Endorsement: Willamette Week

Our AG is not a politician--let's keep it that way

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

If choosing Oregon's top elected law-enforcement official were like ordering a sandwich, this fall's menu would be limited to peanut butter versus horseradish.

Hardy Myers, the eight-year incumbent Oregon attorney general, is a bit dull, but substantive and nutritious.

Paul Connolly, a Salem lawyer who's challenging Myers, offers a dash of boldness but not much else.

Myers heads the Oregon Department of Justice, an agency charged with supporting local police departments and prosecutors, as well as defending the state in legal actions.

In eight years of elected office, Myers has shown himself to be a solid, quiet administrator, not a politician--and that's a good thing. He has focused on seeking restitution for crime victims, combating sexual assault, and consumer protection (he's been particularly dogged prosecuting pharmaceutical industry abuses).

His opponent, the longtime lawyer for the Oregon GOP, has grandiose plans--all of which would require lawmakers to vastly increase his powers. Arguing that the checks and balances on the governor's office offered by the Legislature and the courts are not enough, Connolly wants to create a whole new layer of bureaucracy to review regulations formulated by state agencies.

His example of a rogue agency is the state parks department, which, to help the rare snowy plover, in July proposed setting aside large swaths of beach. The would-be official says they came up with their plan for their own jollies, not as a consequence of any legal mandate. (Note to Connolly: It's called the Endangered Species Act.)

Though Myers is a Democrat, the vast majority of Oregon's county district attorneys, a highly conservative bunch, support him. Myers also has the backing of Crime Victims United leader Steve Doell, a friend of state GOP boss Kevin Mannix--who employs Connolly. The other two candidates for this post, Libertarian loan officer Donald G. Smith Jr. and retiree and Constitution Party nominee Donald Hake, simply don't cut the mustard.