MEASURE 26-183
(Appointed County Sheriff):
No
Multnomah County, you are bad at electing sheriffs.
Sheriff Dan Staton resigned this year, amid a roiling clusterfuck of accusations of incompetence. The guy elected before him lied about what he knew of former Governor Neil Goldschmidt’s sexual abuse of a minor.
So it’s easy to see the appeal in Measure 26-183, which would modify the county charter to put the hiring of the sheriff in the hands of the Multnomah County chair beginning in 2019.
The change would put Multnomah County at odds with most counties around the country, but it would also open up the sheriff position to nationwide candidates and make a rogue sheriff more quickly answerable for bad behavior.
That could be great, but give yourself another chance. The times we live in—with the Black Lives Matter movement at full steam, body cameras coming onto the scene, and a lot of soul-searching needed around the disparate impacts of law enforcement on minorities—make it more important than ever that citizens have a chance to hold their sheriff directly accountable.
So keep the system as is. Just don’t screw up again.