Opinion
A4
Thursday, February 24, 2022
OUR VIEW
Time to review
what worked
and what didn’t
he mask mandate sparked by the
COVID-19 pandemic for K-12 schools is
set to expire at the end of March, marking
a turning point of sorts. But while lifting the
restriction will be welcome, the nation — and
the world — probably will not see the end of the
infection for a long time.
Yet there is no doubt with cases from the latest
omicron variant surge declining, a slight amount
of breathing space now is evident regarding the
pandemic.
Now is the time for state elected leaders and
health offi cials to examine how the pandemic was
handled and how to respond the next time there is
such a malady or another surge.
Let’s face it, since the pandemic began the
state and the nation has been in a reactive mode.
The COVID-19 virus has dictated how elected
and appointed leaders responded. The restrictions
developed at the state level have been on and off ,
and while there seemed to be an overall plan it
was often marred by confl icting information.
What needs to happen now is a full-fl edged
after-action review with public involvement at the
state level. A process where all the decisions that
were made to face the pandemic are evaluated.
That includes an in-depth review of the eff ective-
ness of the various COVID-19 restrictions that
were enacted and whether they proved to be wise.
The review — perhaps completed by a bipar-
tisan Oregon House or Senate committee —
could collect as much information as possible in
an evenhanded way to answer any lingering ques-
tions about the impact of the pandemic.
This committee should not conduct a witch
hunt to fi nd fault but be a methodical, precise
exercise. More important, such a committee
could develop best practices that can and should
be used the next time the state faces such a hor-
rifi c challenge as the pandemic.
Because the future isn’t going to wait, and we
will face another pandemic in the future. We
need, as a state, to have a good understanding of
what worked and what did not so the next time
such a crisis appears on our shores we can face it
with the know-how developed from hard-earned
experience.
Such a task won’t be easy, and it would surely
create some controversy just because of the polit-
ical age we live in now, but it is absolutely nec-
essary for the future. The state faced some dif-
fi cult challenges during the pandemic, and we
must learn from them and apply the lessons we’ve
learned the next time.
T
EDITORIALS
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The journalist-politician has
worked well for Oregon
STEVE
FORRESTER
WRITER’S NOTEBOOK
t is unfortunate that Nicholas
Kristof won’t be on the Oregon
Democratic primary ballot for
governor.
Kristof and former state Sen.
Betsy Johnson were the two can-
didates who did not neatly fi t into
the tradition of electing Democrats
beholden to public employee unions.
As the former Republican Secretary
of State Dennis Richardson once
said during conversation at The
Astorian, “The public employees
unions run the statehouse.”
In diff erent ways, Kristof and
Johnson would have brought fresh
ideas to this race for governor.
Johnson has yet to fl esh out her
message, but Kristof’s was clearly
about human welfare — the vast
swath of displaced and damaged
Oregonians. His nationally pub-
lished articles and books are about
the travails of common people in
turbulent times. One of those books
is about drug addiction among Ore-
gonians whom Kristof knew while
growing up in this state.
Some referred to Kristof’s
national and international jour-
nalism as though that made him a
I
novelty candidate. But Oregon has
enjoyed good luck with journal-
ist-politicians. Three of our prom-
inent offi ceholders have been jour-
nalists. One of those was Oregon’s
most consequential governor of the
20th century.
Charles Sprague owned the
Oregon Statesman newspaper in
Salem. As editor, he wrote edito-
rials and a widely read front-page
column, “It Seems to Me.” He
became Oregon governor in 1939
and served through 1943. Sprague
was a Republican in the Theodore
Roosevelt Progressive tradition.
His defense of civil liberties put
him at odds with the GOP’s right
wing.
Today’s Oregon Republican
Party would turn their backs on the
man. To learn more about Sprague,
read Floyd McKay’s biography,
“An Editor for Oregon: Charles
A. Sprague and the Politics of
Change.”
Tom McCall and Richard Neu-
berger were journalists of a dif-
ferent sort, but they had a symbi-
otic relationship. McCall began as
a sportswriter in Idaho and became
one of Oregon’s most prominent
television journalists, as a news
analyst for KGW-TV. Neuberger’s
prodigious output appeared in The
Oregonian, from the time he was
18, and subsequently in national
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magazines that collectively reached
a broad demographic.
Conservation was a paramount
value – a theme in many of Neu-
berger’s articles. By the time he
was elected to the U.S. Senate as a
Democrat, Neuberger had built a
national constituency among con-
servationists, and they were elated
at his victory. Brent Walth in “Fire
at Eden’s Gate” describes Neu-
berger as McCall’s “role model.”
When Neuberger died at the age
of 47 in 1960, McCall took up
the cause of conservation and
became Oregon’s most prominent
conservationist.
In other words, Oregon’s three
prominent journalist offi ceholders
carried positive, inspirational values
into the arena and left their mark.
The important distinction
between Neuberger and Kristof is
that Neuberger served in the Oregon
House of Representatives and
the state Senate prior to the U.S.
Senate. Neuberger had done a legis-
lative apprenticeship – all of which
he wrote about.
Nonetheless, it would have
been useful to have an injection of
Kristof’s perspective in the race that
lies ahead.
———
Steve Forrester is the president
and chief executive offi cer of EO
Media Group.
Anindependent newspaper foundedin1896
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