Governor Kate Brown Appoints Mike Schmidt as Multnomah County District Attorney

July 06, 2020

District Attorney-elect Schmidt will assume office early to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of the current Multnomah County District Attorney

Portland, OR—Governor Kate Brown today announced that she will appoint Michael L. Schmidt as District Attorney of Multnomah County, effective August 1. Mr. Schmidt recently won election as District Attorney for a term that starts in January 2021. With this appointment, Mr. Schmidt will assume the office early to fill the vacancy that will be created by the retirement of current Multnomah County District Attorney Rod Underhill.

“Mike Schmidt has a strong background in criminal justice issues and earned overwhelming support of Multnomah County voters,” Governor Brown said. “His career of public service, including time with the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office, and more recently as Executive Director of Oregon’s Criminal Justice Commission, demonstrates his passion and deep commitment to this work and will enable him to hit the ground running on day one.”

Mr. Schmidt received a bachelor’s degree from Vassar College and worked as a public school teacher in New Orleans before going to law school. After graduating from Lewis and Clark Law School, he served as a Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney from 2007 to 2013. He then served as judiciary counsel for the Oregon Legislature before moving over to the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, where he went on to serve as executive director from 2015 to the present. Mr. Schmidt also serves on the board of directors of the National Association of Sentencing Commissions, and as vice president of the National Criminal Justice Association.

In addition to announcing Mr. Schmidt’s appointment, the Governor thanked District Attorney Underhill for his many years of dedicated service to the people of Multnomah County.

https://www.oregon.gov/newsroom/Pages/NewsDetail.aspx?newsid=36893

Governor Kate Brown Announces Healthy Early Learners Council

July 06, 2020

Council will advise programs serving children, birth to eight, on safely reopening and staying open

Portland, OR—Governor Kate Brown today announced that she will be convening a Healthy Early Learners Council to advise her and the Early Learning Division (ELD) on guidance for the reopening and ongoing operation of early learning and child care programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The work of this Council will align with the work of the Early Learning System strategic plan, Raise Up Oregon , the Governor’s Early Learning Council, and the Joint Taskforce on Access to Quality Affordable Child Care.

The early childhood education sector, including early learning and child care programs, faces unique challenges in the midst of COVID-19, given the limited ability for children and staff to maintain physical distancing, the potential child development implications of staff wearing face coverings in this environment, and the increased cleaning protocols that programs must implement without professional support.

“As anyone with young children at home knows, Oregon's early learning educators and child care providers have their work cut out for them tending to health, safety, and learning during this pandemic," said Governor Brown. "Through the work of the Healthy Early Learners Council, we will help ensure the health and well-being of Oregon’s young children returning to early learning and child care programs – as well as the dedicated professionals who serve them.”

The Council, which will meet over the next several months, will be charged with:

• Aligning reopening guidance for children birth through age 8 – including child care, preschool/pre-kindergarten, and Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education programs – grounded in equity and the science of child development;

• Informing revised guidance issued by the Early Learning Division and the Oregon Health Authority to support early childhood program operations with health and safety in mind;

• Advising on policies to support providers’ and children’s developmental, physical, and mental health needs, including addressing challenging behaviors when returning to care and preventing increases in suspension and expulsion, particularly for young children of color; and

• Recommendations for the health and well-being of young children and their families during COVID-19, in collaboration with the Early Learning Council.

The Council will include elected officials, child care providers, early learning providers, public health experts, and parents, with a focus on ensuring that a wide and diverse range of community voices are represented. A full roster of members will be available prior to the Council’s first meeting in July.

https://www.oregon.gov/newsroom/Pages/NewsDetail.aspx?newsid=36897

>>9900146

Governor Kate Brown’s Healthy Schools Reopening Council Holds First Meeting

July 07, 2020

Salem, OR—Governor Kate Brown’s Healthy Schools Reopening Council convened for its first remote meeting today. The council is charged with advising the Governor and the Oregon Department of Education as school districts develop their plans for a safe return to school for Oregon’s students under the Ready Schools, Safe Learners K-12 schools reopening process. Districts will develop plans for in-person instruction, remote instruction, or a combination of the two.

“With the current rise in COVID-19 cases across Oregon’s urban and rural communities, it is clear that we have our work cut out for us in terms of figuring out how students, educators, and staff can return to classrooms safely this fall,” said Governor Brown. “This council will help to advise me about what measures we can put into place to help make our schools safe, but whether students can return to classrooms or not at the start of the school year is up to each and every one of us.

“If we continue to see COVID-19 case counts, community spread, and hospitalizations rise, districts across the state will be forced to resort to extended periods of remote instruction throughout the school year. I don’t want to see that happen, but it is the reality we face. July can be a turning point in this outbreak. It is critical that Oregonians continue to wear face coverings, practice physical distancing, and avoid large gatherings, or we could quickly find that a safe return to the classroom is beyond our reach.”

In order to ensure all community voices are represented, the council includes state and local officials, public health experts, public members from a diverse range of backgrounds, and members from the education community, including representatives of students, parents, support staff, school administrators, school board members, teachers, counselors, and school nurses.

The full membership of the Healthy Schools Reopening Council is available here .

https://www.oregon.gov/newsroom/Pages/NewsDetail.aspx?newsid=36904

>>9900146

Governor Kate Brown Announces Membership of Public Safety Training and Standards Task Force

July 08, 2020

Task force will develop recommendations for improving the training and certification practices for Oregon law enforcement officers

Portland, OR—Governor Kate Brown today announced her appointees to the Public Safety Training and Standards Task Force. The Task Force will be chaired by the Governor’s Public Safety Policy Advisor, Constantin Severe, and its membership includes a diverse selection of Oregonians with a history of public service. A full roster of members is available here .

“Bold action on racial justice and criminal justice reform is long overdue,” said Governor Brown. “But words from leaders aren’t enough. We need action. That is why I called lawmakers into a special session to take action on police reform and the People of Color Caucus agenda. This was an important step forward.

“I am forming a Public Safety Training and Standards Task Force to complete a full review of law enforcement training, certification, and decertification practices. I would like to thank the Task Force members for stepping up to this call, and I look forward to reviewing the recommendations they put forward.”

The Task Force is charged with recommending to the Governor improvements in the training and certification of Oregon law enforcement officers. To complete its charge, members of the Task Force will:

• Review current Oregon statutes and administrative rules on police training and certification.

• Identify gaps in current statute, administrative rules, and policies governing officer training and certification.

• Recommend how to apply best practices, research and data to officer training and certification.

• Provide recommendations on how to best incorporate concepts of racial equity into officer training and certification requirements.

• Provide recommendations on use of force training, including best practices of how to incorporate concepts of officer use of the least amount of necessary force to accomplish a lawful objective and de-escalation during a use of force event.

• Provide recommendations on the composition of the Board on Public Safety Standards and Training and how to include additional public participation and inclusion of communities of color.

• Provide recommendations on statutory requirements for officer decertification.

The Task Force will provide a written report of its recommendations and findings to the Governor by November 1, 2020.

https://www.oregon.gov/newsroom/Pages/NewsDetail.aspx?newsid=36912

Governor Kate Brown Statement on U.S. Supreme Court Decision on the Birth Control Rule under the Affordable Care Act

July 08, 2020

Salem, OR—Governor Kate Brown issued the following statement today on the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania:

“Today, the U.S. Supreme Court took a step backward, upholding a Trump Administration rule that allows employers to deny contraceptive coverage to employees. This decision will have dangerous consequences for workers across the U.S. and their families who have enjoyed the full complement of health services for reproductive health care for years, thanks in large part because of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Today's decision further limits a person’s ability to make their own decisions. American families will face additional burdens and costs that were once covered as part of a range of reproductive health care services.

“The Trump Administration continues to undermine the health, safety, and economic security of Americans by eroding the pillars of the ACA. Just weeks ago, in another case, this administration filed a brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the ACA during a pandemic, with no plan to replace it.

“Health care reduces human suffering. To rip away protections— in the middle of a public health crisis—is extraordinarily cruel. Thanks in part to the ACA, 94% of Oregonians have health care. If the President gets his way 546,000+ Oregonians could lose coverage.

“The Trump administration rule is a significant blow for Americans' access to birth control, and will have rippling consequences for many who rely on these essential health services. We must remain vigilant to uphold the existing pillars of the ACA and ensure families all across the country have the opportunity to access vital health care. The consequences of not upholding the ACA in this case and others have grave consequences for millions who rely on it for necessary preventive and non-preventive health care and coverage. We cannot afford to go backward.”

https://www.oregon.gov/newsroom/Pages/NewsDetail.aspx?newsid=36910

>>9900146

Mike Schmidt

https://multdemsvote.com/our-candidates/mike-schmidt/

Not much on this guy so far that I can find.

>>9900246

Moar digs on Mike.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-schmidt-28664043

This one is a beauty.

“IT IS PUBLIC SAFETY TO GET PEOPLE OUT OF INCARCERATION”: Q&A WITH PORTLAND D.A. CANDIDATE

A candidate for district attorney in Oregon’s biggest county—Multnomah, home of Portland—is calling on public authorities to act now to stop the COVID-19 pandemic’s dangerous spread in jails and prisons. Mike Schmidt wants the police to make fewer arrests, DAs to charge fewer cases, and jail and prison administrators to release people who have three months or less to serve.

“If I was DA right now, my concern would be public safety,” Schmidt told me. “And it is public safety to get people out of incarceration, so we don’t have the virus rip through the walls and then boomerang back onto our communities, frontline staff, people whose families are impacted. … We need to limit every single way we’re bringing people back into the system.” He currently works as the executive director of the Criminal Justice Commission, a state agency.

Oregon is still scheduled to vote for its district attorneys in May. The state’s vote-by-mail system makes its elections less vulnerable to the current public health crisis than those of other states.

In a state where DAs have remained largely impermeable to reform politics, the contrasts in Multnomah County’s two-way race are surprisingly significant. The incumbent, Rod Underhill, is not seeking re-election. Running to replace him are Ethan Knight, an assistant U.S. attorney who broadly favors staying the course, and Schmidt, a former prosecutor himself, who thinks the next DA should champion major statutory changes to Oregon’s criminal legal system.

https://theappeal.org/politicalreport/mike-schmidt-interview-portland-multnomah-district-attorney/