Seems like a good outcome to me. Maybe now Marquis will realize that he can't operate without accountability, particularly if he wants part of his salary to be paid by county taxpayers.

There is an old saying that people who "are too full of themselves need to be taken down a peg".

I have worked on DA campaigns in my county, but never thought the job of a DA is to tell people what to believe about criminal justice isssues. That has been my impression of Marquis, which is why I am glad he is just going to get the state salary.

Miles

Do you think he should continue to act as a county department head, with all of the responsibilities that entails, without compensation?

"without compensation?"

I wouldn't call $84,360 "without compensation." The DA is a state official. He is paid more than the state's Attorney General. I think the county's decision to stiff him on additional compensation is vindictive, but I'm sure Mr. Marquis would be the first to tell you he isn't in it for the money. This is the face of local politics.

Sponge

The $84,360 Mr. Marquis receives is to act as the DA for the county. That doesn't entail developing budgets for the county, or other responsibilities that he takes on as the head of a county department.

In Mr. Marquis own words "The county has supplemented my state salary for the past 12 years because I am a county department head, with all the duties of every other county department head. Thirty to 40 percent of my time is spent hiring, training and supervising the six lawyers and 11 support staff in my office, and managing the department's budget of $1.3 million of your county tax dollars - frugally and creatively, returning tens of thousands of dollars to the general fund each year."

So I ask you: Do you thing he should continue to provide the county with unpaid services or should he spend all of his time prosecuting criminals, the only thing he is now paid to do?

According to press reports (as I have no inside knowledge of this situation) the County would have voted to pay Marquis the additional $16,000 had he been willing to provide the commissioners with performance measures -- as all other county department heads are required to do. He refused, and said that he was under no obligation to justify his budget or performance to the county commission. So they decided they were under no obligation to pay him additional salary. Marquis can't pretend to be a department head when he wants the money, but refuse to be accountable when someone wants to measure how he's doing.

Was the County's decision vindictive? Probably on the part of one commissioner, who Marquis prosecuted on dog licensing charges (which were dropped) and then had his wife run against the commissioner. But Marquis certainly isn't blameless in the whole tiff, and the other commissioners seemed genuinely concerned with Marquis' ego and lack of accountability.

Plus, as I said in the earlier post, Marquis clearly lied on election night when he was interviewed and kept saying this was a "grassroots effort" to overturn the county decision, and not something that he was engineering. Yet one group posted emails from Marquis where he is clearly orchestrating the initiative campaign. So that's another strike against him.

Mike, everything he does as a county department head is part of his responsibility as a DA, not in addition to. It's not like he's just doing the county a favor for nothing; it's his job, no matter who pays his salary. I'd be surprised if any other Clatsop County department head made as much as the DA (except maybe the county manager), and several of them probably have bigger staffs and bigger budgets. If the DA also acted as the county's legal counsel, then a pretty good argument could be made. Otherwise, any additional amount is purely at the discretion of the commissioners.

Sponge

Check out Mr. Marquis blog at www.coastda.com

Again, in Mr. Marquis own words: "Like all Oregon DAs, I am a State officer, elected by the citizens of Clatsop County. As in every other DA’s office in the state, all the Deputy DAs and other staff are County employees. State law requires me to prosecute cases but says nothing about administering a county department. I run what is essentially the largest law firm in the county and spend probably 30% of my time on the same administrative functions as every other county department head, all of whom are paid anywhere from $70,000 to $95,000 thousand a year."

Miles

According to Mr. Marquis he did give them the performance measures they requested, only to be told they were in the "wrong format."

Also, the performance measures they requested are contained in the budget he presented to them.

"I wouldn't call $84,360 "without compensation." You're right, Sponge. Perhaps he should just become a douche bag ambulance chaser ala John Edwards, get filthy stinkin' rich, make a name for himself on medical malpractice cases and then run for higher office. Say the right things, maintain the spa treatments, haircuts- soon he'll be the darling of easily led Oregon progressives, even though he doesn't stand a chance in hell of winning the nomination. That's the ticket.

Mike writes: According to Mr. Marquis he did give them the performance measures they requested, only to be told they were in the "wrong format." Also, the performance measures they requested are contained in the budget he presented to them.

That's at odds with the reporting on this issue. From the Oregonian:

The motion to cut Marquis' county stipend came from first-term Commissioner Jeff Hazen, who said he is philosophically against the stipends. But the three other commissioners who supported Hazen's motion said they wouldn't have if Marquis had made an effort to give them performance measures for his office that they repeatedly requested.

And it's not just the Commissioners who have a problem with Marquis. The citizen member of Clatsop County's budget committee said:

"It's about the district attorney feeling that he's independent and above all the requirements in Oregon statutes about turning in his budgets," said Dan Bartlett, the retired Astoria city manager and a citizen member of Clatsop County's budget committee.

And other citizen activists are opposed to Marquis:

Carrie Bartoldus, spokeswoman for Citizens for Clatsop County Charter Integrity, said she got involved because she loves performance-based budgeting. "It's an excellent way to prove why you need money, and it's really clear even to lay people, said Bartoldus, a mother of five who describes herself as civic-minded with an absolute disdain for party politics. "I was very excited when they started this three years ago, and I am ticked off that this individual is holding up this process."

Finally, the commissioners tried to draft a memorandum of understanding with Marquis that would pay him the additional stipend if he turned in performance measures. Marquis' response: "The best interpretation I have of this is that it is an attempt to say, 'If Josh will just follow the budget procedures, we'll pay him his stipend.' I'm not going to sign it."

Well, that's right, Josh. If you're not willing to follow the County's budget procedures, NO SOUP FOR YOU!

Again, I have no inside knowledge of this situation, but everything I've read suggests that Marquis is arrogant, difficult, and wrong. Sounds like it may be time for him to find a new job.

Miles

Not sure how I got started as Mr. Marquis defender, but it appears that is my job here.

I looked at the budget and the performance measures were there as he said they were.

As far as him being arrogant and difficult.....well, if that were grounds for termination, most of us would be in jeopardy.

You might find his blog interesting reading. I am sure you will agree there are two sides to every story. In it, he specifically addresses the performance measure issue. www.coastda.com