OPINION
Roberts bows out, but job well done
KnRRIt Rn-U.S
ollowing a tumultuous
three year stint as governor.
(,o\ Barbara Roberts has
(let ided not to seek another term
in office.
Roberts made the right choice
(kn Rotierts made the dei iston
not to run. according to her
statement, because she is still
emotionally dealing with the
death of her huslsmd and las ause
of health problems with other
members of her family
However, there may be other
reasons for her deciding not to
run. namely the threat of losing
the primary elei tion in May John
kitzhaber. retired Oregon Senate
president, appears to l>e ahead in
the polls by a 2-to-l margin. She
yvould have also fat eri a tough
general election battle in
November
It's too bad that Roberts isn't
running for governor again. But
her family and her remaining 11
months as governor must have
a higher priority than a reelection
campaign, and the governor must
be applauded for making (fit* right
choice
Noyv that Roberts has decided
not to run again, uvery newspaper
and TV station in Oregon is
Intgilining to rev ievs the past three
years of her term as governor
Many are coming to the
conclusion that Roberts was a
disappointment'' of some sort,
or that she didn't live up to the
expectations of Oregonians
Roberts yvas not a
disappointment to Oregonians
She was probably as successful
as any governor could have been
given the i irt umstam es
After a tough four-i undulate
r.ic i> in November 19‘Wi. Roberts
won the election with a plurnlitv
of tin- vote About the same time
Roberts was dechired the w inner
of her rat w. Hallot Measure 5. the
now infamous property tax
limitation measure, won
A constitutionally mandated
tax limitation was something
pretty new for Oregonians, and
Roberts, together with the state
Legislature, began to cut millions
of dollars from budgets that were
never expected to lie slashed
With the added challenge of
growing enrollment in si hools,
Roberts discovered that it was
necessary to do more work with
less money Lb is has lx«;ome the
law of the land hare in Oregon
Roberts was merelv the first
victim
I\UIH l 11 III!'* *»,’**"‘ ..
often uncooperative legislature
When lh« Oregon House of
Representatives had ,i Republii an
majority in i. ii Imcamo u
lot less easy for the governor to
puss her programs Interestingly
enough, the legislature was
probably more of a failure than
anything else, as it took a record
amount of time to < omplete its
session this past year and really
didn't do that much.
Roberts took her vision for
health i are for all to the state and.
after several years of negotiation
and research, created the newly -
implemented Oregon Health Plan
that would insure law-income
Oregonians that previously had
no medical insurance
In !9<)1. Roberts undertook a
relatively unprecedented step
when she took several months to
ask (frogoniuns what they wanted
from their state government Her
Conversation nith Oregon, as it
was known, involved hundreds
of Oregonians giving their v lews
to Roberts The idea was quite
visionary and an asset to the state
l he governor w as instrumental
in campaigning in for
President Rill Clinton and against
Measure «. an anti guv rights
initiative She even campaigned
for her Secretary of State f’hil
Keisling. though he was running
against Roberts own
stopdougliter. Mary Wendy
Roberts
Hut no matter what was going
on. whether good or bod. Roberts
kept trying. Snet ontinued to give
Oregon everything she had to give
even in the face of personal
hardships, suc h as the death of
her husband this past fall Hut
these things never stopped
Roberts
It would have been nice to not
have had Measure 5. or for
Roberts to have had a cooperative
legislature, or an\ number of
things She i mild have then done
a lot more for the state Hut the
truth is that this is a less than
ideal world and everyone has to
make do with what thrv have
Roberts did just that
rumens Mils pieogeu ID serve
the rest of her term, whu h will
expire when <i new governor is
sworn in next January And one
must hope that Rolierts continues
to tie involved with government
in some wav after her term ends,
.is she is a great asset to Oregon
Hut then who will (Iregoii elis t
as their next governor' Will it he
hit/haher. whom nohodv really
knows anything about vet' Or
will it lie a Republican like lfenny
Smith, wtiose stridently
conservative viewpoint < ost him
his seat in Congress when he was
voted out in l•)*)()' Or maybe
Craig Workman, a relatively
unknown man whose claim to
fame was heading the Oregon
Republican Party It seems like
any of these choices would be a
letdown after having Roberts for
four years
One can only hope that
whoever is elected to be (lie
governor of Oregon yvill have as
mm h courage stamina and guts
as Roberts did
Oregon deserves no less
Uubbic Reeves is o t uluuitiist
for the hmerald
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