Salem Political Snark

Oregon democracy threatened by Senate GOP walkout

It wasn't pleasant, but I forced myself to read How Democracies Die by two professors of government at Harvard University, Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt. 

This is a scary book that, when I read it, seemed like it contained warnings for the United States as a whole in our age of Trumpism, with Oregon being immune from the worst of the ways democracies die.

But the current walkout of Senate Republicans from the state legislature is a clear and present danger to Oregon democracy. This was a message of the recent rally at the capitol by supporters of the climate bill that the Republicans are preventing a vote on, due to their walkout making it impossible for the Senate to have a quorum.

Speakers and signs at the rally noted the threat to democracy that the walkout poses. 

Sure, walkouts have been used for leverage previously by both Democrats and Republicans in the Oregon legislature. However, those walkouts only lasted a few days and were designed to draw attention to an issue, not to bring legislative proceedings to a halt.

Here's why this walkout is so dangerous to democracy.

(1) Senate Republicans are refusing to return to Salem unless they get a guarantee that the climate bill, HB 2020, won't pass. This isn't how democracy works. Votes are taken. Surprises happen in voting. Legislators can change their minds at the last minute. It appears that there aren't enough votes to pass HB 2020, but this can't be guaranteed. 

(2) Democracy respects majority rule. Republicans are in the minority in both the state House and Senate. This was the will of the people. Yet Senate Republicans are acting as if they are the majority party. They're claiming they speak for most Oregonians, but obviously they don't, or they'd control the legislature.

(3) Refusing to take part in the legislative process unless your demands are met is hostage-taking, plain and simple. Strong-arm tactics can't be tolerated in a democracy. As others have noted, what the Senate Republicans are doing is a form of lawmaking terrorism. Winning the hearts and minds of voters should be how a party succeeds in lawmaking, not by engaging in temper tantrums that bring the legislative process to a standstill.

(4) Sen. Brian Boquist, a Republican taking part in the walkout, threatened Oregon State Police troopers with bodily harm (shooting) if they tried to enforce Governor Brown's lawful order to find the Senate Republicans and bring them back to the legislature. Militia members have offered to protect the Senate Republicans. 

(5) Senate Republicans also staged a walkout in May, which unfortunately led to Democratic leaders giving in on several of their demands, including killing two bills that were Democratic priorities. The Senate Republicans agreed in writing to not walkout again for the rest of the legislative session. But they lied, given their second walkout.

In How Democracies Die there's a lot of talk about norms, basically unwritten rules, that need to be followed for democracies to work. Trump, of course, has been demolishing presidential norms almost daily. I'd hoped that Oregon would escape similar Republican craziness. 

Here's a passage from the book:

A second norm critical to democracy's survival is what we call institutional forbearance. Forbearance means "patient self-control; restraint and tolerance," or "the action of restraining from exercising a legal right."

For our purposes, institutional forbearance can be thought of as avoiding actions that, while respecting the letter of the law, obviously violate its spirit.

Where norms of forbearance are strong, politicians do not use their institutional prerogatives to the hilt, even if it is technically legal to do so, for such actions could imperil the existing system.

How the walkout is resolved thus is all-important. In no way, not even in the slightest, should the Senate Republicans be rewarded for what they've done. 

Governor Brown and Senate President Courtney should do these things:

-- Enforce the statutory $500 a day fine for failing to carry out legislative duties
-- Make sure GOP senators aren't able to use campaign funds to pay their fines
-- Have a vote on HB 2020 as required by Senate rules
-- Publicize the agreement GOP senators broke when they walked out a second time
-- Call the senators liars for walking out when they promised not to
-- Say over and over that if HB 2020 isn't enacted this year, it will be reintroduced every year until it does pass
-- Affirm that never again will a walkout of legislators be rewarded in any fashion

Lastly, here's a passage from an excellent Rolling Stone story published today, "Runaway Senators, Militias, and Koch Money: What the Hell Just Happened in Oregon?"

Thanks to Rolling Stone for calling this debacle what it is: Republicans ratfucking the legislative process. (Except rats have more ethics than Senate Republicans.)

The Republican War on Democracy has taken many forms — from extreme gerrymandering, to undermining voting rights through voter-ID laws and disenfranchising people with criminal records, to the Trump administration’s foiled attempt to rig the census in favor of white people. In Oregon, Republicans have chosen a different tactic: ratfucking the legislative process, while making open threats of violence.

Salem Climate Rally -- photos, video, commentary

Here's inspiring photos of the Climate Rally in support of HB 2020 that I took yesterday on the capitol steps, plus a video of Gov. Brown's remarks.

Even though Democratic leaders have declared the bill to be dead, I and other supporters of reducing carbon pollution and creating renewal energy jobs still have hope.

Senate Republicans need to end their walkout temper tantrum and vote on HB 2020, along with other legislation they're holding up.

Climate bill is dead. So are Oregon Democrats, to me.

It's time for me to face reality. Democrats here in Oregon aren't willing to fight for what they believe in. So why should I remain an active Democrat?

That's a question I'm grappling with after Governor Kate Brown, Senate President Peter Courtney, and other Democratic leaders in the state legislature unilaterally surrendered to Republicans on a top priority for Dems, HB 2020, a cap and trade bill that would have put Oregon in the forefront of efforts to combat the carbon pollution that is wreaking havoc on our planet.

Shortly before noon today I arrived at the steps of the capitol building to take part in a rally in support of HB 2020. I wasn't aware that earlier in the morning Courtney had said that the bill was dead. 

Not because a vote had been taken, and there weren't enough Senators in favor of the bill to pass it. (The Oregon House already passed HB 2020).

No, Courtney just said that the bill was dead. Apparently there isn't going to be a Senate vote, so it looks like we'll never know if Courtney's vote-counting was correct, or if a legislator with doubts about HB 2020 could have been persuaded to support the bill.

I'm depressed right now because I wrongly thought that I lived in a state where Democrats are passionate about progressive causes. I believed that Oregon was an oasis of progressive sanity in a country where Trump-led Republicans are acting increasingly crazy.

Like, the Republican members of the Oregon Senate walking out this year not once, but twice, to deny a quorum in the Senate, which requires 20 of the 30 senators to be present (there are 18 Democrats and 12 Republicans).

I couldn't believe it when Brown, Courtney, and other Dem leaders rewarded the first Republican walkout in May by killing two bills the GOP detested, just to get them to return to the legislature and do the job they're required by law to perform. Giving in to hostage-taking generally results in more hostage-taking.

Which, not surprisingly, happened again this month, even though Senate Republicans had promised to not engage in any more temper tantrum walkouts. They lied, as Republicans often do in this age of Trump.

A central demand of Senate Republicans, who reportedly were on vacation in Idaho, was that Oregonians be able to vote on HB 2020. That was an unreasonable demand, since the climate bill has been ten years in the making and was debated extensively in not only this legislative session, but the previous session.

I figured that Democrats would hang tough.

After all, Gov. Brown claimed to be a big backer of HB 2020. She said she'd call a special session in early July if the Senate Republican walkout lasted until the statutory end of the regular session on June 30. Democrats have supermajorities in both the state House and Senate. Oregonians care deeply about the environment.

Again, I figured wrong.

Courtney and Brown collapsed like a house of cards in a hurricane. Today they both declared that HB 2020 was dead without a vote being taken. And from what I can tell from newspaper stories, there won't ever be a vote on the climate bill -- likely to avoid making it clear who the three Democrats are who oppose HB 2020.

A Salem Reporter story describes what happened after Courtney made his surprise announcement.

Looking down at Courtney was a gallery full of supporters of cap and trade, mostly teens, that had traveled to the Capitol to show their support. 

As it became clear Courtney was telegraphing a message to Senate Republicans, whom he wants to return to the Capitol, a man stood and directed the crowd to stand and turn their backs on the Senate President, showing their disdain for his words. 

Brad Reed, spokesman for Renew Oregon, the chief advocacy group pushing cap and trade, said Courtney's words came as a shock. Sixteen senators had given the group confirmation they would vote for it, he said.

"Instead of having the Senate vote on the floor and stand up to the public, the Senate President is allowing members to hide behind a contradictory statement. Make them vote and answer to their voters and Oregon's children," Reed said in a statement after the speech. "This is the biggest failure of public leadership in Oregon in recent memory."

That's putting it mildly.

I've lived in Oregon since 1971. I can't remember any more cowardly action by a state elected official than Governor Brown and Senate President Courtney rewarding Republican walkouts twice by killing important bills that were top Democratic priorities.

It's tough for me to find anything positive in this debacle.

What the Dems have done is establish a deeply dangerous precedent. Whenever Republicans in either the state House or Senate are in the minority, yet have enough members to deny a quorum, all they have to do is walk out, head to a conservative state like Idaho, and wait for Democratic leaders to give in to their demands. 

On social media I've been seeing progressives optimistically say that even though the climate bill is dead now, it can come back to life in another legislative session. Huh? How? This will be impossible unless Democrats have walkout-proof majorities in both the House and Senate.

And that doesn't just mean enough members with a "D" after their names, because in this session two Democratic senators, Betsy Johnson and Arnie Roblan, have said they oppose HB 2020 and so likely would support another Republican walkout. 

The only good news I can dredge up in my mind is that I now can delete email messages from the Oregon Democratic Party and Governor Brown without reading them. When they start fighting for what progressives like me believe in, I'll feel better about my Democratic registration. 

Until then, I'll oppose crazy Republican policies, but I'll admire the GOP in this state for using every tool at their disposal to stand up for what they value. I just wish Oregon Democrats would do the same.

Note: on Facebook today I shared a single photo (shown above) out of the many I took at the noon rally in support of HB 2020 today, saying that I'd share more photos and a video of Brown speaking later.

But now I see no point in doing that, since it would simply depress me further to recollect the passion of real environmental advocates, including many young people, who've been screwed over by Brown, Courtney, and other Democratic leaders. 

Well, since I'd already uploaded the video of Brown speaking to You Tube, I might as well share it. When I heard Gov. Brown, I wasn't aware that she'd called HB 2020 dead. This explains her call for patience in the video. Our planet needs urgent climate action, but Brown is fine with waiting years or decades for Oregon to do our part. 

UPDATE: One of the few bright spots on social media following the announcement that HB 2020 was dead came from Rep. Paul Evans. I liked what he said a lot, and agree wholeheartedly with Evans.

But Republican Senator Kim Thatcher didn't like his mention of "terrorists," so Willamette Week is reporting that she's not inclined to return to the legislature, even after the Dems declared the climate bill dead. Well, that's what happens when Democrats give in to legislative terrorism.

Willamette Week also has obtained a copy of the May agreement between Senate Republicans and Democratic leadership where, as noted above, the Dems killed two bills in exchange for the Republicans promising not to walk out again for the rest of the session. 

Instead of making the Republicans hold up their end of the agreement, Courtney and Brown now have declared HB 2020 dead in the (likely vain) hope that this will bring Senate Republicans back to Salem. Excerpt:

WW has obtained the one-page document that formed the basis for Senate Republicans coming back to work May 13, after the first time this session they fled the Capitol to deny Democrats a quorum.

The document included a pledge not to walk out again. Yet Senate Republicans walked out a second time last week.

...The fact that GOP senators aren't back in Salem yet supports the widespread belief in the Capitol that their second walk-out was about more than HB 2020, that it was about figuring out how to undercut other Democratic priorities, including the corporate tax passed earlier in the session and is set for referral.

The existence of the May 13 document also makes more puzzling Courtney's decision this morning to announce on the Senate floor that he did not have the 16 Democratic votes necessary to pass HB 2020. Rather than trying to hold Republicans to the agreement, Courtney capitulated.

The more I learn about this fiasco, the more irritated I get at how spineless Oregon Democrats allowed Senate Republicans to get away with two walkouts and being able to take credit for killing the cap and trade bill.

Since this story is being discussed nationally, the cowardice shown by Dems in this state likely will embolden Republicans elsewhere to take advantage of Democratic weakness. After all, if Republicans can bend Democrats to their will in a blue state like Oregon, they should be able to do it in other areas also.

City Council needs to start work on Climate Action Plan

Hopefully, tomorrow the Salem City Council will take a big environmental step forward by approving $50,000 in the FY 2020 budget (begins on July 1, 2019) to start work on a climate action plan.

The $50,000 was discussed at length at the council's June 10 meeting. Councilor Tom Andersen made a motion to amend the proposed FY 2020 budget to include what amounts to a down payment on a full climate action plan, since $50,000 apparently wouldn't be enough to complete the plan.

Draft minutes of the June 10 meeting show a curious division of votes on Andersen's motion.

Four of the six progressive councilors voted for the climate action plan money, as did Mayor Bennett. But Councilors Cook and Leung, who are considered to be part of the progressive majority, joined the most conservative councilors -- Nanke and Lewis -- in opposition. 

If somehow the $50,000 isn't approved at the June 24 council meeting, which could happen if Mayor Bennett changed his vote from Aye to Nay, I can guarantee that a lot of environmental advocates in Salem are going to be deeply irritated at any progressives who voted to deny the climate action plan money.

After all, every other major city in Oregon has either completed a climate action plan or has a plan underway. 


Our planet is warming at an increasingly dangerous rate. The Trump administration has rolled back Obama-era actions to reduce carbon pollution. At the moment a walkout of Senate Republicans has delayed passage of the Oregon Clean Jobs bill (cap and trade) in the state legislature.

Salem needs to step up and do our part to keep the Earth suitable for human habitation. 

It's hard to understand why adding $50,000 to the FY 2020 budget to begin work on a climate action plan is at all controversial. The only reason I can think of why someone would oppose this is that they deny the science of human-caused global warming, which is undeniable.

Since I doubt councilors Cook and Leung are global warming deniers, I'm guessing they had a reason to vote against the $50,000 at the June 10 meeting that I can't think of. I watched much of the debate on the climate action plan via a CCTV feed, but missed the vote. Maybe Cook and Leung explained their Nays just before the vote.

At any rate, it's good to see that the $50,000 is part of the amendments to the budget that will be voted on tomorrow.

I'm mildly concerned that this budget item is called "Climate Action" rather than "Climate Action Plan," since previously City Manager Steve Powers wrongly claimed that the money was intended to go for tree plantings and such, rather than a climate action plan, which was a blatant lie.

But the June 10 draft minutes make it crystal clear that Councilor Andersen's motion was to begin work on a climate action plan, and not to engage in other activities related to the environment.

Walkout of Senate GOP gives Oregon bragging rights

I'm trying to find a bright spot in the irritating walkout of eleven Republican members of the state Senate. They're opposed to a bill that has a pretty damn good rationale behind it: preserving our one and only Earth for human habitation. 

But since these ignoramuses in the GOP view carbon pollution and global warming as a good thing -- plants grow faster! summer all year long! -- they're determined to give the finger to democracy and prevent a Senate vote on the Oregon Clean Jobs bill for as long as possible.

About the only good thing I can find in this debacle is that now no one can say that Oregon has Republican politicians that are nicer, less extreme, and more courteous that Republicans elsewhere in the country.

Hey, our GOP is just as off-the-rails as Alabama! The only reason Oregon isn't stuck in the muck of right-wing craziness is that our voters have the good sense to elect a Democratic governor and Dem supermajorities in both the state House and Senate.

A little thing like giving voters the respect they deserve didn't stop Republican members of the Senate from fleeing out-of-state, though, where they've said they'll remain until their temper tantrum is rewarded by changes to the Oregon Clean Jobs bill that Democrats would be insane to go along with.

After all, anybody who has experienced life with a toddler or puppy knows that you don't reward bad behavior. That's why I was so pissed at Democratic leaders, including Governor Brown, when they agreed to kill two bills that were top priorities of the Dems to lure Senate Republicans back from their May walkout. 

Not May of another year. May of this year.

Yes, after Democrats rewarded Senate Republicans last month, it isn't a huge surprise that they're seeing what they can get from Democrats this time around. They're hoping for a lot, such as a referral of the Oregon Clean Jobs bill to voters, which is totally uncalled for.

Further proof of how our Republicans in the legislature are just as sleazy as Congressional Republicans is that the Senate GOP agreed to play nice and not negage in any more walkouts if Democrats agreed to kill the two bills mentioned above, along with considering Republican amendments to the Oregon Clean Jobs bill.

Both of which happened. Democratic legislators heard the arguments for the amendments, then voted them down. This is how democracy works. Voters elect legislators, then those legislators decide on bills.

If you want to be sure that your desired legislation gets passed, first you need a majority in the legislature. Oregon Republicans are skipping the "get elected" part and jumping right into petulant walkout politics.

Oregon Democrats have a nice-looking wanted poster.

The Washington Post has a story with a headline that brings back memories of the Malheur Refuge takeover by armed militants, some of whom reportedly are now staking out the Oregon capitol building just in case -- oh, the horror of it -- the legislature tries to convene and do the people's business.

Here's some excerpts from "Threats from militia provoke shutdown at Oregon capitol, a day after GOP lawmakers fled."

Oregon’s top lawmakers will shut down the state capitol after receiving threats from militia groups, who authorities say are planning to demonstrate there in support of the 11 Republican senators who fled the state to dodge a vote on climate change.

State Senate President Peter Courtney (D) told his colleagues on Friday that Oregon State Police had informed him there was a credible threat to him, the rest of the remaining senators — all of whom are Democrats — and the building’s staff.

...State police confirmed the danger in an emailed statement.

...The militia groups’ alleged threat was the second apparent mention of violence to mar state politics in recent days.

Sen. Brian Boquist, one of the Republicans on the lam, sent a warning to state police Wednesday.

“Send bachelors and come heavily armed,” Boquist said. “I’m not going to be a political prisoner in the state of Oregon. It’s just that simple.”

Hopefully the Oregon State Police will be able to find at least two Republican senators and bring them back to Salem so the Senate will have a quorum. However, it isn't a good sign that one senator is hiding in plain sight, according to an Oregonian story.

In the meantime, senator sightings were popping up across social media Saturday.

B.J. Soper, a leader with the Central Oregon Constitutional Guard, posted on Facebook that he’d bumped into Sen. Dennis Linthicum, R-Klamath Falls, at breakfast.

“I order bacon and eggs, the wife orders huevos rancheros, the kiddo a Mickey Mouse pancake. I look across the room and lo and behold who do I see sipping a cup of joe??? SENATOR DENNIS LITHICUM,” Soper wrote. “I walk over and say ‘What in the hell are you doing here?’

“He says, ‘Good morning!! Having bacon and eggs just like you.’ I’m astonished at his candid attitude and I say ‘Man, (Oregon State Police) is on the lookout and this is a bold move.’

“He tells me, ‘It’s ok, I’m not worried, pretty sure the boys have me covered,’” Soper wrote. “He looks up at the table across from him as 4 dudes raise their cups up to acknowledge. I couldn’t help but smile! I said “OK, carry on and be safe. Let me know if I can help!!”

Walkout of Senate Republicans shows weakness of Oregon Democrats

What a complete non-surprise.

Eleven Republican members of the Oregon Senate have walked out to deny Democrats a quorum needed to pass House Bill 2020, much-needed legislation to reduce carbon pollution in this state. 

Many, if not most, have travelled out of state, which puts them outside the reach of state troopers Governor Kate Brown has ordered to bring them back. 

Back in May I predicted bad things would happen after GOP members of the Oregon Senate pulled the same stunt, minus the going out of state part.

I was so irritated at how the Democrats caved, agreeing to kill two high priority bills in order to entice the Senate Republicans back to work, that I called my post, "Oregon Dems surrender to Republicans like scared little mice." I love to quote myself, so I will.

Disgusting. Horrible. Shameful.

Those are the non-profane words I can use to describe how Governor Brown, Senate President Courtney, and House Speaker Kotek caved in to the walkout of Senate Republicans without putting up any fight at all.

...Actually what happened here is that Democrats gave in to a ransom request by Republicans. Not surprisingly, we can expect that since the GOP ploy worked, they're going to try it again.

Now, I admit that what I was thinking of when I said "they're going to try it again" was that the House Republicans would stage a walkout, since the Senate Republicans promised to play nice for the rest of the legislative session if the pro-vaccination and gun control bills opposed by the GOP were killed.

They just broke that promise. And why not? 

Senate Republicans saw how weak the Governor and Democratic legislative leaders were in May, so they understandably expect that they'll be able to get away with a June walkout also. 

This is what happens when Democrats fail to act like the supermajority in both chambers that voters entrusted them with in the 2018 election. Instead of seizing the reins of power to make life better for all Oregonians, they bent over backward to give the Republican minority what they wanted. 

Sure, the Senate Republicans are acting like jerks. That's what Republicans are good at -- using every political tool at their disposal to get their way to the greatest extent possible.

It's astoundingly irritating to read the crap that is coming out of Senate Republican mouths. Which likely are situated in Washington and Idaho, or maybe even Hawaii, since they could be on vacation from their legislator jobs for most of the rest of the summer.

Voters rejected giving Republicans the majority in both the state House and Senate.

But I've got to give the GOP credit for acting like they're in control, rather than being the minority. Here's some quotes from an Oregonian story, "What happens if Oregon Senate Republicans don't come back?"

Senate Republicans have left the Oregon Capitol with no apparent plans to return. Their absence puts into doubt whether Democrats will finish their business during the 2019 legislative session, which has to conclude by June 30.

The GOP protest stems from Republican’s staunch opposition to House Bill 2020, a massive proposal to regulate carbon emissions. A vote on the measure had been scheduled for Thursday.

...the walkout threatens the future of dozens of other bills and puts funding for several large state agencies in jeopardy.

The list of legislation that would die if Senate Republicans don’t return includes several Democratic priorities, including a bill that would allow undocumented immigrants to get legal driver’s licenses, a bill to modify the state’s death penalty, a bill that would refer an increase in the cigarette tax to voters, and a bill that would allow duplexes in single-family zoned neighborhoods in some cities.

...Knopp said the timing of his return would depend upon what bills Brown and Democratic legislative leaders schedule for consideration. On Wednesday, the governor said she was preparing to call a special session on July 2. But there is no guarantee Senate Republicans would show up.

“I feel no constitutional obligation to stand around so they can pass their leftist progressive agenda for Multnomah County that my constituents don’t happen to agree with,” Knopp said. “I think that’s true for every other Senate district that’s out there that’s represented by Republicans.”

What would meet Knopp’s bar to return to Salem?

Budget bills, legislation to address workplace harassment at the Legislature, and a paid family and medical leave insurance plan negotiated with businesses’ and Republicans' input. It passed the House on Thursday with bipartisan support. Knopp said not all Senate Republicans might agree to return to vote on the family and medical leave proposal, although Republican leaders listed its passage among their demands to return from the first walkout in May.

Unbelievable. 

If Democrats had threatened to walk out and prevent a Republican majority in the legislature and Governor's office from passing its top priorities, the GOP would have had state troopers following the Dem legislators around to prevent them from heading out of the state.

But since Oregon Democrats are used to acting like scared little mice, there's a good chance Republicans are, once again, going to get their way after walking out.

The only bright side to all this is that I don't have to search Google Images again. I already have an illustration of Democrat leaders in this state.

City Manager Powers lying about Climate Action Plan

Infuriating.

That's the least profane word I can come up with to describe how Steve Powers, Salem's City Manager, is acting toward a Climate Action Plan that is one of the City Council's priorities, yet Powers is doing his best to kill.

Steve Powers

In a staff report for Monday's City Council meeting, where the budget for the next fiscal year will be discussed, Powers describes the Climate Action Plan in a way that shows he is either astoundingly clueless about what it is, or he is deliberately lying.
Download City of Salem Budget Supplemental Report

Given what follows, lying seems by far the most likely.

Here's what Powers said in a section about three amendments proposed at a Budget Committee hearing that received support, but not enough votes to be included in the budget proposal.

This is completely and utterly false. It's the sort of falsehood that would be par for the course for our incessantly-lying President, but which is shockingly shameful when it comes from a supposedly professional city manager of Oregon's capital city.

A May 17 Salem Reporter story, "Salem councilors favoring new revenue for climate action plan," accurately describes what a Climate Action Plan consists of.

A climate action plan would more closely study Salem’s carbon emissions, waste management and planning policies, and set goals to curb carbon emissions for decades to come.

City Manager Powers must know what a Climate Action Plan is, since this has been discussed by city councilors and others for several years, being part of the Strategic Plan for the City of Salem that was adopted in October 2017. Here it is, on page 20: 

So not only is Steve Powers failing to act in accord with the Strategic Plan that's supposed to point the way for City of Salem actions, it sure seems like he is knowingly trying to mislead citizens about what a Climate Action Plan is.

And there isn't any doubt that the $50,000 Powers wrongly says is for "tree planting" and other immediate actions actually is intended to be money to get a Climate Action Plan off the ground.

Here's another excerpt from the Salem Reporter story. Andersen refers to City Councilor Tom Andersen.

Andersen believes the city could at least start the work. He proposed the budget committee to give an extra $50,000 for a consultant to get started on a climate action plan.

It's really disturbing that City Manager Powers is acting in such a duplicitous fashion. This should make city councilors, and indeed everybody in Salem, wonder what else Powers is deceiving about. If he's willing to knowingly mischaracterize a Climate Action Plan, how can he be trusted about anything else he says?

This certainly shows that Powers doesn't care about global warming and the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. That alone makes him a poor fit for Salem, where people do care a lot about preserving the Earth for both ourselves and future generations.

Hopefully members of the City Council and other citizens will grill Powers about why he chose to lie about the Climate Action Plan in his supplemental report concerning the budget.

i say "lie," because it is extremely difficult for me to believe that Powers is clueless about what a Climate Action Plan consists of, given that it is part of the city's Strategic Plan.

NEXT DAY UPDATE: I got this email response from Steve Powers. Pretty lame. Powers ignores these facts: (1) He ignored the fact that Councilor Andersen and other members of the Budget Committee want $50,000 in the next fiscal year budget to begin work on a Climate Action Plan, and (2) He ignored the fact that he totally mischaracterized what that $50,000 was to be used for, instead substituting his own notion that planting trees is equivalent to beginning work on a Climate Action Plan, which obviously it isn't.

Brian,

Thank you for the email. 

The Salem Strategic Plan adopted in 2017 is a five-year plan to guide progress on City Council priorities.  Annual Policy Agendas flow from the Salem Strategic Plan. 

The 2019 Policy Agenda includes a greenhouse gas inventory.  The inventory has been completed.  The 2019 Policy Agenda does not include a climate action plan. 

Development of the 2020 Policy Agenda will begin later this year.

Steve Powers

[email protected]

503-588-6255
City Manager
City of Salem
Salem, Oregon

 

I hope the Clean Energy Jobs Bill makes me pay more at the pump

We Oregonians aren't paying enough for the gasoline that fuels our cars and trucks.

Hopefully Oregon's Clean Energy Jobs Bill, also known as cap and trade, will pass in this legislative session and increase the state gasoline tax to a level that comes a heck of a lot closer to reflecting the long-term costs of the carbon pollution that is fueling global warming to increasingly dangerous levels.

A recent story in the Portland Oregonian has some good news on this front:

Almost three quarters of the revenues expected from the bill would come from increases in transportation fuel prices. The Legislative revenue office expects that to translate to about 22 cents a gallon increase at the pump in 2021, when the policy kicks in, increasing to 78 cents a gallon 10 years later and $3 a gallon by 2050.

Excellent! The higher gas prices go, the more incentive there will be for people to buy electric cars/trucks in some form: all electric, plug-in hybrid, or regular hybrid. 

My wife and I bought a 2019 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid about a week ago. We're enjoying it a lot. It gets about 40 mpg, which is pretty darn good for a decently-sized all wheel drive SUV.

We're avid environmentalists, but have resisted jumping back into the 100% electric car pond after experiencing some range anxiety after buying a 2012  Nissan Leaf (there were other more important reasons we sold the Leaf and got a Chevy Volt, though).

Thus we serve as a good example of why the Oregon legislature needs to overcome the resistance of industry groups, along with the always-irritating theatrics of pseudo-Democrat Sen. Betsy Johnson, who has proposed a bunch of amendments to the bill that would dilute its carbon-reducing impact considerably. 

Government action is essential if the world is to escape the worst effects of rapidly rising temperatures. A big reason why is the Tragedy of the Commons situation that I learned about way-back-when in my Systems Science graduate school days. 

The notion is simple.

Everybody in a town wants to graze their sheep on commonly owned land. It makes sense for each sheep owner to do this, since the grass is there for the asking. Or rather, grazing. But when everybody does what makes sense for them, the commons is over-grazed, the grass dies, and everybody suffers.

Likewise, every car and truck owner wants to do what makes sense for them. Sometimes this is good for everybody -- buying an electric car and charging it with solar panels, for example -- but usually it isn't. 

Which is why the Clean Energy Jobs Bill is crucial for Oregon.

Carbon pollution can't be solved by individual actions. Greenhouse gas emissions are rising too rapidly. Market forces work fine for pricing bananas, but not for pricing greenhouse gas emissions.

Only government can do that. So let's do it, Oregon legislature. The arguments against the bill in the Oregonian stories are very weak.

Oregon has little impact on global emissions. So what? Every country in the world could say something similar, as could every state in the United States, every city in each state, and so on. A global problem requires global action at every level. 

Oregon would be only the second state to institute an economy-wide limit on greenhouse emissions, behind California. Again, so what? Oregon used to take pride in being an environmental leader. Bottle bill. Public beaches. Land use planning. We led the way in these areas. So let's lead the way in limiting greenhouse gas emissions.

Hopefully the Democrats who control both houses of the state legislature and the Governor's Office will realize that this is the moment to take a stand for the habitability for humans of our one and only Earth.

If they fail to pass the Clean Energy Jobs Bill in the nest two weeks, the opportunity may never come again.

 

School board election losses dismaying to progressives

About three weeks ago I was deeply upset when each of the Salem-Keizer school board candidates endorsed by Progressive Salem lost to conservative candidates.

And not by a little.

Marty Heyen defeated Raul Marquez 53% to 47%. Satya Chandragiri defeated David Salinas 52% to 48%. Danielle Bethell defeated Chuck Lee 54% to 46%.

Sure, turnout was just 20% of registered voters. But it's hard for progressives like me to look upon the result of the May 21 Special District Election as anything but an ass-kicking by conservatives.

I'm not sure why this happened. It's easier for me to come up with likely non-reasons for the progressive defeats. Such as, money.

A Salem Reporter story, "Average Salem-Keizer school board campaign tops $25,000," noted that incumbent Chuck Lee spent $50,500, by far the most of any school board candidate. Yet his opponent, Danielle Bethell, had the largest victory margin despite spending only about $15,000.

The story also says that the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555 contributed most of Lee's campaign funds, largely via $30,000 worth of in-kind contributions (canvassing and mailings).

Likewise, Raul Marquez is reported to have raised about $26,000 while his opponent, incumbent Marty Heyen, raised about $11,000. This seems to show that incumbency also doesn't explain the results, since the progressive incumbent lost, while the conservative incumbent won.

What caught my eye in the Salem Reporter story is the mentions of Oregon Right to Life, an anti-abortion group.

Anderson said the union stepped up its support for Lee to counter the influence of Oregon Right to Life funding in the race. The group gave Bethell about $3,700, making it her single largest contributor, though most of her contributions are from individuals and local businesses.

...This year’s lowest spender is Marty Heyen, who’s seeking re-election in zone 2. She’s raised about $11,000 to date and drawn most of her financial support from Oregon Right to Life.

Voters have also received mailings supporting Heyen sent by the Women’s Leadership Coalition. According to campaign filings, the Keizer group's political action committee is directed by Oregon Right to Life staff members.

...In zone 4, which has no incumbent, Satya Chandragiri has raised nearly $36,000 and David Salinas about $30,000. Both men have received large sums from individual donors, though Salinas has significant support from PCUN and other unions, and Chandragiri from Oregon Right to Life.

So it seems possible, if not likely, that the reason Bethell, Heyen, and Chandragiri won was a combination of conservative enthusiasm for the Right to Life candidates and progressive apathy in a low-turnout off-year special district election. 

After all, those opposed to abortion are zealous about this, often basing their vote on this issue alone, while progressives/liberals tend to be more eclectic in their politics --  being concerned about many issues, which means it is difficult to get them to vote in a local election lacking national significance.

I've also heard that Salem's mega-churches could have played a role in the school board races by backing the Oregon Right to Life candidates, though I haven't gotten any evidence that politics was preached from the pulpit, or in church communications.

Bottom line: even though Salem is a liberal town (Keizer, much less so), progressives need to find ways to get their voters off of their butts in off-year local elections. I tried to do this via Facebook posts, but obviously that wasn't enough.

Hopefully wiser political minds than what I possess are pondering how to wake the liberal electorate in Salem so they don't slumber through any more Salem-Keizer school board races.

Salem's city officials ignore danger of global warming

Salem can be a deeply irritating place to live when a comparison to other cities in Oregon screams Salem sucks! 

A notable example is how Portland, Corvallis, Eugene, and other cities all have climate action plans aimed at reducing greenhouse gas polllution, while Salem doesn't.

Because of the leadership of the current progressive majority on the City Council, a draft greenhouse gas inventory for the Salem area has been developed, though. 

Recently Tracy Loew of the Statesman Journal wrote a great story, "Salem's per capita tailpipe emissions highest among biggest Oregon cities." (title of online version) Here's how it starts out:

Most carbon emissions released within Salem's city limits come from vehicle tailpipes, the city’s first greenhouse gas inventory found.

As the state capital, Salem draws 63% of its workers from elsewhere, the study states. And 86% of the people who work in Salem and live in the city commute by car — a higher percentage than in Oregon’s other largest cities.

As a result, Salem's per capita transportation emissions are nearly double those of Portland's, and significantly higher than Eugene's. 

The inventory, completed this month, is the first step for Salem to develop a possible climate action plan — a local plan for cutting carbon emissions to help stem climate change.

Salem is the only large city in Oregon without such a plan.

Portland, Oregon’s biggest city, was first in the nation to create a climate action plan, in 1993. Eugene, which is about the same size as Salem, approved its plan in in 2010.

Gresham, Bend, Beaverton and Medford have climate action plans. So do some small Oregon cities, including Ashland and Milwaukie.

The results of Salem's greenhouse gas inventory have been known for several months. Environmental activists and members of the City Council have been urging that Salem take the next step and fashion a Climate Action Plan.

Yet Steve Powers, the City Manager, didn't include any funding for a Climate Action Plan in the budget for the next fiscal year. A Salem Reporter story by Troy Brynelson, "Salem councilors favoring new revenue for climate action plan," contains some infuriating information.

Salem staff say there isn’t enough money or city planners for a full-scale climate action plan.

The Community Development Department, which would administer the program, currently has one long-range planner.

According to department director Norm Wright, that lone planner is currently in charge of work to update the city’s comprehensive plan called “Our Salem.” That planner also would help Salem change its codes if the Legislature approves statewide zoning changes.

Wright estimates a climate action plan would cost $120,000 to complete and require four full-time employees to administer.

“I think the big concern that we have is we are so committed right now to the current planning efforts we have currently underway that we cannot easily take on this project without a significant investment,” said Wright. “We would need a pretty significant investment that the budget isn’t quite capable of supporting.”

Wow. We have a really short-sighted and clueless bunch of bureaucrats at City Hall. 

For one thing, how could a Climate Action Plan take four full-time employees to administer it? Somehow the City of Salem is getting by with only one employee doing long-range planning for everything. It's hard to believe that overseeing a Climate Action Plan would take four times as many people.

And even if it does, isn't preserving Earth's ability to be habitable for humans more important than anything else?

It's astounding that we have a City Manager and director of the Department of Community Development who are so uncaring about the most important issue facing Salem, Oregon, America, and the world: rapidly rising temperatures caused by greenhouse gas pollution.

Hopefully the City Council will have more sense than Steve Powers, Norm Wright, and the members of the Budget Committee who failed to include any money for a Climate Action Plan.

The Statesman Journal story says, "The council has scheduled a public hearing on the budget on June 10 and will vote on it June 24."

If you agree that Salem needs to have a Climate Action Plan, email city officials and tell them this: [email protected]

The Salem Breakfast on Bikes blogger has a cogent take on the Statesman Journal story in "Yes, It's the Cars." Excerpts:

We have to make shorter trips and make fewer trips. We have to reduce the total miles traveled in addition to converting the auto fleet to electricity.

We will need to change our zoning and shift away from vast swaths of single-family housing, no matter how much "neighborhood character" we fear might be lost. But doing so will help with housing affordability. We will also need to make transit work much better. More people living near frequent service lines will help generate demand for even more frequent service.

...Yes, it's the cars, and we have to figure out ways to drive less. Once we are willing to talk for real about our overreliance on cars and drive-alone trips, problems with pollution, housing cost, congestion, road safety, and even city budgets and infrastructure costs start to look more solvable. But as long as we do not contemplate disturbing our autoist system, these problems remain intractable.