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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2021
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APPEAL TRIBUNE
Coalition calls for
Rep. Nearman’s
expulsion
Group includes activists
and community leaders
Address: P.O. Box 13009, Salem, OR 97309
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Don Currie
503-399-6655
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Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
A coalition of local and
regional leaders, busi-
ness owners and organi-
zation directors are call-
ing on the Oregon Legis-
lature to expel Republi-
can Rep. Mike Nearman
for allowing violent dem-
onstrators into the Capi-
tol building in December.
The growing group in-
cludes three Salem city
councilors; the executive
director of the Eugene/
Springfield NAACP; the
executive director of the
Northwest Accountabil-
ity Project; union leaders;
and environmental activ-
ists.
“Since he has so far re-
fused to resign, he needs
to be removed,” said Amy
Herzfeld-Copple of the
Western States Center.
“This is the Legislature’s
right, it’s their duty, and
the evidence is clear that
they can act now and
don’t need to wait to re-
move him from office.”
The Oregon Constitu-
tion gives both legislative
chambers the right to ex-
pel a member with a two-
thirds vote. Expelling
Nearman would require
support from all 37 Dem-
ocrats and at least 3 Re-
publicans.
Legislative leadership
has indicated they were
still examining how to ap-
proach internal conse-
quences.
A criminal investiga-
tion by Oregon State Po-
lice is ongoing.
During a one-day spe-
cial legislative session on
Dec. 21, Nearman, who
represents the Independ-
ence area, can be seen on
surveillance footage exit-
ing a side door of the Cap-
itol while a protest
against pandemic-relat-
ed closures carried on
outside.
People streamed into
the building through that
door, with at least 50 ulti-
mately gaining access to
a Capitol vestibule. They
fought with police offi-
cers who were trying to
remove them from the
building; six Salem and
Oregon State police offi-
cers
were
pepper-
sprayed during the alter-
cation.
House Speaker Tina
Kotek,
D-Portland,
stripped Nearman of his
committee assignments
and also called on him to
resign. Nearman has giv-
en up his 24/7 building
badge access and must
inform the Legislature
whenever he intends to
be in the Capitol.
Neither Nearman nor
his legislative aide re-
sponded to requests for
comment Monday. He
was re-elected to repre-
sent House District 23 in
November.
Those
who
have
signed onto the letter
calling on Nearman to re-
sign or be expelled:
h Eric K. Ward, Execu-
tive Director, Western
States Center
h Peter Starzynski, Ex-
ecutive Director, North-
west Accountability Pro-
ject
h Mary Chaffin, Act for
Democracy, Consolidated
Oregon Indivisible Net-
work
h Nancy Haque, Exec-
utive Director, Basic
Rights Oregon
h Eric C. Richardson,
Executive Director, Eu-
gene/Springfield NAACP
h Christel Allen, Exec-
utive Director, NARAL
Pro-Choice Oregon
h Susannah Morgan,
CEO, Oregon Food Bank
h Judy Margles, Direc-
tor, Oregon Jewish Mu-
seum and Center for Hol-
ocaust Education
h Samantha
Gladu,
Executive Director, Next
Up & Next Up Action
Fund
h Doug Moore, Execu-
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tive Director, Oregon
League of Conservation
Voters
h Sean Stevens, Exec-
utive Director, Oregon
Wild
h Becca
Uherbelau,
Executive Director, Our
Oregon
h Reyna Lopez, Execu-
tive Director, PCUN
h An Do, Interim Exec-
utive Director, Planned
Parenthood Advocates of
Oregon
h Brad Reed, Cam-
paign Manager, Renew
Oregon
h Jess Campbell, Exec-
utive Director, Rural Or-
ganizing Project
h Salem City Councilor
Chris Hoy
h Salem City Councilor
Vanessa Nordyke
h Salem City Councilor
Trevor Phillips
h Meg Niemi, Presi-
dent, SEIU Local 49
h Melissa Unger, Exec-
utive Director, SEIU Local
503
h Springfield-Eugene
Chapter, Showing Up for
Racial Justice
h Roger Worthington,
Worthy Brewing Co.
h Yamhill
County
Commissioner
Casey
Kulla
The last time a mem-
ber of the Legislature re-
signed after public outcry
was in 2018 when then-
Sen. Jeff Kruse was ac-
cused of sexual harass-
ment by multiple women,
including fellow lawmak-
ers.
Reporter Connor Rad-
novich covers the Oregon
Legislature and state
government. Contact him
at cradnovich@states-
manjournal.com or 503-
399-6864, or follow him
on Twitter at @CDRad-
novich.
Support local journal-
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Statesman Journal.
Oregon’s next vaccine phase includes 1.2M people
Tracy Loew
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
About 1.2 million peo-
ple will be eligible for CO-
VID-19 vaccines in Ore-
gon’s next phase of ad-
ministration, the state’s
Vaccine Advisory Com-
mittee decided.
This phase will come
after adults age 65 and
older, and the now-eligi-
ble categories that in-
clude healthcare workers,
educators and residents
living in long-term care
facilities.
The newly announced
phase includes:
h Adults age 16-64
with underlying health
conditions. Those condi-
tions were not specified.
The committee estimates
about 735,256 people will
meet that criteria.
h Frontline
workers
who have been working
throughout the pandemic
and cannot work at
home. Industries and oc-
cupations haven’t yet
been specified. That’s an
estimated 483,413 peo-
ple.
h Adults and youth in
custody. That’s about
13,970 people.
h People living in low-
income and congregate
senior housing. That’s an
estimated 12,567 people.
The Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine is injected into the arm of a healthcare worker at a vaccination clinic at the
Oregon State Fairgrounds in Salem, Oregon, on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021. Salem Health and Marion County are
partnering to offer public vaccination clinics for healthcare workers. BRIAN HAYES / STATESMAN JOURNAL
It’s a big group, espe-
cially as Oregon currently
is receiving enough doses
to vaccinate 50,000 peo-
ple per week.
Committee members
suggested local public
health authorities, such
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as county health depart-
ments, could decide who
within the group will go
first in their local commu-
nities.
The 27-member com-
mittee had been tasked
with sequencing five cat-
egories it had previously
chosen to prioritize, but
in the end decided to
make only one wait: mul-
ti-generational
house-
holds.
They’ll come next, fol-
lowed by the general pub-
lic.
No priority for
communities of color
The committee previ-
ously had identified
Black, Indigenous and
people of color (BIPOC)
as another group to take
priority for vaccinations.
But an Oregon Health Au-
thority review found that
ran afoul of state law.
“We’re not able to prio-
ritize services or make
decisions solely on some-
body’s race or ethnicity,”
Rachel Banks, state Pub-
lic Health Division direc-
tor, told committee mem-
bers.
Instead, the group will
include a statement with
its recommendation not-
ing that its priority deci-
sion was made in consid-
eration of data about and
needs of people of color
and vulnerable groups.
These groups have
been disproportionately
impacted by COVID-19,
with higher infection and
fatality rates.
Members also noted
people of color are in-
cluded in other priority
groups, such as frontline
workers and those with
underlying health condi-
tions.
A shortage of doses
Banks said the Oregon
Health Authority may
need to restrict eligibility
within the large group if
the number of doses Ore-
gon receives does not in-
crease.
“Ultimately we don’t
want to frustrate commu-
nities by having a lot of
people that think, ‘I’m eli-
gible right now,’ and
know that there’s not
enough spots,” Banks
said.
“We’ll have to think
about how to do that in a
way that wants to honor
the breadth of this rec-
ommendation and also
seeks to be working with
communities so they’re
not further frustrated by
how to get this in place,”
she said.
Who can get a shot
now; who is next
In Oregon, vaccines
currently are available to:
h Health care workers
at hospitals, urgent care
clinics, outpatient set-
tings, public health and
early learning settings.
h People who work in
hospice programs, mo-
bile crisis care and related
services, secure trans-
port and non-emergency
medical transport.
h Employees and resi-
dents of skilled nursing,
long-term care and mem-
ory care facilities.
h Emergency medical
service providers and
other first responders.
h Tribal health pro-
grams.
h In-home care and
day treatment services.
h People working in
correctional settings.
h Death care workers.
h K-12 teachers and
staff.
h Daycare staff.
On Feb. 8, the state will
begin vaccinating resi-
dents age 80 and older,
and will expand eligibility
by age in five-year incre-
ments. The state hopes to
expand to a new age
group each week, but that
will depend on the num-
ber of doses available.
Once everyone age 65
and older is vaccinated,
the state will move on to
the new, large group the
Vaccine Advisory Com-
mittee
recommended.
That likely will happen
sometime in March.
How to get a shot
Salem Health is coor-
dinating several vaccine
clinics in Marion and Polk
counties. Days and hours
depend upon vaccine
availability.
Residents are asked to
sign up for an appoint-
ment. There is no guaran-
tee doses will be available
for walk-ins.
For more information,
go to https://www. sa-
lemhealth.org/
covid-19/covid-vaccine.
The Oregon Health Au-
thority
recommends
checking with county
health departments for
further information.
Tracy Loew is a report-
er at the Statesman Jour-
nal. She can be reached at
tloew@statesmanjour-
nal.com, 503-399-6779 or
on
Twitter
at
@Tracy_Loew. Support
local journalism by sub-
scribing to the Statesman
Journal.