A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
A short,
civil session
F
or much of Oregon’s
history, a biennial
legislative session
was enough to attend to the
matters of the state. Every odd
year, elected representatives,
lobbyists and citizens would
meet at the Capitol to debate
and enact law while developing
and approving a budget.
In 2010, voters approved
a Senate resolution to create
a 35-day special session in
even years with the explicit
purpose of making necessary
adjustments to the budget
or addressing unforeseen
consequences of previously
passed legislation.
So here we are, two weeks
away from the fourth such
“short session” in state
history — and a politically
fraught one at that. While the
U.S. Congress can’t figure
out whether shutting down
the federal government is
an acceptable way to settle
a dispute or not, citizens are
feeling an ever stronger push
toward one partisan camp or
another.
Meanwhile it’s an election
year in Oregon, with Gov.
Kate Brown campaigning for
her first full term and Rep.
Knute Buehler leading the
field of Republicans looking
to challenge her. While much
of our political energy is spent
watching D.C., Oregon state
politics is at a crossroads of
a kind in 2018. Next month’s
short session will mark the first
few steps down that road.
So what should we expect
of our elected leaders in Salem
this February? Here are a few
pointers.
• Bipartisan or bust
While debating new rules
and laws during a full session
requires a fair amount of
posturing, party line toeing
and negotiation, we feel that
should be set aside in the short
session.
A legislative committee
convened in 2017 to examine
how the sessions have been
functioning since 2012 and
made the suggestion that
any bill should be required
to be sponsored by a
representative of both parties
to be considered. The concept
wasn’t enacted, but we think
it’s a good one and should be
followed.
It makes us nervous to see a
list of goals including a Clean
Energy Jobs Bill and gun
regulations coming before a
body with just over a month to
debate and enact law. We’ve
previously written that the
pursuit of meaningful PERS
reform this session is doubtful,
but while politically difficult
it would at least meet the
principal of why these short
sessions exist in the first place:
Taking action early so that
future budget problems don’t
spiral out of control.
• Deal with Measure 101
fallout
Oregon voters will decide
Tuesday how they feel about
the Medicaid funding tax
on Measure 101, which
will have a major effect on
how legislators will spend
their in-session time. If the
temporary health care taxes are
approved by voters, it’s a tip to
legislators that voters remain
supportive of their work, and
that health insurance for all
Oregonians is something we’re
willing to pay a little extra for.
However, if the measure
fails, legislators will be sent
scrambling back to the Capitol
with some difficult decisions
to make. Money will have to
be found, or cuts will have to
be made. More than likely, it’ll
require some of each.
• No politics
Gov. Kate Brown is
Oregon’s top government
official, so she should be able
to guide legislative action
during the 30 days.
She told the EO’s Capital
Bureau reporter this month
that she hoped to tackle
gun control, affordable
housing, PERS paydown,
opioid epidemic and state
procurement practices. We’re
not sure how many, if any,
of those are possible, and
the likelihood goes down if
Measure 101 goes down, too.
But we’re sure that Brown
and Democratic lawmakers
will try to hang some tough
votes on likely Republican
challenger Knute Buehler.
The same rules stand for
Buehler and the Republicans,
too — who will likely look
to the session as a chance to
gather ammunition to use
against Brown.
All is fair in love and war,
but we hope the politicking is
kept to a minimum and that for
these 30 days legislators keep
their eye on what’s best for
Oregon. Once it’s over, then we
can let the campaigning begin.
F ARMER ’ S F ATE
‘I do’ means ‘I don’t’
By Brianna Walker
To the Blue Mountain Eagle
Hot water gurgled up around
me as I sunk into the mineral wa-
ter carved basins on the side of a
cliff overlooking the cold rapids
of the river below. The scenery
was glorious. Rock basins filled
with various temperatures of water
cascaded waterfall-style down the
side. It was a lovely way to spend
an anniversary.
Thirteen years ago, we said, “I
do.” And while I thought we were
both on the same page as to what
that meant, we weren’t. It has taken
many hours of tractor driving with
all that alone time for me to finally
put my finger on what went wrong
— but it finally came to me. When
we both said, “I do,” what we meant
was “I don’t.”
I don’t see the need to kill spiders
anymore. If I would have wanted to
kill my own spiders for the rest of
my life, I wouldn’t have married a
Spider Killer! So stop complain-
ing; it doesn’t matter that the spider
is closer to me than you — it just
means you must hurry faster before
it reaches me! I’m pretty sure that
was in the fine print of the marriage
vows, “I don’t have to kill spiders
ever again as long as you are within
screaming distance.”
When I said, “I do,” I also meant
I don’t need to put fuel in my car —
or DEF fluid, or change the oil, or
install new brake pads. Yes, I know
I am perfectly capable. Yes, I know
I did those things (except the DEF)
for nearly 10 years before we got
married — but you know what they
Brianna
Walker
say: Women let it
all go once they fi-
nally get married,
and I let all that
knowledge go. So
if I run out of fuel,
and have to wait
alongside the road
for assistance, ex-
pect that I will feel
it is your fault.
I don’t have to warm my own
feet up anymore. I see no reason
to bring a heating pad or warm rice
sock or hot water bottle to bed in the
winter anymore. I married my foot
warmer. Since your legs and feet are
always warmer than mine, it seems
only fair to me that you allow me to
press my feet-shaped ice cubes on
your nice hot calves. I share my ice;
you melt it.
When those vows were spo-
ken, there must have also been
some unspoken clause that said
shaving is no longer a priority for
him. Before the vows, shaving oc-
curred nearly every time we saw
each other. After the vows were
exchanged, however, it became
weekly for church — then, only
for special church functions, then it
was for the holidays, and now? I’m
not even sure he knows where his
razor is. The silver lining, though
(besides what’s on his face), is that
I have almost forgotten how to
clean whiskers out of the bathroom
sink!
“I do” for him also meant I don’t
have to scan things into the comput-
er ever again. Every time the com-
puter acts up, one can almost read
his thought subtitles above his head:
I don’t have to worry about what
programs I need to open documents,
or how to save or attach files. I mar-
ried my secretary. She can have the
headache of not having the right
kinds of file extensions; she can
hook up all the electronic devices,
cords, cables, TV, DVD, Bluetooth,
Wi-Fi. I don’t want to know, I don’t
need to know and, besides, I just
used the instruction manual to kill
her spider!
When he said, “I do,” he meant
I don’t need to pick up my dirty
laundry anymore. I don’t need to
pick it up, nor do I need to wash
it — or dry it or fold it — because
those sticky socks kicked off in the
corner magically become bleached
and mated and tucked back into my
drawers. If I wanted to do laundry
or keep house I would have stayed
single or hired a maid. Instead, I
said, “I do.”
When someone tells us how long
they have been married, my hus-
band is usually quick to ask, “But
how many good ones?” So while
we each went into “I do” thinking
a little bit like “thank goodness I
don’t have to...” we have still en-
joyed all 13 years of marriage.
I have run out of fuel a bit more
than I was expecting, and he has run
out of clean socks a bit more than
he was expecting — but at the end
of the day, I still get to put my cold
feet on him, and he doesn’t have to
mess with queuing up our favorite
Netflix episode. And the rest is rust
and stardust.
Brianna Walker occasionally
writes about the Farmer’s Fate for
the Blue Mountain Eagle.
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
Let’s work
together to develop
solutions for all
To the Editor:
At meetings of the Harney Coun-
ty Restoration Collaborative, we
value the participation of everyone
who shows up, and to that end, ev-
eryone has an equal opportunity to
listen and to be listened to. That
format usually results in respect-
ful differences of opinion that we
can discuss, revise and usually find
our way to consensus decisions.
Unfortunately, at a meeting I was
facilitating in John Day on Jan. 8,
one person did briefly verbally dis-
parage other participants. That per-
son then said he shouldn’t be par-
ticipating and left the meeting. It’s
a shame that outburst happened. At
no point was discussion oppressed
— we go around the circle and
make sure everyone has a chance
to have their voice heard — and at
no point was there a threat of vio-
lence.
By having an HCRC meeting
in John Day we were able to get
participation we usually don’t get
at our Burns meetings from the
public in Grant County as well as
the Forest Service. After the one
brief episode, we continued our
meeting and obtained — from
everyone in the room — some ex-
cellent suggestions regarding fire
management and public outreach
that will help us with the contin-
ued restoration of the southern
Malheur National Forest.
Collaboration is hard work. It
requires time, patience, the ability
to listen and the energy to create
solutions that work — not only for
yourself — but for everyone in the
room. I tell folks, if I had either the
influence to legislate or the money
to litigate, I probably wouldn’t be
doing it. However, for most of us,
it is the one thing we can do in our
local communities to bring about
significant change in the health of
our forests and improvement in our
local economies. Let’s continue to
work together — in a respectful,
inclusive and creative manner — to
develop solutions that work for all
of us.
Jack Southworth
Seneca
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