Attorneys United for a Secure America (AUSA), a project of the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI), filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the City of Cottage Grove, Oregon, and its police department, both of which are being sued by activist plaintiffs to enforce an Oregon law called the “Sanctuary Promise Act,” which bans local law enforcement from cooperating with federal government in immigration law enforcement.

In filing the brief, AUSA represents Advocates for Victims of Illegal Alien Crime (AVIAC). AUSA’s brief points out that Oregon’s anti-cooperation law is preempted by a federal law granting local officials the right to cooperate in federal immigration law enforcement; that the alleged harm of eroding the illegal alien community’s trust of the police is too speculative to support the requests preliminary injunction; and that Oregon’s anti-cooperation law, by working to keep criminal aliens in the country, has devastating effects on these criminal aliens’ subsequent victims.

“It is hard to fathom why any state would want to endanger its citizens and legal permanent residents by protecting people who entered the United States illegally and then commit additional crimes,” said Don Rosenberg, president of AVIAC. “Look at the criminal record of any illegal alien who has killed someone, and you will always see they had prior arrests and convictions for other crimes. The Sanctuary Promise Act is nothing more than a promise made by Oregonian authorities that law-abiding Oregonians will become victims of criminal illegal aliens.”

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“It is axiomatic that the protection of public safety is a core governmental function,” said Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of IRLI. “With this anti-cooperation law, Oregon nevertheless hopes to prevent as many criminal alien deportations as possible. We hope the court sees this law as the disaster that it is, and does not construe it to block the public-spirited official of Cottage Grove from exercising their federal right to cooperate with immigration officials to protect their community.”

The case is Rural Organizing Project v. The City of Cottage Grove__, No. 23CV07691 (Ore. Lane Circuit Court).


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2023-05-09 00:47:48

Last Update: 2023-05-09 01:37:17

Deputy Secretary of State Cheryl Myers will assume the title of Acting Secretary of State today, May 8, at 1:00 PM when Secretary of State Shemia Fagan’s resignation officially occurs. Governor Tina Kotek will appoint a new Secretary of State to complete the remainder of Secretary Fagan’s term.

According to a statement released by the office, the Secretary of State’s office will not experience any interruption in its operations during the transition.

“Secretary of State Shemia Fagan’s actions put this agency in a difficult position," said Acting Secretary of State Cheryl Myers. "I believe she made the right decision by resigning. The professional staff at the Secretary of State’s office will continue serving Oregonians through the Elections Division, Audits Division, State Archives and Corporation Division. We do not expect any interruptions in service during the transition.

“This is a resilient agency, with strong division leadership and internal systems that can withstand change. We are ready to continue the important work of the Secretary of State’s office during this transition.

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“While I already possess the same authorities as the Secretary from when originally sworn in as Deputy SoS, I am not an elected official. Since January 2021, my role has been to manage the directors of the Elections, Audits, Archives, Corporation and internal divisions, with a focus on helping them serve Oregonians. That’s what I’ll continue to do through this transition.

Elections Director Molly Woon said, “The Elections Division is assisting and supporting Oregon’s 36 county clerks and election administrators during this regularly scheduled Special District Election. The Secretary’s resignation has no bearing on our team’s ability to provide centralized services and support county operations. We will continue to provide exceptional service and encourage all voters to make their voices heard in the May 16th elections.”

The Secretary of State is not the filing officer for any May 2023 contests and does not certify this election as in even numbered years.

“Secretary Fagan’s actions have cast a shadow over the good work of the Oregon Audits Division," said Audits Director Kip Memmott. "I join Acting Secretary Myers in agreeing with the Secretary’s decision to resign. It’s the best way for the agency to move forward.

“Soon, an independent, third-party review of our audit work, requested by the Governor’s Office, will show we operated in full compliance with Government Auditing Standards and demonstrated our commitment to accountability, integrity and reliability. I look forward to that validation as we begin to restore the trust that is necessary to the work we do as auditors.

"I want to personally say I stand behind my staff and the work completed in our audit of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission. From the origin of the idea to audit OLCC up until the report release last week, the Oregon Audits Division followed government auditing standards and procedures every step of the way, as we always do.”


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2023-05-08 12:49:42

Last Update: 2023-05-08 16:12:17

Editor’s note: This is the nineth of a multi-part series on the impact of your vote for School Board Candidates, an OAA Voter Education Project

The Oregon Education Association (OEA) is a union that represents about 41,000 educators working in pre-kindergarten through grade 12 public schools and community colleges. OEA’s membership includes licensed teachers and specialists, classified/education support professionals, community college faculty, retired educators, and student members. OEA members also belong to the 3.2 million members of the National Education Association (NEA).

OEA members are affiliated with Local Associations, which bargain their work contracts with support from OEA staff. Local Associations also collaborate with local school districts, community colleges, school boards, and community leaders to provide the basic right to a good public education to every student.

The mission of OEA is to unite the public education profession and advocate for those professionals to ensure quality public education for students in Oregon. But this is where OEA gets off track. They say, “We’re on a journey to address equity and racial justice in our union and our schools. This work begins by looking deeply at our own experiences and preconceived notions around race and equity—how white supremacy and privilege shape our perspectives, attitudes and actions.”

How OEA is addressing equity and racial justice is creating issues for school boards. They recent announced financial sponsorship of the “Tides of Pride Grooming Event” complete with drag queen history, and building a gender and sexuality association to talk “really explicitly and seriously about sexuality and gender” to children. This event, held in North Bend on May 5, helps the Gender & Sexuality Association (GSA) actively organize clubs throughout the state with a tool kit for growing clubs.

In the GSA tool kit is a list of groups with systemic power of privilege that they sterol-type. The tool kit is prejudice in the same way they present their information identifying the privileged. Privileged are labeled as straight people, cisgender people, men, white people, and nationalist-citizens that are the cause of oppression.

Is this how OEA supports a “safe, welcoming, and inclusive school environments”? OEA says their members work to engage in professional learning, policy advocacy, and organizing that have a positive impact on schools, themselves and their colleagues, and most importantly, students. But membership funds are being spent to belittle and attack the normal adjusted students.

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OEA members are also members of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). Behind the information AFT distributes to teachers is NewsGuard, a private, self-declared fact checker that receives money from the government and partners with large institutions like AFT, Microsoft, big pharma and the World Economic Forum. They put pressure on media companies to not report on certain things. Marissa Streit, PragerU, reported that their documentaries make for students on the founding of America and pro-American content, NewsGuard labeled as a misinformation and rated them as a misinformation company.

NewsGuard is rating conservative news outlets like The Federalist, Epoch, Fox, Daily Wire and PragerU with very low scores less than 50% while New York Times and CNN received 100%. Any company receiving less than 60 is labeled with a warning against doing business with them to curb the news away from their direction.

NewsGuard offers their service free to libraries and schools. Schools use the ratings that NewsGuard gives as due diligence, best practices and truth in science. AFT is censoring out information for teachers that NewsGuard gives a low rating to creating a shield censoring out topics they don’t want brought out in schools. Streit says, “this isn’t just a Praeger U fight it is all of America, they are going to come after every podcast they can’t control…America needs to be awake that they are operating in our schools and media…and we are being robbed of our freedom of speech.”

Don’t forget, it was mostly at the say of OEA why Oregon schools were the last to open after the COVID threat was over. Even after teachers were vaccinated, unions played politics with getting students back to school. Teachers need to evaluate the worth of being an OEA member. Now school boards are faced with how to accelerate learning from credible sources without the interference from OEA.

Oregon Abigail Adams Voter Education Project lists the candidates and those responding to the survey on their website.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2023-05-07 11:32:27

Last Update: 2023-05-02 21:20:26

The Sunset Empire Transportation District in Clatsop County, Oregon has now suspended the bus services and other operations after the agency’s troubling financial condition came to light.

The transit district’s board voted unanimously on April 27th to discontinue operations indefinitely and furlough employees.

"The message is we will not be offering any public transportation services effective Saturday due to the financial situation that we’re in. We will get it restarted as soon as we have a financial package in place. And we’ll get the process to restart up and running as soon as possible,” said Jeff Hazen, the transit district’s executive director.

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The publicly funded transit district’s bus routes and para transit services are meant to connect riders across Clatsop County. The Lower Columbia Connector also takes riders between Astoria and Portland. The agency has an annual budget of $6.6 million and 46 employees.

The Sunset Empire Transportation District (SETD) was formed by the Clatsop County Board of Commissioners on March 24, 1993.


--Bruce Armstrong

Post Date: 2023-05-07 11:23:45

Last Update: 2023-05-07 18:56:50

Editor’s note: This is the eighth in a multi-part series on How Your School Board Vote Affects Oregon Schools an OAA Voter Education Project

When the New York Times published the 1619 Project, it fueled heated debates on the role of critical race theory (CRT) in classrooms. The study of how racism shapes laws, policies, society and American history only accelerated the conversation of slavery and racial injustice.

The media narrative has defined racism by their victimized class. So much so that if you are of a victimized class - minority, then you can’t be a racist or commit a hate crime, even if you are guilty of doing so. The by-line is that society has driven them to crime by not giving them equal status regardless of having equal opportunity. This is being played out in the Nashville School shooting. The shooter is being portrayed as the victim because of her victimized class.

School boards, superintendents and teachers, even experts, all have their own theory and disagreements on how CRT is defined. The core idea is that race is a social construct, and that racism is not merely the product of individual bias or prejudice, but also something embedded in legal systems and policies. The major argument is its focus on group identity over universal, shared traits that divides people into "oppressed" and "oppressor" groups and urges intolerance. What started as a culturally relevant teaching has morphed into a theory that advocates discrimination against the privileged, mainly white people, in order to achieve equity. This is evident in the Oregon legislature and organizations allowed into schools that refer to "white supremacy."

In 2021, Senator Sara Gelser Blouin (D-Corvallis, Albany) attempted to put the 1619 Project and CRT as a required part of instruction when she sponsored SB 683. That bill may not have passed, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been implemented. CRT is at the core of social and economic justice that takes into consideration race as a nexus of equality.

As the Civil Rights Movement used the First Amendment that spurred protest marches and media reporting on racial discrimination, so is CRT using the First Amendment with the same racial concerns with a broader economic context. It elevates the equality principles of the Fourteenth Amendment above the liberty principles of the First Amendment. CRT was pushed by lawyers and activists that saw the civil rights era had diminished and they sought an alternative legal framework for combating racial inequality. CRT was one of the approaches tried along with critical legal studies, critical theory, feminist theory, postmodernism, and cultural studies.

Today CRT has expanded into the fields of education, political science, American studies, and ethnic studies. It also has produced several offshoots, including critical white studies, Latino critical race studies, Asian American critical race studies, American Indian critical race studies, and critical queer studies.

The rub that CRT scholars proport is instead of helping to achieve healthy and robust debate, the First Amendment is used to preserve the inequities of the status quo. They claim “there can be no such thing as an objective or content neutral interpretation in law in general or of the First Amendment in particular… there is no 'equality' in 'freedom' of speech.”

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CRT used the First Amendment to wage their battlefield for hate speech regulations. There is no legal definition for hate speech, but Oregon has passed extensive laws trying to define it with penalties even when a Supreme Court’s ruling, R.A.V. v. St. Paul (1992), seemingly closed the door on “hate speech” regulation. "The First Amendment does not permit a state to use content discrimination to achieve a compelling interest if it is not necessary to achieve that interest."

However, CRT, as presented in SB 683, is the history of slavery and the disproportionate harm towards Blacks and other inequities in the judicial system compared to whites. It has been adopted into curriculums by piecemeal into social studies standards. That was enabled in 2021 by passing SB 702, replacing social studies disciplines and best practices for curriculum with consultation of any group that supports a theory being pushed making it easier to incorporate CRT, SEL and any other theory.

In 2022 Oregon Department of Education (ODE) adopted standards to integrate ethnic studies in social studies for K-12 adding new "perspectives and histories" to allow students to "feel welcome and recognized in the classroom and a part of our collective narrative, our shared history," an ODE spokesman told Fox News Digital. The new standards address white supremacy by having kindergartners "engage in respectful dialogue with classmates to define diversity by comparing and contrasting visible and invisible similarities and differences."

CRT flows over into other areas. It was the impetus to defunding school resource officers and police. After a number of school shootings, parents are again starting to ask for resource officers to be returned to the schools. However, the majority party in the legislature has blocked attempts to fund resource officers, so it is left to school boards on how to provide a safe environment. School boards are also faced with where to draw the line between First Amendment rights and equality. Critical race studies has become a battlefield for rights, and school boards have become the mediator to make sure one person's rights doesn't turn into "hate speech" for another.

Oregon Abigail Adams Voter Education Project lists the candidates and those responding to the survey on their website.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2023-05-05 11:31:24

Last Update: 2023-05-03 00:52:23

On May 4, 2023, the Oregon Attorney General’s Office issued a draft ballot title to the Secretary of State’s Elections Division for Initiative Petition 2024-021, proposed for the November 5, 2024, General Election. That issuance brings Oregon one step closer to becoming a constitutional carry state.

That draft ballot title reads: “Amends Constitution: Creates constitutional right to carry a concealed firearm without a permit.”

Led by Constitutional Carry for Oregon (CCFO), 2024-021 seeks to amend the Oregon Constitution as simply as possible, adding only one sentence. At present, 27 U.S. states are already constitutional carry states.

After a 14-day comment period, the Attorney General’s Office will then certify the ballot title. The process of gathering the 160,551 signatures for the initiative to appear on the November 2024 ballot will begin thereafter.

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CCFO has until July 5, 2024, to submit signatures.

CCFO is a grassroots volunteer effort. The three chief petitioners are: Joel Pawloski, a retired Army Lt. Colonel in Marion County; Kerry McQuisten, the former mayor of Baker City in Baker County; and Jean Sampson, former city council member of Clatskanie in Columbia County.

In a joint statement, the petitioners stated, “We’re pleased with the draft title and explanation of our effort as it will appear on the ballot. As we’ve followed the procedural constitutional requirements for initiative petitions very carefully, we don’t anticipate any legitimate challenges. We look forward to beginning the signature-gathering process.”

Those interested can find more information on the Constitutional Carry for Oregon (CCFO) website.


--Ben Fisher

Post Date: 2023-05-05 09:37:04

Last Update: 2023-05-05 12:14:50

According to many observers, North Clackamas, Oregon school district seems to have a long history of racial discrimination and sexual abuses on campus. The district has faced multiple lawsuits, which seems to result in continuous property tax increases and even lost trust within the community after those who have raised concerns are targeted, silenced and slandered.

In May of 2021, a 12-year-old 7th grade student at Alder Creek Middle School was raped by an older student, in an unlocked closet on campus. In a 200 million dollar lawsuit filed against the district, the family alleged a pattern of previous incidents between the male and female student that "should have alerted teachers and school administrators of the potential for harm."

In an August 2020 lawsuit, the parents of a six-year-old kindergarten student at a North Clackamas Elementary School sued the district for racial discrimination and the failure of staff to respond. “We want to be an active part of this community, but we want to be accepted in this community,” said Ashley Butler. He and other parents have tried to make changes within the district only to be disappointed.

In various federal and state cases, North Clackamas School District has been named time and again for failing to protect students, especially who many say are the most vulnerable demographics such as; students of color, students with disabilities, and students who identify as LGBTQIA.

According to allegations in a recent 10 million dollar lawsuit, when teachers or students speak out, the district under current leadership, has a history of defaming, slandering, and attacking those who report issues.

Parents who have tried to raise concerns, or work with the school board to effect policy changes have similarly been slandered and silenced by current school board members, and Oregon's politically biased media.

Concerns were expressed, alleging that school-based exemptions to obscenity laws have given rise to age-inappropriate materials, and pornographic content. Not long after, the incumbent board members chose to move meetings online, "indefinitely."

According to the Portland Mercury, "audience outbursts and commentary from parents and other community members who oppose LGBTQ-related teaching materials, gender-inclusive sex education curriculums, and conversations about race," necessitated online only meetings.

And now, more concerned parents are speaking up about these LGBTQ-related teaching materials, gender inclusive sex education curriculums and conversations about race. Two local moms who are running for school board are Courtneigh Swerzbin and Aimee Reiner.

Aimee Riener, is endorsed by Clackamas County Commissioner Ben West, who is a known conservative. West won the right for same-sex marriage in Oregon when he and his husband, Paul Rummel, took their case to the Supreme Court—securing the landmark ruling.

Still, Reiner has been accused of anti-LGBTQ bigotry, after presenting explicit content to the board's attention. Until meetings were moved online, Reiner attended meeting after meeting, in an effort to address campus culture and disparate outcomes for NCSD's most vulnerable students.

Courtneigh Swerzbin is no stranger to racial discrimination. Swerzbin, like Reiner, has suffered from the bias in Oregon's media. Raymond Rendelman, editor of Pamplin's Clackamas Review, recently released a hit piece, attacking Swerzbin's grammar and victim blaming the recipient of a racially motivated incident—irrelevant to the election.

According to Swerzbin's campaign website, she was shocked to learn children and staff at NCSD are being segregated by skin color for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion lessons. Swerzbin says she's running for "true inclusion," and kids over politics.

Unlike legislative elections, school board elections are meant to be non-partisan. However, the nearly identical campaign finance disclosures and endorsements for the "North Clackamas United slate" tell a very partisan story.

The slate consists of current board members; Glenn Wachter, Jena Benologa, and April Dobson. Lobbyist Paul Kemp, is a new candidate but certainly not new to politics—having spent years lobbying in Salem for gun control. According to OreStar, the slate of four share endorsements and funding from progressive left-wing activist groups, the Oregon Democratic party and large out-of-state donors with a vested interest in a new math curriculum.

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All four candidates also list a progressive left treasury service, C&E Systems, as their bookkeeper. Jena Benologa's PAC (Political Action Committee) e.g. has spent upwards of $1,00.00 to C&E Systems, whose website boasts of "Electrac," a fundraising/donor portal available to Oregon's most "progressive candidates."

NextUp Action Fund, and Basic Rights Oregon have endorsed the Leftists. This election, they are locally known as the "United slate". Both NextUp Action Fund, and Basic Rights Oregon have also lobbied to lower the voting age to 16, in addition to lobbying for HB 2002, a bill that allows the state to expand diagnosis of gender dysphoria to dentists, and optometrists while giving DHS (Child Services) the authority to remove children from parents who might question that diagnosis.

Four School Based Health Clinics operate on NCSD campuses, and provide direct access to dentistry, ophthalmology, prescription medication, abortion services and gender affirming care. Under recent legislation, schools can also transport minors to receive services during school hours, without parental consent or knowledge.

According to Marketwatch, sexual reassignment surgery is a 1.95 billion dollar emerging market in the healthcare industry. Parents, as well as healthcare professionals, have expressed concerns that a lack of standards for the therapeutic evaluation of minors, may be placing an emphasis on profits over vulnerable youth.

Rather than being addressed, these concerns have been dismissed by current school board members. In addition, there seems to be a pattern among those who have spoken out about instances of rape on campus, discrimination and who have raised concerns at school board meetings in general, have also endured harassment, death threats, bullying and even calls to their employers, as a result.

The voters of North Clackamas will be faced with a litany of issues to ponder during this school board election, as both financial and educational priorities are evaluated.


--Breeauna Sagdal

Post Date: 2023-05-05 08:50:23

Last Update: 2023-05-06 15:20:18

On April 20, 2023 the Land Conservation and Development Commission -- under the leadership of Chair Anyeley Hallová -- unanimously adopted an amendment to the Rocky Habitat Management Strategy, Part Three of the Oregon Territorial Sea Plan. The decision added six new management areas that reflect the needs of the communities that proposed them. Rocky Habitat Management Areas focus on balancing use and conservation through the enhancement of visitor experiences with education and interpretation to limit wildlife disturbance and habitat degradation.

These designations complete a multiple year effort led by the Ocean Policy Advisory Council to revise the Management Strategy to include site management designations along areas of Oregon's iconic rocky shoreline. Extensive feedback from agencies, organizations, governments, and general rocky coast users supported these revisions.

The new management area designations include:

• A Marine Educational Area/Garden at Chapman Point and Marine Conservation Areas at Ecola Point
• Cape Lookout
• Fogarty Creek
• Cape Foulweather

The designations were recommended by the OPAC following an inclusive public process that provided an opportunity for the public to submit proposals for new management areas. Designations will go into effect following rulemaking by partner agencies in the coming year.

Interested persons can access the Rocky Habitat Web Mapping Tool online.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2023-05-03 18:53:52

Last Update: 2023-05-03 19:17:59

Oregon Senate Majority Leader Kate Lieber (D-Beaverton & SW Portland) attempts to call Republicans to get back to work after they refused to attend the floor session claiming a willfull lack of upholding the law by Senate President Rob Wagner.

Lieber is calling Republicans to return and honor Measure 113 passed by voters, which limits the number of unexcused absentees a legislator can have to 10 or be prohibited to run for reelection. Lieber states, “By walking out today, Senate Republicans are abandoning all who believe in our democracy, particularly the voters who sent them to Salem to vote on their behalf. Voters were clear last year when they passed Measure 113 by an overwhelming margin and in every state senate district: elected lawmakers should be in the Capitol doing their jobs. Republicans are, once again, undermining our democracy and ignoring the people of Oregon.

During Monday morning’s floor session, Senate Republicans pointed out that bills being considered by the Senate violate the law by being noncompliant with Senate Rule 13.02 (5), ORS 171.134, and Article 4 § 21 of the Oregon Constitution. The Senate recessed and when it reconvened that evening, the Presiding Officer ruled that it did comply, but Republicans claimed it failed to provide any reasoning to substantiate the ruling despite many objections. Republicans attempted to appeal the ruling several times.

Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp (R-Bend) stated, “Let’s be clear – Wagner’s ruling was inappropriate, unjustified, and unlawful. It unequivocally violates Senate Rules, Oregon’s Constitution, and Oregon statute. We will not sit by and allow these actions without consequence. We have made a simple request: that bills comply with the law. Senate Rules are clear and Senate Democrats are violating them. It is the responsibility of the clerks in both chambers, as well as Legislative Counsel, to ensure a measure summary complies with Oregon Revised Statutes, Chamber Rules, and the Oregon Constitution... We cannot allow the Senate to operate in an unlawful and unconstitutional manner, nor can we allow this reckless behavior to continue. In an act of deep partisanship, Wagner ruled with total disregard for the integrity of the Senate to dictate his party’s extreme, unconstitutional agenda onto Oregonians at all costs. It is for these reasons we were compelled to take the unprecedented step of voting to remove Wagner from his role as Senate President, and why we are engaging in a constitutional protest today.”

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Lieber is advocating for a democracy - rule of the majority. Knopp is standing on the Constitutional Republic of representation. Lieber wants to use the Constitution to get Republicans back to the Senate floor, but ignore the rules and procedures set out in the Constitution that Republicans want followed.

Republicans Senator Suzanne Weber (R-Tillamook) and Representative Emily McIntire (R-Eagle Point) want to solve the matter in court. They filed a lawsuit against legislative leaders contending that the bill summary of House Bill 2002 violates Senate Rule 13.02, ORS 171.134, and Article 4 § 21 of the Oregon Constitution. Weber and McIntire will be represented by Oregon Right to Life.

The statute and rule require bill summaries to be written at an 8th-grade reading level, which correlates with a Flesch-Kincaid readability score of 60. House Bill 2002 scores well below 30, corresponding to the reading level of college graduates. “The Senate operates within the confines of the Constitution, state law, and chamber rules, all of which are being willfully ignored by the Senate President and the majority party. It is clear that legislation we adopt must be plainly written and easy to understand. Anything less disenfranchises Oregonians across the state and violates the law in the process. If Democrats refuse to comply, it is our responsibility to hold them accountable to process and rules,” said Senator Weber

Many questions about the impacts of House Bill 2002 remain. During committee work sessions, legislative counsel was unable to answer several questions about the bill. Still, it was pushed through the House despite serious concerns.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2023-05-03 17:10:01

Last Update: 2023-05-04 00:49:29

After months of advocacy, legislative lawmakers representing the Clackamas County area scored a major victory for local communities facing the impacts of tolling on I-205. Oregon Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) plans begin with two bridge tolls on Interstate 205. But plans for the next few years are per-mile tolls on all lanes of Interstates 5 and 205 and, if a replacement project gets underway, a toll for a new I-5 Bridge over the Columbia River.

Last week, Representative Courtney Neron (D-Wilsonville) with Clackamas lawmakers introduced HB 3614, which would pause tolling until January 2026 and establish a committee to oversee ODOT’s tolling program. The bill was co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of 31 legislators.

In response, the Speaker of the House, Senate President, and Co-Chairs of the Joint Transportation Committee announced the creation of a Special Subcommittee on Transportation Planning to oversee and monitor ODOT plans to mitigate the negative impacts of tolling on vulnerable communities. In order to make sure that any tolling program is carefully considered and incorporates the feedback from impacted communities, Governor Kotek placated lawmakers with a pause to all toll collections until January 2026.

Brendan Finn, Director of Urban Mobility and Megaprojects office at ODOT, reported on KGW News that a pause may get the issue out of people’s minds. If voters pass IP 4, it will put control in the hands of voters before a toll can be adopted by requiring voting by the residence within 15 miles of the tolling area.

“I know firsthand that our communities have not felt heard by ODOT, and that they feel their deep concerns were being ignored by the agency,” says Rep. Annessa Hartman (D-Gladstone), who has been appointed to serve on the newly formed Special Subcommittee on Transportation Planning. “Since being sworn into the legislature, I’ve advocated fiercely in the Capitol for our voices to be heard and for ODOT to pause, listen to our constituents and get this right. There is a lot of trust that needs to be rebuilt and I am proud to serve on this committee to give our districts a seat at the table.”

The Subcommittee will meet through the interim to oversee ODOT’s plans to ensure safety, mitigate congestion, support our economy, reduce pollution, and ensure that the needs of local communities are being heard and incorporated into planning.

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“Families and local leaders in our communities have been justifiably frustrated with ODOT’s behavior,” says Rep. Jules Walters (D-West Linn). “This committee will give a voice to those frustrations, and the pause will give us time to ensure the agency hears them.”

“Our communities should not disproportionately shoulder the cost of interstate infrastructure. A flawed tolling program would harm working families, individuals on fixed incomes, and businesses in my community. I don’t believe a toll should divide someone from their own town.” said Rep. Courtney Neron (D-Wilsonville) “We have an obligation to ensure community voices are heard, legislative sideboards are in place, and that ODOT cannot proceed without truly taking our needs into consideration.”

Oregon polls show that the majority of Oregonians don’t want tolling, except for a new I-5 bridge. As Finn reported, the timing of the pause is distracting – perhaps for more than tolling.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2023-05-03 14:24:33

Last Update: 2023-05-03 00:49:08

Editor’s note: This is the seventh in a multi-part series on How Your School Board Vote Affects Oregon Schools an OAA Voter Education Project

Social-emotional learning (SEL) is the process of developing the self-awareness, self-control, and interpersonal skills known as “soft skills” traditionally associated with conflict resolution and character education. It has evolved from being considered “wishy-washy” to being an integral part of educating the whole child.

The roots of SEL are as old as ancient Greece. Plato wrote about education in The Republic, proposing a holistic curriculum that requires a balance of training in physical education, the arts, math, science, character, and moral judgment. In 1988 an article in Scientific American featured a pilot program called the Comer School Development Program centered on James Comer’s speculation that the contrast between a child’s experiences at home and those in school deeply affects the child’s psychosocial development and that shapes their academic achievement. When the pilot showed promise in two poor, low-achieving, predominately African American elementary schools in New Haven, Connecticut, the movement took off with the pilot as the hub of SEL.

Social emotional learning and emotional skills was the subject of several studies and the focus of organizations such as CASEL (Collaborative to Advance Social and Emotional Learning). Then under new leadership the group's influence grew all the way to supporters of SEL in congress in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, through H.R. 2437, the Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning Act of 2011.

Preparing children to be responsible, productive, and caring citizens is a timeless pursuit that are goals of education. How best to do this in our school system is a relatively recent and still evolving area of study and practice, and it's the main question the SEL movement seeks to answer.

Oregon’s initiation goes back to 2015 when parents first got a look at the Common Core curriculum asking grades K-3 their feelings about their mother when asked to do a chore, and third-graders were asked to write opinion pieces. From that point, SEL has been viewed as suspect. Described as the process through which we learn to recognize and manage emotions, care about others, make good decisions, behave ethically and responsibly, develop positive relationships, and avoid negative behaviors, it has never materialized as such.

That same year the Comprehensive Sexual Education Act was passed requiring recognition of a child’s sexuality of choice as affirmation of their identity. Schools were weaving social and emotional development into various parts of the school day intermixing it with identity, which became gender identity in 2021.

Where SEL appeared to be an important step in a child’s development, suddenly turned and became a nightmare after almost two years of lockouts to structured schooling. By the time students returned to classrooms, the legislature had defunded resource officers, and adopted equity practices that allowed destructive organizations under the name of “inclusion” to infiltrate schools. The ugly head of “comprehensive sexuality education” emerged in the form of Rape Culture that empowered girls to show up to school half naked.

The true benefits of SEL were buried when in 2016, the State Board of Education approved the Comprehensive Sex Education (CSE) creating standards by combining the Human Sexuality Education Law (2009), the Healthy Teen Relationship Act (2012), the Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Law (2015), and taking advantage of other laws. It replaced the model of abstinence-only education, and didn’t recognize a belief system forcing an opt-out method as the only option for parents. However, in order to graduate, the student is still expected to know sexual education. The Board claims “the standards do not promote sexuality or impose a set of values, but they do admit they empower students to recognize, communicate, and advocate for their own health and boundaries.”

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John Oakley Beahrs, retired psychiatry professor stated in testimony that HB 2023 (2019) mandated coercive indoctrination into identity politics under the false guise of liberal education. It “replaces actual history with indoctrination that grossly alters it, and coercively mandates instructing in but one viewpoint – one that’s favored in today’s Oregon, but neither universal nor necessarily in the public interest. In other words, LGBTQ figures are featured because of their sexual preference and gender identity, not their relation to the subject being taught. Because the subject matter is part of every subject, the law implies parents cannot opt their children out.”

Some say parents piggybacked on the inflammatory debate over critical race theory making SEL the next controversial concept. Conservatives are saying it is just another effort to indoctrinate kids with liberal ideology. What they see is an attack against children from all sides. Diversity has confused young students to the extent that SEL has lost its way. The controversy has centered on social-emotional “screeners” being used to guide school-wide programs sponsoring Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs, using schools to promote a LGBTQIA+ agenda while identifying students who are ripe for transitioning.

Every school district wades through a deluge of social-emotional curricula to find one that works. The activation of parents across the state is going to be demanding on school boards to dig into what they are adopting and not depend on the state or district administrators for the end-all answers.

Oregon Abigail Adams Voter Education Project lists the candidates and those responding to the survey on their website.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2023-05-03 11:43:07

Last Update: 2023-05-02 18:51:35

Following the resignation of Secretary of State Shemia Fagan under a cloud of ethical misjudgements, Deputy Secretary of State Cheryl Myers issued the following statement.

“This is a resilient agency, with strong division leadership and internal systems that can withstand change. We are ready to continue the important work of the Secretary of State’s office during this transition.

“My first priority is to make sure Oregonians receive the customer service they deserve. This agency does such critical work, and it’s our job to put Oregonians first during this transition.

“This is an unfortunate situation, but a change of leadership will allow agency staff to continue their good work with less distraction moving forward.”

The Secretary will continue in her official duties until Monday, May 8, at which point Deputy Secretary Cheryl Myers will take on oversight of the agency until a new Secretary is appointed by the Governor. The Deputy has the power to perform any act or duty of the Secretary of State pertaining to the office of the Secretary (ORS 177.040) and is well positioned to help the agency maintain stability and continuity of operations during this transition.

All SOS divisions have consistently reported to Oregon’s Deputy Secretary of State over the last two years. In her role, Deputy Myers will continue her oversight of the agency and will collaborate with the Governor’s Office on a plan to onboard the Governor’s appointment to replace the outgoing Secretary Fagan.

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Deputy Myers' professional background includes public policy, organizational leadership, economic development, public education/youth advocacy, and a history of assisting organizations to construct equitable cultures and embed collaborative practices. Her prior public service roles include Director of Economic & Business Equity in the Governor’s Office, Chief of Staff for the Higher Education Commission and as Operations & Engagement Director for Educator Advancement in the Chief Education Office and 8 years as an elected school board member. She is well positioned to help the agency maintain stability and continuity of operations during this transition. ​​​​​


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2023-05-02 13:19:46

Last Update: 2023-05-02 13:45:36