Endorsement: The Daily Astorian
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Hardy Myers for attorney general
He grasps the inequities that plague Oregon’s criminal justice system
Inequities abound in Oregon’s criminal justice system. Deputy district attorneys in Multnomah County are paid more than the state attorney general. Meanwhile, the state’s share of district attorneys’ compensation has been static for too long.
Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers is not running for re-election on a platform of raising his own compensation, but he is talking about the need to boost the compensation of the district attorneys. The other three items on Myers’ agenda for a new term are more adequate funding for defense of the indigent, increased forensic capabilities for the state police and increased funding for operations of Oregon’s correctional institutions.
Myers’ opponent is Paul Connolly, a Salem lawyer since 1984. Connolly spent the prior decade in Washington, D.C., with a variety of legal organizations. Connolly’s emphasis on fighting methamphetamine traffic is more suited to a race for district attorney than attorney general.
Being attorney general is mainly about running a very large law firm. Over some eight years as attorney general, Myers has demonstrated a clear grasp of the distinctions between his office and the policy-making office of the governor. He has not attempted to be the state’s top prosecutor.
As with the challengers to the other statewide office holders, Connolly’s is a token candidacy. He would be an effective candidate for the state Legislature. That, in fact, is where Myers began, eventually serving with distinction as speaker of the House 1979 to 1983.
As a legislator and as attorney general, Hardy Myers has been the model of what we need in Salem. We only wish there were more like him. Without hesitation, we urge Hardy Myers’ re-election.
|
