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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TuESDAY, MARcH 12, 2019
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
JIM VAN NOSTRAND
Editor
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JEREMY FELDMAN
circulation Manager
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Systems Manager
OUR VIEW
Paulus leaves legacy of independence
F
ormer Secretary of State
Norma Paulus was a prod-
uct of rural Oregon. She
exemplified what individuals can
do when given a chance — con-
quering poverty, polio and the
lack of a college degree to emerge
as one of Oregon’s most influen-
tial politicians.
And Paulus did so during an era
in which she typically was “The
Only Woman in the Room,” the
title of her autobiography.
Paulus died Feb. 28, two days
after another Republican secretary
of state, Dennis Richardson. U.S.
Rep. Greg Walden and state Sen.
Betsy Johnson remarked at Rich-
ardson’s recent funeral that Pau-
lus set the standard for her suc-
cessors, regardless of political
affiliation.
Both were strong, indepen-
dent, transformative leaders, said
Republican Walden, who rep-
resents Oregon’s 2nd Congressio-
nal District.
Democrat Johnson added that
Paulus and Richardson placed
the needs of Oregon ahead of
their own political party. “Norma
blazed her own trail and was one
tough cookie,” Johnson said.
Paulus would have turned 86
on March 13, but hers certainly
was a life well-lived. She was
the first woman elected to state-
wide office in Oregon and the last
Republican secretary of state until
Richardson.
Norma Jean Petersen was
born during the Depression to a
Nebraska farm family who even-
tually settled near Burns in East-
ern Oregon, seeking a better life.
But the family’s poverty kept
her from attending college after
graduating from Burns High
Statesman Journal/Timothy J. Gonzalez
Norma Paulus, then superintendent of public education, reads to children at the Salem
Public Library in 1997.
AS HER OBITuARY SAID, ‘SHE LEAVES
A LEGAcY OF INDEPENDENcE, FIERcE
RESPEcT FOR THE INTEGRITY OF DEMOcRATIc
INSTITuTIONS AND WILLINGNESS TO ENGAGE
ADVERSARIES OR EVEN FRIENDS IN STANDING
uP FOR WHAT SHE THOuGHT RIGHT.’
School at age 17. Instead, she
became a secretary for the Har-
ney County district attorney. Then
polio struck and she endured
weeks of treatment in an iron
lung. After recovering, she moved
to Salem, where she went to work
as a legal secretary for Chief Jus-
tice Earl Latourette of the Oregon
Supreme Court.
She so impressed Latourette
that he urged her to become a law-
yer despite not being a college
graduate. She studied part-time
at the Willamette University law
school while still working full-
time at the Supreme Court and
also being married with a young
child. Her husband, Bill Pau-
lus, whom she met at law school,
eventually borrowed money from
an uncle so she could quit her job
and be a full-time law student.
It was a productive investment.
In 1962, Norma Paulus graduated
from law school with honors. Her
marriage to Bill lasted 40 years
until his death in 1999. Although
Bill stayed in the background
politically, he was a well-regarded
lawyer in his own right, known
for his work with school districts.
A legislator before her elec-
tion as secretary of state in 1976,
Norma Paulus was fearless. She
stood up to the followers of the
Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, who
tried to rig Wasco County elec-
tions by busing in homeless peo-
ple to register as voters, and who
contaminated salad bars in The
Dalles to sicken other voters.
Later, as the state’s elected
superintendent of public instruc-
tion, Paulus took on teacher
unions and others who questioned
her vision for school reform.
All the while, she carried a
deep affection for the vastness
of her state, from the coast to the
mountains and the rangelands of
Eastern Oregon. Everywhere she
went, people seemed to know her
on a first-name basis.
Paulus lost the 1986 elec-
tion for governor to Democrat
Neil Goldschmidt, and the Ore-
gon Republican Party soon moved
on from the centrist approach she
represented — fiscally conserva-
tive and socially liberal.
As her obituary said, “She
leaves a legacy of independence,
fierce respect for the integrity of
democratic institutions and will-
ingness to engage adversaries or
even friends in standing up for
what she thought right.”
Her rural values served all of
Oregon.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
We need moderate voters
emocrats need to keep one thing in
mind, and that is they must defeat
President Donald Trump in 2020 if they
are going to keep the planet from becom-
ing a disaster, keep our relationships
around the world, and not have our chil-
dren grow up thinking that is how a presi-
dent speaks and acts.
I would love to see everybody in Amer-
ica have health care, but it is not going to
happen overnight. We need to face real-
ity, and only a moderate candidate advo-
cating for incremental changes in health
care is going to get elected. We need to
do something, such as slowly expanding
Obamacare, as we figure out how to pay
for it. Some practical ideas on how to pay
for it are get rid of the massive loopholes
in our tax code, raise the capital gains
tax to the same level as income tax, and
increase the estate tax.
We need to show that we can add, sub-
tract and not come up with ideas on how to
finance our goals that sound as ridiculous
and dishonest as “trickle down econom-
ics,” and the other Republican ideas that
have increased the national debt to astro-
nomical amounts.
There is already enough data and polls
out there to indicate that almost one-third
of the voting population are moderates,
voting neither for the conservative or lib-
eral agenda. Make no mistake — we need
their votes.
JEAN HOOGE
Astoria
D
Undermining our democracy
he influence of corporate campaign
contributions and lobbying in Ore-
gon is undermining our democracy —
and overwhelming the will of voters. For
example, a recent measure to stop the Jor-
dan Cove Liquified Natural Gas proposal
in southern Oregon brought in $1 million
to successfully block the measure.
The good news is there’s hope for all
of us voters to restore decision-making in
Salem that’s good for all of us, not just for
special-interest campaign donors. Several
measures are proposed to unrig Oregon’s
T
elections. One is the Small Donor Elec-
tions bill that would make small donors a
stronger force in elections and reduce the
need for candidates to rely on donations
from special interests.
Another is House Bill 2709, which
would help limit the secrecy of “dark
money” enabled by Citizens United. Third
is a proposed amendment to Oregon’s
Constitution in 2020 that would allow the
state and other government entities to set
limits on individual and corporate cam-
paign contributions. I’m grateful to Clat-
sop Community College’s Ales & Ideas
program at the Lovell Showroom for host-
ing David Delk and Patrick Starnes on
March 7 to talk about these critical issues.
This monthly series continues to pres-
ent excellent thought-provoking speakers
about democracy and our communities.
I’m encouraged that area residents are
also working to raise up the voices of
everyday Oregonians in our elections and
state government. Learn more about these
proposals at honest-elections.com
LAURIE CAPLAN
Astoria
Slippery slopes
atalie St. John recently provided a
well-written, compelling case for the
public’s right to know (“Records ordeal
reveals conflicts about dealing with rac-
ism,” Chinook Observer, Feb. 19). She
related her frustration at accessing Astoria
Police Department documents.
Her investigative report concerned an
Ocean Park, Washington resident who
posted KKK-like flyers in Astoria, seek-
ing to mobilize fellow homophobes and
racists. St. John related how Astoria police
officials appeared worried about the safety
of the perpetrator, while initially declining
to provide requested information.
That incident attracted my attention. As
a nine-year Oregon resident, I was aware
of information disclosure statutes, such as
the 1973 public records law that identi-
fied 550-plus exemptions concerning what
was deemed “sensitive information.” In
2017, the Oregon Legislature tripped all
over themselves, issuing four public record
laws in an effort to generate greater pub-
N
lic trust in state and local officials. How-
ever, I’m not sure the Oregon Sunshine
Committee has provided enough clarifi-
cation to prevent simple requests by St.
John, and others, from becoming mired in
obfuscation.
As a teacher of freedom of speech
courses, American Civil Liberties Union
member, and longtime advocate of the
public’s right to know, I fully understand
the slippery slopes St. John had to tra-
verse. She raised important questions
about the First Amendment, the right to
privacy, government transparency, investi-
gative journalism, and just how much pro-
tection we citizens should allow for hate
speech. She raised some tough questions
without easy answers.
ROBERT BRAKE
Ocean Park, Washington
Thanks for support
fter reading the letter to the edi-
tor “Don’t support gillnetting” (The
Daily Astorian, March 7), I’d like to
remind readers that Measure 81 was voted
out by all of Oregon, but was pushed
through, anyway, by our governor.
Our community was built by gillnetters
and loggers, and many families are still
supported by these industries. There is fac-
tual proof in black and white that gillnets
are selective. Groups like the Coastal Con-
servation Association guide services and
sport fishing groups want all the fish for
themselves, while the gillnetting commu-
nity wants to share with everybody.
It just shows the greed that surrounds
us. The groups mentioned just keep com-
ing up with new excuses every time one of
their schemes is proven false. Where does
it stop?
I applaud The Daily Astorian for sup-
porting something that is very important to
its community.
MARK HIPPENSTEEL
Warrenton
A
Thanks for reporting facts
A
fter reading the letter “Don’t sup-
port gillnetting” (The Daily Astorian,
March 7), I felt compelled to offer a fac-
tual response.
The author states that all the fish in the
Columbia River main channel are Endan-
gered Species Act (ESA) listed. Up to 80
percent of returning salmon stocks are now
of hatchery origin, and not listed. They
are marked by a clipped fin to be later
identified.
Of the remaining 20 percent, there are
healthy runs of wild fish, such as Hanford
Reach fall chinook and summer chinook
that can be harvested for public use. The
gillnet is a very selective tool to accom-
plish this, and has a long track record of
staying within the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration’s stringent
ESA requirements.
The statement that the Columbia River
endorsement fee on recreational licenses
was intended to buy out or eliminate gill-
netters is simply false. The money has
been used for overall projected improve-
ments to fisheries, including researching
new off-channel select fishing areas (none
were found viable), testing alternative gear
(none proved to be better than gillnets),
research and monitoring commercial fish-
eries, additional hatchery production to
benefit both recreational and commercial
fisheries, and commercial and recreational
fisheries law enforcement.
I am fairly confident most of the hard-
working blue-collar commercial fish-
ing families in the lower Columbia don’t
worry much about the economy in Van-
couver, Washington, where the author
lives, but they sure care about their own,
and so does The Daily Astorian.
We thank our local paper for report-
ing the facts and supporting rural people
and jobs. As far as the huge “transfer of
wealth” from urban to rural, as promised
under the Kitzhaber Plan, after six years
we are still waiting for the trickle-down to
develop.
The Columbia River Reform Plan is
now going through an adaptive manage-
ment process that was built into it as a path
forward if the plan failed — and it has.
For some people, that true fact is hard to
accept.
JIM WELLS
President, Salmon For All
Knappa