Brainwashed.

My Mom, Liz.

My mother was a brainwasher.  She had a way of convincing us 7 kids to do things we had no desire to ever do.  Often the very things we were downright scared to do, would much rather avoid doing. 

And she had a mantra.  All good brainwashers must.  It was a phrase she would constantly repeat throughout my formative years as it accompanied her mission to lure us to follow her like little lemmings to the cliff. 

 “C’mon.”  She would say. 
 “It’ll be fun!”

It will be fun?  Yep.  Fun.  Everything was going to be fun.  Snow skiing though you’re deathly afraid of heights?  C’mon.  It’ll be fun.  Driving 20 hours to visit family across the country?  C’mon.  It’ll be fun.  Speaking in front of 300 people?  C’mon.  It’ll be fun.  Root canal?  C’mon.  It’ll be fun. 

And we fell for it.  Time and time again.  {Now that I think about it, we may not have been all that bright}.   And though she repeated this often, it was really her level of unbridled enthusiasm that truly got us.  You see, it wasn’t that mom just said it would be fun, she genuinely believed it would fun.  She was up for the adventure, found joy in the challenge, and relished the road to get there.  She truly understood the meaning of enjoying the journey, making the best of the worst situations, and finding reasons to be positive.

So when she was diagnosed with a deadly form of cancer, a roller coaster that is decidedly UN-fun, she met the test with an optimism that only Liz could have.  {Did I mention she loved a good roller coaster?}

Surgery?  Let’s befriend that surly German surgeon who never cracks a smile.  Shingles?  Let’s name a gift shop stuffed animal after this little hospital inconvenience and laugh about it.  Chemo?  Let’s all go together and have a little mini-party.  I’ll make the t-shirts. 

I’m not sure I would describe those two years of our lives as “fun”, but it wasn’t a chore either.  We spent a lot of time together, we cried as a group, we laughed a LOT (sometimes in lieu of tears) and we had no regrets.  There was joy in that journey. 

My mom lost her battle with cancer seven years ago today.  I was there by her side as she ended that adventure and left us to find our own.  And so we did.  We’ve all gone out into the world without her physical presence, but with her voice resonating in our heads.    

And today, exactly seven years later, I find myself officially the sole candidate for Marion County District Attorney.  A journey that has taken me twenty years of a career and a whole lot of challenges.  It’s a job that is never easy, usually complicated, and quite often punctuated by tragedy.  But I truly love this work.  I love it because in the pursuit of the right thing, there are always reasons to be positive.  I love it because it is impossible to do this job without seeing the good that follows the bad and the ups that follow the downs. 

So it’s definitely a roller coaster.  But I’ve been on one of those before.  And Mom would think we should ride it over and over.  And I’d have to agree.  Because, well, you know….It’ll be fun. 

                                                      This Fun Campaign Adventure

From the Beginning. . .

Paige and BPP (Best Prosecutor Pal), Erin Greenawald

I met Paige for the first time in 1997 in a tiny, cramped office in the Franklin Building located in downtown Salem. That’s where part of the Marion County District Attorney’s Office used to be housed. The little space dedicated to law clerks held four desks, one crammed onto each wall. Paige, a second year law student at Willamette University, was beginning her first year as a law clerk at the DA’s office. I was a second-year law clerk, starting my third year in law school. We became fast friends, connecting over a shared sense of humor (perhaps some mischief), and our mutual goal of graduating from law students to lawyers, law clerks to prosecutors. (Spoiler alert: We did both!)

From the start, I immediately recognized that Paige has an incredible ability to connect with people; she possesses genuine compassion for and empathy towards others, especially victims who, through no fault of their own, are thrust into the criminal justice system. These qualities have served Paige well in her career. But more importantly, they have served the victims she has been privileged to work with in the twenty-plus years since we first met.

Paige’s empathy, caring, and compassion have often most starkly been displayed when engaging with Domestic Violence victims. Domestic Violence is a problem of epidemic proportions in our society. More than one in three women will be subjected to rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime. One in seven men will experience severe physical violence. In Marion County, we see how these national numbers translate locally. The Center for Hope and Safety (formerly Mid-Valley Women’s Crisis Center) has served Domestic Violence victims in Marion County and the Mid-Willamette Valley for over 40 years. The Center averages approximately 21,000 contacts to the program each year. These contacts include, but are certainly not limited to: crisis line access, emergency/transitional/long term shelter, and support groups. Additionally, the Center provides education and training throughout the community.

The Marion County District Attorney’s Office long ago recognized the importance of prioritizing Domestic Violence cases. Marion County was one of the first offices in Oregon to create a team of specially-trained prosecutors to exclusively handle Domestic Violence cases. Paige and I both had the privilege to be among the first members of that team. And while DV cases are among the most challenging that any prosecutor will handle, Paige was a natural. Paige always understood how to balance what were often –times competing obligations: a prosecutor’s responsibility to represent the State of Oregon and to hold the offender accountable, while at the same time genuinely listening to the victim’s input and providing them with the support that is so critical.

Over time, Paige’s role at the DA’s office shifted away from the DV team. However, because of her unique combination of skills, both legal and innate, she has been called on throughout the years to work on complex and complicated Domestic Violence cases. I know that of the thousands of cases she has handled, among those that have stuck with Paige the most are those involving Domestic Violence. In some instances, she has forged long-lasting friendships with the victims in those cases with whom she has had the honor of working.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. On Saturday, October 7^th, The Center for Hope and Safety in partnership with the Marion County Domestic Violence Council, of which the DA’s office is proud member, will host the 11^th annual “Steps to Safety Walk/Run” to raise awareness of domestic violence in Marion County, and beyond. Paige will be there on Saturday. And as the next Marion County District Attorney, I know that she will continue to be there, as she has been for twenty years, for Domestic Violence victims and their children.

{About the Author:  Erin Greenawald currently serves as the State Domestic Violence Resource Prosecutor at the Oregon Department of Justice.  She has been a Deputy District Attorney in both Marion and Yamhill Counties where she has been the voice for countless victims of domestic and sexual violence and she currently trains law enforcement around the nation about these issues.  She and Paige no longer share a cramped office, but they still share of love for their jobs, for eating out at great restaurants, and for occasionally getting into "mischief".  They find each other to be the funniest people they know.} 

Lucky Dog

Paige's Law School Buddy, Fred

My dog got me hired at the District Attorney's Office.  I had no business even applying there for a law clerk position over twenty years ago.  The extent of my experience with the criminal justice system was the fact that I really liked Law & Order episodes and I had read several John Grisham novels.  I mean, who didn't love "The Firm"?  But I applied anyway.  Extolling the virtues of my stellar organizational habits and my solid communication skills in my cover letter, I sent in my resume and crossed my fingers.

And then I took my adorable Basset Hound-mix named Fred to the dog park.  There he frolicked with the other shelter mutts he had befriended (er....some might say "forced himself upon" but let's not get technical for our purposes here) since the summertime.  I knew all the humans.  Kind of.  I called them "Spike's Dad" or "Norman's Mom" or "Not Sophie the Labrador's Mom but Sophie the Border Collie's Mom".  But us humans were friends.  The kind of really close friends who only discuss what dog chewies are best and why Flash the Beagle likely has separation anxiety.  And it was clear that my friend, Nellie's Mom, loved Fred.  He was quite lovable.  What with his stunted legs, his stocky body and his spotted ear that was soft like an angel's wing.  So Nellie's Mom and I bonded over our mutual affection for my dog.  And we chatted daily during our treks to let him exercise with her rescued terrier-mix.  And it turned out I like Nellie's Mom a lot.

It also turned out that Nellie's Mom was the Deputy District Attorney in charge of hiring all the law clerks at the Marion County DA's Office.  We figured that out after accidentally taking a detour in our conversation about the best Veterinarian in town and instead discussing what she did for a living.  And the rest is history.  And though I'd like to think my Law & Order habit got me in the door, it was really Fred with his comical squatty body and his 1940s gangster-like attitude that landed me that job.  It was simply pure luck covered in fur that got me the interview.

Well, in a way.  Because if it's true that luck is really the intersection of preparation and opportunity, then that was the exact address of that dog park.  I didn't know it then but I was prepared to be a law clerk at the District Attorney's Office.  I was a quick learner, a critical thinker and self-starter.  I was a rule-follower by nature and had a natural respect for law enforcement.  I enjoyed public speaking, thrived on the challenge of  the courtroom experience, and felt compelled to help victims find some sort of justice.  Those characteristics have served me well as I have grown within the office from that law clerk, to a line attorney, a senior deputy, and for the last decade as a manager. 

And it's not lost on me that once again I find myself at that intersection of preparation and opportunity.  I find myself running for Marion County District Attorney because my predecessor, for whom I'd gladly work for the rest of my career, has decided not to.  The opportunity is there.  Right in front of me.  And I find myself running for Marion County District Attorney because I'm prepared to do it.  I've spent 20 years preparing for it.  Trying all types of cases from DUII to Murder, directing difficult investigations, learning the complexities of the office and managing other lawyers doing the same.  I've reorganized divisions, assisted with budgets, nurtured numerous community partnerships, and made tough decisions.  I've learned a lot since I walked out of that dog park and into the DA's Office.  And I'm better for it.

So, I'm more than a dog-mom now.  I'm older, I've got a lot more experience under my belt than just watching Law & Order can provide, and I'm much better versed in the statutes and case law of Oregon.  But I'm still excited about my future in the Marion County District Attorney's Office.  I still consider myself lucky.  And I still go to the dog park.

Paige's Current Dog, Maverick, at the Dog Park

 

Customer Service

It was a four-hour class.  Half of my busy day.  And it was required.  It was titled something like, "Know Your Customer".  All county employees had to attend and we were encouraged (read: it was highly recommended by the boss) that we happily participate.  I sat in our training room with many other dedicated public servants.  Marion County is actually very impressive that way.  They gladly came from all departments.  Public Works, the Health Department, the Housing Authority, Property Assessors.  All eager to be there.  All willing to engage our facilitator and learn how to offer better customer service.  I listened to the message of the day.  I took in the suggestions, observed the audience participation and wrote down ideas as instructed.  And that's when it hit me.

For most employees in that classroom, the folks they deal with want to be a customer.  They want to get a dog license, obtain a permit, fill that pesky pothole, file their marriage certificate.  But for us, Deputy District Attorneys, that is most often never the case.  When we are thrust into the lives of our "customers", it's because something terrible has happened.  And nobody wants that.  We aren't there because anybody planned for us, we are there when crime interrupts the real plans they had.  We are interlopers in their lives, lives that are often never the same afterwards.

Deputy District Attorneys do hard jobs.  I know.  I've been there.  And for 20 years, I've gotten to know my customers, really know them.  Often despite the fact that they never really wanted to know me.  I've cried with them as they have told me about their daughter whose bright future was stolen by the reckless act of a drunk driver.  I've sat with them as they've yelled at me because there is nobody else to yell at and because the criminal justice system seems like little consolation in the face of grave violence.  I've stood up for them in court when they feel like they can't stand for themselves.  I've stood beside them when the man who hurt them stares them down across the courtroom.  I've read their statements at sentencings when their own voices are too weak with grief.  I've given them bad news.  And then sometimes worse news.  And I've been embraced by them when the murderer who gunned down their son is finally held accountable after ten long years.  I've felt their relief, their liberation from hopelessness, and even their gratitude in those moments.   And I've left them as they walk away from the courthouse.  Different people than when we met.  Different people than they were before they were my customer.  And then I've moved onto the next case.  My next customer.  The next set of lives who find me there against their will.

I've done these things more times than I can count.  I've met customers that have left an indelible mark on my life.  Customers who, in spite of every reason to be broken, find strength instead.  I'm inspired by them.   I'm grateful they've let me into their lives.  And I'm grateful for a job...a career...that has put me there.

And I'm just one.  There are dozens of us prosecutors in Marion County who do this everyday.  I need only walk down the hall of our office at Courthouse Square to know they are doing this very hard work.  I recognize the responsibility they wear on their faces, the weight of these survivors on their shoulders.  I know that look.  I've seen it in the mirror.  And I'm so proud to work with people who have dedicated their careers...their lives...to these hard jobs.

And that's why I'm running for Marion County District Attorney.  Now.  Today.  I'm running because it is important to keep doing this hard work.  I'm running because I'm the best person to lead this amazing office of public servants forward.  I'm running because it's essential for me to continue the legacy of true customer service that I've been taught by those that have come before me and especially by those survivors I've had the pleasure to serve.

www.paigeclarksonformarioncountyda.com