Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt’s Office has set a new policy regarding protest related cases. “We recognize that we will undermine public safety, not promote it, if we leverage the force of our criminal justice system against peaceful protesters who are demanding to be heard... A prosecutor choosing to decline to prosecute a case is not condoning or endorsing the conduct that led to the arrest and/or citation.â€
Demetria Hester, a Black Lives Matter leader was arrested during Monday’s declared riot for disorderly conduct in the second degree and interfering with a peace officer. The Multnomah County District Attorney declined to prosecute and charges were dismissed.
The Multnomah County District Attorney’s policy goes on to state, “We will presumptively decline to charge cases where the most serious offenses are city ordinance violations and crimes that do not involve deliberate property damage, theft, or the use or threat of force against another person. Crimes in this category include:
Interference with a police officer, ORS 162.247
Disorderly conduct, ORS 166.025
On the face, the charges deserved an investigation according to the policy.
The policy strives, “to advance the safety of our community and its members. We recognize the need to broaden our vision of what a safe community means and our role in promoting that vision. To advance public safety we must not only prevent crime, but must also promote economic and housing stability, educational opportunities, strong family and community relationships, and the mental and physical health of all those who live in our county.â€
Upon release, Hester said, “This is a revolution and we’re getting reparations. If you’re here, do your part.†She ended her remarks by inciting the crowd that had gathered in chants of “stay woke†and “reparations.†She told reporters she is a survivor of a hate crime on the light-rail train in Portland, “we will never stop because we want to be treated equal as people.â€
Her idea of equality is her right to loot, destroy businesses and public buildings endangering public safety – it isn’t reparation to steel from others. Perhaps the attorneys need to consider motive and degree of inciting damage when dismissing a leader that publicly promotes destruction. How interested are Portland leaders in stopping the looting and rioting and protecting their community?
An ad hoc consortium of private schools has sent a letter to Governor Kate Brown asking that she rethink restrictions on the opening of their schools in the fall.
The letter recounts the original understanding, “Private schools have been told that there is no final approval required as the the plan. They were to submit a plan to Local Public Health Agency, post it on each schools website, submit the plan to the governing board, and provide a web link to [the Oregon Department of Education]. Then, the school would be ready to open as outlined in the plan.â€
Private schools -- especially smaller ones -- may not be able to manage the costs.
“Private schools have, in good faith, spent time, finances, and committed to teachers and school families based on the guidelines that private schools were able to choose the instructional model that was best for their school communities, and could open for in-person instruction with a completed plan following Sections 1-3 of the guidance. The sudden mandate for comprehensive distance learning puts the integrity of private schools on the line, which, in good faith, committed to educate children in-person, and collected tuition from parents based on the premise that they could open under the conditions as outlined by the [the Oregon Health Authority]. In addition, the shift did not come with any funds from [the Oregon Department of Education] to private schools to implement the shift - unlike the promise to public schools.â€
Near the end of the six page letter, following argument as to why the schools should be allowed to open, the final plea is made.
“We know that in-person education is significantly better than online learning. We cannot subscribe to a one size fits all approach to opening our schools in the Fall. There may be one size which fits all in terms of large, urban, public schools. Oregon private schools are designed to focus on the needs of our own specific communities. In many instances these specific communities contain a significant number of minority students.â€
“Accordingly, we request that you affirm the guidelines issued by [the Oregon Department of Education] and [the Oregon Health Authority] up to to July 27. 2020, remain in effect for private school reopening as provided in Sections 1, 2, and 3 of the Safe Schools, Ready Learners document.â€
The letter was signed by a wide variety of elected officials, including:
Bev Clarno, Oregon Secretary of State
Senator Tim Knopp
Senator Kim Thatcher
Senator Chuck Thomsen
Senator Bill Hansell
Representative Raquel Moore-Green
Representative Greg Barreto
Representative Shelly Boshart Davis
Representative Mike Nearman
Representative E. Werner Reschke
Cliff Bentz, Oregon Congressional Nominee
Colm Willis, Marion County Commissioner
Tootie Smith, Clackamas County Commissioner
Lily Morgan, Josephine County Commissioner
Mary Starrett, Yamhill County Commissioner
Lindsay Berschauer, Yamhill County Commissioner-Elect
Sue Gold, Curry County Commissioner
Mark Bennett, Baker County Commissioner
Sam Brentano, Marion County Commissioner
Jerry Willey, Washington County Commissioner
Rick Dyer, Jackson County Commissioner
Lyle Mordhorst, Polk County Commissioner
Numerous educators and administrators also signed the letter
It's bad enough that State Senator Shemia Fagan (D-Portland) doesn't support the bill, but when a ring of log trucks makes here late for the Senate Committee on Housing and Development which she chaired during the 2019 session, and then disrupts the hearing by blowing horns, she takes it out on everyone else, with a thinly veiled apology.
Alek Skarlatos, Candidate for Oregon’s 4th Congressional District, issued a statement condemning the Seattle City Council’s decision to defund their police department as both reckless and dangerous. Seattle’s Police Chief, Carmen Best, announced plans to retire in the wake of the vote which saw only one city councilor vote against the budget package stating that it did not go far enough in its radical aims.
“I visited the ‘Police Free Zone’ in Seattle prior to the shootings there and the murder of a 19 year-old young man,†said Skarlatos. “This ‘Mob Squad’ of politicians who support defunding the police have blood on their hands and are responsible for the violence that has come to rural Oregon.â€
The CHOP, or CHAZ, was formed in Seattle on June 8th of this year by violent protesters who forced police to abandon the East Precinct Building and declared it a police free autonomous zone. Its creation spurred increased anarchy in the city culminating in several shootings, including a murder, eventually forcing the mayor to order police to clear the neighborhood. The violence has spread to many other cities throughout the country and region with Portland, Oregon facing more than 70 straight days of unrest as Antifa-affiliated groups have targeted the Federal Courthouse in that city. Smaller cities such as Eugene and Springfield, Oregon have experienced rioting that targeted local businesses and residential areas.
You can find out more about Alek Skarlatos at his website
State Senator Dennis Linthicum (R-Klamath Falls) issued a statement pointing to the unconstitutionality of potential travel bans during the COVID-19 event. Governor Kate Brown has threatened to institute travel bans across state lines to further perpetuate fear of the virus.
“A travel ban would crush any bit of remaining life out of rural Oregon,†said Senator Linthicum. “If travel has been such a danger to the lives of Oregonians, why did Governor Brown wait until now? Her actions to date are unjustified and completely blind to the social and economic engines of American enterprise.
“Additionally, freedom of movement is guaranteed by the Privileges and Immunities Clause in the United States Constitution (U.S. Constitution, Article IV, Section 2). Freedom of movement has long been cemented as a fundamental Constitutional right.â€
Senator Linthicum continued, “On top of the COVID-19 fear mongering, the governor demeans Oregonians for going to church or hosting a birthday party, while she fails to denounce the violence and callous rage occurring nightly in Portland. Since she condones leftist politics, the violent riots are apparently frivolous get-togethers and not a threat to public health, but somehow, weddings are.
“Governor Brown should be protecting our civil rights, not throwing them away. I refuse to step aside and let the governor continue to take away our civil liberties; our American rights.â€
Following the marathon 15 hour second special session, House Speaker Tina Kotek released that “The budget that lawmakers ultimately approved yesterday makes approximately $400 million in strategic reductions, taps $440 million in one-time funds and resource adjustments, and draws down $400 million from the constitutionally dedicated Education Stability Fund in order to protect education, health care, and other core services while reducing some ongoing costs heading into the next budget cycle.â€
“Re-balancing†has no similarity to “equitable.†There was nothing equitable about the re-balancing, which targeted projects and programs that wouldn’t have as much election consequences and added new programs to boost the major party’s election returns. It had a lot to do with why the re-balance didn’t receive an overwhelming vote -- hitting rural projects the hardest.
Item one on the Joint Ways and Means 2020 Re-balance Plan smells of a Ponzi scheme. It’s described as “use of Education Stability Fund to offset General Fund and CAT need in the State School Fund.†They weren’t even secretive in reducing the State School Fund $350 million and the CAT fund $50 million to prop up other funding shortages, and replacing those school funds with $400 million from the Education Stability Fund. The bottom line is that they cut $40 million from the budgets and propped up other budgets with $400 million from the Education Stability Fund.
On May 7, Governor Brown asked state agencies to make plans to reduce their budgets by 17% as a backstop to the $2.5 billion in the rainy-day fund. What happened to that plan?
Oregon is ranked high in economy preparedness based on the rainy-day fund. Could that be why the Education Stability Fund was used to retain the false image that everything is super?
When voters passed the Education Stability Fund in 2002, it didn’t occur to most voters that the fund would be manipulated to be used as a rainy-day fund for the General Fund shortfall beyond an equitable cut in education to not let education suffer. But what has happened is the education stability fund is being used to make possible adding new funding like $2 million for Individual Development Accounts or adding $1.35 million for upgrades to the Capitol building.
Another question voters should ask is if the state is anticipating $1 billion budget hole, why are they adding new projects? The Legislative Fiscal Officer Ken Rocco says the CAT could bring in $415 million less than expected. Is that going to be another hit on the Education Stability Fund? Our economy is in uncertain times, but playing political games with the school funds isn’t what voters are looking for in leadership.
Spoiler alert: There is a “threat†of a Third Special Session later in September
At about 11:20 pm on Monday August 10th, the Second Special Session of 2020 ended. I wanted to give you an update on how I perceived how it went and how I voted on key bills. You can actually look up everything yourself at OLIS (Oregon Legislative Information System).
First of all, I remain committed to a fair and transparent legislative process. That did not happen. Any budget proposals should always be prioritized for economic recovery (especially in light of our situation due to Covid 19) and funding the core functions of our state agencies, while reducing red tape and government waste. None of this happened in this special session. Once again, just as in the first special session, we met without public input or involvement as the Capitol remained closed to Oregonians. This is just absolutely wrong as we in the Legislature have a responsibility to be responsive, transparent and accessible to the people of Oregon.
Bills were posted to OLIS late Sunday, which didn’t give the public enough time to know what was actually happening at the Capitol on Monday and they were completely cut out of the process. In fact, the Speaker of the House, early on in the joint committee, stated that “no public testimony would be allowed†and proceeded to only allow a very small handful of “invited testimony†to speak while encouraging the public to “email their testimony†to the legislative staff. Of course it was not read into the record, so how effective is that?
As for budget bills, I advocated for preserving funding for vital natural resources, public safety and educational programs like FFA. The budget is the people’s money and they deserve to know that their tax dollars are being used efficiently and effectively. Instead, we made cuts to essential services and programs like: veteran’s affairs, mental health care and other vital services.
Here were the main bills of attention:
HB 4301 - The “police reform†bill.
I voted “Yes†because the bill basically put into state law, what is already law…(I know that sounds silly…). The US Supreme Court case law standards have been in practice for over 30 years but now it’s “really law!â€
HB 4302 - DOGAMI Fee bill
I voted “No†because this was a “fee bill†and we do not need to raise fees. The department claimed they would have to cut 2 of their 11 staff. I countered with “move the office from Portland where everything is more expensive, to somewhere less expensiveâ€.
HB 4303 - Education Stability Fund Transfer bill
I voted “No†because I don’t believe this is necessary. It transfers $400 million for our “savings†to the State School Fund. Now that the school funds have been dispersed, every district in Oregon has made their budget adjustments accordingly and this savings account needs to be reserved for an even greater emergency (like maybe even by next year).
I voted “No†in solidarity with my colleague from the other side of the aisle, Rep. Jeff Barker, who made a strong argument that this rule could be “weaponized†depending on which party is in charge. There is NO due process with this rule.
SB 1701 - Wage Threshold for UI Filing
I voted “Yes†on this bill as there are still thousands of Oregonians who haven’t received their unemployment checks yet and this will help others who are working reduced hours to receive a greater UI benefit.
SB 1702 - Prioritizes Educator UI Claims
This was quite fun as the bill died in committee thanks to a bipartisan vote of legislators. In fact, later in the day, the Governor sent out a press release incorrectly blaming “Senate Republicans†when it was a Senate Democrat that killed the bill. One of OPB’s reporters tweeted this below:
SB 1703 - Department of Revenue Sharing of Information
I voted “No†because I felt this was a “slippery slope†allowing one department to share YOUR personal information with another department and that there was no sunset (end) to this.
SB 5721 - Bonding Bill
I voted “No†because these bonds were based on politics not on merit and do not take into consideration how much some communities (like Keizer, St. Paul and Newberg) would benefit from capital projects and that those projects are not equitably distributed across the state.
SB 5723 - Omnibus Budget Bill
I voted “No†because most importantly to me, it made a $4.6 million cut to the Farm to School program that I and Rep. Brian Clem worked so hard to create. The budget cuts also included mental health care, $170 million from health care, and $2.1 million from Veteran’s services.
In summary, nothing much changed. There is a “threat†of a Third Special Session later in September. As always, I will keep you up to date as I learn more.
The agenda for the meeting has been posted on the district website. Those wishing to submit public comments are encouraged to let their voices be heard.
Parents groups have been weighing their legal options.
The Oregon Legislature nearly passed SB 1702 through a joint committee hearing on the first day of the second special session of the year, a session which is meant to focus on fixing a broken state budget.
The bill would have prioritized the processing of claims in Oregon’s plagued unemployment claim system, but for one group of people only, that being “teachersâ€. Certainly, countless other Oregonians who continue to struggle without help do not get the special treatment that the teachers’ union is requesting through their lobbying of the legislature. This bill would have been passed with the severely overused “emergency clause†attached to it as well if it had not been halted in committee. Senator Betsy Johnson (D-Scappoose) voted no on the legislation to halt it in committee.
Governor Brown issued a press release lamenting the death of the bill. “It’s appalling that Senate Republicans today voted down a common sense fix to the unemployment process that would put money in people’s pockets faster. The bill would have eliminated red tape for education employees, freeing up staff to process other claims more quickly,†she said.
From the Senate floor, Senate Republican Leader Fred Girod (R-Stayton) responded, “My conclusion is the number of Republicans equals the IQ of the governor.â€
Girod later said in a press release, “A bill that would have prioritized public employees to receive unemployment benefits over Oregonians who have been waiting without help for months, had bipartisan opposition and died in the Joint Committee on the Second Special Session of 2020.â€
“Governor Brown, this is your mess,†continued Girod. “Your commitment to pandering to special interests knows no bounds. You wanted your special interests to jump the line and receive unemployment benefits ahead of Oregonians that have been waiting for assistance and haven’t been getting it for months.â€
“I am trying to protect the tens of thousands of unemployed Oregonians, through no fault of their own,†said Senator Lynn Findley (R-Vale). “Oregonians are begging for help, some filing for bankruptcy, and the governor is blind to those pleas, and instead prioritizes public employees.â€
Concerns expressed about Democrat leaders muting the public
The second special session of the Oregon legislature kicked off today, with the Oregon Capitol building declared off limits to the Oregon public, legislators and staff being the only personnel allowed inside.
Senator Fred Girod (R-Stayton) and other republicans voted against these special rules today, and in hopes of include those members of the public, the Senator has issued a statement regarding his vote on the Senate Rules.
Largely the same as the rules in the first special session, they exclude Oregonians from the legislative process by locking them outside the Oregon Capitol. Girod said, “This is the building of the people, and it is wrong for the super majority party to continue to lock Oregonians out of the legislative process. It is a symbiotic relationship: Oregonians have a right to be involved in the creation of legislation, and legislators need their input and advocacy to craft sound policies for the state. I shouldn’t have to say this, but we are elected to represent Oregonians, not bulldoze them to appease special interests.â€
The Majority party Democrats are unlikely to grant such a request for the public to be included, which critics are noting could lead to policy creation that will likely be unsuccessful and not in the interest of Oregonians.
Editor’s note: This is the fifth of a multi-part series analyzing the latest version of the school re-opening guidelines and the prospects of schools re-opening in the Fall.
As the state struggles to deal with government shutdowns during the COVID-19 epidemic, various stakeholders in the the world of K-12 education have taken to trying to use the crisis to their advantage.
Arguably the most powerful public employee union in the state, the Oregon Education Association -- representing teachers, along with it's sister union, the Oregon School Employees Association -- representing classified school employees, submitted a letter as testimony to the policy committee which considered legislation for the first special session, held in late June. The subject of the letter was to urge legislators not to remove the cap on virtual schools. The cap currently limits the number of students that can transfer from their traditional public school to a virtual school at 3% of enrollment.
Arguing in the letter that virtual schools “have dismal educational outcomes (one graduated just 33 percent of its seniors last year),†virtual schools have countered that students who come to them are often at the bottom of the heap of the public school student body -- a a factor often driving their desire to transfer.
As the Governor -- who is, after all the state superintendent of public instruction -- cheerleads Oregonians with cries of "We're going to get through this together..." she might take a moment to have the education unions take their share of the pain.
Or at least not use the crisis to try to carve out an advantage for themselves.
