Kevin Frazier
Born and raised in Oregon, Frazier is a second-year law student at the UC Berkeley School of Law and the founder of No One Left Offline, a coalition of nonprofits working to close the Digital Divide.
Absent a return to the “Oregon Way” in which politicians pragmatically solve issues through consensus and compromise, our state is careening toward a Hunger Games-esque dystopia in which the capital -- in this case, Portland -- thrives while the rest of the state languishes. Last week’s special legislative session seemed to forecast this dire future.
Sen. Herman Baertschiger, R-Grants Pass, set the scene for the economic woes ahead, stating, “We’re not flush with money and we’re not going to be flush with money for a long time.” Meanwhile, on the other side of the political aisle, Rep. Marty Wilde, D-Eugene, conveyed his frustration with the control exerted by top legislative leaders to limit input from fellow legislators and Oregonians as a whole. Noting the disproportionate amount of COVID-19 funds that went to Portland on a per-person basis, Rep. Wilde questioned why Portland, time after time, receives assistance over other parts of the state. “Are my people somehow less needy?” he asked.
Oregon won’t emerge stronger from COVID-19 if we collectively allow the pandemic to pull us further away from a common vision for the state. Right now, our politicians don’t seem up to the challenge of uniting us. From Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, having to pound his gavel to stop name calling to Republicans insulting the governor’s intelligence, legislative chambers in Salem seem more like pre-COVID kindergarten classrooms than deliberative bodies. If this behavior continues, then Oregonians should expect the worst -- a legislative session that produces little relief and plants the seeds for continued partisan fighting.
So how do we get back on track? How do we restore the Oregon Way of getting stuff done and bring the state together?
We start by heeding the advice of Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend, by bringing the public back into the process and stopping the trend of "a lack of access and transparency." In the rush to respond to the crises of the day, some legislators seemed to have forgotten that there must always be time for public consultation. Over the concerns of Sen. Knopp and others, the Legislature managed to pass 11 bills without any public hearings in the single day session.
Now more than ever, legislators should be listening to the public. Time must be made to consult context-experts, not content-experts. The former are the folks closest to the woes brought about by the pandemic -- the owners of mom and pop shops, the students trying to get online, the landlords and tenants each trying to get by. The latter are officials that seem more inclined to debate IQs than to have robust policy conversations.
Legislators should take advantage of Oregonians becoming more accustomed to doing life online by hosting a series of community conversations about what’s needed to get folks through the current recession. These conversations could be focused on specific industries and regions so that legislators become more familiar with the diverse and varied needs of Oregonians. After all, how Portland recovers will be very different from how Pendleton rebounds. That’s why legislators should be spending more time hearing from their constituents rather than debating solutions cooked up in Salem with insufficient community input.
Officials should also model behavior that aligns with the Oregon Way. Instead of issuing opposing press releases, officials should host joint press conferences in which they collaboratively outline the problems we’re facing, the solutions they’re considering, and the means by which Oregonians can get involved. This would send a necessary signal to residents around the state that the way through these times is by working together rather than tearing one another apart -- a solution that may work in the Hunger Games, but not in the real world.
Oregonians deserve better than what’s been on display in Salem. They need officials that actively listen to them and consult them in policymaking. They need less partisanship and more collaboration. They need solutions that are tailored to the unique needs of Oregon’s diverse communities.
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"Opinion" - Google News
August 16, 2020 at 08:15PM
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Opinion: Legislators need to rediscover the Oregon Way - oregonlive.com
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