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Local officials must make Merkley aware of Basin issues
They’ ll have to compete with everyone else for his time
Oregon will have a new U.S.
senator in January and that means Eastern
Oregon has lost the services of one who
actually lived on this side of the Cascade
Mountains.
U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith was defeated by Jeff Merkley, speaker of Oregon’s House of Representatives. Merkley, from Portland, will be joining Oregon’s other U.S. senator from Portland, Ron Wyden, in Washington, D.C.
The message to Eastern Oregon residents is that they can’t be coy about making their wishes known to the senator-elect. They’ll be doing that in competition with everyone else who suddenly wants to be Merkley’s best buddy.
They’ll also be doing it in competition with areas of the state which have different interests and values than Eastern Oregon — and a lot more votes. Merkley won majorities in eight of Oregon’s 36 counties. That includes Multnomah County (Portland), which Merkley won by 130,723 votes. Statewide, he won by 50,607.
Figures like that are the reality of Oregon politics. Eastern Oregon is going to have to work hard to make its feelings known and get some on-the-ground time with the new senator. Everyone else wants it, too.
Status quo intolerable
Wyden has been good about visiting this area, but we’re not sure he really gets it about the proposed Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, which has the potential to settle long-term water issues in the Basin. He wants to see more agreement by people who live here about the future direction for resource management. That sounds good, but this is a contentious issue, with bitter feelings and there’s never going to be something very close to a unanimous verdict locally.
Wyden and Merkley should approach the Basin issue with the realization that the status quo — never-ending lawsuits and management of fisheries and agriculture by court decision — is intolerable, and they need to be actively involved.
There are other issues, too, such as the future of Kingsley Field and how it fits into Defense Department plans, especially when money’s short.
Local officials need to get the message across to both the state’s U.S. senators about Basin needs. And let’s not be fighting over whether it’s worth travel money to send people to Washington, D. C., to do so. The Basin needs all of the representation it can get.
As for Smith, he deserves praise. It’s tough for a Republican, especially one from Eastern Oregon, to hold a statewide office. Smith worked to bridge the divides between east and west, and between conservatives and liberals and did so well enough to win two statewide elections before losing the third against a strong opponent. He was swimming upriver against an overwhelming current.
Pat Bushey wrote today’s editorial.
U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith was defeated by Jeff Merkley, speaker of Oregon’s House of Representatives. Merkley, from Portland, will be joining Oregon’s other U.S. senator from Portland, Ron Wyden, in Washington, D.C.
The message to Eastern Oregon residents is that they can’t be coy about making their wishes known to the senator-elect. They’ll be doing that in competition with everyone else who suddenly wants to be Merkley’s best buddy.
They’ll also be doing it in competition with areas of the state which have different interests and values than Eastern Oregon — and a lot more votes. Merkley won majorities in eight of Oregon’s 36 counties. That includes Multnomah County (Portland), which Merkley won by 130,723 votes. Statewide, he won by 50,607.
Figures like that are the reality of Oregon politics. Eastern Oregon is going to have to work hard to make its feelings known and get some on-the-ground time with the new senator. Everyone else wants it, too.
Status quo intolerable
Wyden has been good about visiting this area, but we’re not sure he really gets it about the proposed Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, which has the potential to settle long-term water issues in the Basin. He wants to see more agreement by people who live here about the future direction for resource management. That sounds good, but this is a contentious issue, with bitter feelings and there’s never going to be something very close to a unanimous verdict locally.
Wyden and Merkley should approach the Basin issue with the realization that the status quo — never-ending lawsuits and management of fisheries and agriculture by court decision — is intolerable, and they need to be actively involved.
There are other issues, too, such as the future of Kingsley Field and how it fits into Defense Department plans, especially when money’s short.
Local officials need to get the message across to both the state’s U.S. senators about Basin needs. And let’s not be fighting over whether it’s worth travel money to send people to Washington, D. C., to do so. The Basin needs all of the representation it can get.
As for Smith, he deserves praise. It’s tough for a Republican, especially one from Eastern Oregon, to hold a statewide office. Smith worked to bridge the divides between east and west, and between conservatives and liberals and did so well enough to win two statewide elections before losing the third against a strong opponent. He was swimming upriver against an overwhelming current.
Pat Bushey wrote today’s editorial.
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