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THE ASTORIAN • TuESdAy, JuNE 22, 2021
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
DERRICK DePLEDGE
Editor
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GUEST COLUMN
Legislature mourns death of Capitol ‘mom’
o more will Lawanda and
James Manning carry the
American and Oregon flags to
start each day’s session of the Oregon
Senate.
Lawanda Manning died on June 11.
She was the wife of state Sen. James
Manning Jr., D-Eugene, his beloved
legislative assistant, and so much more.
She had become the unofficial Cap-
itol mom and grandmother, who taught
the son of Senate Major-
ity Leader Rob Wag-
ner, D-Lake Oswego,
how to shake hands and
look somebody in the
eye. She was the com-
passionate adult who
carried a sparkle in her
DICK
eye, who welcomed all
HUGHES
into her office and who
expected them to behave
properly. She was the tenacious advo-
cate who served as chair of the Oregon
Commission on Black Affairs.
Throughout their 45-year marriage,
they were “the everything” to each
other. Colleagues saw them as a single
unit — “James and Lawanda, Lawanda
and James.” The Mannings loved pre-
senting the colors to start a Senate floor
session, which they often were asked
to do.
Death is such an ordinary part of
humanity. Lawanda Manning’s passing
reminds us that, regardless of beliefs
and circumstances, politicians and their
staffs are real people, drawn from the
ranks of Oregonians. As do we, they
face heartbreaks and celebrate joys
throughout the bumpy road of life.
Sen. Lew Frederick, D-Portland, has
lost 17 friends and family members to
COVID-19 in the past year.
Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend, lost his
mother on June 12. Suzanne Carol
(Gaylord) Knopp had battled Alzhei-
mer’s for over 13 years. Knopp, at Sen-
ate President Peter Courtney’s sugges-
tion, told stories about his mother on
the Senate floor last week.
N
Pamplin Media Group
Lawanda Manning, the wife of state Sen. James Manning Jr., died this month.
Senators then talked about the Man-
nings and grieved for Sen. Manning.
“For the last few days, members
of our Senate have experienced hard-
ship and sadness and hurt,” said Court-
ney, D-Salem. “The pain and suffering
of an individual heart that’s in pieces is
so profound to each of us that we want
to help.”
Senate Republican Leader Fred
Girod, of Lyons, experienced his own
loss last September when wildfire
destroyed his home.
“Each of us are honored to be part of
the Senate. And when we have tragedy,”
Girod said, “it’s very important that
people realize that we come together as
one. Not Republican or Democrat. We
come together as one, and we will sup-
port the other and do whatever it takes
to help them get through it. I expe-
rienced that when my house burned
down.”
Legislators are ordinary people
who feel the call to public service; in
essence, to achieve extraordinary things
on Oregonians’ behalf. Some legislators
have greater impact than others. Some
of their work delights us; some dis-
pleases or even angers us. And though
occasionally a bad actor surfaces, most
are good people.
As the 2021 Legislature nears its
end, lawmakers deserve our courtesy,
our respect and our appreciation even
when we are frustrated or disappointed.
The Senate last week overwhelm-
ingly passed Senate Bill 778 to create
the state Office of Immigrant and Ref-
ugee Advancement. Sen. Kayse Jama,
D-Portland, who 22 years ago came to
Oregon as a refugee from Somalia, pre-
sented the bill.
He talked about how he felt wel-
comed into the Senate after being
appointed to fill the seat held by
now-Secretary of State Shemia Fagan.
Jama recalled one conversation in
particular. Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena,
told him, “We may disagree on policy,
but you will never be my enemy.”
“And that had a profound impact on
me,” Jama said.
Life at the Employment Depart-
ment: In other news, the Oregon
Employment Department’s well-re-
garded economic-data website — Qual-
ityInfo.org — temporarily was offline
on June 14 because the domain registry
had not been renewed.
Really.
House Republican Leader Chris-
tine Drazan, of Canby, hoped the lapse
was not an indicator of what lay ahead.
“I am just rooting for the Employment
Department to get its act together,” she
said after voting to approve the depart-
ment’s $6.8 billion budget.
The Legislature last week easily
approved the budget, House Bill 5007,
and sent it to Gov. Kate Brown.
The department’s acting direc-
tor, David Gerstenfeld, said the 2021-
23 budget includes the additional staff
hired during the pandemic; expands
job-finding assistance, especially for
Oregonians displaced by foreign com-
petition; continues implementing the
Paid Family and Medical Leave Insur-
ance Program; and proceeds with the
agency’s new computer system.
Budget whiplash: Last month, Gov.
Brown denounced how legislators were
constructing the state school budget.
Then she shifted course and announced
she had reached agreement with legis-
lative leaders on the $9.3 billion budget
for the next two years.
Then last week she exercised a line-
item veto, striking $200 million from
the budget, saying the Legislature
shouldn’t be taking that money from a
rainy day fund. Rep. Suzanne Weber,
R-Tillamook, condemned that action in
a brief floor speech Thursday.
dick Hughes has been covering the
Oregon political scene since 1976.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Terrible strategy
A
Realtor joins a Clatsop County Board
of Commissioners video meeting and
says, to the effect, “give me $6 million,
and I can make all your dreams (jobs and
taxes) come true.”
Can the board be so naïve as to believe
this? Can the board also believe a proj-
ect will come in at budget, and on time, in
the inflationary real world?
The competition for new
manufacturing locations is Hillsboro,
with better access to roads and airports.
The $6 million would be better spent
building five day care centers in Cannon
Beach, Seaside, Warrenton, Astoria and
Knappa.
Those centers are desperately needed
now by our working families who already
live and pay taxes in the county. Peo-
ple can’t go to work until the children are
cared for.
To hope that the $6 million North
Coast Business Park build-out becomes a
reality is a terrible strategy.
MATHEW PARDES
Astoria
Things need to change
read Steve Forrester’s column from
June 1, with the premise that it’s “a
curse to live in an era you do not under-
stand.” Forrester referenced, in one par-
ticular paragraph, then-Gov. John
Kitzhaber’s “needless, scientifically base-
less and boneheaded attack on gillnet
fishermen.”
The paragraph ends asserting
Gov. Kate Brown’s lack of desire to
do anything to undo this policy, which
clearly has not worked. This portion of
the column caused me to think about
another bill from this session, Senate Bill
59, which just passed both chambers in
Salem and was signed into law by the
governor.
SB 59 simply eliminated the sunset on
the Columbia River Fisheries Endorse-
ment Fund. Sport fishers’ proceeds went
to a variety of different programs directly
related to salmon at the Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife.
However, the bill was amended to
include a provision which ties the hands
of ODFW commissioners’ authority
to make fish allocation changes on the
Columbia River, potentially helping our
local community.
The bill says if the commission makes
changes which may positively impact
the commercial fishing fleet, the Colum-
bia River Fisheries Endorsement Fund
goes away, and the $2 million fee gener-
I
LETTERS WELCOME
Letters should be exclusive to The
Astorian. Letters should be fewer
than 250 words and must include the
writer’s name, address and phone
number. You will be contacted to
confirm authorship. All letters are
subject to editing for space, gram-
mar and factual accuracy. Only two
letters per writer are allowed each
month. Letters written in response
ated. ODFW should align itself to the sci-
ence-based changes made in Washington
state.
The sport commercial industry con-
troversy is nothing new. Policies need to
be changed. Gov. Brown should lead that
change, instead of urban politicians set-
ting policy to the detriment of rural Ore-
gon. This policy harms jobs and consum-
ers. Things need to change.
TODD OLSEN
Astoria
to other letter writers should address
the issue at hand and should refer to
the headline and date the letter was
published. Discourse should be civil.
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Editor, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR.,
97103.
Seeking input
he Sunset Empire Transportation Dis-
trict is seeking public input on pro-
posed schedule changes to Routes 10, 15,
16, 20 and 101.
The purpose of the proposed changes
is to improve bus on-time performance,
increase reliability and add additional fre-
quency to Route 101. The proposed route
changes are available to review on the
SETD website at nworegontransit.org
T
Printed copies are available at the
Astoria Transit Center or the Seaside
Transit Office and posted in bus shelters,
including at the Astoria Safeway,
Warrenton Fred Meyer, Seaside Avenue A
and Cannon Beach Mid-Town bus
shelters.
Please review the proposed changes,
and submit written comments at the Asto-
ria Transit Center, 900 Marine Drive, in
Astoria, or at the Seaside Transit Center at
39 N. Holladay Drive in Seaside.
Comments may also be emailed to
mary@ridethebus.org. All comments must
be received by 3 p.m. on Wednesday.
All public comments received concern-
ing the proposed route changes will be
submitted to the board. Public comments
will also be taken during the SETD Zoom
board meeting at 9 a.m. Thursday.
If approved by the board, the proposed
route changes will be implemented on
July 1. For information, contact Mary
Parker at mary@ridethebus.org or
503-861-5370.
JEFF HAZEN
Executive director, Sunset Empire
Transportation District
Astoria