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THE ASTORIAN • TuESdAy, MARcH 16, 2021
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
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Publisher
DERRICK DePLEDGE
Editor
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GUEST COLUMN
Oregon goes with its gut
T
he governors of Oregon and
Washington state both say that
science has guided their response
to the COVID-19 pandemic. However,
a Seattle Times columnist thinks that
Oregon “went more with its gut” when
Gov. Kate Brown moved K-12 educa-
tors to the front of the line for coronavi-
rus vaccines.
By doing so, colum-
nist Danny Westneat
wrote last week, Oregon
got it right:
“What happened is,
Oregon ignored all the
barbs and went ahead
DICK
and got the shots for
HUGHES
its teachers. When that
didn’t lead to immediate
school reopenings as hoped, the gover-
nor last week brought down the hammer.
“‘Whether or not public schools
should return kids to the classroom this
spring is no longer up for discussion,’
she said.
“How’s that for some clarity?”
Hmm. “Clarity” is not how some
Oregonians would define Brown’s whip-
lash approach to coronavirus leader-
ship. Perhaps clarity is in the eye of the
beholder. Or maybe it takes an outsid-
er’s perspective to awaken us.
A year ago Brown closed Oregon
school classrooms because of the pan-
demic. Her administration followed that
up with some of the nation’s toughest
state requirements for allowing schools
to reopen. Later, she switched, saying
those requirements weren’t mandates
after all — only advice — and so it was
up to local school districts and com-
munities to determine when to resume
in-person classes.
On Friday, Brown was back with a
statewide mandate. She declared that
all schools must reopen this spring for
some form of in-person learning.
In his column, Westneat chided
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee for failing
to prioritize educators for vaccinations
until President Joe Biden had told states
to do so.
“Inslee went along, but it means that
Washington is weeks behind in getting
its teachers the shots,” Westneat wrote.
“Meanwhile Oregon went from mocked
to national policy model in the span of
six weeks.”
His column concluded by calling on
the Inslee administration to accelerate
vaccinations for educators:
“(Brown’s) argument from the start
Ryan Brennecke /The Bulletin
Sydney Murphy, a third grade teacher at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, receives her first
dose of the COVID-19 vaccination from volunteer Val Leonardo, a registered nurse and
nursing coordinator at the Shepherd’s House, during a vaccination clinic in January at the
Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center in Redmond.
the infamous Measure
was that it would take
‘WHETHER OR
5 and other property
so long to vaccinate
NOT PuBLIc
tax limits.
all the seniors that
Perhaps, we gazed
by then the school
ScHOOLS
south so much that
year would be lost,
so why not pause the
SHOuLd RETuRN we neglected to look
north.
seniors for a couple
KIdS TO THE
Little-brother
of weeks? She got
state? That stings.
accused of selling out
cLASSROOM THIS It’s bad enough that
the state’s old people,
Washington this week
and maybe she got a
SPRING IS NO
was named the best
little lucky, but she
LONGER uP FOR
state in the nation for
turned out to be right.
the second year in the
“There’s still time,
dIScuSSION.’
row by U.S. News
barely, for us to swal-
low our pride and
Gov. Kate Brown
and World Report,
copy little-brother
whereas Oregon is
Oregon.”
No. 22.
Not speaking of California …:
For perspective, we’re also behind
Throughout the late 20th century, Ore-
such western colleagues as Utah, No.
gonians were obsessed with Califor-
3; Idaho, No. 5; and Colorado, No. 16.
nia, contending bad ideas flowed north
But we’re ahead of California, No. 24;
from California like an infectious politi-
Hawaii, No. 25; Montana, No. 33; Wyo-
cal disease.
ming, No. 35; Nevada, No. 36; and Ari-
zona, No. 39.
For example, our infamous income
Louisiana is No. 50.
tax “kicker,” which might flow again
As for Tennessee, a state that some
to taxpayers next spring, was created
Oregon lawmakers are rumored to be
by the 1979 Oregon Legislature to stop
talking of moving to, it’s No. 29.
California’s tax rebellion from tak-
ing root here. The kicker has worked
Fighting over political lines: The
to deprive the Legislature of spending
Oregon Legislature is deeply engaged in
unexpected state revenue. But it didn’t
what might be for naught — redrawing
quell the tax rebellion, which produced
the boundaries of legislative and con-
gressional districts using the new pop-
ulation numbers from the 2020 cen-
sus. These districts are supposed to be
roughly equal in population, though not
area.
The catch — at least one of them
— is that the census numbers aren’t
expected until long after the 2021 Leg-
islature adjourns. If the Legislature
doesn’t redraw legislative districts, or
the governor vetoes the plan, that job
falls to Secretary of State Shemia Fagan.
Either way, Democrats win because
they control the Legislature and Fagan
is a Democrat. Gerrymandering lives,
whether by Democrats in Oregon or
Republicans in Texas.
The courts handle congressional
redistricting if the Oregon Legislature
also fails there.
So rare is agreement among legis-
lators and with the governor, that their
redistricting plans have been enacted
only three times in the past 110 years.
2011 brought bipartisan agreement
because the Legislature was almost
evenly divided between the parties.
Last week, state House Republicans
and allies put forth an alternative: Fol-
low the lead of two dozen or so other
states and create an independent, non-
partisan citizen commission to oversee
redistricting. Creation of such a com-
mission would require voter approval of
a ballot measure, which the 2021 Leg-
islature could write. A similar initiative
from People Not Politicians failed to
reach the ballot last year.
Most Democrats, who are in control,
don’t like the idea. After all, Democrats
make up only 35% of the electorate, yet
are 61% of legislators. For them, the
system works.
As former state representative Jeff
Barker, a Democrat from Aloha, said,
“The party in power wants to keep the
power,” regardless of which party it is.
He was among those speaking at a
press videoconference in favor of turn-
ing redistricting over to an indepen-
dent commission. Also backing the idea
were House Republican Leader Chris-
tine Drazan, of Canby; Rep. Shelly
Boshart Davis, R-Albany, vice chair of
the House Redistricting Committee; and
Andrew Kaza, co-chair of the Indepen-
dent Party of Oregon.
Full disclosure: I was born in Wash-
ington state. I’ve only lived in Oregon
for 50 years.
dick Hughes has been covering the
Oregon political scene since 1976.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Still waiting
I
’m not sure what your experience has
been with getting the vaccination for
the COVID-19 thing. For me it’s been like
loaves of bread being thrown out to starv-
ing peasants. Then the feeding frenzy
starts; some get fed, and some go hungry.
At this writing, I’m still waiting to be
fed.
DALE FLOWERS
Warrenton
Not one
ongress has finally passed legislation
to provide much-needed and long-
awaited assistance that Americans have
been desperately waiting for since last
year. Not one Republican voted for this
legislation. Not one.
This disaster exists because the Trump
administration and its supporters chose
to do nothing and allowed it to happen.
Nearly 30 million Americans have been
or are sick, and more than 530,000 Amer-
icans are dead. Additionally, each state,
and the country as a whole, is struggling
to vaccinate the population and keep the
number of cases and deaths not just con-
tained, but from increasing.
This is significant, and must be at
the forefront of all discussion regarding
Republicans. What exactly are their prior-
ities? Why do they care so little, not only
about the people they supposedly repre-
sent, but also this country as a whole?
If Republicans want to walk out of their
jobs, want to support sedition, want to vio-
late the oaths they took to uphold the Con-
stitution and the laws of this country, and
most of all, want to endlessly betray the
people of this country by doing nothing
but obstruct any and all legislation that
does not serve them personally and finan-
cially, they need to go.
This country is going to be forever
changed by the irreparable damage done
by the Trump administration, and every
Republican who supported it.
It is beyond time for this country to
C
get rid of the Republicans responsible
for destroying this country by any and all
means possible.
CHRISTINA BUCK
Seaside
Politics of personal
destruction
W
e have a tendency to see a lot of let-
ters to the editor disparaging our
former president. He has repeatedly been
compared to some of the most heinous
criminals in history. I suspect that there are
few letters disparaging anyone else with
such vitriol.
It is my opinion that those letter writ-
ers lack cogent arguments about the policy
and achievements of the man. He was not
a politician. He was not a member of the
elite. For that, he must be punished.
So they instead attack his abrasive per-
sonality for the way he fought for the
American people. They name-call and
charge crimes without context, substance
or evidence. The impeachments were a sad
sham.
The U.S. Capitol riot was an expres-
sion of outrage at the unfair way he was
treated. I expect a lot of “OMG,” but more
people died, and more destruction of fed-
eral property was ignored, during the sum-
mer of “peaceful” protests.
Even now, after the election, he is
attacked in editorials and cartoons. They
try to erase his achievements in a snow-
storm of name-calling.
It is a sad reflection on today’s politics
of personal destruction, and a dangerous
swing toward stifling dissent and enforcing
some sort of political correctness. Think
and act like us, or we will hurt you.
ROBERT LIDDYCOAT
Seaside