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| Anybody But Bernice 9/19/2007 Anybody But Bernice!
District Attorney Bernice Barnett recently announced her intention to seek a third term as Lincoln Co. D.A. As readers know, we’d endorse anybody but Bernice, although an exciting challenger has stepped forward to make our job even easier. Don’t get us wrong. We actually like Bernice, a single mother who worked her way through night school to earn a law degree. But her Hillary Alger story ended almost the moment she became district attorney. We’ve reported on a number of botched prosecutions, prosecutions of innocent citizens and cases where the D.A. has simply dropped the ball and not prosecuted at all. We’ve followed incidents where hard police work has paid off with the arrest of burglary suspects, but the cases have languished in court for a year or more and the stolen property has not been returned. Barnett’s approach to criminal law is unnerving. Criminal charges are routinely devalued for people who should be cooling their lives in jail, while upstanding citizens are hauled into court for no good reason whatsoever. In Depoe Bay, Barnett prosecuted a businessman for defending his property from street thugs. In Newport, a respected scientist faced 30 years in jail for “consensual petting” with a barfly. Thankfully, both defendants prevailed in the end, but at what cost? What most citizens don’t know — how could they, when courthouse reporting is so shallow in Lincoln Co.? — is that Barnett hasn’t the temperament or ability to work effectively with police agencies, which are helpless to turn the rising tide on criminal activity without an effective D.A. That dirty little secret is now out in the open. After eight years in office, she has lost the support of working police officers and the leaders of city and county police agencies, which were surprisingly swift to endorse her challenger, Rod Bovett. Voters should note that among Bovett’s supporters is Sheriff Dennis Dotson, the central figure in law enforcement matters in Depoe Bay and crime-swept central Lincoln Co. Sheriff Dotson has created one of the most efficient and professional police agencies in the state, but he realizes that to combat the steady drumbeat of burglaries and other drug-related crimes that plague our community a change is necessary at the D.A.’s office. Rod Bovett, a highly-respected public servant, has yet to make his case to voters about his qualifications for office, though his campaign is sure to catch everyone’s attention. But in our case, we say “Anybody but Bernice!” Author Name Depoe Bay Beacon - news@depoebaybeacon.com |
