Buehler should resign to run for governor

I fully expected that Knute Buehler and his supporters would push back against our request for investigation of his residency. But I am taken aback by how completely their responses — and yours — miss the point of our concerns.

I understand fully the difficulty of running a statewide race in our state. I have been to every county in Oregon more than once over the last 10 years — and I also understand the population differences between regions.

But Representative Buehler was elected, sworn in, took an oath and takes a public paycheck to represent House District 54. And at the time he decided to run for governor and move his home and his base of operations to the Willamette Valley he essentially stopped being a representative for his constituents in Bend.

Stating that fact is not claiming that you can’t run for governor if you don’t live in the Willamette Valley. It’s that you can’t both be a state representative from Bend and a full-time candidate for governor living in Tualatin.

What Buehler, the Oregon Republican Party, and The Bulletin seem to be missing is that there’s a simple solution for this problem. Knute Buehler could have been up front with his constituents and resigned his seat to pursue his new ambition.

Legislators are sworn in for a two-year term, not for 18 months, or for only the days the Legislature is in Salem. Current legislators are holding town halls, meeting with constituent groups and maintaining communications with their districts at all times of the year. Buehler’s failure to understand and respect those responsibilities tells Oregonians he fails completely to demonstrate commitment to public service.

Whatever happens to our request for investigation, voters should take this message seriously. His willingness to take a public paycheck without assuring that he is meeting his legislative responsibilities is a serious flaw in this candidate for governor.

— Jeanne Atkins is chair of the Oregon Democratic Party.

Williamson blocked important law change

In its editorial on July 22, The Bulletin’s editorial board was entirely correct to highlight the current epidemic of car theft in the Bend-Redmond area. It is even worse in other parts of the state, such as Portland, where car theft has increased by more than 50 percent. And the board is also entirely correct to place the blame for this at the feet of our Court of Appeals for the 2014 and 2015 decisions that made it extremely difficult to legally prove car theft, “to the point of absurdity” as they put it.

In 2008, the last time property crime was skyrocketing, voters overwhelmingly passed Measure 57, which included the felony crime of auto theft.

It carries the possibility of a prison sentence if the criminal is a repeat offender. Common sense told the voters (and they were right) that incarceration reduces crime because while in prison an active property criminal cannot victimize the public.

[Oregon House] Majority Leader [Jennifer] Williamson is the second most powerful politician in the House of Representatives and an avowed “anti-incarceration” zealot. She has opposed the ballot measure which targeted career felony property offenders (Measure 57) and has made repeated attempts to take serious felony property crimes out of Measure 57.

In the 2017 and 2018 legislative sessions Oregon district attorneys attempted to fix the law. It was Majority Leader Jennifer Williamson who led the effort to remove auto theft from Measure 57 by reducing it to a misdemeanor, thereby stopping the legislation from passing. During the past two years, hundreds, if not thousands, of victims have suffered needlessly while car theft rates have skyrocketed. Any suggestion that Majority Leader Williamson has not been the biggest roadblock to fixing the law is simply not accurate.

Despite all these difficulties, we stand ready and eager to work with legislative leadership to restore crimes, such as auto theft, under Measure 57 and honor the will of Oregon voters.

— John Foote is the district attorney for Clackamas County. Josh Marquis is the district attorney for Clatsop County.