Rep. Nearman: Honoring ‘innocent until proven guilty’ for my staff (Guest opinion for The Oregonian)

Rep. Mike Nearman wrote an op-ed in The Oregonian that is certainly worth reading.

Those of us who run for the legislature do so because we believe in bringing about positive changes for those whom we serve. We can make impacts in state government, but we must also seek to walk our talk to make impacts personally in the world around us. I try to live by a principle that if I can lend a hand to someone who needs help, I jump at the opportunity.

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For this session, I hired a young woman, Angela Roman, as a policy analyst for my office. She’s a single mother of three young boys, and yes, she has a criminal record. What I remember most about interviewing her was her hopeful anticipation at having a real shot to be hired for a position with daytime hours and regular pay. This would be a job that could give her more time with her children. What I remember second most about the interview is her asking me if it was okay if she had tattoos. “Yeah, that’s fine,” I told her.

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