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A4 THE ASTORIAN • TuESdAy, AuguST 30, 2022 OPINION editor@dailyastorian.com KARI BORGEN Publisher DERRICK DePLEDGE Editor Founded in 1873 JOHN D. BRUIJN Production Manager SAMANTHA STINNETT Circulation Manager SARAH SILVER Advertising Sales Manager GUEST COLUMN Oregon makes mockery of serving indigent defendants O regon seemingly makes a mockery of serving indigent defendants. The agency respon- sible for providing those lawyers has just blown up. The firing of Steven Singer raises questions not only about justice in Ore- gon but also about complacency and change in Oregon governance. And about use and misuse of political power. Singer was brought in from Louisi- ana last December to head the Oregon Office of Public Defense Ser- vices. The agency funds the network of crimi- nal defense lawyers for individuals who cannot afford their own attor- DICK neys. That legal rep- HUGHES resentation is guar- anteed by the Sixth Amendment. Oregon’s system is so backed up that hundreds of low-income individuals face criminal charges yet lack lawyers. An American Bar Association report early this year suggested that Oregon had less than a third of the lawyers needed for indigent defendants. Low pay and high caseloads make recruiting those lawyers difficult. The result: Guilty people go free if cases are dismissed for lack of defense counsel. Innocent people may be con- victed if defense is poorly handled. Singer arrived with a record of suc- cess, a pugnacious personality and plans to spend “about a year to basically lis- ten, learn and gain an appreciation of the system before I embark on any long- term strategic planning and large-scale changes.” He didn’t get that year. The Public Defense Services Com- mission fired Singer. It wasn’t exactly the same com- mission that had hired him last year. There’d been some natural turnover. But the real change occurred this month when the commission deadlocked on ousting Singer. Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Martha Walters responded by firing all nine commission mem- bers, who are unpaid volunteers. Walters then appointed a new commission that The Oregonian The lack of access to public defenders has created a crisis across Oregon. OREgON’S SySTEM IS SO BACKEd uP THAT HuNdREdS OF LOW-INCOME INdIVIduALS FACE CRIMINAL CHARgES yET LACK LAWyERS. AN AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION REPORT EARLy THIS yEAR SuggESTEd THAT OREgON HAd LESS THAN A THIRd OF THE LAWyERS NEEdEd FOR INdIgENT dEFENdANTS. included five of the previous nine. Such drastic action usually is some- thing only a governor does, such as when a displeased Gov. Kate Brown fired a majority of the Environmental Quality Commission in 2017. Oregon has a unique — bizarre? — public defense system. The oddest part is not that the chief justice holds all power over the commission. That does raise questions about the commission’s independence. But Oregon also is the only state that contracts out for all pub- lic defenders — through consortiums, nonprofits or independent attorneys and firms — instead of having some law- yers on the public payroll, as are district attorneys. Everyone seems to agree that the sys- tem is an underfunded mess. But they can’t agree on the solution, let alone the direction. The commission hired a con- sultant last year but suspended that pro- cess in March. Singer had his own ideas, which didn’t align with Walters’. In April, the legislative leadership, the gov- ernor and the chief justice announced they were convening a work group led by state Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eu- gene, and Rep. Paul Evans, D-Mon- mouth, to develop short- and long-term reforms. Singer apparently is one of those folks you love or hate. Many over- worked, underpaid defense lawyers out in the field felt they finally had a cham- pion in state government. But he’d alienated the chief justice; key legisla- tors, who determine the agency’s bud- get; some commission members, includ- ing chair Per Ramfjord; some staff members; and others. By this month, Singer had few rem- nants of goodwill left. However, no one deserves to wear the cloak of righteous- ness in this sordid saga. I’m left wondering, how the heck did Singer get hired in the first place? He contends Oregon’s situation was far worse than he realized when he took the job. If so, that’s on both him and the commission. How much change did commission- ers want and were willing to tolerate? In Singer, they hired a change agent, a dis- rupter. How deep was their soul-search- ing before employing him? It strikes me that people say they want profound change until that change doesn’t fit their preconceptions. He was proud of his bulldog approach — some might say “bull- headed” — and his being fired in Louisi- ana should not necessarily have disqual- ified him. Still, Oregon is not Louisiana. Salem is not Baton Rouge. The fail- ure of the Singer-commission marriage shows that the commissioners inade- quately researched him, his combative style and how he would fit here. How did they prepare him for working within the Oregon political system, and they with him? Oregon’s landscape is littered with appointees who succeeded elsewhere but foundered here. One was Rudy Crew, whom Gov. John Kitzhaber brought in as Oregon’s first chief education offi- cer. He lasted one year during 2012-13. Kitzhaber at least recognized that Crew would be a potentially high-risk, high- gain personage. It’s not that homegrown is always the answer or even the preferred answer. Outsiders bring new ideas, new ways, new energy. But don’t ignore the chal- lenges. And be honest about how much change will be accepted. dick Hughes has been covering the Oregon political scene since 1976. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Don’t be a hater he “homeless problem” is a topic fill- ing the headlines and letters to the editor. Often the comments are filled with judgment and fear, even hate. Homelessness has many causes, rang- ing from poor life choices to bad luck, to mental health issues, to addiction issues, or to the actual systemic issues of our, in my opinion, predatory economic system. In short, there is an extremely wide vari- ety of reasons and causes that are far too often completely outside of that person’s control. Homelessness is not a crime, and we must stop trying to make it into one. It is a condition, a situation. People don’t wake up one day and say to themselves, “I want to be a drug addict or alcoholic.” They don’t suddenly decide, “I want to be homeless,” or, “I choose to be men- tally ill.” Remember, that is someone’s son or daughter, their sister, brother, mother or father, etc. They are human beings and passing a harsh judgment of them without knowing anything about them, or their cir- cumstances, is wrong and unproductive. Don’t assume they are “choosing” this lifestyle. While it may sometimes appear that way, in virtually every instance these are human beings who have become trapped in a vicious cycle, with no way out that they can see or understand. They are simply doing what they know, and what they can, to adapt and survive within a seemingly, to them, inescapable situation. Don’t be a hater. Be someone who cares, and who wants a compassionate, not punitive, solution. BILL GRAFFIUS Gearhart T I call a foul LETTERS WELCOME Letters should be exclusive to The Astorian. Letters should be fewer than 250 words and must include the writer’s name, address and phone number. You will be contacted to confirm authorship. All letters are subject to editing for space, gram- mar and factual accuracy. Only two letters per writer are allowed each month. Letters written in response to other letter writers should address the issue at hand and should refer to the headline and date the letter was published. Discourse should be civil. Send via email to editor@dailyasto- rian.com, online at bit.ly/astorianlet- ters, in person at 949 Exchange St. in Astoria or mail to Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR., 97103. I n the guest column “Coming together to secure our water future,” (The Asto- rian, Aug. 23) the heads of several Oregon trade groups that use enormous amounts of water basically demanded that govern- ment subsidize their water use, or “it will be a matter of time before we lose sig- nificant portions of our distinctive and diverse agriculture industry.” I call a foul — this approach stinks of special interest political pressure that is so prevalent in our society today. We (that would be the taxpayers) already subsidize so many industries that are not even try- ing to be more environmentally responsi- ble (or even economically responsible!), while continuing to underfund basic ser- vices like education, environmental pro- tection, health care and many social ser- vices for the poor and powerless. I call on these trade groups to get together with government, nongovern- mental organizations and water experts to work on the problem of water use in agri- culture and elsewhere, and come up with a solution that doesn’t require taxpayers to subsidize their industries while under- funding others. I have experience in this sort of approach, and know that it can work. It sounds so Oregon! BOB GOLDBERG Astoria A big win egarding the article “Nonprofit looks to close funding gap for affordable housing project downtown” (The Astorian, Aug. 23): I can’t imagine Astoria citizens objecting to the City Council looking into the prospect of participation in the restoration of a derelict building and adjacent lot on Marine Drive for a possi- ble 60 units of affordable housing. It was very foresighted on the part of the First Presbyterian Church to get possession of the building with the goal of low-income housing, know- ing that such a big project would require partners. The City Council should move for- ward with Copeland Commons, and encourage Innovative Housing Inc. to get on board. This would be a big win for Astoria, to put another blighted building to good use. LARRY ALLEN Astoria R
