A lead-in quote from a Register-Guard article: “Lane County has failed to compensate deputy district attorneys adequately for years.” I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. This problem is more extensive than Lane County and affects more than the prosecutorial sector. If governments at all levels in the state used some of the revenue surpluses to bolster the salaries of the DA’s staff, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. For Christ’s sake! Oregon has a $1.1 billion budget surplus, and they’re spending it on magic mushroom policy focus groups, hard drug counseling sessions, as well as wetback and bum freebies. They might as well pass a law like Illinois just did and turn over the state to the bad guys. Portland and Multnomah County have a good start on that, but they’re not there yet. This state has one of the WORST cases of priority misalignment in this country, so don’t blame the DA – she’s the lightning rod for these nutjob groups. For any skeptics out there, here’s the bottom line from the state’s website:
