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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 26, 2019)
A4 THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TuESDAY, MARcH 26, 2019 OPINION editor@dailyastorian.com KARI BORGEN Publisher JIM VAN NOSTRAND Editor Founded in 1873 JEREMY FELDMAN circulation Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN Production Manager CARL EARL Systems Manager OUR VIEW Zero tolerance must be the norm A complete transformation in Oregon’s legislative culture is needed O n the surface, life is back to normal in the Oregon Capitol. Senate President Peter Courtney returned this past week from his medical leave. Meanwhile, some bills are sailing through the 2019 legislative session, and others are flailing. The supermajority Demo- crats and minority Republicans are publicly battling on several fronts while calmly collaborating on the Legislature’s routine work. But “normal” will never be the same in the Capitol. Nor should it be. The sexual harassment inci- dents that shook the statehouse in recent years should never recur, and it is up to the legislative lead- ers to make that happen. Do they now get it? That remains uncertain, but the signs are positive. Courtney and especially House Speaker Tina Kotek had criticized a state agency’s finding of a “hostile workplace” at the Capitol. But this month the legislative leaders did an about-face, agreeing to a $1.3 mil- lion settlement. Most of the money will go to eight women who suf- fered sexual harassment. The settlement through the Bureau of Labor and Industries also removes the Legislature’s top AP Photo/Don Ryan Oregon Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, shown here in 2017, recently said about preventing harassment, ‘We must do better. I must do better.’ lawyer and its human resources director from handling complaints of harassment. The bipartisan Joint Committee on Capitol Culture is working toward creating an inde- pendent equity office to handle those issues, which is among the top-to-bottom recommendations from the Oregon Law Commission and which Courtney and Kotek agreed to adopt. Courtney took a big step by interrupting his medical leave and temporarily returning to the Senate on March 14 to vote for a resolution declaring support for survivors of sexual violence. HCR 25, which passed unanimously, is now in the House. “I publicly apologize to any and all survivors that have experienced any form of harassment — sexual harassment, workplace harassment — in the state Capitol,” Courtney said. “We must do better. I must do better.” His comments came after Sen. Sara Gelser, D-Corvallis — whose formal complaint eventually led to last year’s resignation of Sen. Jeff Kruse, R-Roseburg — had said moments earlier that the survivors of the sexual harassment never got an apology from the Legislature. The settlement underscores the severity of what has been happen- ing in the Capitol for years, long before Courtney and Kotek came to power. Yet Courtney and Kotek have contended they did everything within their power to prevent sex- ual harassment, promptly inves- tigate allegations and discipline perpetrators. From a purely legal standpoint, that might have been true. But laws and regulations only cover so much. On human resources mat- ters, there always is more that can be done as far as treating peo- ple with respect, with empathy and with compassion when they feel wronged — regardless of the circumstances. A complete transformation in legislative culture is needed, one that upends the traditional power dynamics in the Capitol. Any- one — elected officials, legisla- tive staff, interns, lobbyists, con- tractors and members of the public — must feel free to raise concerns without fear of political or personal retaliation. The Capitol Culture Commit- tee continues to refine its legisla- tion that aims to improve anti-ha- rassment training and handling of harassment complaints. It will be much harder, but cru- cial, to achieve what must become the new norm in and around the Oregon Capitol: zero tolerance of harassment, bullying or mistreat- ment of any kind. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Proud of our work s a founding employee of the North Coast Crisis Respite Center, I feel obli- gated to share my perspective of the support we provide and the importance of our con- tribution to NCCRC. The respite center staff works closely with the crisis team for Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare, law enforcement and hospi- tals. Together we strive to place adults with severe mental health diagnoses in the least restrictive setting possible. This work pre- vents many of our clients from being placed in the state hospital, and it keeps those beds open for the people who need them, at the same time saving taxpayer dollars. The respite staff also provide training for clients with developing coping skills and adaptive daily living skills. We assist in find- ing housing, jobs, medication management and continuity of care so they can be suc- cessful after discharge. By doing this, we are able to set our clients up to live successful lives in the community. The staff of the respite center are pas- sionate about their jobs. Many of us were hired because of our personal life experi- ences, which give us the ability to under- stand the unique challenges each client faces. Many of us have family members with mental health barriers, or are success- fully managing our own diagnosis. Our experience gives us the ability to empathize and understand what our clients are going through, and what they need. We are all proud of the work that we do, and care deeply about each and every individual who walks through our doors. BRANDI LINDSTROM Warrenton A Labels rip us apart nowflake. Liberal. Lib-tard. All words others have used to attempt to define who I am. I am a son. Husband. Father. Friend. Patriot. Veteran. I am tired. I have watched as our nation has ripped apart based on labels. Common civility is no longer practiced. People slap a label on you, and that is the end of all under- standing. In their mind you stand on one side of the aisle or the other. I say enough. “We the people” once meant all of us. Now it simply means the people who agree with what you believe in. I was 18 when I first swore an oath to defend our Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. I swore it several more times over the course of a 20-year career, proudly wearing a uniform to defend the freedom of those who would now label me based on a belief without taking any time to realize we agree on more issues than we are divided by. S Democracy is not easy. If it was, it would not be worth the sacrifice all Americans who wear and wore a uniform to defend our freedom. I have been reading Tecumseh’s prayer as I begin my day. The words define who I am, and speak to the very depths of my soul. The next time anyone wishes to place a label on me, make sure you use the correct one. I am an American. JIMMY PEARSON Astoria We serve all age groups ’ve worked in the Community Develop- mental Disability Program (CDDP) at Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare (CBH) for four years. The program serves more than 200 people of every age group in Clatsop County. Every person utilizing the program has unique support needs that are necessary to maintain their health and safety. We sup- port only a small number of people who are capable of maintaining their own health and safety without requiring daily assistance provided by another person. We serve families by establishing ser- vices vital to the mental and physical well-being of everyone in the home. Fam- ilies turn to our trusted staff for support during a crisis for the respite and assistance they desperately need. Adults without fam- ilies turn to us for assistance with many of their life decisions. For people unable to communicate, our program may be the only protector and advocate they have. The CDDP assesses and establishes the services and supports that are vital for a per- son to remain in their community and pre- vent them from being moved out of county and into more restrictive settings. Without direct support from the employees here at CBH, people could be displaced from their community, or add to our already over-uti- lized emergency resources. The CDDP plays a major role in the lives of many people within our community experiencing intellectual or developmental disabilities. For those others without a major dependence on the program, they look to us instead for the support they need to build their independence, and eventually lessen their reliance on others. JOSH TERRILL Seaside I Customers not important? n March 22, we just happened to look out our front window to see a Pacific Power employee on our property photo- graphing our electric meter. We asked what was going on, and learned that he had a problem installing a new digital meter. Our O WHERE TO WRITE • State Rep. Tiffiny Mitchell (D): State Capitol, 900 Court St. NE, H-285, Salem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-1432. Email: rep.tiffinymi- tchell@oregonlegislature.gov. Web: oregonlegislature.gov/mitchell • State Rep. Brad Witt (D): State Capitol, 900 Court St. NE, H-374, Salem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-986- 1431. Email: Rep.BradWitt@oregon- legislature.gov. Web: oregonlegisla- ture.gov/witt • State Sen. Betsy Johnson (D): State Capitol, 900 Court St. NE, S-209, Salem, OR 97301. Phone: 503- 986-1716. Email: sen.betsyjohnson@ oregonlegislature.gov. Web: ore- gonlegislature.gov/johnson. District Office: P.O. Box R, Scappoose, OR 97056. Phone: 503-543-4046. Astoria office phone: 503-338-1280 • U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici existing electric meter, which is the property of Pacific Power, even though on our prop- erty and easily readable, is “inaccessible.” This was news to us — we were never aware of interfering with Pacific Power rights. He told us we would have to rebuild the wall housing “their” meter, at our expense, to assure accessibility. During our 2018 home remodel, Pacific Power directed us, and our electrician, as a requirement for the electrical permit, to relo- cate this new meter to the location in ques- tion today. When we questioned the Pacific Power employee’s demands, we were told we would receive a letter demanding 30-day compliance for “accessibility” or suffer ter- mination of our electric power. (D): 2231 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515. Phone: 202-225-0855. District office: 12725 SW Millikan Way, Suite 220, Beaverton, OR 97005. Phone: 503- 469-6010. Web: bonamici.house.gov • U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D): 221 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510. Phone: 202- 224-5244. Web: wyden.senate.gov • U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D): 313 Hart Senate Office Building, Wash- ington, DC 20510. Phone: 202-224- 3753. Web: merkley.senate.gov • Port of Astoria: Executive Direc- tor, 10 Pier 1 Suite 308, Astoria, OR 97103. Phone: 503-741-3300. Email: admin@portofastoria.com • Clatsop County Board of Com- missioners: C/O County Manager, 800 Exchange St., Suite 410, Astoria, OR 97103. Phone: 503-325-1000. As responsible Pacific Power customers for 20-plus years, we were taken aback by the callous, detached (while polite) attitude the employee demonstrated; as it always flows downhill in the corporate culture. We did nothing wrong building our wall, only trying to minimize the presence of an ugly power meter near our front door. We question why Pacific Power did not mention the plans for new digital meters during our remodel. We are sure they knew the upgrade was imminent several years ago. It appears Pacific Power customers, who pay their bills, are, sadly, not very important any more. R.D. SMITH Gearhart
