 |
  |
 |
|||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
Life's
a Pissoir … Things are pretty quiet on the Senate and House floors. It was so slow last Tuesday that I spent half the day chasing a bug around the urinal. (Gosh, I hope this doesn't get me in trouble with PETA!) Next Monday, I'm carrying the only bill in the Senate; our official work of the day will probably take less time than the opening prayer. The House isn't doing much better. On Friday, their Rules Committee had only one issue: House Memorial 11 – urging Oregon's U.S. senators to allow a vote of the U.S. Senate on the nomination of Miguel Estrada to the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. Circuit Court. I can just see it now, Ron Wyden opens his mail from Oregon: "Oh, goody goody, I've finally received word from home: The Oregon Legislature wants me to move the nomination of Estrada. I've been struggling with this for a year. Now I can nominate this right-wing wacko with the full support of Republican legislative sponsors — Farr, Kropf, Kruze, Close, Nelson and Zauner. Good enough for me! I'll get right on it." Speaking of Rep. Jeff Kropf, I am happy to report that the House Republican caucus loves his diplomatic skills. Apparently Kropf appeared on Lars Larson last week. Sars was on a tirade about RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) who supported any new tax proposals and he goaded Jeff into identifying the comrades of RINO ringleader "Fat Max" Williams. Now Jeff's not the brightest bulb in the chandelier — his nickname "Spanky" comes from his rabid pursuit of a bill to require corporal punishment of schoolkids — and he proceeds to name off Rob Patridge, Lane Shetterly, Pat Farr, Billy Dalto and a few others. Patridge hears about this, orders a tape of the show, and was playing it for his next caucus when Kropf walked in a few minutes late. It was not a pretty scene. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans also blew up in caucus last week when three of their archconservative leaders — Roger Beyer, Steve Harper, Jason Atkinson — announced in a press conference that they had sealed a deal with Senate Democratic negotiators. Unfortunately they held the press conference before telling their caucus, and when they did tell their caucus, they said: "And, oh, by the way, we've made this deal but we're not gonna vote for it because it involves increased taxes, so we need three of you other guys to provide the votes." Apparently Ken Messerle, usually so calm he's a posterchild for Quaalude, erupted, and the "deal" was quickly deep-sixed. Meanwhile, our Senate Democratic caucus has been dissolved by our leader, Kate Brown. Kate can't operate in the light of day, knowing that she and our other elitist brainiacs — Peter Courtney and Ryan Deckert — must find a way to privately capitulate to the Republicans. Kate is the twisted modern Democratic inversion of Chief Joseph — she will fight no more, forever. Friday, Kate talked to each of our members separately, without showing us her latest proposed plan in writing. She then refused to have a noon caucus to allow folks to talk about her proposal. We joked that she has taken the argument one step too far regarding whether caucuses should be open or closed to the media. She now has closed caucuses so completely that even the members can't attend. All this reminds me of the old joke: What's the difference between a caucus and a cactus? With a cactus, the prick's on the outside. With the exception of the Republican caucuses, all the action is in one room: As I write this on Sunday morning, Aug. 17, a group is hunkered down in Salem creating the final "matrix" for a settlement. At least now the R's negotiating in the room are conservatives, not Baathist Party members; while we're represented by our neo-liberals. Forget $5.3 billion for schools, forget the UO budget, forget LCC. Thursday, with the help of six Democrats — none from Lane County, thank goodness — Senate Republicans voted out a Department of Education budget cutting Headstart by $1 million. This isn't about good budgets anymore, it's about the deal to go home. So we're each on our own now. Deals are being cut left and right. I won't support the inadequate budgets or the irresponsible one-time revenue proposals; so I've only got three issues left on my plate to fight for: small high school funding, small school mergers, and Headstart funding. Sen. Tony Corcoran of Cottage Grove represents portions of Lane and Douglas counties in Senate District 4, which includes the UO area. He can be reached at sen.tonycorcoran@state.or.us
Humble
Pie On Wednesday, Aug. 13, I joined my fellow county commissioners in serving pie to hundreds of senior citizens at the Lane County Fair. My ineptitude as a pie cutter prompted one onlooker to call out, "Don't quit your day job." Too late. I had already submitted my letter of resignation in May, announcing that I would leave the Board of County Commissioners on Friday, Aug. 15. I decided to step down in order to take a job as a law professor teaching ethics and other subjects. A politician teaching ethics — the critics will have fun with that one. I wasn't proud to be leaving the board before completing my term. The first six months in office is always the hardest part, and I didn't have much time to enjoy the job once I figured out what I was doing. One of my friends at UO quoted Thomas Hobbes to sum up my tenure as a commissioner: "nasty, brutish and short." As I talked with senior citizens from the East Lane District last Wednesday, I felt disappointed that I couldn't spend more time addressing their concerns on the board. But I was pleased that in my eight months of service, I accomplished several of my goals. The board put four new police officers on the road in rural Lane County. We funded programs for abused kids, and we stopped the closure of rural health clinics. We made safety improvements to some of Lane County's dangerous roads. We took a strong approach to enforcing land use laws. We reduced the county's use of pesticides, and we helped to conserve open space. Did I mention that I caused the sun to rise every day for the last eight months? (Wait, I should share some of the credit with Sorenson — he's up for reelection next year.) I'm not sure who will replace me on the board. A total of 27 candidates applied for the job. The board has winnowed that list to seven. Some of the finalists are really well qualified. By comparison to the 131 applicants who lined up to replace California Gov. Gray Davis, the East Lane vacancy has attracted a pretty staid and respectable bunch. If any of the East Lane hopefuls are former porn magnates, strippers, child TV stars, or terminators, they've hidden this baggage pretty well. There's a lot I'll miss about the board. I'll miss the "Dwyerisims." Bill Dwyer called Lane County "Camp Run-amok-a," and he said that solving the never-ending budget crisis was like "wrestling an octopus." I'll miss seeing photos of Bobby Green's grandson. I liked Anna Morrison's performance in a skit to honor Dwyer when he stepped down as chair in January. And I had a great time meeting Peter Sorenson's mom — a gracious and kind woman who introduced young Pete to politics by dragging him to meetings of the Coos Bay Water Board. Yep, I was feeling pretty regretful during my last week in office. But ironically, this was the first time that I actually earned my kids' respect for my work as a commissioner. They hadn't been too impressed last March when I told them that daddy helps to spend a budget of $450 million. They didn't care much when I told them in May that the board supervises 1,500 employees. Another ho-hum in June when they learned that daddy helps determine the land use rules for a county as large as Connecticut. But for one glorious day last week, daddy presided over a table covered with over 100 pieces of pie, and my kids' wide eyes made all the months of door-knocking seem worthwhile. Tom Lininger served as the county commissioner for the East Lane District until Aug. 15. He plans to continue to write occasional columns for EW.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
