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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 6, 1995)
1 8 ▼ Ja n u a ry 6 . 1 0 9 3 ju s t o u t Gov. Roberts testified in April 1991 in favor o f Senate Bill 708, a failed lesbian and gay civil rights measure S aying G oodbye to B arbara 5, a property tax limitation measure, was enacted, f Ann Richards, the peppery, recently ousted ensuring a more challenging tenure for her. governor of Texas were a delicacy, she “There’s no doubt a great deal of change has would be a spicy, salsa-laden enchilada occurred in Oregon during the time I’ve been with a side of barbecued ribs. Mario Cuomo? governor. The population has grown significantly; The preachy and poetic former New York we’ve continued to transform from a timber-ori chief executive would be a cheesy lasagna, ented economy to one that is high tech; we’ve been slathered with a rich basil and garlic tomato sauce— grappling with ways to fund schools. If you take the kind you can only find in a shadowy basement all of those factors and combine them with a bistro in Little Italy. As for Oregon’s soon-to-be- citizenry that isgrowing increasingly disillusioned former governor, Barbara Roberts, well, she would with government, assuredly be a slice of warmed apple pie— a com you’re talkingabout fort food that trades nuance for simplicity, that major flux,” says swaps hidden agendas for down-home decency. Roberts, an amiable The food metaphor applied to these three out and accessible 58- going Democratic governors is not inappropri year-old who talked ate—one only has to look back to the recent with us recently dur elections to see how a peevish electorate relent ing one of her many lessly gnawed upon politicians (particularly Demo end-of-term inter crats) and spit out their tattered bones. Richards views. It’s a cool and Cuomo, two of the party’s most visible and Monday morning; a well-known players, fell victim to some serious slight melancholy munching as voters in their respective states said resonates with each word Roberts speaks. “I had they had finally had enough. Roberts did not have really hoped that we could have brought govern to suffer that particular humiliation because she ment and people together. They hear about how chose not to run for re-election. That doesn’t politicians in different places are implicated in mean, however, that she did not encounter a copi illegal or unethical things. That’s not the case here, ous portion of voter discord. In fact, Oregonians but Oregonians have still developed 2 sense of were chomping at Roberts the moment she came cynicism and anger toward government.” ' into office—at the same time that Ballot Measure I A fourth generation Oregonian, Roberts has deep roots here and a personal stake in the state’s future. Elected in 1990, she became Oregon’s first woman governor following stints as a school board member, a Multnomah County commis sioner, a state representative (including becoming the first female majority leader of the state House), and a two-term secretary of state. During her first two years as governor, Roberts chatted with literally thousands of citizens in a series of community meetings that were de ’ signed to give Orego nians a chance to talk with her about their concerns and share ideas about how to make governm ent more responsive to their needs. In an age of anti-government fervor and o v er whelmingly negative media coverage, it was not surprising the concept was mocked by some crit ics and ultimately failed to convince the majority of citizens that government was their friend. “I was hoping I could help develop a dialogue to bridge that gap,” she says. “I’m very disap pointed that didriT happen.” Thanks to Roberts White House connections, Oregon was able to obtain a federal waiver for its unprecedented health plan. hen historians and political scientists dis sect Barbara Roberts’ record to deter mine how effective a governor they think she was, they’ll probably look at her ability to achieve her legislative and public policy goals. Roberts takes credit for helping streamline state government, for encouraging thousands to get off—and stay off—state welfare rolls, and for creating a place attractive to national and interna tional investors. Oregon is currently experiencing its lowest unemployment rate in years, as well as continued economic growth— this during a time when much of the country has languished eco nomically. Thanks to Roberts’ White House connections, Oregon was able to obtain a federal waiver for its unprecedented health plan (authored by incoming Gov. John Kitzhaber). Roberts stuck to her guns on environmental issues by opposing the Bush administration’s campaign to push through tim ber sales that would harm the endangered spotted owl, and helped quash plans for the half-com pleted Elk Creek Dam. She was not able to reform a 70-year-old tax system that gives Oregonians the dubious distinction of being among the more highly taxed citizens in the country— a failure not entirely hers but nonetheless disappointing. What historians will likely overlook in their analysis of Roberts’ gubernatorial tenure is the feature which is the nearest to the hearts of many gay men and lesbians: No other governor in the history of the United States has been as outspoken on behalf of sexual-minority rights as Barbara Roberts. Plain and simple. For those of us whose lives and livelihoods are on the line, it is this facet of her tenure that was most important and will remain most memorable. “When you talk about civil rights, you’re ' tafkifig about sorhefbmg'sdTuhdarf^ntat. If’s very W