QUESTION:
What’s the biggest difference we’ll see between the way you would run the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office and the way Rod Underhill has run it?
ETHAN KNIGHT:
Two things: One, I want to continue the work that he has done, focusing on the Multnomah County Justice Reinvestment Program and other programs that have underscored the need for treatment, in a variety of different areas.
I think the biggest substantive policy I hope people will see is a return to more community policing and prosecution. I would like to see a return to having community prosecutors and more preventative work. Fifteen to 20 years ago, the model that we had that got chipped away through various budget cycles to deal with lower level crimes is we often had a district attorney who was positioned in the community at a police precinct, and their job was to react to specific concerns that people had in neighborhoods and in communities. That often didn’t result in prosecution, but it resulted in proactive problem-solving. That was a popular model, a model that worked well, and I’d like to see that piece put back into the fold of the DA's office. And it would be great if we got police officers out of their cars and in a listening mode back out in the community. That’s the piece I really hope to work on and to expand.
MIKE SCHMIDT:
The biggest difference is going to be community involvement. I’ve gone out to all these community groups, like APANO, Latino Network, East County Rising and Unite Oregon, and talked to them and sought their endorsements. I’ve learned so much more about what they want to see in a District Attorney’s Office. I hope they’ve learned a lot more from me about what’s possible within the office. I think just by virtue of this county almost never having a contested election in the last several decades, that’s been a really big missed opportunity. Throughout this campaigning and endorsement process, building this coalition and building a grassroots campaign, it’s going to hold me accountable, if I’m elected. It’s activated those communities to think about how they could be involved in the District Attorney’s Office. I’ve already had conversations about how could I work with APANO, for example, and use their beautiful facility out on 82nd Avenue to hold an expungement clinic.
Also, what types of crimes we focus on, as a District Attorney’s Office. Talking to the carpenters union, they told me about how devastating wage theft is to their industry. Those are cases that aren’t being prosecuted right now. Luckily, I have the endorsement and relationship with BOLI Commissioner Val Hoyle, and her and I have already talked about how we could partner on pursuing wage theft cases that would really increase people’s quality of life in the community.
I think it’s building those connections. My hope is by doing that, I can start to restore some faith and legitimacy in law enforcement, that law enforcement is being responsive to what the community wants and needs, and we can become more integrated and trusted in that relationship. So the biggest thing after four years that I hope that people will say is that the community is way more involved, has a much bigger role, and has a lot more faith and love and trust for the District Attorney’s Office.