Posted on 11/03/2002 1:15:27 PM PST by Robert_Paulson2
Mannix mounts new attack; 'Scare tactic,' Kulongoski says
10/29/02
JEFF MAPES and R. GREGORY NOKES
With the heated campaign for governor entering its final week, Republican Kevin Mannix on Monday ratcheted up attacks on Democrat Ted Kulongoski by seeking to tie him to the reversal of a well-publicized murder conviction.
The Kulongoski campaign fired back that Mannix's charge was an untrue "scare tactic" in the last days of the race.
Meanwhile, Kulongoski and former Gov. Neil Goldschmidt joined at a news conference to argue that Mannix's spending proposals wouldn't help the state's economy recover.
Mannix, who was endorsed Monday by outgoing Multnomah County Sheriff Dan Noelle, faulted Kulongoski's handling as attorney general of the case involving Scott Dean Harberts.
The Oregon Supreme Court in 2000 overturned Harberts conviction of murdering and raping a 2-year-old girl on the grounds that he didn't receive a speedy trial.
The court said the attorney general's office, which Kulongoski headed from 1993-97, shared blame for the delays.
"If you take a look at the way certain cases were handled during his tenure as attorney general, the Scott Dean Harberts case is probably the worst example of negligence in the attorney general's office," Mannix said.
This issue was first raised a year ago during the Democratic primary race, and Mannix was among critics of the court's decision who said that the major delays were caused by the courts themselves.
An assistant attorney general who handled the case said the delays caused by his office involved less than three months in a case that stretched for five years between the murder and the conviction.
Kristen Grainger, Kulongoski's campaign spokeswoman, said the delays by the attorney general's office did not by themselves cause the overturning of Harberts' conviction.
"It's a scare tactic, and it's untrue," said Grainger, adding that Mannix was reversing what he said a year ago.
Kulongoski was a Supreme Court justice in 2000 but excused himself from the Harberts case, as he did in all cases that went through the attorney general's office while he was the state's top legal officer.
Mannix said he intends to spend the last days of the race highlighting what he called Kulongoski's "abysmal record on public safety."
At the Kulongoski news conference, Goldschmidt criticized Mannix for making a series of spending proposals that Goldschmidt said would limit the state's ability to afford incentives to businesses interested in locating here.
For example, Goldschmidt said, many community leaders say a key function of attracting business is financial help from the state for job training.
Kulongoski also criticized Mannix for suggesting Saturday in an interview with The Oregonian that he could find as much as $150 million in quick savings from the Oregon Health Plan.
Mannix opposes a Jan. 28 ballot measure that would temporarily raise income taxes to fill a $310 million budget shortfall.
Mannix has talked about using savings from a new federal waiver to save money in the health plan. But before Saturday, he had not talked about getting savings that large for the rest of the 2001-03 budget cycle.
Jean Thorne, the acting administrator of the health plan, said the waiver could at most save as much as $25 million.
"It does not result in the savings he says it does," said Kulongoski, charging that Mannix has more than once changed his explanation of how he'd fill the budget gap in the absence of the tax measure.
Mike Beard, Mannix's spokesman, said the Republican candidate was not offering a firm amount for how much the health plan could be cut. But he said Mannix remains convinced money can be found to head off significant reductions in services without passing the income-tax increase.
Mannix wants to hold the line and cut the budget. Our baseline budget on pers benefits for state employees is WAY out of line... I hear figures of 5 or more BILLION in the red, for their "adjusted" increases in the retirement programs...
fwiw.
TK would drive the state further into the KItzhaber Black Hole.
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