1996 About Oregon

Jack Tallman

I lived in southern Oregon from 1989 to 1995. Oregon was something of an enigma for me, a conservative. A state with a Democratic governor and that votes Democratic in presidential elections, paradoxically had two Republican senators until Packwood stepped on his crank (or perhaps tried to put his crank where it didn't belong). A state heavily liberal in most societal issues, but which has a significant ultra-right wing constituency. Oregon law now makes concealed weapon permits available to any non felon. Still, the state has a penchant for innovative ideas. I had the privilege of knowing an MD in Portland who was on that splendid commission which produced the prioritized list of medical procedures covering Medicare payments in Oregon. And I liked the civics of a nonprofessional legislature which meets every two years. In the interim, the lawmakers go home and pursue their real occupations (but see below).

The mail-in election is another example of a damn good idea. Although the recent election to replace Packwood was, I believe, the first statewide mail-in election, some Oregon counties had been already using that method. For about the four previous years, Josephine County where I lived, population 65,000, had been using mail-in ballots for minor elections. Our county clerk, Georgette Brown, found that the mail-in saved a lot of money, so got permission to use it for more important county elections. An election by mail has some interesting features. With ballots being mailed in over several weeks before a not-later-than date, campaigns geared to the crescendo of a single day vote don't work well. Drives the pollsters crazy. And, unless the ongoing count is a well kept secret, the outcome can be obvious long before the final day. Sort of like the time zone effect in our national elections when major network computers predict outcomes as the polls close across the country. Can such a technique be manipulated? Yeah probably, but less corruptible, I think, than the usual method.

The most effective state government in the country? No, not really. I've already given myself away as a conservative (Republican). So since Democratic Oregon mostly elects governors who seem to be emotionally handicapped and intellectually challenged, and because of the part-time legislature which I instinctively admire but regret empirically, I'm left with an unfulfilled need for achievement. I guess I see the absence of a significant body of cosmopolites as the root of Oregon's lack of governmental effectiveness.

My little corner in southwestern Oregon with its lovely Rogue River was a crucible for contradictions. Sign across main street in Grants Pass boasts "It's The Climate", but no one talks about the depressing fog that sets in for weeks at a time in winter. Local politics was a continual dog and cat fight. And the character of the area changed significantly in the six years I lived there.

A rural mountain region, logging and tourism drove the economy. Back in the late 1800's a railroad company, Oregon and California RR, obtained vast right-of-way land grants from the U. S. government to build a railroad that matched its name. The line was to have run through Josephine County, among others. The railroad disbanded without laying any track and the federal gov. took back the land, allowed it to be logged, and gave prorated revenues every year to the county. These funds provided most of the county operating money for as long as anyone could remember. Enter the Spotted Owl. Logging has all but ceased and for the last few years, the so-called "O&C Funds" dropped exponentially . When I left, the southwestern counties were frantically thrashing about to come up with enough bucks to stay alive.

I moved there in 1989 and the California real estate market was at its zenith. Many little old greyed hair couples, whose home equity was nearly in the megabuck range, sold out down south and came to pursue the bucolic life in Josephine County. There they plunked down the asking price in cash and immediately drove the housing market out of the reach of the locals. The county was already a poverty area, and jobs were scarce with the logging industry drying up. So those with marketable skills moved elsewhere to find jobs. Pretty soon there were two kind of folks there: retired people with independent income, and down-and-outers in a survival mode. Competent professionals left, too, mostly for lack of robust clientele, but also because the schools became so bad that their children couldn't get properly educated. Josephine County was the marijuana growing capital of the U. S. according to our sheriff. When I left, the place looked just like Leisure World with all the old folk putsying around town in their big old cars.

By its very nature, the county attracted also-rans and wannabes from the southland. Some of those emigrating Californians (having come to "californicate" Oregon ala Tom McCall) hadn't even been krill in the big pond to the south, suddenly found themselves in a smaller pond. So a few decided to "get involved" in local politics and, being pitifully incompetent to begin with, really kept things screwed up. Also, since the county commissioners devoutly believed that 'tis far better to beg forgiveness than to request permission, the wannabes found lots of rocks to turn over. Reading the voter pamphlets was always enervating. The background write-ups on the candidates was especially underwhelming; academic credentials were a joke. Attending college for any period at all characterized the candidate as a three sigma deviate.

Wish I had a gift for humorous writing and had kept a journal. The book I'd write would be a classic Steinbeckesque novel about Josephine County. Guess I'm just a wannabe.

Aren't you glad you asked?