For Sheila H., Hope All Is Well Out East
A few weeks ago I found myself a guest at a Salem luncheon honoring a few legislators for being brave, courageous, pioneering and all the other adjectives that get thrown at lawmakers during such award ceremonies.
During one speech, a legislator said that it takes a family to make the Legislature work. And that family consisted of lawmakers, the usual suspects of advocates whose names and faces I recognized, and professional lobbyists. The comment struck me because most times, politicians are PC enough to at least throw in a token nod to us “Oregonians.”
Funny thing, though. The comment didn’t bother me. Because it’s true.
In today’s world, regular folk like me are overlooked. Oregon is a large state and there are just too many people for us all to be heard or even considered. Rather, we’re tallied, we’re polled, we’re town halled on weeknights when the kid has homework and we worked late (where we have two minutes each because “we have a lot of people signed up to speak”), we’re cajoled to join one of those groups represented by the usual suspects and to participate in lobby day.
This is just the way it is, which finally explains my growing apathy for goings on in the political world.
Don’t confuse this with being apolitical. My views haven’t changed. I’m still a liberal and proud to call myself so. And I remain active in a few small circles where I can be of some benefit.
But I just can’t get passionate about much these days because the game has lost its appeal. Good ideas that make sense even to non-policy wonks like me are shot down in the Legislature for little reason. My city government appears to view my city as starting and stopping at downtown. School superintendents who are all flash and little substance breeze through town on their way to higher offices where their rears can be kissed even more.
There was a day I’d be outraged by a $10 corporate minimum income tax or an aerial tram [rim shot]. Today, I’m not even surprised when once again, we can’t get a modest increase in a beer and wine tax to pay for needed addiction treatment without a tremendous fight.
No use to be outraged. So I’m adopting a guest’s mentality, because I’m not part of the family, as that lawmaker correctly concluded. In that setting, a guest may be all that I am.
|
June 10, 2007 |
Chris Bouneff | Comments (8 so far)
| Share on Facebook |
Comments
Posted by: LT | Jun 10, 2007 11:05:24 PM
Electoral reform is a great idea, and anyone can start a debate among their friends on aspects of it.
My 2 favorites are nonpartisan legislature and Hans Linde's concern about the legality of "pass throughs".
But there are many other aspects, and anyone can start the discussion among people they know.
If enough people start debating these topics, even the disinterested elected officials and their consultants will notice! (Even if it was eventually overturned, Measure 9 Campaign Finance Reform collected signatures in all 36 counties and passed in all 36 counties, much to the shock of lobbyists and some political activists convinced it never would/could happen!
Posted by: paulie | Jun 11, 2007 8:46:38 AM
Welcome aboard Rose.Good to know you're working with the Bus Project. Looking forward to your future posts here at BlueOregon.
Posted by: Alasdair | Jul 2, 2007 9:02:31 AM
Why would you (or anyone, for that matter) have been outraged by an aerial tram?
Posted by: Pete Forsyth | Jul 2, 2007 10:28:15 AM
Alasdair, you must be new here. (Not that there's anything wrong with that -- right guys? ;)
Portland's aerial tram - approved a few years back, and completed last winter - was widely perceived to be a boondoggle for Oregon Science and Health University, more than a public service. It passed anyway, with a budget along the lines of $10-15 million.
By the time it was completed, it cost more like $56 million. Exactly how that happened, or whose "fault" it was, is still unclear (though the skyrocketing price of steel had a lot to do with it.
The tram is mighty cool, but there's plenty of reason to view the process by which we got it with skepticism.
This article is reasonably good overview:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_Aerial_Tram
Posted by: Jennifer | Oct 31, 2007 1:56:33 AM
Great looking site so far!! I'm just starting to look around it but I love the title page!
4H55reVk77
Posted by: Penisy | Jan 23, 2008 9:41:31 PM
I am Very thank full the owner of this blog. Becouse of this blog is very imformative for me.. And I ask u some thiing You make more this type blog where we can get more knowledge.
Posted by: Enlargement | Apr 1, 2008 10:10:56 AM
First of all I d'like to say. This blogs have lots of imfomation and thay all imfomation is very important for me.
Posted by: Rose Wilde | Jun 10, 2007 10:21:37 PM
Chris has a good point -- he is so right about the political "family" not including regular folks who don't have the time or money to get their voices heard on the hill.
I also felt that way for a long time. What changed my mind was a series of workshops, educational presentations, and the like about how to create change in society. From Martin Luther King, Jr. (who needs no introduction) to Paul Cienfuegos, an activist in Humboldt Co. California who built a movement to keep Walmart OUT of town, leaders of successful movements encourage us to ORGANIZE. Find a community of activists, build trust and an organization that promotes participatory decision making, and get the best advice on strategy you can.
I've been learning as a part of the Oregon Bus Project, www.busproject.org, that I CAN make a difference, but not always and not in every way that I might wish. Because it is such a diverse organization, we all have long legislative and policy wish lists. However, we have to persuade each other that THIS policy or THAT initiative is a wise use of our limited time and money. I work full time already, so I know that I can't make all the changes I want on my own, but with the Bus Project driving ideas, votes, and leaders, I can make a few.
For Chris, it sounds like electoral reform is what might scratch your particular itch. You aren't alone in that! I'm working locally and statewide on that. Join us!