Saturday, July 31, 2021
VIEWPOINTS
East Oregonian
A5
EVAN
BRYAN
OTHER VIEWS
Legislature was
inaccessible for
many during
the 2021 session
regon Senate President Peter Court-
ney has long praised the Oregon
Legislature for its unhampered
accessibility. It left visitors and activists from
other states nostalgic for a time when citizens
could easily approach the people governing
their daily lives.
That all came to an end during the 2021
session, yet amazingly, Courtney still claimed
that the Oregon Legislature remained acces-
sible.
To an extent that could be a correct asser-
tion, but it shows a large degree of ignorance,
especially when many Oregonians lack reli-
able high-speed internet access to participate
in the process. Instead of having their voices
heard at the Capitol this session, Oregon’s
legislative leaders shut out low-income and
disenfranchised Oregonians.
Democrats praised the session as one of the
most accessible sessions in the state’s history
because the use of technology made it more
accessible. Nevermind that they didn’t address
the fact that not all Oregonians have the tech-
nology to participate in a quasi-virtual legis-
lative session. Ironically, legislators and their
staff receive taxpayer-purchased computers
and technology that allowed them to partici-
pate with little difficulty or personal expense.
They also had access to their offices and
taxpayer-funded internet. Oregon lawmakers
also received their daily $151 session per diem
as if they were in Salem every day during
session.
Republican lawmakers had an opportu-
nity to make this a serious issue and question
the validity of the 2021 session on moral and
ethical grounds. Instead, the messaging and
arguments were haphazard and unclear. State
Sen. Dallas Heard, R-Roseburg, pledged to
vote “no” on every bill until the Capitol was
opened back up to the public. This caused
Heard to receive some blowback from his
colleagues who wished to see some of their
token bills pass unanimously. While voting
“no” on well-meaning bills may seem unnec-
essary, Heard’s intentions should not have
been discredited.
Like many of his Republican colleagues,
Heard represents a largely rural district where
many of his constituents do not have reliable
access to high-speed internet. With COVID-
19 restrictions in place, constituents without
internet could not go to their local library or
an area business to find internet access. Not to
mention, that it is difficult and rude to partic-
ipate in a virtual meeting in a public space
shared with others. It was nice to see a rural
senator standing up for Oregonians who were
put in a bad situation by those who should be
making sure their constituents are heard.
It was even more perplexing that two
Republican senators appeared to go after their
own colleagues for speaking out, namely
targeting Heard, who chairs the Oregon
Republican Party. Their bill would have made
it illegal and punishable by a daily fine of $250
for a lawmaker to hold a party leadership posi-
tion while serving in a state office. The Senate
Democratic leader joined them in this effort,
and I’m sure he welcomed the Republican
in-fighting and the distraction.
Regardless of the merits behind those
Republican senators’ efforts, imagine if they
had joined forces with Heard and their caucus
to call out the Democratic supermajority
for ostracizing Oregonians out of the legis-
lative process, especially rural and low-in-
come Oregonians. Such an effort would have
undoubtedly put Democrats on the defensive
and probably would have created some posi-
tive change to the openness of the session.
Unfortunately, that never took place and the
session concluded with no one from the public
in the building they’re paying for. As a state,
we can and should do better.
O
———
Evan Bryan is a former legislative director
at the Oregon State Senate. He holds a master’s
degree in legislative affairs from George Wash-
ington University.
Stay informed on Oregon wildfires
ANDREW
CUTLER
FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
W
e’ve added a new feature
to our websites across the
six eastside newspapers of
EO Media Group that I think is timely
and, unfortunately, necessary.
On each of our news websites there
is a tab where all our fire coverage is
collected. Click on the tab and read-
ers will be able to catch up on what
is going on across the state and see
updates on the progress of blazes.
I think the feature is a good one
and will help give our readers a sense
of the magnitude of the fires that
are scorching huge chunks of forest
across Oregon.
While the new feature is a great
asset, I, of course, wish it wasn’t
necessary. The vast size of this
summer’s blazes took me by surprise,
and when I read our great coverage
on the fires I always feel a little sad.
That’s because I have spent more than
enough time recreating in this great
region of ours, and it pains me to see
the areas I’ve considered as places of
refuge go up in flames.
Yet, part of our job is to ensure
our readers are informed. That can
be a challenge when we are trying to
cover a breaking news story like fires.
First, we want to make sure we get
the most accurate information avail-
able to our readers. Then we want to
deliver comprehensive coverage, news
stories that provide context and back-
ground on how the fires started and
the damage each one inflicts upon our
fellow Oregonians.
In our modern era we are in many
ways more connected to each other
than ever before, but in some ways I’d
argue we also are further apart.
Social media provides a platform
of connectivity unlike anything seen
before, but we also live in a secluded
region of the state where cities and
towns are spaced far apart. Yet, what
occurs in say, Baker City, can even-
tually have an impact on a place like
Pendleton. The recent forest fires are a
good case in point. While the Bootleg
Fire — one of the largest in the U.S.
— is burning in Southern Oregon the
residual impact of the blaze — smoke
— is impacting not only Oregon but
most of the nation.
That is a different kind of connec-
tivity but a real one that we all must
live with when the sky becomes
choked with smoke.
I believe our new forest fire land-
ing page furnishes our readers with
an up-to-date resource so they can
stay informed and understand what’s
happening around them.
So don’t forget to check it out.
———
Andrew Cutler is the publisher/
editor of the East Oregonian and the
regional editorial director for the EO
Media Group, overseeing the East
Oregonian and five more newspapers
in Eastern Oregon.
Mega-dairies and our mega-drought
KRISTINA
BEGGEN
OTHER VIEWS
O
regon, like the rest of the West,
is staring down a dry summer.
In an executive order, Gov.
Kate Brown instructed state agen-
cies to trim water use in preparation
for what can only be called a mega-
drought.
Across the West, residents hunker
down in anticipation of water restric-
tions and in some regions farmers have
started reevaluating the viability of
water-intensive crops. In the Klamath
Basin in southern Oregon, indigenous
communities are facing the poten-
tial demise of sacred and federally
protected endangered fish, and irriga-
tion water has been shut off due to the
lowest levels the river has ever seen.
Yet, in Oregon’s northeast-
ern Morrow County, the state may
welcome one of the largest and most
notorious guzzlers of water — a mega-
dairy. Easterday Dairy would bring
28,000 cows to the same land as the
former Lost Valley Farm in Board-
man, joining four other mega-dairies in
Morrow County.
The Easterdays’ multimillion dollar
fraud case involving hundreds of thou-
sands of imaginary cattle and subse-
quent bankruptcies put a pause on the
permitting process for the dairy until
Oregon’s Department of Agriculture
found that Cody Easterday — listed as
the owner of Easterday Dairy on the
permit — passed on ownership to his
son, Cole.
The original application was with-
drawn per ODA’s July 15 deadline, but
a decision on the subsequent permit
submission from Cole is still pending.
Although the financial troubles affect-
ing the Easterdays’ various compa-
nies call their ability to responsibly
manage a mega-dairy into question,
clearly warranting denial of the dairy’s
permit, yet another pressing case for
denial stares us in the face — our
persistent drought. Easterday Dairy’s
permit application estimates its water
usage would average approximately 20
million gallons per day.
Twenty-two of Oregon’s 36 coun-
ties have requested drought declara-
tions from Brown this year. Morrow
was granted its request and is under
a drought declaration. As crops and
pastures wither, the threat of devastat-
ing wildfires grows. According to the
National Drought Mitigation Center,
county residents will likely have a
“significantly shortened” window for
water access this year. These condi-
tions represent a “new normal” for the
area, and will undoubtedly worsen in
time if the proposed Easterday mega-
dairy is granted a permit.
Morrow County’s mega-dairies
source their water from local ground-
water and the Columbia River, but both
are finite resources. Migrating fish
depend on the river’s flow, and experts
have said these fish need as much water
from the Columbia as it has left from
April until September.
As we wade further into a summer
that only promises to get drier and
hotter, this water will become infinitely
more precious and quite possibly
scarcer than ever before. Several parts
of Morrow County are already desig-
nated as critical groundwater areas
in response to serious groundwater
decline.
Mega-dairies routinely use untold
gallons of water in water-stressed
regions. Despite the drought, Oregon
agencies continue to elevate the inter-
ests of industrial agriculture over
the basic needs of communities and
ecosystems to access clean water.
ODA must deny the proposed East-
erday Dairy’s permit. Our water is too
limited and too precious to waste it on
mega-dairies in a drought.
———
Kristina Beggen is an organizer with
Food & Water Watch and the Stand Up
to Factory Farms Coalition. She works
at the nexus of environmental and
social justice.