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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 2, 2019)
A3 THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, NOvEmbER 2, 2019 Attorney general won’t defend secretary of state over forest measures By ROB DAVIS The Oregonian Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum is refus- ing to defend Secretary of State Bev Clarno in litigation over Clarno’s unprecedented rejection of three proposed ballot initiatives to tighten state forestry laws. Rosenblum also chal- lenged Clarno’s legal basis for tossing the proposals, which Clarno said violated a state requirement that leg- islative measures stick to one subject. The rule applies equally to voter initiatives and bills in the Legislature. “There is no question that, under current law, the legis- lature could pass a measure such as this one and it would be in full compliance with the ‘single subject’ requirement,” Rosenblum told The Ore- gonian in a statement. “I do not believe there is any com- pelling reason to argue for a change in the current law.” Rosenblum said she couldn’t represent Clarno because the Oregon Legisla- ture is also a client and she didn’t want to make argu- ments that would impede its work. She said she autho- rized Clarno to find another lawyer due to the conflicting interests. Clarno did not respond to a request for comment. Her deputy, Rich Vial, declined to answer questions. The decision by Rosen- blum, a Democrat, is unusual, pitting two of Oregon’s top elected officials against one another. Clarno, a Republican who has taken $36,000 in dona- tions from timber interests in her career, is not backing down in a suit brought by environmental advocates try- ing to ensure their original petitions advance. She will instead be repre- sented by Schwabe William- son Wyatt, a Portland law firm that advertises itself as “one of the nation’s top tim- ber law practices” and says it is part of the fabric of the timber industry. The firm says on its website it is “involved” with the Oregon Forest & Industries Council, one of the leading opponents to the bal- lot measures. Clarno on Sept. 24 rejected Initiative Petitions 35, 36 and 37. The measures are sub- stantially the same, calling for tightening the state’s aerial herbicide spraying laws. They propose more logging restric- tions in steep, landslide-prone areas. They would prohibit conflicts of interest for state forestry board appointees. Clarno rejected the initia- tives proposed by environ- mental advocates, includ- ing the group Oregon Wild, saying each of the propos- als covered more than one subject. The Oregon consti- tution says a ballot initiative Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, far right, with other top state officials during the swearing-in ceremony for Secretary of State Bev Clarno, second from left. can only address a single pol- icy topic. The same ballot ini- tiative couldn’t raise the min- imum wage and ban the death penalty, for example. No other ballot mea- sure has ever been rejected by the Secretary of State on single-subject grounds, two election lawyers have said. Vial, Clarno’s deputy, is a former Republican lawmaker who took $19,000 from tim- ber interests in his career. Vial would not say how the law firm retained by the secretary of state was being paid. He would not explain why the secretary of state is litigating a case the state’s lead attorney has opined has no legal justification. Former Oregon Supreme Court Justice Michael “Mick” Gillette is representing Clar- no’s office for the Schwabe law firm. Gillette declined comment. As a justice on the Ore- gon Supreme Court, Gillette wrote the landmark 1997 rul- ing that eliminated Oregon’s campaign contribution limits. The decision allowed Oregon to become one of the biggest money states in American politics, one where today the timber industry gives more than anywhere else in the nation. Water vision plan seeks to build awareness for water challenges By MICHAEL KOHN bend bulletin Oregon’s statewide plan to update water infrastructure, address climate change chal- lenges and conserve precious water resources are under public review, with potential impacts lasting well into the 22nd century. The 100-Year Water Vision community conversa- tions, a series of forums that will run until mid-Novem- ber, made a stop in Bend on Friday to brief Central Ore- gonians on what’s being done locally and statewide to improve the quality, usage, conservation and delivery of water. The use of water by Ore- gonians has been a matter of dispute since the arrival of the first settlers in the mid-1800s and has only gotten more complicated over the years with the addition of each dam, canal, farm and other change on the landscape. Kyle Gorman, south cen- tral region manager for the Oregon Water Resources Department, said drought, aging infrastructure and a changing population remain some of the many challenges in the region. “The 100-Year Water Vision seeks to build aware- ness about our challenges, and to call for strategically investing in water so that we can have a future that we all want and that is supported by clean and abundant water,” said Gorman on the sidelines of the Bend meeting. The conversations are expected to help state lead- ers address the multitude of challenges with efficiency and cost effectiveness. The road map to water resource management is outlined in Oregon’s Integrated Water Resources Strategy. The strategy contains more than 50 recommendations on how to improve the state’s water systems. In August, Gov. Kate Brown tasked state and local organizations to get together and discuss how to build awareness and develop investment strategies, a pro- cess now called The 100- Year Water Vision. Meta Loftsgaarden, exec- utive director of the Ore- gon Watershed Enhancement Board, said implementing water projects today requires substantial funding that is no longer available from the fed- eral government. In the 1970s, the federal government paid for about 60% of the water infrastruc- ture in Oregon, but that per- centage has dropped to just 10% today, Loftsgaarden said. “It’s a trend we are see- ing nationally. Transporta- tion infrastructure has stayed steady, but water invest- ments have fallen off. Our hope is that through the 100- Year Vision we can tee up those investments — hope- fully bringing in federal dol- lars and using state and local funds, as well,” Loftsgaarden said. Before committing tax- payer funds on projects, rep- resentatives of state and local water departments are meeting to understand water needs and opportunities for Oregonians. “This is the beginning of the conversation, an out- growth of our Integrated Water Resources Strategy, which talks about our (water) needs — and they are big. We have a lot to do,” said Racquel Rancier, senior policy coor- dinator at the Oregon Water Resources Department. “Once we take all this information and put it all together, we will talk to the governor’s office about next steps.” There are a number of projects around the state that can be used as mod- els for modernizing aging infrastructure, said Bobby Cochran from Willamette Partnership, a nonprofit that promotes the use of green infrastructure. Cochran cited the Whychus Creek Canal proj- ect, an open canal that was piped and upgraded with hydroelectric capabilities, as a good model for dealing with Oregon’s leaky canals. The project has returned 30 cubic feet per second of water flowing into Whychus Creek. “Farmers are actually gen- erating energy. They are not having to use energy to pump water out of the river. Some 39 miles of salmon habitat have opened up, and there’s a more reliable water supply for downstream communities — which is all really good stuff,” Cochran said. Meeting attendees reviewed the award-win- ning Crooked River Wet- lands Project in Prineville, a cost-effective and environ- mentally-friendly wastewater treatment plan that averted the construction of a $62 million mechanical plant. The 128-acre project low- ers wastewater rates and cre- ated a new public hiking trail system. “It used to cost a new homeowner $9,000 to con- nect to the sewer. They restored a wetland to come up with a way to treat their wastewater and (the connec- tion price) dropped to $3,000. So how do we do that every- where? This is the kind of water feature that Oregon needs,” Cochran said. The series of conversa- tions continues with orga- nizers visiting Ontario, La Grande and Albany. The final live meeting is sched- uled for Thursday in Med- ford and then a virtual meet- ing is planned for Nov. 13. The public is encouraged to comment on the draft vision document, at OregonWater- Vision.org. Summaries of the eight conversations will be com- piled into a report along with comments received through oregonwatervision.org, as well as interviews with state- wide water interests. The report will be presented to the governor and the Legislature in early 2020. KMUN 91.9 COAST COMMUNITY RADIO presents the film: Democracy is weakening... corporatism is strengthening O P E N D A I LY AT 1 1 A M Our FRESH Clam Chowder is a Seaside Favorite W inter S pecial A documentary which examines how we arrived at the influence corporations weild over American politics. 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