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THE ASTORIAN • TuESdAy, AuguST 10, 2021
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
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GUEST COLUMN
Courtney reflects on changing government
ant to improve Oregon gov-
ernment? Elect some Dem-
ocratic legislators in Eastern
Oregon. Elect more Republicans in the
Portland metro area.
So says state Senate President Peter
Courtney, D-Salem. When he first
entered the Oregon House in 1981, its
rolls included Democrats from Eastern
Oregon and the south coast. Republi-
cans represented parts of
Beaverton, Portland and
Eugene.
Unless Oregonians
are represented by peo-
ple like them, Court-
ney said, it’s hard to cre-
ate the feeling that the
DICK
Legislature cares about
HUGHES
them. However, Ore-
gon’s geographic divide
has widened through the decades.
“Clearly the legislative body that I
was in in ‘81 is not there today. It’s a
different body and it will be. It’s a dif-
ferent generation of legislators. The pro-
cess and the institution has changed
since we have annual sessions. I think
the advocacy community is much more
active now and more controlling than it
was,” Courtney said.
“I don’t think anywhere the process
or institution is revered as much as it
was, I really don’t, whether Congress or
whether it’s the Legislature.”
Courtney, 78, is the longest-serving
presiding officer in Oregon history. He
is a moderate amid a Senate Democratic
Caucus that is increasingly liberal and
tied to urban Oregon.
With the Oregon Capitol now
reopened to the public, Courtney and
I sat down last week in the basement
press room for a wide-ranging conversa-
tion. He reflected on this year’s legisla-
tive session, rued the expanding role of
the executive branch, channeled former
Republican U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, of Kan-
W
Molly J. Smith/Statesman Journal
State Sen. Peter Courtney, a Salem Democrat, is president of the Senate.
sas, about societal changes, lamented a
“me first” attitude in American society
and decried the recent losing streak by
his beloved Boston Red Sox.
This year’s Legislature might rank
among the most fractured in state his-
tory. Courtney described the session as
yielding wins for Democrats, but not
victories for the legislative process.
Statistically, it is accurate to say that
most bills passed on a bipartisan basis.
That is because most are run-of-the-mill
measures. Senate Bill 762, on wildfire
prevention and recovery, was the rare
contentious legislation that in the end
gained broad support. Meanwhile, many
Republican bills were sidelined without
getting to a vote.
Senate Democrats often were divided
internally between moderates and the
increasingly influential progressives.
Sen. Brian Boquist, of Dallas, and Sen.
Art Robinson, of Cave Junction, broke
from Republicans and formed the Inde-
pendent Caucus. The remaining Sen-
ate Republicans also were split, with
some favoring walkouts and others not.
If Courtney worked collaboratively with
Senate Republican Leader Fred Girod,
of Lyons, each would run into trouble
with one side of their caucus.
The Oregon House had its own
issues.
Going into the 2021 session, Court-
ney recognized Senate Republicans’ lin-
gering anger over a lot of things. Still,
he was rattled when they didn’t show
up one day for a floor session, depriv-
ing the Senate of a quorum to conduct
business.
“I then realized everything I worried
about could happen. And the Demo-
crats in my caucus, many of them didn’t
care. They just said, ‘We’ll do this and
we’ll do that.’ Well, you couldn’t do it
because they wouldn’t be there to let
you do it. i.e., put a ballot measure on
getting rid of the quorum,” he said.
Courtney is all about team; and to
him, the team is the full Legislature. He
mourns the lack of loyalty to the team,
whether in college sports or politics, and
the accompanying decline in respect for
traditional institutions.
“If you’re more important than the
team, then the thing comes apart. And
right now, the team doesn’t mean any-
thing except ‘me.’ Every part of your
life, you’re part of a team, even your
marriage you’re part of a team. And if
you don’t approach it that way, then in
effect you destroy the most important
things in the way we live and how our
society needs to function,” he said.
“Increasingly, there’s no loyalty to
the team. There’s no respect. Many peo-
ple think, ‘Well, I really don’t need the
team, I am so significant, my ideas are
so good or I’ve got so much talent.’ It’s
very dangerous.”
As examples of past legislative lead-
ership, Courtney cited Democrats Vera
Katz and Hardy Myers, of Portland, and
Republicans Nancy Ryles, of the Bea-
verton area, Paul Hanneman, of Clover-
dale, and Ray Baum, of La Grande.
However, now Courtney foresees
the executive branch — the governor
— continuing to amass power through
executive orders and strong agency
heads but at the expense of the legisla-
tive branch.
dick Hughes has been covering the
Oregon political scene since 1976.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
At it again
T
he Port of Astoria is at it again.
According to Frank Spence, Port
Commission president, the public couldn’t
possibly understand “in-depth” the “dan-
gers” to Port infrastructure presented by
the reintroduction of sea otters on the Ore-
gon Coast.
No, we are the same blind and inept
folks who couldn’t understand the need for
a liquefied natural gas plant in our county,
or the need for a log loading dock in our
midst.
Let me say this in plain language. The
Port has demonstrated, once again, that by
endorsing the letter drafted by the West
Coast Seafood Processors Association,
without calling for public input, they are
acting strictly according to self-interest,
transparency be damned.
Ironically, it was money that led to the
extinction of sea otters in Oregon 150
years ago, when they were hunted for their
pelts. It’s money again that is behind the
effort to prevent their reinstatement.
The general public has been support-
ing the effort by members of the Siletz
tribe to reinstate sea otters. Among the var-
ious ecological benefits they would bring
are that a stable sea otter population could
significantly improve the abundance of
salmon.
Otters eat sea urchins. Without the
otters to reduce their population, the
urchins, which eat kelp, have drastically
reduced Oregon’s kelp forests. Without
the kelp to hide them, salmon fry are more
vulnerable to predators, causing fewer to
achieve adulthood.
I challenge the Port to hold a public
meeting to discuss the “dangers” otters
present to Port infrastructure.
ROGER DORBAND
Astoria
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Daily assault
re you troubled that a violent mob
tried to stop Congress from perform-
ing its constitutional duty of counting the
electoral votes on Jan. 6?
Alarmed that an ex-president continues
to lie, declaring without any evidence that
he won an election he lost by seven mil-
lion votes?
Concerned that Republican-led states are
changing laws to make it more difficult for
citizens to vote, claiming to prevent fraud,
where no fraud has been shown to exist?
Feeling unnerved those same states
are also making laws that will give over-
sight and certification of ballots to partisan
political parties, taking that power away
from independent civil servants?
Are you perhaps angry, distraught or
fearful that our most fundamental dem-
A
together again? Yes! Our creator says: “I
make all things new;” “I will heal all your
diseases;” I will redeem your life from
the pit;” “I will heal your broken hearts;”
“Call on me and I will answer.”
As a mariner, I’ve experienced my
share of brokenness, and I found that I
can’t sail any ship alone. I need to take
on board the master pilot, who guides me
through all brokenness. Faced with bro-
kenness? Why not try it!
JAMES BERNARD
Warrenton
Downward spiral
ocratic institution of free and fair elec-
tions, and the peaceful transfer of power, is
under daily assault?
Well, there is something you can do,
and it will take less than five minutes of
your time. Call Sen. Jeff Merkley, and
thank him for being a lead sponsor of S.1,
the For the People Act.
This Senate bill sets federal guidelines
across the land to protect voting rights,
enhance voting security, end gerryman-
dering, address dark money in politics and
enforce ethics laws.
Then call Sen. Ron Wyden and make
sure he, too, knows you support S.1. They
have to hear from us.
Don’t look back in four years and won-
der, “what just happened?” We cannot
allow our democracy to fall on our watch.
Call your senators today.
ERIC HALPERIN
Gearhart
Brokenness
t seems as though we are living in a
time of brokenness. Many of us are fac-
ing some sort of brokenness: Loss of loved
ones, loneliness, depression, sickness, sep-
arations, broken promises.
So is there a solution for brokenness?
In the old English nursery rhyme:
“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall/ Humpty
Dumpty had a great fall/ All the king’s
horses and all the king’s men/ Couldn’t put
Humpty together again.”
So is there a way to put our brokenness
I
his letter is in response to Joshua
Marquis’ letter, “Junkie’s paradise,”
printed July 31.
Marquis, thank you for your service as
district attorney of Clatsop County for a
number of years. In my opinion, you did
a very fine job, working to uphold the law
in this county, making this county a better
place to live and raise kids.
I have a lot respect for people like Marquis,
who have seen firsthand the negative effects of
bad legislation, and are speaking up about it.
Nice job, Marquis. Thank you for your voice!
I hope that you inspire more people
who are seeing this downward spiral first-
hand to speak up, as well.
SETH WHITSETT
Warrenton
T