The Oregonian may be willing to cut statutory rapists some slack, referring to a sexual felony as a "tragic choice" of the perpetrator, but it stands steadfast for protecting public process, to the point of endorsing opponents of Maria Rojo de Steffey and Lisa Naito, Multnomah County commissioners running for re-election, over Commissioners Rojo de Steffey's and Naito's participation in the private deal that led to Multnomah County issuing same-sex marriage licenses. The Big O's main reason for endorsing the opponents was that they, well, aren't Rojo de Steffey and Naito. (By contrast, the Oregonian endorsed Lonnie Roberts for reelection even though he's, well, Lonnie Roberts; full text of the endorsements ran on April 18.)
The Oregonian has the slack backwards. County chairwoman Diane Linn and her cohorts in what Jack Bog aptly calls the Sisters of Hawthorne made a tragic choice when they cut Commissioner Roberts and the public out of the process. And it's a small tragedy, not a big one, and not one that by itself merits throwing them out of office simply for the sake of having someone else in their place. It's not as if they're running against people with the public service record of Adams, Fish, Francesconi, or Potter. The fair level of punishment is having them, say, sweep Pioneer Square for a week, but not throwing them out of office. And in other respects they have done a decent job carrying out the limited functions of the county.
I recommend re-electing Rojo de Steffey and Naito.
Lonnie Roberts is the least effective of the commissioners, but he is also a decent guy and he clearly isn't part of the Sisterhood. I recommend re-electing him if for no other reason than to keep the Sisterhood reasonably honest. (Commissioner, on the unlikely chance that you read what Shaw would call this "modest cough of the minor blogger," keep working on economic development and jobs growth between the airport and Troutdale.)