Mike Delman News

Annette Mattson likes Mike

December 19, 2007 on 3:41 am | In News | No Comments

Annette Mattson, David Douglas School Board Chair, has endorsed Mike Delman for Multnomah County Commissioner

Open Wapato Jail to Make Our Communities Safer

December 14, 2007 on 1:19 am | In News | No Comments

Open Wapato Jail to Fight Statewide Drug War

If classical economists are correct that an “invisible hand” guides our economy, then the hand of the methamphetamine epidemic has smashed us in the face.

Meth costs Oregonians more $400 million annually in property crimes, fires, environmental cleanup, health bills and foster care.

The average meth addict commits 200 burglaries a year.  The cost to Department of Human Services case-loads, grossly abused children and their crippled performance in school is incalculable.
Unfortunately, the state corrections system is merely charged with warehousing most drug-addicted inmates without alcohol & drug treatment, dooming them commit more crimes upon their release from custody. (recidivism) to costly recidivism upon their release.
This is statewide problem, but inside the empty Wapato jail in North Portland is a statewide opportunity for attacking meth.
Here’s how the pilot program would work:

• Rather than have the Oregon Department of Corrections merely warehouse criminals without giving them alcohol & drug treatment, the DOC should release select drug offenders to the county where we can place in the Wapato jail and begin mandatory alcohol & drug treatment.
  
• Every time the DOC would divert an inmate to Wapato, the DOC would save between $28,000 and $40,000, or $4.2 million to $6.0 million biennially for Wapato’s 150-drug treatment beds.   This includes housing, security health care programming, facility operations and facility administration.  It does not include central administration costs and debt service.   
  
• The DOC could take those savings, and annually lease some Wapato A&D space for  $2 million to $3 million..  This state revenue stream could provide the gap financing necessary for the county to open part of Wapato.
  
• Existing Drug Courts could provide the judicial mechanism for moving offenders from expensive incarceration – into mandatory alcohol & drug treatment.
  
• The DOC savings could also provide staff analysis to confirm that inmates receiving shorter sentences – with drug treatment – are less likely to become chronic repeat offenders, than if they served more longer sentences without drug treatment.
  
• A fraction of the DOC savings could provide post-release treatment to ensure  recidivism success.
  

We realize that advocating for drug treatment beds does not pack the emotional wallop of hurling convicts into dungeons.   Yet we should deplore how the 2007 Legislature swallowed a $1.1 billion state corrections budget, but choked on a mere $2 million to restore lost A &D beds.
The evidence is getting harder to ignore.  Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Eric Bloch runs the DUIL Court with an impressive 3.7 percent recidivism rate.   Other counties report similar successes.   On the federal level, President George Bush now calls alcohol and drug courts one of our wisest investments and advocates their local expansion.
The DOC and Multnomah County Justice Services need to look at partnerships with private, non-profits like the Oregon Partnership to further leverage and expand resources in prevention.
A state strategy for Wapato drug treatment would reduce pressure on the Department of Corrections’ need to propose $400 million for construction of new prisons in the 2009 Legislature.  The strategy could also become a model for other counties. 
We think the Legislature is ready to listen.  

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Mike Delman is the Director of Public Affairs for the Portland Habilitation Center and a candidate for the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners.  Patrick Donaldson is an original co-founder of the Citizens Crime Commission and Immediate Past President of the Alliance of Portland Neighborhood Business Associations (APNBA)