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THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, July 10, 2021
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
DERRICK DePLEDGE
Editor
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BEHIND THE NEWS
‘I learned that it’s a lot of work’
tate Rep. Suzanne Weber’s first
legislative session was shaped by
the coronavirus pandemic.
Access to the Capitol was restricted
to authorized personnel. Public testi-
mony was delivered remotely. Votes
were delayed by positive virus cases.
“The Capitol being closed made it an
almost eerie session,” Weber said.
A former Tillamook mayor, the
Republican was elected
last November in House
District 32, which cov-
ers the North Coast. She
is a vice chair of the
House Committee on
Education.
In an interview,
DERRICK
Weber discussed what
DePLEDGE
she learned, the chal-
lenges of collaboration,
her vote against a key climate change
bill, the House’s expulsion of Mike
Nearman and her priorities next session.
Q: This was your first legislative
session in Salem. What did you learn
that you didn’t know when you got
elected?
A: You never know what you don’t
know until you get there.
I learned that it’s a lot of work. I
used to quilt and sew and garden and all
of these things and spend a lot of time
reading. When I got into this position,
I found out that all of those things were
going to go by the wayside because the
amount of reading and studying that I
had to do was all-consuming.
I had to learn about all of the issues
that were coming to us. And to be able
to read the fine print and see how that
was going to impact people.
The other thing that I learned — and I
knew this, because it was very important
to me, because of testifying in the past
to different issues that I was passion-
ate about, and then not having someone
who had the ability to vote, vote how I
wanted them to.
It was all of the time that I spent
reading all of the emails and listening to
the messages that people sent me with
their opinions on how they felt and how
those issues were going to impact them.
And sorting them out and seeing how
many there were of this and how many
there were of that.
When it came time for committee
work, it was a whole different set of bills
that I would have to learn about and read
all of the testimony that people had sub-
mitted in addition to all of the testimony
that we also listened to with the (Micro-
soft) Teams and the Zoom meetings.
Q: You campaigned last year as
someone who could collaborate with
Republicans and Democrats on behalf
of the North Coast. How do you view
that challenge now?
A: People were surprised to find out I
was a Republican, because what I think
is important is that you work together to
solve the issues that are in front of you.
That’s what I did in my time as
mayor and as councilor, was I didn’t
put any kind of a partisan assignment
to anything. It’s what we needed as an
area, how we needed to have our life
enhanced, how these things were going
S
Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian
State Rep. Suzanne Weber, a Tillamook Republican, represents House District 32.
to impact our area — not whether there
was a D or an R in front of that person’s
name.
I did find, however, that that was far
more important to other people than it
was to me. I thought that was kind of
surprising because still, on the forefront
of your mind, should be the impact that
what we were doing had on rural and
coastal Oregon.
One of the good examples that I can
cite is the Coastal Caucus. That’s work-
ing both sides of the aisle, with Sen.
(Betsy) Johnson being a Democrat, and
Rep. (David) Gomberg being a Dem-
ocrat, and all of the other folks up and
down the coast having all of these simi-
lar issues that were coming before us.
We put that D and that R aside, also.
We focused on whether it had to do with
gillnetting or fishing or roads or ports.
That’s what we focused on.
Q: The Legislature passed House
Bill 2021 to limit carbon emissions
from the power grid by 2040, the big-
gest climate change legislation of the
session. Pacific Power and Portland
General Electric — the utilities most
affected — both support the bill. But
you and most other House Republi-
cans voted against it. Why?
A: My main focus is the coast and
rural Oregon. And I see that this is going
to raise the cost of electricity.
We’re already in a point where we’re
recovering from the pandemic and the
economic impacts of it. And, in doing
that, how could we once again add
something to people’s plates that they
haven’t planned on?
And, yes, there will be some good
things that come from that (bill). But I
can also see — as my colleagues also
saw — that there could be some down-
sides to access to electricity.
We had that heat event. I was in
Albany, because I was staying with
my daughter and then I could drive
to Salem, and it was closer than driv-
ing from Tillamook to Salem on a daily
basis. And we had many times where the
power went blank in the heat.
Are we going to have to look forward
to that as we have additional climate
change? There are going to be chal-
lenges in front of us. How are we going
to work that all out?
Which is something that I have to
also say is, there are so many bills that
are introduced. They are debated. They
are changed. They are amended. They
are passed. But we really don’t know
how they’re going to affect people until
the time comes for it to take effect.
And then we find out that we have
unintended consequences.
Q: You were one of six House
Republicans to vote with majority
Democrats for a special committee
to weigh the punishment for former
Rep. Mike Nearman, a Republican
accused of letting protesters into the
state Capitol during a special session
in December. You also voted to expel
Nearman. Why did you think a spe-
cial committee was important when
most of your Republican colleagues
did not?
A: I felt that that was import-
ant because the issues that were to be
debated concerning Rep. Nearman
were not Rule 27 (regarding legislative
branch personnel). This was a special
circumstance.
I thought that the man needed to be
given the benefit of the doubt.
And I will tell you, until the record-
ings of the meetings that he had, I was
still willing to give him the benefit of the
doubt, because I watched that tape over
and over and over again to see if there
was just a hint of, ‘Oh, my goodness
sakes. This is going to be a problem.’
No. He just walked out the door.
I also spent time talking with the peo-
ple that were in the building at that time,
and the fear that they had because of the
people that were outside, and the results
of what happened to the law enforce-
ment people.
Some people experienced almost like
a PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).
And then we had the vote, which was
very emotional, deciding that, yes, he
should be expelled.
We were sitting in the chamber, get-
ting ready for the vote. And the people
were outside, and they were screaming
and yelling. And so that was going on.
I could empathize with the people that
had been in the building at that particu-
lar time (back in December) as to what
they were experiencing.
So we did the vote and then we went
to leave the building. And I looked out
of the window — my window looks
directly down on the entrance to the
parking garage — and all the folks had
taken and gathered at the entrance and
the exit to the parking garage.
So we went down into the garage
— and there were about five of us that
went just at that particular time — and
the parking garage was filled with state
police in their riot gear. And you could
still hear the people screaming. And then
they had to walk us out of there in our
cars, and the people were in the streets
and yelling.
So I can understand how the people
felt that were inside the Capitol on that
day (in December).
Mr. Nearman is a very intelligent
man. He has brought a lot of good things
in his position. But I think he made a big
mistake.
Q: What was something you
wanted to accomplish that will have to
wait until next session?
A: I’m finding out that we have all
kinds of infrastructure needs. And I am
especially concerned about Highway
6 (a state route from Tillamook to near
Banks).
That infrastructure package going
forward is something that I’m really
going to work hard for. If you go over
Highway 6, you find that you have lots
of places that are sinking. We have so
few turnouts, passing lanes.
And the other thing that Sen. Johnson
and I have been noticing in going over
Highway 6 is the number of dead trees.
And so the logging is something that has
to be addressed — the fuel load.
We did experience the Tillamook
Burn, and look at how that affected us
and is still affecting us years and years
and years afterwards. Could we possibly
be in line for something like that again
because of not addressing the timber
issues along that highway?
And education. Education is some-
thing that I’m passionate about and I’m
worried about funding. I wanted to make
sure that we funded education first. And
I’m going to continue to ask questions
and look to see if the amount of money,
which was less than what I felt was nec-
essary to run our schools adequately
without grants and all of the other things
that you can pile on top that are not
definitive.
I’m going to be watching to see how
that all works out, because education
— that’s our future, and that’s what we
have to fund.
derrick dePledge is editor of The
Astorian.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Don’t change the mascot
I
n recent weeks, much attention has been
given to changing the Astoria High
School mascot. A representative of our
1965 class — among the largest to have
ever attended AHS — surveyed many of
the remaining class members.
The majority are opposed to chang-
ing the mascot. It is the class position that
fishermen, much like firemen and police-
men, is a gender-neutral term.
The fisherman has been our symbol
for a century. We believe it is inclusive
of female, as well as male students, and
should not be changed.
THELMA CRUSSELL ROSE
Class of 1965 AHS Reunion
Committee
Seaside
Make child care a priority
I
am expressing my support for funding
for child care purposes.
I have four kids and work as a farm-
worker. I have struggled to find care
for my kids, especially when they were
younger. Oregon needs funding that
would help individuals like me access
child care resources, without putting a
burden on the families.
We need funding to pass a child care
bill that makes care accessible for farm-
workers and families who cannot afford
child care at the moment. The pandemic
has brought the child care issue to light
even more.
If I were paying for child care right
now, I would have to decide between los-
ing my home or paying outrageous prices.
Not to mention, Oregon doesn’t have
enough facilities to be able to help our
families.
Our legislators must make child care a
priority, and help families like mine that
do not necessarily have access to child
care. I wish I could stay with my kids at
home; however, I cannot afford to, and
I would like other families to have this
opportunity and access to culture-based
child care.
ROSA SOTELO
Woodburn
Surprise, surprise
T
he city of Gearhart spent consider-
able time and effort identifying loca-
tions for a replacement fire station. It was
a timely and laudable exercise that con-
sidered comments and participation from
the local citizens. The proposal ultimately
failed.
Gearhart has reacted by endorsing a
recently submitted proposal that signifi-
cantly benefits a developer without ben-
efit, courtesy and time to educate and
solicit comment from citizens. The city
sent a weak survey essentially asking:
“We want it. Will you vote for it? And
will you pay for it?”
The proposal allows the developer to
double the amount of anticipated housing
in that area (surprise, surprise!) effectively
doubling the amount of water usage, and
doubling the amount of septic, as well as
burdening other infrastructure.
Historically, the Gearhart water sys-
tem costs twice as much as proposed; it
currently meets state standards, but has
a disagreeable taste. Historically, discus-
sions regarding a sewer system have been
aggressively dodged.
Population demands on infrastruc-
ture have not been reanalyzed with fore-
sight and awareness of global warming,
increased population and increased vehic-
ular traffic.
There are sufficient issues to be
redressed before expanding Gearhart’s
population. High-density population
may be trendy, but may also be highly
counterproductive.
Is the water system sufficient? Can
the wells produce sufficiently in today’s
warming climate and possible drought
conditions? With rising ocean levels, is
the saline integration with groundwater or
other effluent integration a consideration?
What is the effect on traffic and other
infrastructure considerations, etc.?
GARY LEWIN
Gearhart