KITZHABER EXPANDS HIS PREVENTION PLANS

* The governor wants $20 million for drug and alcohol treatment and
$30 million to fight youth crime

Flanked by supporters in law enforcement, Gov. John Kitzhaber made a
new pitch Wednesday for about $50 million for expanding programs to
combat juvenile crime and drug and alcohol addiction.

Kitzhaber, a Democrat running for re-election, made a campaign
appearance at the Portland Police Memorial to again promote his $30
million plan to prevent juvenile crime and also announced that he will
seek as much as $20 million to expand drug and alcohol treatment programs.

Mindful of tighter projections for the next two-year budget and a
Legislature resistant to new spending, Kitzhaber said he hopes to pay
for the new programs by taking money out of existing ones.

Kitzhaber accepted the endorsement of the police chiefs' and sheriffs'
associations -- and 30 of the 36 district attorneys -- as he insisted
that the state has done enough to build new prisons and that it is
time "to get at the roots of criminal activity."

Kitzhaber's crime-prevention proposals -- contained in the second of
three "white papers" he intends to release during the campaign -- were
dismissed as ineffective by Republican candidate Bill Sizemore.

"It's another one of the many examples of the governor thinking he can
solve problems by just throwing money at them," said Sizemore,
executive director of Oregon Taxpayers United. Sizemore said he would
tackle juvenile crime by promoting tougher discipline and more
effective learning in schools.

Sizemore also said law-enforcement officials endorsed Kitzhaber just
because they think he will win re-election.

However, Kitzhaber was praised by such figures as Clackamas County
Sheriff Ris Bradshaw and Multnomah County District Attorney Mike
Schrunk, who said he has worked well with local officials.

Kitzhaber said the sheriffs' and police chiefs' associations have
endorsed his juvenile-crime effort, as have the League of Oregon
Cities and Associated Oregon Counties. Kithzaber has asked each county
to develop a plan reducing crime among 11- to 17-year-olds by using
programs that have succeeded somewhere in Oregon or in other states.

Kitzhaber said he has asked the Corrections Department to find $30
million in savings out of the 1999-2001 budget to pay for his
crime-prevention proposal.

Some legislative critics have suggested the state instead focus on
younger children by putting the money into preschool programs and
efforts to prevent child abuse. But Kitzhaber insisted he also is
addressing those areas by proposing in his education white paper to
spend $3 million to $4 million more on Head Start and on making a more
concerted statewide effort to deal with domestic and child abuse.

Kitzhaber was vague about his plans for expanding drug and alcohol
abuse programs, saying the Department of Human Resources still is
working on a proposal to give him. The department's director Gary
Weeks, said the agency would present a $25 million plan, but Kitzhaber
said he is considering spending $10 million to $20 million.

In any case, Kitzhaber said he wants to pay for the drug and alcohol
treatment by finding savings in other human-resources programs. The
human resources department is spending about $70 million on treatment
programs in the 1997-99 budget cycle. The Corrections Department and
Oregon Youth Authority also have treatment programs for inmates.

However, Kitzhaber said the state is serving fewer than half of the
people who seek treatment. Barbara Cimaglio, who heads the state's
Office of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Programs, said state programs have

served about 100,000 people in the past two years.

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady