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THE ASTORIAN • TuESdAy, dEcEmbER 21, 2021
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
DERRICK DePLEDGE
Editor
Founded in 1873
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circulation manager
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GUEST COLUMN
Oregon has divisions even among the same side
‘R
ules are rules for all to
follow.”
Those are the words of
state Rep. David Brock Smith, of Port
Orford, spoken as he acquiesced to
House Speaker Tina Kotek’s request
that he please wear his face mask while
speaking on the House floor.
Brock Smith possessed the trifecta of
COVID-19 protections: vaccination in
April and later a booster shot, plus anti-
bodies from having con-
tracted the coronavi-
rus. On Dec. 13, with
the special legislative
session getting under-
way, he got a virus test
just to make sure. After
all, like Kotek, he had
DICK
been maskless at events
HUGHES
back East. The test was
negative.
Still, face coverings are required in
the Capitol under legislative rules and
state regulations. Rules are rules, and
Brock Smith refastened his mask.
What made news was what happened
on the other side of the Capitol involv-
ing another Republican legislator from
southwest Oregon. Sen. Dallas Heard,
of Roseburg, was escorted out of the
Senate chamber after refusing to wear a
mask.
On a day the Legislature showed sur-
prising unity in doling out hundreds of
millions of dollars, the contrasting inci-
dents underscored the divides among
Oregonians, even ones with similar
values.
Brock Smith represents House Dis-
trict 1, which makes up half of Senate
District 1, represented by Heard. Both
men have had the coronavirus. Both are
vocal critics of Gov. Kate Brown’s pan-
demic mandates.
Heard, who also heads the Ore-
gon Republican Party, had been casting
his votes from a Senate balcony before
coming down to the floor as the Senate
prepared to adjourn the special session.
Senate President Peter Courtney,
D-Salem, told him: “You know you
don’t have a mask on. You’re supposed
to have a mask on. So why don’t you get
up and tell us what you want, and then
I’m going to ask you to leave the floor,
please.”
Heard responded, “Simply put, I’m
just exercising the rights of the free peo-
ple of Oregon.”
Courtney asked him to put a mask on
or leave the floor. Heard declined, say-
ing he didn’t have a mask with him. And
so it went. Courtney declared Heard in
violation of Senate and state rules, and
The Oregonian
State Sen. Dallas Heard spoke to protesters gathered at the Oregon State Capitol on Jan. 6.
had Senate staff escort him from the
chamber.
Heard had pointed out that Brown
recently was pictured sans mask at an
indoor event in Washington, D.C. Kotek
also was photographed maskless at that
gala. The U.S. capital didn’t have the
same mask requirements that the Brown
administration imposed in Oregon. Still,
it would seem politically prudent for her,
or for any Democrat running for gov-
ernor – which Kotek is – to epitomize
mask-wearing and other coronavirus
precautions.
If mask mandates remain when the
2022 Legislature convenes in less than
two months, the Senate will have to
act against members who violate those
rules, according to Courtney.
Next year’s session already was
primed for combat, given that it’s an
election year. In contrast, the special ses-
sion was pretty mellow, despite the typi-
cal partisan posturing.
It included three of the 20-plus can-
didates for governor: Sen. Betsy John-
son, D-Scappoose; Rep. Christine Dra-
zan, R-Canby; and Kotek, D-Portland.
Johnson, who plans to shed the Demo-
cratic label and run as an independent,
resigned two days later to focus on her
gubernatorial bid.
None of the three did anything to hurt
their chances.
The proposed bills passed handily,
and with little drama, which made Kotek
the big winner.
“I called for this special session
months ago because we had to honor our
commitment to keep Oregonians housed
during the pandemic. Today, we kept our
promise and protected thousands from
losing their homes this winter,” Kotek
said in a statement afterward. “I’m
appreciative of the bipartisan work that
led to this successful emergency special
session to provide relief for every part of
the state.”
Not everyone was happy. During the
floor debates, Drazan feared the state
was abandoning the concept of private
property rights by continually extend-
ing payment protections for renters. “Do
we believe in private property rights at
all? Do we think that there is a place for
people to own housing … that in fact
supports their retirement or that’s their
income that they’ve chosen?” she asked.
During Senate debate, Johnson asked
why 14 cities – none of them on the
coast, which she represents – had been
chosen to receive $1 million each for
work on housing and homelessness. Sen.
Elizabeth Steiner Hayward, D-Beaver-
ton, who co-chairs the budget commit-
tee, said she didn’t know. That money
was part of the political negotiations for
the special session.
And that was why the session ran
smoothly. Solid negotiations before-
hand. The minority Republicans did not
walk out, because their priorities were
added to the agenda. They got funding
for those priorities, as did progressive
Democrats. Each party claimed success
afterward.
Kotek’s original concept was a one-
day special session to help renters fac-
ing eviction. Through discussions that
included the governor, the legisla-
tion morphed into far more, including
drought relief, combatting illegal mari-
juana operations, Afghan refugee reset-
tlement, Oregon Health Plan payments
for dentists, and gun violence preven-
tion in east Multnomah County.
The broad scope led Sen. Sara
Gelser Blouin, D-Corvallis, to wonder
why outdoor outfitters and guides were
getting help but other financially strug-
gling occupations were not.
A bipartisan issue was combatting
the aggressive spread of illegal mari-
juana operations in southern Oregon,
including human trafficking of the indi-
viduals employed in awful conditions.
The Legislature approved $25 mil-
lion for those efforts, although John-
son questioned whether enough money
would go directly to law enforcement.
It’s no wonder that cartels have
found a home in Oregon, Johnson said,
given how the Legislature and Ore-
gon voters have relaxed their attitudes
toward drugs.
Legislators emphasized that rural
areas are especially dependent on Ore-
gon State Police. Sen. Fred Girod,
R-Lyons, said Oregon has only 454
troopers compared with 726 in 1975-
77. Meanwhile, the state’s population
has doubled.
Girod quipped that the electric can-
dles placed on each Senate desk made
him happy. “I honestly think maybe the
majority party will see the light that we
have a problem in rural Oregon,” he
said, holding up a candle. “We don’t
have law enforcement.”
That drew a retort from Courtney:
“Senator Girod, the candles are my
idea and have been for years. I had
them placed on the desks as a sign of
peace and warmth and good cheer. I
do not like the candles being used for
political purposes or referring to one
party or the other. … So, leave the can-
dles alone.”
As the Senate later voted to adjourn,
Girod noted that his candle had gone
out.
dick Hughes has been covering the
Oregon political scene since 1976.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Troubled
am troubled by recent comparisons
between the Jimmy Carter and Joe
Biden administrations. Yes, both admin-
istrations had huge increases in gasoline
prices. Yes, both had a troubled economy.
Yes, both had massive inflation. Yes, both
had high unemployment.
But, there are key differences between
these two administrations. As OPEC con-
solidated their power in the 1970s, they
raised oil prices again and again. Thus,
President Carter inherited an energy crisis.
President Biden inherited a country that
was oil independent for the first time in 70
years. Within minutes of being sworn in,
Biden signed the first of several executive
orders guaranteed to both raise gas prices
and make America dependent on foreign
oil again.
Carter inherited a lingering reces-
sion. Although damaged by governors’
responses to COVID-19, the economy
Biden inherited was fundamentally strong.
He quickly set about weakening it.
Carter inherited massive inflation.
Biden created it.
That said, the two administrations are
not without similarities. Foreign policy
experts back then (and historians now)
blamed Carter’s policies for failing to
stop the revolution that turned Iran into an
Islamic dictatorship. This led directly to
the hostage crisis, wherein 52 Americans
were captured and held for 444 days.
Biden’s inexplicable withdrawal from
Afghanistan created the current hostage
crisis, wherein hundreds of Americans and
allies are still trapped by the Taliban.
Leave Ole Jimmy alone. Considered an
outsider, Carter had little support from the
Democrat establishment led by Sen. Ted
Kennedy.
DIANE L. GRUBER
Oysterville, Washington
I
Class of 1963
oliday wishes to all.
I may have left my gallbladder in
H
St. Louis, Missouri, but my heart and soul
belong to Seaside. So many from the Class
of 1963 are still there, doing amazing work
to preserve and promote Seaside.
My wish for Seaside and all who live
there is that peace will be yours in 2022.
AUDREY (POWELL) HAYNES
Bickleton, Washington
What else is new?
don’t take issue with Robert Liddy-
coat’s worry that The Astorian will
become a megaphone spewing govern-
I
ment propaganda (Dec. 14).
I am more concerned about local papers
being bought up by the Alden Global Cap-
ital, or Berkshire Hathaway, or the Mur-
doch family, or Jeff Bezos of Amazon,
who owns the Washington Post. As long
as this paper can pose as being indepen-
dent, I’ll take my news fair and balanced
from The Astorian, thank you.
The most recent Coast River Business
Journal extolls the local timber indus-
try, referring to it as the “Clatsop forest,
wood sector.” Logging and lumbering as
an economic engine, in its own words. All
true, but logging and sawmilling activ-
ity is referred to as “our” local economic
engine.
Sorry, the real wealth “our” forestland
generates goes to the investor class. They
own the land, the trees, the loggers and
their lobby #TimberUnity, and the public
relations narrative, published in The Asto-
rian’s business supplement.
Additionally, they own “our” state sen-
ator, now resigned and running for gov-
ernor. Of course, none of this is true. It
just can’t be; it only seems that way to me
alone, right?
GARY DURHEIM
Seaside