.
Attempted assault
Johnathan
Lance
Kvale, 28, of Newport,
& Grill on Marine Drive
in Astoria and cited for
attempted assault of a
public safety offi cer, two
counts of fi rst-degree
criminal mischief, sec-
ond-degree
disorderly
conduct, second-degree
criminal trespass and
resisting arrest.
Criminal mischief
• Michael John Licari,
52, of Seaside, was
indicted on June 30 for
fi rst-degree criminal mis-
chief and stalking. The
crimes are alleged to
have occurred earlier that
month.
Unauthorized
use of a vehicle
• Kathleen Marie
Devore, 35, of Seaside,
was arraigned on Tuesday
on charges of unautho-
rized use of a vehicle and
failure to carry or present
a license. The crimes are
alleged to have occurred
in July 2021.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
MONDAY
Port of Astoria Airport
Advisory Committee,
4 p.m., terminal building,
Astoria Regional Airport,
1110 S.E. Flight Line Dr.,
Warrenton.
Youngs River Lewis &
Clark Water District
Board, 6 p.m., 34583 U.S.
Highway 101 Business.
Seaside City Council,
6 p.m., workshop on
camping ordinance; 7 p.m.,
meeting, City Hall, 989
Broadway.
TUESDAY
Clatsop Care Health Dis-
trict Board, 5 p.m., Patriot
Hall, Clatsop Community
College, 1651 Lexington
Ave., Astoria.
Cannon Beach City Coun-
cil, 6 p.m., work session,
163 E. Gower Ave.
Lewis & Clark Fire De-
partment Board, 6 p.m.,
main fi re station, 34571 U.S.
Highway 101 Business.
Warrenton City Commis-
sion, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225 S.
Main Ave.
Clatsop Community Col-
lege Board, 6:30 p.m., 1651
Lexington Ave., Columbia
219, Astoria.
Established July 1, 1873
Circulation phone number:
800-781-3214
Periodicals postage paid at Astoria, OR
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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Published Tuesday, Thursday
and Saturday by EO Media Group,
949 Exchange St., PO Box 210, Astoria, OR
97103 Telephone 503-325-3211,
800-781-3211 or Fax 503-325-6573.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
The Astorian, PO Box 210, Astoria, OR
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DailyAstorian.com
Measure to avert legislative walkouts
qualifi es for the ballot in November
Republicans
walked out over
cap and trade
By PETER WONG
Oregon Capital Bureau
Voters will decide on a
measure aimed at deterring
legislative walkouts by dis-
qualifying lawmakers from
seeking re election if they
have 10 or more unexcused
absences.
The proposed consti-
tutional amendment will
appear on the November
ballot after sponsors col-
lected enough signatures.
The measure will join
two others referred by the
2021 Legislature. One
would declare health care
a right under the state c on-
stitution. The other would
remove constitutional lan-
guage allowing slavery,
known as “involuntary ser-
vitude,” as a punishment for
crime.
A pending measure
would set new require-
ments for fi rearms permits
and limit ammunition mag-
azines to 10 rounds.
The state c onstitution
requires the presence of two-
thirds of the members in
each chamber — 20 of 30 in
the state Senate, 40 of 60 in
the House — to conduct any
business. In most other leg-
islative chambers throughout
the nation, the requirement is
usually a simple majority of
the members.
The
measure
was
launched with the support
of public employee unions
opposed to walkouts by
Republicans in the 2019,
2020 and 2021 legislative
sessions.
Andrea Kennedy-Smith,
a welfare worker from
McMinnville, is a chief peti-
tioner for the measure.
“If I didn’t show up to
work or if I made it impos-
sible for other people to
do their jobs, I would lose
my job,” she said when the
signature-gathering drive
began last year. “Republi-
can senators even staged a
walkout this year — in the
Sarah Zimmerman/AP Photo
Opponents of cap-and-trade legislation cheered Republicans who staged a walkout in 2019.
middle of the pandemic —
as families were struggling
with job loss, extra caregiv-
ing duties and the fear of ill-
ness just from going to the
grocery store. This is why
we have to come together
and take a stand with these
measures.”
Advocates fl oated other
proposals but concentrated
on one.
Senate
Republicans
walked out in 2019 to stall
a vote on a proposed corpo-
rate activity tax earmarked
for school improvements.
The vote went ahead after
majority Democrats shelved
some of their other legisla-
tive priorities for the session,
and the bill passed despite
Republican opposition.
Senate
Republicans
walked out in 2019, and Sen-
ate and House Republicans
did so in 2020, to stall votes
on proposed cap-and-trade
legislation. Senate Republi-
cans returned in 2019 after
Democrats announced they
did not have the votes to
pass the legislation . But in
2020, the walkouts in both
chambers prompted Demo-
crats to shut down that ses-
sion a few days before the
deadline — and blocked
MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
By CONRAD WILSON
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Oregon Supreme Court Chief Jus-
tice Martha Walters seems increasingly
impatient as the state continues to vio-
late the constitutional rights of criminal
defendants charged with crimes who
cannot aff ord an attorney.
“Hundreds who are constitutionally
entitled to counsel are being denied
that right, and no end is in sight,” Wal-
ters wrote in a letter sent July 1 to the
eight commissioners who oversee the
state’s public defense agency.
Four times in her six-page letter
Walters called on the board to direct the
executive director of the Offi ce of Pub-
lic Defense Services to prepare a plan
for presentation at a meeting later this
month.
“The plan I am seeking is one that
proposes immediate steps that will
enable ( the Public Defense Services
Commission) to fulfi ll its obligation to
provide lawyers for those who have a
constitutional right to representation,”
Walters wrote.
While the chief justice did not
name him in the letter, the person
she asked commissioners to direct is
Stephen Singer, who took over the
Offi ce of Public Defense Services in
December.
Many of the problems facing the
public defense system in Oregon date
back years. Since last fall, the state
has continued to charge people with
crimes, despite the shortage of public
defenders. Some of those defendants
are in custody.
Under the U.S. Constitution, crim-
inal defendants have the right to an
attorney. The state’s failure to meet this
obligation prompted a lawsuit in May.
“The c hief j ustice is right,” Singer
wrote, by email, in response to her let-
ter, “there needs to be a plan to address
this crisis, but it is not one the a gency
can shoulder on its own. It will take all
the stakeholders, the court system, the
district attorneys, the L egislature, the
governor, and lawyers across this state,
to work together to change a system
that has been broken this long.”
A working group made up of state
lawmakers, along with representa-
tives from the governor’s offi ce and
the judiciary, are meeting privately to
address longer-term solutions to a cri-
sis that has been building and well-doc-
umented for years.
Walters’ letter indicates she wants
more to be done immediately. At least
publicly, the letter is among the most
explicit acts Walters has taken to
direct a state agency under her author-
ity. In January, Walters emailed every
member of the Oregon State Bar ask-
ing them to consider taking on public
defense cases.
At the time, some criticized the
email.
“Asking the civil bar to lend a hand
as public defenders not only risks the
continued compromising of the rights
of individuals,” said Bobbin Singh, the
executive director of the Oregon Jus-
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tice Resource Center, at the time, “but
it sends an insulting message to public
defenders about the skills and capac-
ities required to represent individu-
als whose life and liberty hang in the
balance.”
In her letter last week to the pub-
lic defense commissioners, Walter said
the plan to address the immediate cri-
sis should be specifi c, lay out the costs
and explain how the agency will mea-
sure success.
“I realize that even an immediate,
short-term plan may need to include a
request to the L egislature to reallocate
existing funds and provide new, addi-
tional funding,” she wrote.
In February, when the shortage had
clearly reached a crisis point, lawmak-
ers agreed to give the Offi ce of Public
Defense Services an additional $12.8
million so that the agency could con-
tract more attorneys. That reactive
spending is indicative of lawmakers’
approach toward public defense.
For years, the Legislature has known
about concerns facing the state’s public
defense system, but has failed to make
sweeping reforms.
The chief justice has a unique rela-
tionship with public defense. While the
agency is part of the judiciary, which
she runs, she doesn’t have direct over-
sight of the executive director. Rather,
she appoints members to a commis-
sion that oversees the Offi ce of Public
Defense Services and its leader. Wal-
ters took over as the c hief j ustice in
2018.
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could not enact a redistrict-
ing plan via resolution, only
through the normal process
of legislation.
In 1971, during a fi ght
over whether 18-year-olds
should be allowed to vote in
state elections, Senate Dem-
ocrats walked out to block
an attempt to undo the leg-
islation. Advocates seized
their chance when the Sen-
ate president became acting
governor in the absence of
Tom McCall, who was out of
state, and could not preside
over the Senate. The line of
succession changed in 1972
— the secretary of state is
now next in line — and the
governor remains governor
during out-of-state travels.
The Senate president
was one of two Democrats
who joined 14 Republicans
in what became the most
recent coalition to run the
Senate. The coalition lasted
from 1957 through 1972.
The legislation passed,
just before ratifi cation of the
26th Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution, which set the
national voting age at 18.
The Oregon Capital
Bureau is a collaboration
between EO Media Group
and Pamplin Media Group.
Chief justice calls for immediate action on public defenders
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action on a host of bills, not
just cap and trade . Gov. Kate
Brown, a Democrat, then
issued an executive order
for the Environmental Qual-
ity Commission to come up
with a plan to reduce green-
house gas emissions.
Senate
Republicans
walked out again in 2021,
but only for a single day
— and it was in protest of
some of Brown’s executive
orders during the coronavi-
rus pandemic.
House
Democrats
walked out for a week in
2001, when the Republican
majority attempted to pass
redistricting plans via res-
olution, which is not sub-
ject to a veto by the gov-
ernor. Democrats returned
after Senate leaders from
both parties said they would
have nothing to do with the
House’s proposed action.
Both chambers, then
controlled by Republicans,
passed redistricting plans
that were vetoed by Gov.
John Kitzhaber, a Democrat.
The Supreme Court ruled
later in the year, when it
largely upheld a legislative
redistricting plan drawn up
by Secretary of State Bill
Bradbury, that legislators
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