OPB’s First Look: Estacada’s political appointee pattern

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Good morning, Northwest.

Estacada has appointed four city councilors to vacant seats in the past four years. Three of them have had criminal records.

OPB and Report for America’s Holly Bartholomew starts today’s newsletter unpacking charges against a recent appointee and how they fit into a pattern in the city.

In other news, the Portland Trail Blazers’ playoff run is over, but Rip City basketball continues as the Fire make their preseason debut tonight in Seattle.

Here’s your First Look at Wednesday’s news.

— Bradley W. Parks

Charges against Estacada councilor highlight vacancy appointment pattern

Over the past four years, the Estacada City Council has appointed four community members to its ranks to fill vacancies.Three of them have been convicted of crimes in Oregon, according to court records reviewed by OPB.

OPB discovered the pattern while reporting on nearly two dozen counts related to child abuse filed against City Councilor Matthew Blevens last month. It raises questions about the amount of scrutiny Estacada gives its political appointees and also what information candidates should disclose when seeking public office.

In Oregon, there is no law that requires appointed officials or candidates for office to submit to background checks or divulge past criminal history. (Holly Bartholomew)

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3 things to know

• When Oregon’s 5th Congressional District was last up for grabs in 2024, the race was inundated with millions of dollars in campaign cash and TV advertisements from some of the nation’s most politically powerful groups. Not this year. (Bryce Dole)
• The chief financial officer of one of Oregon’s largest Asian shopping centers expects the federal government’s tariff refund process to be just as chaotic as the on-again, off-again rollout of tariffs in the first place.(Kyra Buckley)
• Two-term Oregon state Rep. Ed Diehl scored a stunning victory last year, leading a referendum all but dooming tax and fee changes. He hopes to ride that wave to the governor’s mansion. (Dirk VanderHart)

Northwest headlines

• Portland Public Schools presents $2.77 billion budget, facing another year of cuts (Elizabeth Miller)
• Canola might help farmers navigate Central Oregon drought, but some farm groups have concerns (Alejandro Figueroa)
• Ballots will start arriving soon ahead of Oregon primary (Bryce Dole)
• More than 80 Oregon Republicans vie for party’s nomination in legislative races ahead of May primary (Alex Baumhardt, Oregon Capital Chronicle)
• Recall effort against Washington governor ends (Jerry Cornfield, Washington State Standard)
• Washington sues Albertsons over ‘deceptive’ buy one, get one free deals (Jake Goldstein-Street, Washington State Standard)
• Driverless taxi company Waymo plans Portland rollout (Alex Zielinski)
• Spurs lead wire to wire, oust Blazers from playoffs with 114-95 victory (Raul Dominguez, AP)

Milwaukie mallard gets her 14 ducklings from a balcony to a pond with some help

Residents from RoseVilla Senior Living in Milwaukie watched “Rosie” the duck as she nested for nearly four weeks in a planter on a third-story apartment balcony.

Then, on Monday afternoon, she led her ducklings safely away from the precarious nest. The people at RoseVilla helped get all of them to a pond at the nearby Willamette View retirement community.

“Every year since I’ve been here, ducks will lay eggs and we’ll walk them down to the river,” said RoseVilla maintenance officer Josh Fox. Because the ducks nest at different buildings within the RoseVilla community, they all get the nickname “Rosie.”

So the next chapter begins for Rosie and her ducklings — but it could take them months to learn to fly, and survival rates before that can be as low as 10%. (Kristian Foden-Vencil)

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