Editorials from around Oregon

Selected editorials from Oregon newspapers:

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The Eugene Register-Guard, Nov. 1, on protecting rural land

Efforts by two Creswell brothers, Norman and Melville McDougal, to develop 500 acres of forest land near Lane Community College have neighbors, environmentalists and others up in arms. With good cause.

The McDougals already have cleared the land, cutting and selling thousands of trees, Register-Guard reporter Saul Hubbard wrote this week.

Now they appear to be preparing to plant houses on this land in unincorporated Lane County; a network of gravel roads already has been built.

This land is zoned impacted forest land, which, according to the county, means it is “primarily resource land to be used for forestry, agriculture and related activities.”

Homes can be built on land with this zoning, but only by obtaining a special use permit, which the county says is a much more involved and difficult process than getting building permits for land zoned rural residential. It also would require minimum lot sizes of 80 acres.

The only problem is that the county’s zoning rules have holes you can drive a gravel truck through.

In addition to the purchase of 500 acres of forest land, the McDougals also acquired 70 acres of adjoining land, composed of many small, legal lots.

A previous owner of the 500-acre property, the late businessman John Musumeci, bought the land more or less on spec, hoping that Eugene would expand its urban growth boundary there some day, making the land developable.

The McDougals aren’t waiting around to see if, or when, that day comes. Instead, they now appear to be using the same tactic they’ve successfully used elsewhere to develop this large piece of land. This involves using old deeds to get the county to recognize as many parcels as possible as legal lots. The developers can then build on these lots, adjusting lot boundaries to the sizes they want.

In addition to allowing for greater density, this means the developers don’t have to seek rezoning of the property to “non-resource” land, which would have seriously increased the requirements for development - including mandating traffic and environmental impact studies. It also would have allowed neighbors to question and comment on the new housing development, including the impact on water and waste disposal capacity (homes in the area rely on septic tanks and wells).

Given that this is not the first time that the McDougals have employed this method locally to develop forest land, the county would appear to be due for a review of some of its zoning laws.

LandWatch Lane County, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting urban sprawl and protecting natural areas, is challenging the McDougals’ project based on a 2011 state appellate court ruling.

But, rather than leave it to non-profit organizations to attempt to make sure that not just the letter, but the spirit, of county land use rules are followed, it might be time for the county to undertake a review of them with an eye to closing loopholes.

In recent years, there have been numerous challenges to laws protecting rural land in Oregon, at both the state and the local level.

There will undoubtedly be more as Oregon’s population increases and the economy continues to improve. Lane County government needs to be prepared.

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The Oregonian/OregonLive, Oct. 29, on Oregon Capitol needing a culture change

Some of the high profile sexual scandals in recent weeks have illustrated how the words people use to describe unwanted touching can be imprecise and confusing. Take the case of the woman who recently reported that President George H.W. Bush “sexually assaulted” her when he touched her rear end during a political photo shoot with his wife at his side. Was that an “assault,” some ask, or sexual harassment or groping?

Ambiguous words confuse and undermine this important conversation, which must be crystal clear to help both potential victims and offenders understand the boundaries when it comes to touching others.

But there was nothing ambiguous when Oregon’s top legislative lawyer and the human resources director sat down with Republican Sen. Jeff Kruse last year to discuss how he was touching his colleagues. They told the 66-year-old Roseburg lawmaker two senators didn’t like how he hugged, touched thighs, kissed hands and leaned in too close. The officials told The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board that they were clear with Kruse that the women didn’t want to be touched anymore and that he should stop.

And still, Kruse continued to put his hands on women.

The veteran lawmaker told The Oregonian/OregonLive’s Fedor Zarkhin this past week that he was unsure of the line that separated bad behavior from his admitted, frequent touching. This changing culture, he went on, makes it hard to tell the difference.

For some people, that may be true. Many people have differing degrees of tolerance for touching and risque humor. And sometimes, people honestly cross the line at work without knowing they’ve being offensive. That’s why clear, direct and honest conversations about boundaries are so necessary.

But that’s entirely not the case for Kruse. Not after being warned so explicitly by legislative officials or by the several lawmakers who’ve come forward to say they’d told him he was out of line.

The state is responsible for providing a safe workplace. To make that clear, Senate President Peter Courtney wrote an impressive letter to Kruse admonishing, “Women in the Capitol do NOT want you touch them.” He also punished Kruse for his blatant disregard of state laws as he’s continued to smoke in the building and on the Capitol grounds after repeated warnings and fines. Courtney removed Kruse’s office door that once hid his habit.

Roseburg Sen. Jeff Kruse has been repeatedly told to stop touching women, and recently admitted that he “forgot” and went back to his “normal ways.”

Roseburg Sen. Jeff Kruse has been repeatedly told to stop touching women, and recently admitted that he “forgot” and went back to his “normal ways.”

For the repeated offenses on both fronts, Courtney stripped Kruse of his committees, the assignments necessary for lawmakers to do their most important work. That unprecedented action makes clear there are consequences when warnings aren’t heeded.

Yet this isn’t the only case where people have felt uncomfortable at work in Salem. Lawmakers, lobbyists and others have shared personal stories over the past week making it clear that the culture in our state house allows for some amount of bad behavior.

That’s exactly why Courtney and House Speaker Tina Kotek should review the Legislature’s training on sexual harassment as Courtney told The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board that he intends to do. Courtney says that while the Legislature’s biennial training has evolved, it likely should include more people within the Capitol, such as lobbyists. He also said the conversations could probably be more explicit in what’s right and wrong. That’s a good start.

Courtney and Kotek also should give a second look to the systems in place for lawmakers, lobbyists and other Capitol employees to report sexual harassment. The informal complaint process, which women used to address Kruse’s touching, appears to have weaknesses in how it holds offenders accountable.

The formal complaint system is even more disturbing. For any employee, reporting sexual harassment is scary. Complainants risk retaliation, ruined work relationships and the emotional toll if their reports are ignored or doubted. In the Oregon Legislature, a formal complaint is investigated and a committee recommends action based on whether it’s substantiated or not. But a third, disturbing option allows the committee to deem the complaint “frivolous or without merit” and then, to recommend a punishment for the complainant.

It’s difficult to think of a better way to chill the process of reporting an issue that remains dishearteningly prevalent despite the many headlines over the years devoted to sexual harassment and violence perpetrated by Oregon’s mayors, state lawmakers and congressional leaders.

Indeed, Courtney’s letter admonishing Kruse was bold, yet those words were directed at Kruse. An equally bold move would be for Courtney to push the Senate’s conduct committee to consider a formal censure of the lawmaker to send a clear message to all Oregon lawmakers and others in the Capitol that this behavior is not acceptable.

Courtney removed Kruse’s office door so he could no longer break the rules where no one can see. Smoking is against the law and can permanently harm others.

So can sexual harassment. Courtney has a chance to blow the doors off a culture within the Capitol that’s allowed people to ignore others’ rights when they’ve asked that they not be touched. Or hugged. Or leaned into. Regardless of the intention.

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Roseburg News-Review on doctors deserving credit for seeking solutions to opioid problem

They say the first step to overcoming addiction is admitting that you have a problem.

It’s true for addicts, and maybe it’s true for others who’ve contributed to the problem. That’s why it’s nice to see a local group of 35 doctors acknowledge that the excess prescriptions doctors write have helped fuel the rise in addictions in America, and here in Douglas County.

Opioid pain medication can be a godsend following surgery. It’s natural for doctors to want to help people who are suffering from pain. We get that.

But the over-prescription of medications like oxycodone can lead to addictions, either in the people prescribed the pills, or the people who find the leftover pills. Four out of five heroin users were first addicted to prescription opioids, and 70 percent of them found their first pills in the medicine cabinet at home. Some of them were teenagers.

Oregon residents have the second highest rate of opioid abuse in the nation.

Opioid addiction is dangerous, and potentially deadly. Each year, about 60,000 people die of drug overdoses. Most of these deaths are a result of addiction to painkillers.

Locally, a group of surgeons and other medical professionals are taking action to prevent such deaths happening in Douglas County. They hope to decrease the number of painkiller pills in circulation. One of their ideas is to initiate a drug take-back program. They’d like to see Mercy Medical Center and local clinics and pharmacies collect unused pain pills.

They also want to encourage doctors to take responsibility by reducing the number of pills they prescribe.

These are important steps, and we applaud them. Drug addiction causes a lot of misery in our community. We’re glad to see doctors stepping up to do something about it.

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Corvallis Gazette-Times, Oct. 26, on the big gap in Gov. Brown’s vision for education

We’re still a little puzzled over Gov. Kate Brown’s firing of Salam Noor, the state’s deputy superintendent of public instruction.

Brown said that she was not satisfied with Noor’s ability to carry out her vision for Oregon’s education system and asked for his resignation. The firing came a little more than two years after Brown picked Noor to oversee the state’s K-12 schools. Colt Gill, Brown’s education innovation officer, was picked to be Noor’s interim replacement.

Of course, we don’t dispute Brown’s ability to fire her cabinet members at will.

We were curious, though, about the reference to Brown’s vision for the state’s educational system, so we were pleased to read a copy of a letter the governor sent earlier this month to members of her “education cabinet.” (The members of the education cabinet are Gill; Lindsey Capps, the state’s chief education officer; Elizabeth Keller, the acting executive director of the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission; Miriam Calderon, the director of the Early Learning System; and Ben Cannon, the executive director of the Higher Education Coordinating Commission.)

The letter purports to outline Brown’s vision for Oregon education. It’s awfully light on specifics - although, to be fair, it does highlight some promising areas that the governor has consistently supported, such as an emphasis on early education.

It also ignores the biggest financial threat facing Oregon public schools, but more about that later. (You can read the letter for yourself; it’s attached to the online version of this editorial.)

Brown outlines two “overarching guiding principles” in the letter: One asks for a “high standard of accountability” in existing and new programs. The other, which refers to the state’s “equity lens” for education, is a commitment that all children, regardless of race or socioeconomic status, get the full benefit of programs.

There’s not much to argue with in those goals, although they’re plenty vague.

The specific goals have a little more meat:

. Brown wants her cabinet to work toward developing a unified education budget for 2019-21 that helps improve school readiness, attendance and completion rates. That has promise, but if it’s not implemented properly, it could turn into a major mess. Color us skeptical right now.

. She wants to develop a new statewide early learning plan - and it is true that investments in programs such as Head Start and quality preschools could pay off handsomely down the road.

. She wants to achieve what she calls “aggressive high school graduation goals.” She’s seeking a 90 percent four-year cohort graduation rate by 2025. In some areas, to be fair, that is aggressive. But it’s a step back from the state’s goal that every adult Oregonian have a high school degree by 2025.

. She wants to develop career-connected learning that’s aligned with workforce needs. Of course, some of that work already is happening, thanks to efforts such as the Pipeline program from the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce. The passage of Ballot Measure 98 freed up some money for these programs, although we still object to the fact that the measure came without a funding source.

What goes unmentioned in the letter is any effort to deal with the growing unfunded liability from the state’s public pension system, something that threatens the ability of school districts to provide any kind of service to students.

The unfunded liability in Oregon’s Public Employees Retirement System was up to $25 billion at last report. Brown is awaiting a report from a task force that may include suggestions to trim $5 billion from that amount.

Let’s assume for the time being that the group is successful in that goal, a highly dubious assumption. But we still would have no plan to manage the remaining $20 billion shortfall. What’s the governor’s vision for handling that? Educators and students around the state will want to know about that.

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Medford Mail Tribune, Oct. 25, on harassment allegations surfacing in Salem

In the wake of Harvey Weinstein’s downfall over multiple allegations of sexual harassment, it should come as no surprise that the movie mogul’s bad behavior toward women was not confined to Hollywood. Allegations of inappropriate touching now have been leveled against an Oregon state senator.

The initial accusation came in response to a tweet from a Republican staff member who accused Democrats, including Sen. Sara Gelser of Corvallis, of accepting contributions from Weinstein. Weinstein gave $5,000 to the state Democratic Party in the mid-1990s, years before Gelser was in the Legislature.

Gelser fired back, asking if the staffer would make sure no member of the Senate Republican caucus groped or touched female lawmakers or staff.

Later, Senate President Peter Courtney removed Sen. Jeff Kruse, R-Roseburg, from all committees he serves on, saying he previously had warned Kruse not to touch women.

Gelser confirmed that Kruse had touched her inappropriately, and a second female lawmaker, as yet unidentified, said Kruse did the same to her, prompting Courtney’s action. Kruse also has a history of smoking in his Senate office in violation of state law. Courtney had the door of the office removed.

Kruse flatly denies the touching allegations and says he is being deprived of due process as well as “access to any of the specifics of the allegations.”

Courtney said the Legislature’s lawyers and the human resources department instructed Kruse in March 2016 “not to touch women at work. Period.”

Kruse told the Roseburg News-Review that he believes the situation is more about boundary issues than anything of a sexual nature. That’s debatable, but here’s the thing Kruse apparently does not understand: It does not matter.

Whether he considers it sexual is immaterial. Unwanted touching is not OK. If you are warned not to do it again, and you do it anyway, there will be consequences.

Kruse may feel singled out, and so far, he is. But we suspect this kind of behavior is not confined to one lawmaker.

Women have made inroads at the Capitol in recent years. The House speaker and the majority leaders of the House and Senate are women, and female lawmakers are a majority of the House Democratic caucus. But overall, women make up only a third of the 90 seats in both chambers. It’s still a boys’ club, and evidently at least one of the boys still has not learned how to treat his female colleagues.

Perhaps the voters in Kruse’s district - which includes a small portion of northwestern Jackson County - will explain the facts of life to him at his next election.