OFF PAGE ONE
Tuesday, April 13, 2021
East Oregonian
A9
Redistricting: ‘Oregonians expect their district to be fairly drawn’
Drazan said. “Shockingly,
we are the only state on the
West Coast that does not
currently have an indepen-
dent redistricting commis-
sion. In fact, we’re behind
26 other states in the country
that have or are moving to an
independent system this year.
Oregonians deserve better,
and they overwhelmingly
support independent redis-
tricting.”
Continued from Page A1
the state of Oregon in a way
that’s fair and accurate. We
have full faith in the legisla-
tive redistricting committees
to lead this work.”
The court said lawmakers
can adopt a plan in a special
session, rather than the 2021
regular session, which is
scheduled to end June 28. If
lawmakers do not meet the
new deadline of Sept. 27, the
court said Fagan will have
until Oct. 18 to come up with
her own plan.
The court also set time-
lines for legal challenges
to either plan. It said a plan
must be final by Feb. 1 or
Feb. 8, depending on whether
lawmakers or the secretary of
state draws up a plan.
The timelines do not
change the filing deadline
for the 2022 primary or the
actual date of the election.
Fagan said in a statement
afterward:
“Our agency’s core objec-
tives were to prevent moving
the 2022 election dates and to
preserve robust public input
by starting the process with
available population data. We
appreciate that the Oregon
Supreme Court thoughtfully
adopted both of our objec-
tives. Representation matters
and that is what redistrict-
ing is all about. That is why
we will continue to engage
Oregonians in the Legisla-
ture’s public hearings from
all corners of the state. ...
Congress excluded
Sam Stites/Capital Bureau
Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, left, and Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, filed a petition on March 10, 2021,
against Secretary of State Shemia Fagan, a fellow Democrat. The petition aims to give the Oregon Legislative Assembly more
time this year to redraw the state’s legislative districts.
Every Oregonian has a stake
in this process, which is why
we must continue to work
together to ensure all Orego-
nians have the fair, equitable
representation they deserve.”
Republicans comment
Senate Republican Leader
Fred Girod of Lyons said he
was satisfied that the court
left the initial stage of redis-
tricting to the Legislature.
“Oregonians expect their
district to be fairly drawn,”
he said in a statement. “The
most important principles for
Republicans are ‘One-Per-
son-One-Vote’ and uphold-
ing the Voting Rights Act.
Gerrymandering is unac-
ceptable and by keeping this
process in the Legislature, we
have a chance to come to a
bipartisan agreement to draw
fair lines.”
House Republican Leader
Christine Drazan of Canby
restated her support for an
independent commission to
redraw both legislative and
congressional district lines.
A proposed initiative failed to
qualify for the 2020 general
election ballot, although its
advocates went to federal
court in an attempt to reduce
the signature requirements
because of the coronavirus
pandemic. A measure to
create such a commission is
pending, but even if lawmak-
ers referred it to voters, it
would not come to a state-
wide election until 2022.
“Oregon needs to commit
to a nonpartisan and trans-
parent redistricting process,”
The court’s decision does
not apply directly to congres-
sional redistricting. Although
the court is the final arbiter
of such a plan if lawmakers
do not come up with one —
the court appoints a special
panel under a law passed in
2013 — the rules governing
congressional redistricting
are in state law and not the
Oregon Constitution.
Oregon expects to gain
a sixth U.S. House seat as a
result of the 2020 Census.
Lawmakers approved
both legislative and congres-
sional redistricting plans in
2011, and neither was chal-
lenged in court. For legis-
lative redistricting, it was
the first time since 1911
that lawmakers completed
the task themselves without
intervention by the secre-
tary of state or the court. For
congressional redistricting,
it was the first time since
1981, when Oregon gained a
fifth U.S. House seat after the
1980 Census.
Schools: Oregon stricter than Washington
Continued from Page A1
insurmountable problem.
“Basically, our kids can
go off campus for lunch,”
Quaresma said. “And then
we use our gymnasium for
kids who stay.”
The Milton-Freewater
School District will join
Athena-Weston in offering
full-time, in-person learn-
ing on Monday, April 12.
This dist rict hasn’t
completed its transition
to a full a.m./p.m. hybrid
schedule yet, but it will
make the jump due to the
new 3-foot rule.
Superintendent Aaron
Duff said while all K-12
students have returned
already to some in-class-
room learning, students
in grades 6-12 have been
limited to a single class a
day.
A switch to an a.m./p.m.
schedule was planned for
these students on April 5,
but the district decided to
hold off and plan for a full
return instead.
Brown issued stricter
rules for reopening schools
than her Washington coun-
terpart, Gov. Jay Inslee, did
at the start of the school
year. While Inslee’s restric-
tions were guidelines,
Brown’s were mandates.
Claire Withycombe/Oregon Capital Bureau, File
Greg Lehman/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
Ferndale Elementary School in Milton-Freewater welcomed full-time students in class on
Monday, April 12 , 2021. Here, two people approach the building entrance on Wednesday,
April 7, 2021.
So Washington schools
in the area were able to
start transitioning to hybrid
schedules, while area
Oregon schools could not.
Duff expressed frustration
at this late last year.
Now, however, Duff
finds his district ready to
transition about two weeks
before most districts in
Walla Walla County.
“I think we would be
(making the change) at the
same time if Washington’s
spring break was differ-
ent,” Duff said.
Washington schools are
in spring bring this week,
and districts are waiting
until after the week off to
start preparations. Oregon
schools, however, had their
spring break in March.
“I think that’s the reason
why our timeline is differ-
ent,” Duff said.
The newest leap the
schools are taking is just
the continuation of prog-
ress that has been made
since the start of the school
year.
“We’ve been moving
toward this,” Duff said.
“We started this process in
September. We have taken
small steps. ... And, we
have worked with staff in
those steps.”
Duff and Quaresma said
the focus now has to be on
assisting students to finish
as strongly as possible after
a difficult year.
Migrane: ‘I don’t want to be around people’
Continued from Page A1
to him in their Pendleton
home. She flashed him an
encouraging smile.
It’s been an exasperating
journey for the couple. The
medical odyssey affects not
only Dave, but also Danielle
and their children Hadlee,
13, and Kyler, 5. Danielle,
who is assistant manager at
D&B Supply and teaches
in the veterinary assistant
program at Blue Moun-
tain Community College,
often must dash away from
work to ferry her kids and
husband to school, day care
and doctor’s appointments.
It isn’t safe for Dave to drive
because of periodic black-
outs.
The family faces frus-
trating f inancial chal-
lenges as well. Dave hasn’t
worked since that day 13
months ago. Danielle has
her jobs, but the family
struggled to stay ahead
of the stream of medical
bills. Around the first of
the year, when the insur-
ance deductible of $10,000
reset to zero, Danielle went
to the pharmacy to pick up
a migraine medication and
was shocked to learn the
drug cost more than $900
for 30 pills.
She instructed the phar-
macy clerk to put the pills
back on the shelf. Ironically,
after stopping the medica-
tion, Dave felt better and
side effects, such as brain
fog, lessened somewhat.
A Go Fund Me account
set up by Danielle’s
co-worker and friend Brit-
tany Cline brings in enough
funds to make headway on
the bills. But the charges
keep coming. Just the other
day, a $2,200 bill from St.
Anthony Hospital arrived.
The Go Fund Me account,
titled “Medical Expenses
for the Wallace Family,” has
so far raised $4,200.
The next step is a consul-
tation with a neurologist at
Oregon Health & Science
University. Dave will pres-
ent the doctor with a stack of
test results and reports. He
hopes for a breakthrough.
In the face of the uncer-
tainty and upheaval, Dave
and Danielle try to be strong
for each other.
It’s just been so hard,”
Dave said, looking at
Danielle. “She doesn’t know
this, but I break down.”
Danielle says she saves
her times of angst for when
she’s away from home. The
children likely have their
own moments of distress.
Cline worries about
Danielle as much as Dave.
“She always has a bright
smile, kind words, a love
for animals and livestock
and a heart made of pure
gold,” she wrote in a Face-
book post. “Running into
Danielle, you’d never know
the troubles she faces and
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you’d never know she is in
one of the darkest chapters
of her life. Her resilience is
amazing, but everyone has
a breaking point.”
Both Danielle and Dave
crave the normalcy of the
old days. Danielle misses
laughing and having fun as
a family. Dave dreams of
going to work, metal detect-
ing with his children, tend-
ing to his coin collection,
fishing and so many other
things that he once took for
granted.
These days, he said, his
hobby is searching the inter-
net as Pandora plays low in
the background, looking for
information that will lead to
a diagnosis. He misses the
days when he felt at ease
around lots of people. These
days he feels more comfort-
able staying home.
“Now I don’t even like
going to the store,” Dave
said. “I don’t want to be
around people.”
State Sen. Bill Hansell, far left, speaks on the Oregon Senate
floor on June 29, 2019. Hansell was one of six Senate Repub-
licans who showed up to the floor on March 25, 2021, as the
chamber took up a proposal to ban firearms in state build-
ings and lay the foundation for other bans.
Hansell:
Continued from Page A1
they’re trying to get a recall
for me,” he said. “But it’s
not going to stop me from
doing what I believe is the
right thing for me to do in
order to serve the people that
have elected me to the office
I hold.”
Democrats hold 18 seats
in the Senate, with a required
quorum of 20 members.
Hansell said he is unwill-
ing to consistently deny a
quorum on bills he doesn’t
agree with.
“For us to deny a quorum,
we’re going to have to come
back at some point,” he
said. “And the bill will still
be there. It didn’t make any
sense to me to deny a quorum
over this one bill this early in
the session.”
By showing up, he felt
that he was upholding essen-
tial parts of the democratic
process.
“The people have a
chance to vote on it,” he said,
adding that being on the floor
allowed him to go on the
record challenging the bill.
“If they don’t like what the
Legislature has done — and
I don’t, I’m not supporting the
bill, I voted no and I’ll vote
no every time — they have a
chance to raise the signatures
and do it.”
Hansell isn’t the only
Republican facing recall
threats from showing up on
March 25. Senate Minority
Leader Fred Girod, who
has held the Senate seat
since 2008, is facing similar
efforts, though recall peti-
tions against state legislators
and Gov. Kate Brown in the
past few years have fallen
short.
Hansell said that Girod
facing a recall effort seems
like “friendly fire” and
described it as “shortsighted.”
“You want to take out
somebody that votes the way
you want 99% of the time but
on one bill?” he said, describ-
ing Girod as a “great leader.”
Hansell added the focus
of the opposition should be
placed on the bill writers
and promoters, rather than
Republicans who oppose it.
“The battle is not over
yet,” he said. “For us to recall
somebody because they
chose to stay and fight rather
than run and hide on one bill
out of the whole legislative
process is very shortsighted.
It makes no sense whatsoever
to me.”
In addition, Hansell
said that, with the Legisla-
ture moving ahead to make
plans and redraw 2020 polit-
ical districts, it is especially
important that Republi-
cans show up. The Oregon
Supreme Court on Friday,
April 9, ruled unanimously
that the Oregon Legisla-
ture would have the right to
redraw boundaries for the
state’s 90 House and Senate
seats.
“If we don’t show up and
that committee continues
to meet, lines are going to
be drawn without any input
from people from” places like
rural Oregon, he said. “There
is just too much at stake to not
show up.”
Hansell described the
walkout tactic as a “valu-
able tool in the tool belt” to
be used sparingly. He said if
the tactic is abused, “you run
the risk of being further in the
minority” because moderate
voters in both parties “don’t
feel this is a tactic that should
be done.”
“It’s more of your far
right, if you will,” Hansell
said of people who largely
support walkouts. “I suspect
if the Democrats were in the
minority, it would be more of
the far left.”