PORTLAND, Ore. — Mike Schmidt and Nathan Vasquez, the two candidates for Multnomah County District Attorney, met for a final debate hosted by KGW and The Oregonian on Thursday — trading barbs before a backdrop of pro-Palestinian protests roiling the Portland State University campus.
Protesters and relationship with police
Protests have already featured heavily in the campaign thus far, but this week's occupation of the Portland State University library by protesters made the topic especially poignant. Vasquez has criticized Schmidt for dismissing hundreds of non-violent protest-related cases when he took office in the summer of 2020.
Vasquez said that he would prosecute everyone equally for breaking the law when protest-related activity goes into the bounds of criminal activity, whatever the political persuasion of the people involved. He called on Schmidt to admit that he'd failed by dismissing those 2020 protest cases.
Schmidt said that he's made it very clear this week that there will be no tolerance for illegal activity like vandalism or violence, and he countered that Vasquez obscured the context of the 2020 dismissals — namely that his office was hamstrung by staffing shortages and pandemic-related limitations, and he came into office after 60 straight days of protests with a backlog of hundreds of protest-related cases.
And Schmidt took a shot at Vasquez's willingness to prosecute cases equally by political alignment, claiming that he had to direct Vasquez to prosecute former Proud Boys member Alan Swinney after he aimed a loaded gun into a crowd during a brawl between right- and left-wing groups. Vasquez denied the claim, if indirectly.
Vasquez said that he can rebuild trust with police. The Portland police and firefighters' unions have both endorsed him.
Schmidt said that he's had regular meetings with the Portland Police Bureau's chief since he first took office, and he's worked closely with them to create multiple task forces to tackle different types of crime that grew coming out of the pandemic, particularly auto and retail theft.
Measure 110, homelessness and mental illness
Vasquez has worked hard to tie Schmidt to Measure 110's drug decriminalization, which Schmidt did vocally support. Vasquez said that Schmidt "flip-flopped" by later supporting the bill to recriminalize drug possession.
Schmidt replied that at the time, he voted along with 75% of Multnomah County voters in approving Measure 110 due to its emphasis on drug treatment. However, he said his opinion on decriminalization changed when he saw that it wasn't working.
Beyond that, there was little daylight between the two on drug crimes and treatment. Both said that they were behind the concept of deflection programs included in the recriminalization bill, which would help drug users avoid jail sentences, as well as drug diversion courts. In their own ways, both supported prosecution that would mandate drug treatment in some cases.
When asked about the possibility of criminal charges under a ban on homeless camps, Schmidt said that he would prosecute those cases, but jail would be a last resort. Jail, he said, is both an incredibly expensive option for housing someone, and rarely leads to successful long-term outcomes. He would rather emphasize connections to shelter or housing.
Vasquez accused Schmidt of looking for "ways to dismiss more cases," and said that he would prosecute camping ordinance violations up to and including jail time.
In addressing what he would do about the crisis of untreated severe mental illness, Vasquez said that he doesn't put the problem "all on Mike Schmidt." If he were DA, he said, he'd advocate for the state to overhaul civil commitment laws and work to streamline cases where both substance abuse and mental illness are factors.
Schmidt wouldn't support the overhaul of civil commitment laws, noting that there aren't currently enough secure treatment facilities for even the current population of defendants with mental illness. He said he supports the construction of those facilities throughout the state, at the local level.
Leadership and the public defender shortage
A long-term shortage of public defenders in Oregon has resulted in particularly bad outcomes for the criminal justice system — with cases either dismissed by judges because there are no defense attorneys available, or defendants languishing in jail while they await representation.
Schmidt said that he's been active in the legislature to work on fixes at the state level, where the problem originates. He said he's also created a triage system at the DA's office, arranging for an attorney to address cases specifically at risk of being dismissed in order to resolve them sooner, if possible.
Cases that are dismissed are being brought back on behalf of the victims, Schmidt said.
Vasquez said that he would find a way to wrangle private civil attorneys with criminal experience to pitch in as public defenders. He said he is also working on legislation to bring "transparency and accountability" to public defense firms and pushing for a state-run public defense system.
Schmidt flatly countered that the idea of asking civil attorneys to step up wouldn't work — that it's been tried before and failed.
Vasquez and Schmidt sparred most over questions of leadership, morale, and working to curb the "small stuff" — namely misdemeanor crimes that Multnomah County residents feel have gone unenforced since the pandemic.
For Vasquez, he pointed to an ambivalence between police and Schmidt's office as a reason for that lack of enforcement. He indicated that he'd go talk with police officers and encourage them to take a more active role, rebuilding the partnership between the DA's office and police.
"The chief of police even had to tell the everyday police officer, 'Hey, stop going out and (telling) business owners, victims and everyday citizens that you would make an arrest, however, the DA's office won't prosecute it,'" Vasquez said. "I'm proud to say that in my years of experience, police know that they can count on me to deliver."
"Mr. Vasquez likes to point out what the chief of police had to direct his officers to say," Schmidt later countered. "What he was actually doing was correcting misinformation in the community — the same misinformation spread by People for Portland and all the backers that Mr. Vasquez relies on in his campaign."
Vasquez also said he'd end "gender discrimination" in the DA's office, alluding to a 2023 complaint made against Schmidt that a BOLI investigation later substantiated in large part. He also said he'd create a training program to build back morale at the DA's office, gesturing to the fact that prosecutors had endorsed him over Schmidt.
Schmidt said that he's brought in an equity director and done trainings at the DA's office, saying the leadership in the office is more diverse than ever.
One recurring theme was that both candidates tried to claim credit for the Access Attorney Program, or MAAP, which places attorneys in specific areas of Multnomah County in order to be more responsive to the community's needs.
Vasquez said that he wrote the plan for MAAP, while Schmidt said that he was the one who kickstarted its reintroduction and directed prosecutors, including Vasquez, to make it happen. Schmidt did credit Vasquez for the acronym.
Right now, there are four prosecutors in the MAAP program, but Vasquez said that the goal is to expand it to eight.