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East Oregonian
Wednesday, July 3, 2019
Brown: Democrats tout legislative session a success
Continued from Page A1
some of those policies since
entering state offi ce in the
early 1990s.
As a candidate for the
House in 1992, Brown’s plat-
form was “stable, adequate”
funding for public schools.
This year, lawmakers
passed House Bill 3427 —
which raises about $1 billion
a year in new business taxes
to pay for improvements to
the state’s schools.
“The Student Success
Act marks a turning point
for education in Oregon,”
Brown said. “We can fi nally
invest in an education sys-
tem that will ensure every
single student in our state is
on a path to realizing their
dreams for the future.”
Some of what lawmakers
did will require Oregonians
to weigh in next year. Vot-
ers will be asked whether to
amend the state’s Constitu-
tion to allow for restrictions
on campaign donations, and
whether to raise taxes on
cigarettes and e-cigarettes
to help pay for public health
care.
Lawmakers got more
done than Brown said she
had expected, including the
paid family leave proposal
and a law overturning man-
datory minimum sentences
for juvenile offenders, a
modifi cation to Measure 11.
Behind those accom-
plishments was a politi-
cal shift — and some very
tough negotiations between
parties.
“It was pretty stunning
what we were able to accom-
plish,” Burdick said. “We
were able to accomplish it
through some pretty stormy
waters at the time.”
In November, Democrats
gained signifi cant majori-
ties in the House and Sen-
ate enough to pass most bills
without Republican help.
However, a constitutional
requirement gave Republi-
cans leverage and came into
play in a big way this ses-
sion. Each chamber needed
at least two Republicans
to have enough legislators
present to legally conduct
business.
Republicans in the Senate
left twice to protest major
bills — the school funding
measure. and then cap and
trade. In so doing, the Sen-
ate couldn’t vote.
The school funding leg-
islation passed after Brown
struck a deal with the Sen-
ate Republican leader to kill
bills tightening restrictions
on guns and requiring more
kids in public schools to get
vaccinated.
But the cap-and-trade
walkout was another mat-
ter, thrusting many other
bills into uncertainty while
lawmakers hurtled toward
a June 30 deadline to fi nish
their work.
Republicans
returned
Saturday, June 29, with just
enough time to pass a full
budget for the state before
adjourning.
The House Republican
caucus said the session was
“defi ned by overreach.”
“The failure of cap-and-
trade was a turning point,”
House Republican Leader
Carl Wilson said in a state-
ment. “The thousands of
workers that came to the
Capitol this past week sent a
clear message to the super-
majority that enough is
enough.”
Sen. Herman Baertsch-
iger, Jr., R-Grants Pass,
who leads Republicans in
the Senate and spearheaded
what were two improba-
bly successful strikes by his
party, could not be reached
for comment.
“The progressive poli-
cies that my Democrat col-
leagues have wanted for
many years, they were suc-
cessful in passing an enor-
Farm: Oregon lawmakers
expand Farm-to-School Program
Continued from Page A1
$10.35 million from the state
general fund through 2021,
bringing the total to nearly
$15 million.
“We’ve been doing this
for almost eight years now,”
Sherman said. “It’s been a
great program. It continues
to grow.”
Sherman said the pro-
gram served 131 school dis-
tricts in 2018, accounting for
90% of all school lunches in
the state.
With increased funding,
HB 2579 will expand the
Farm-to-School Program to
federally funded early child
care and summer food ser-
vice centers, such as Head
Start. Most of the money,
$11 million, will go toward
grants for schools to pur-
chase Oregon-grown food.
Some $2.5 million is
set aside for farm and gar-
den-based education grants.
Oregon has 758 school gar-
dens across the state, Sher-
man said.
HB
2579
allocates
$500,000 to the Oregon
Department of Agriculture
to help farmers and ranchers
with Farm-to-School mar-
ket access. The rest of the
money is for program eval-
uation, technical assistance
and administrative costs.
Megan Kemple, direc-
tor of the Oregon Farm-
to-School and School Gar-
den Network, said Oregon’s
Farm-to-School Program is
a “win-win-win,” not only
supporting kids and com-
munities, but connecting
farmers with new markets
for their products.
“There are a lot of pro-
ducers that really appreci-
ate the schools as a market
because they are reliable,”
Kemple said. “It has allowed
them to basically stabilize
their businesses.”
For example, Pollock &
Sons, a watermelon farm
in Hermiston, sold $3,842
worth of late-season fruit to
schools during a time when
grocery sales typically fall
off at the end of summer.
Port Orford Sustainable
Seafood was also able to sell
surplus fi sh to Rogue Valley
Farm-to-School.
Kemple said Oregon’s
Farm-to-School Program is
a model for the country.
“At a time when the state
is politically divided, bipar-
tisan efforts like this bring
Republicans and Demo-
crats together and bridge the
urban-rural divide,” Kemple
said.
State Rep. Brian Clem,
D-Salem, was a chief spon-
sor of the bill. He said he is
excited to see the Farm-to-
School Program expand.
“We should always be
using tax dollars to buy
local,” Clem said in a state-
ment. “It never made sense
to me to buy apples from
anywhere else than right
here in Oregon. This pro-
gram connects our schools
and children to our most
important industry: agri-
culture. It’s Oregon farmers
feeding Oregon’s children.”
Grant: Pendleton City Council
takes second shot at $25 million
Continued from Page A1
trict to the intersection of
Southwest Nye Avenue and
Tutuilla Road.
This is the second time
the city has applied for the
BUILD grant after coming
up short last year.
Laura Slater, an ODOT
project manager, explained
to the council that their last
application was still for $25
million but more expansive.
The Interchange Area
Management Plan, the city’s
roadmap for the project,
calls for changes to Tutuilla
Road and Southwest Hailey
Avenue.
Slater said ODOT updated
their traffi c volume and cost
estimates and realized they
would need to add lanes to
the northern improvements.
Combined
with
the
increased costs of construc-
tion and right-of-way pur-
chase, ODOT realized that
the northside improvements
would eat up most of the
grant and match’s budget.
The projects south of the
interstate would cost another
$20 million, and neither the
city nor the state has the
money to complete those
phases.
Councilor Dale Prim-
mer asked how the project
would affect nearby property
owners.
The latest proposal would
move the signaled intersec-
mous number of things that
are going to affect Orego-
nians signifi cantly,” said
Sen. Cliff Bentz, R-On-
tario. “I can say some were
good. Many, I voted against
because I think they’re
overreaching.”
Bentz pointed to the gross
receipts tax on business to
raise money for schools, a
new law to allow undocu-
mented immigrants to get
driver’s licenses and to limit
what crimes qualify for sen-
tencing to the death penalty.
Versions of each of those
policies have gone before
Oregon voters via ballot
measure in the past.
“I think it’s been rather
surprising that these changes
have been made without
chance for the people of Ore-
gon to weigh in on them,”
Bentz said.
It was with a detectable
sense of relief that lawmak-
ers adjourned on Sunday
evening, but some lawmak-
ers have raised concerns
about how the Legislature
functions in the future.
Some Republicans say
their constituents aren’t
heard when one party dom-
inates the political process.
“The communities that
we represent out in rural
Oregon have just as many
rights as the folks in Port-
land do,” said Sen. Dallas
Heard, R-Roseburg, before
lawmakers adjourned. “And
that’s really all I’m speaking
to, is that there needs to be a
renewing of mutual respect
between the two parties and
between the majority and
the minority.”
Democrats have worried
publicly about a breakdown
of the Legislature’s institu-
tional norms.
“If you look at the insti-
tution and the hit it took, it’s
at least D and maybe even
an F,” said Senate President
Peter Courtney, D-Salem.
“It was really troubling to
me to see this institution get
clobbered the way I think it
was getting clobbered. And
I am concerned about that.”
“I think it’s really clear
that Senate Republican
actions have subverted the
Democratic process,” Brown
said. “And instead of staying
at the table and engaging in
a productive discussion, they
took their marbles and went
home.”
She said it was an
“important conversation”
for the Senate and House
to have about whether
to change the state’s
quorum rules.
Since time limits on legis-
lative sessions were enacted,
lawmakers must act more
quickly to get their work
done and a walkout is more
disruptive.
Baertschiger told report-
ers on Friday that he was
reluctant to walk out and
thinks the tactic could be
abused in the future.
Bentz said it should
only be used in “the most
incredibly
diffi cult
of
circumstances.”
“The only reason that we
used the tactic is because we
viewed the cap-and-trade
bill as an existential threat to
Oregon in general and East-
ern Oregon in particular,”
Bentz said, “Because of the
fact that energy is so incred-
ibly important to our lives
and to cede control of the
price of energy to California
— that won’t work.”
Meanwhile, issues of the
overall climate and work-
place culture in the Capitol
remain in the background.
Next week, the Senate
is expected to hold a hear-
ing over remarks Sen. Brian
Boquist, R-Dallas, has
made, including saying that
Oregon State Police ought to
be “bachelors” and “heavily
armed” should they be sent
to bring him back to the Sen-
ate to vote.
Super: Aaron Duff hired as next
Milton-Freewater superintendent
in Washington before com-
ing to MFUSD, will return
The unanimous decision
to the state to become
at a special board meet-
interim superintendent for
ing came after President
the Sequim School District.
Duane Geyer initially told
While Clark entered the
the Walla Walla Union-Bul-
superintendent
position
letin that the district would
from the outside, he sees
likely hire an interim super-
Duff’s experience within
intendent for the upcoming
the district as both a bless-
ing and a curse.
school year.
“The biggest challenge
“That speaks not only of
for him is going to be cre-
myself, but to the board’s
ating different relation-
awareness of the difference
ships,” Clark said. “They
between the two options,”
only knew me as the
Duff said. Receiving the
superintendent.”
job’s full title, rather than
Clark said there’s
being on an interim
some faculty in the
basis, allows Duff to
“I LOVE MILTON-
district that Duff
“hit the ground run-
actually
taught
ning,” he said.
FREEWATER. I WANT
during his fi rst
As he transitions
into his new role,
TO BE A PART OF THE years in the district.
Though he added he
Duff outlined his
COMMUNITY FOR THE has no doubts in the
goals for the district
new superintendent’s
in the coming years,
YEARS TO COME.”
ability to forge those
such as expanding
— Aaron Duff, new Milton-Freewater
new relationships.
college-level course
superintendent
Duff pointed to
opportunities
for
the
collaborative
students, a young
teacher mentorship pro- on,” he said. “I think hav- atmosphere of the region’s
gram and maintaining the ing diverse teachers from schools as a large reason for
recently upgraded facilities. age, race, men or women, him staying within the dis-
As for the man he’s and even experience is all trict and said he’s already
getting phone calls from
replacing, Clark’s prized for the better.”
accomplishment in the dis-
Duff’s time at MFUSD people wanting to help him.
“There is no better feel-
trict came in 2016 with the began in 2004 as an agri-
passing of a $12.5 million culture and technology ing than a peer reaching out
bond that, along with $19 teacher for McLoughlin to offer help and knowing
million in state and private High School until becom- they mean it,” he said.
Though he climbed
grants, helped open Gib ing principal at Freewater
Olinger Elementary School. Elementary School in 2012. the ranks from teacher to
The K-3 school, which Duff was then hired to his administrator to now the
opened this past fall, was position of business and district’s chief position
aided by Duff’s coordina- operations director in 2017. much quicker than he could
tion of fi nances and design.
All in all, Duff has spent have anticipated, Duff isn’t
Duff also oversaw building roughly 14 years in the dis- looking to use his new role
upgrades at other facilities trict. He says that experi- as a launching pad out of
in the district thanks to the ence has allowed him to the region.
“I love Milton-Freewa-
2016 bond.
already know the commu-
ter,” he said. “I want to be
Outgoing superinten- nity and feel a part of it.
dent Clark additionally
Clark, who had spent 28 a part of the community for
highlighted
increasing years of his professional life the years to come.”
Continued from Page A1
diversity of the district’s
teachers as a success of his
time at MFUSD. According
to the 2018 Oregon Edu-
cator Equity Report, 16%
of the district’s faculty are
considered “racially/ethni-
cally diverse,” which is up
from 10% in 2013-14.
With over half of the
district’s students identify-
ing as Hispanic or Latino,
Duff wants to continue that
progress.
“I think that the momen-
tum has already moved and
is something for us to build
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
A motorist takes the off -ramp from Interstate 84 on Tuesday
afternoon at exit 209.
tion west and realign South-
west 20th Street and Exit 209,
meaning the roads would run
where several houses and
businesses are now.
ODOT area manager Ken
Patterson said the depart-
ment would meet with prop-
erty owners and tenants
one-on-one to discuss their
options and connect them
with a relocation program.
The city has some reasons
for optimism in its second
attempt.
One of the projects the city
lost out to last year belonged
to the Port of Morrow, which
secured the BUILD grant on
its second try.
Additionally, ODOT told
the city that the Exit 209
project had just missed the
cut compared to other proj-
ects in Oregon.
Councilor
McKennon
McDonald asked the ODOT
offi cials what would happen
if the city’s grant application
failed again.
Slater said ODOT would
continue to design the project
up to 50% before shelving it
until a source of funding was
identifi ed.
If the grant is successful,
Slater said ODOT expected
to acquire all right-of-way
properties by 2022 and com-
plete construction in 2025.
After the councilors
exhausted their questions,
there wasn’t much discus-
sion before the council unan-
imously approved the $2 mil-
lion match.
The grant application is
due by the end of the month
and a decision on the BUILD
grant is expected in the fall.
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Independence Day
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East Oregonian will neither be published,
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Publication of all advertising,
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normal schedule on Friday, July 5
From the management and staff of the
East Oregonian, Have a happy and
safe Fourth of July holiday!