Head of anti-crime organization knocks Merkley's record

Senate candidate Jeff Merkley: Campaign photoU.S Senate candidate Jeff Merkley's (D-Portland) tough-on-crime proposal hadn't even been public for 24 hours before Steve Doell, president of Crime Victims United, marched to the front door of his campaign's headquarters on Wednesday with a list of grievances' against Merkley's record on crime. Or, as Doell believes, Merkley's lack of record on crime as speaker in the Oregon State House.

"Your attack on Sen. Smith (R-Pendleton) on the issue of crime rings hollow when you have such a poor record yourself," Doell wrote in a letter he delivered personally to Merkley campaign headquarters at N.W. 23rd and N.W. Lovejoy.

Doell's letter referred to six of Merkley's votes in the state house that Doell believed to be soft on crime, including a 2005 vote against HB 2313, a bill that would have mandated tougher sentences for violent, gang related crimes.

Doell also brought to light a piece of legislation that went through the Oregon House in 1999, HB 2307. Merkley was the only Oregon legislator to vote against this bill, which established tougher penalties for assaulting an infant.

But Merkley's campaign responded in kind with several of Merkley's tough-on-crime achievements, including HB 2485, a 2005 bill that is the toughest piece of anti-meth legislation in the country.

"Jeff Merkley is the father of two children, and he will always throw the book at anyone who harms or poses a threat to our kids," Merkley campaign spokesman Matt Canter said.

Doell is also a father, and one who has spent the past 16 years trying to bring about harsher penalties for violent crimes. He took on the cause after his daughter, Lisa, was killed in 1992 on a Lake Oswego sidewalk. A motorist hit her and flung her body into a tree.

Doell believed that the driver, who admitted to fantasizing about killing someone and fled the scene, should have been convicted of murder, but was only convicted of second-degree manslaughter, and served only 28 months in jail.

Since then, he has lobbied for stricter penalties for violent crimes. This election cycle, Doell has thrown his support behind the candidate that he thinks will best serve his cause.

"Gordon Smith has a long and consistent record of working to protect our community and I am proud to support him," Doell wrote.

Doell himself has personally endorsed Smith in his re-election campaign, but Crime Victims United has not yet endorsed a candidate. Canter said that Doell's endorsement runs contrary to his stated cause.

"Gordon Smith voted with George W. Bush to cut resources for local law enforcement," Canter said, referring to Smith's vote to slash funding for Byrne grants which, according to the U.S Department of Justice, are federal grants available to local law enforcement for a wide variety of programs to prevent and control crime.

Smith was staying out of the fray Wednesday as he campaigned in southern Oregon, but he did take some time to point out Merkley's missteps on crime in the Oregon State house, including a 2005 bill that extended the statute of limitations on sex crimes, including rape, incest and sexual abuse.

Merkley was one of just 13 house members to oppose the bill, which was eventually passed and signed by Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongowski.

The Friends of Gordon Smith campaign followed up by sending out a list of 30 Oregon law enforcement officials that have endorsed Smith. That list includes 18 county sheriffs and 12 county district attorneys.