.gif)
By Laura Swanson
Since the November election, inquiring minds have asked “What’s Betsy Johnson up to?” She’s penned an op/ed or two; political commentary on KGW and has a voice mail full of requests for help that she continues to respond to and provide help where she can.
Betsy and I have a long-term relationship. I interviewed her for Ruralite over 20 years ago when she helped dedicate Neah-Kah-Nie High School’s Construction Trades program, and through the years of hat auctions to benefit the Tillamook County Breast Health Coalition to Rinehart Clinic’s 100th Anniversary Sand Dollar auctions, Betsy is always a great interview.
“I’ve been doing some clean up on some projects from my Senate work,” said Betsy. “Someone needs to be paying attention to what our state agencies, DEQ, State Lands, Natural Resources, etc. are up to, there is a complete lack of oversight, and ordinary Oregonians can’t get assistance, let alone someone to answer the phone.”
“I’m staying in the game that way,” she continued. “Selected advocacy on things that I was working on in the Senate – housing, health care, mental health services, targeted projects such as Bybee Lake Hope Center – which by the way, the state is refusing to fund because it doesn’t fit their ‘model’. I’m working to get less politics in politics, true bipartisanship.”
When asked about her future plans, “I’m staying unaffiliated. It would be disingenuous to rejoin the a party, and quite frankly, I am independent. A political contemporary once said that I was a ‘BFD’ and of course I thought, heck yeah, I am – and he said that means ‘business-friendly Democrat’,” she laughed. “I want to see open primaries so the unaffiliated and independent voters can have a voice.”
She laments, “The layers of bureaucracy are crap. For example, eight agencies had signed off on annual spraying of a naturally-occurring larvicide to reduce mosquitoes, but environmentalists were able to get the FAA to ground the helicopters so the window of time to spray was missed and now we’ll be dealing with increased mosquitoes that spread all kinds of diseases. The cost-benefit ratio is out of whack!” She cited numerous other examples of government over-reach or no reach – Betsy said, “You can’t get anyone on the phone any more,” and inconsistent application of regulations, no enforcement or selective, and much more.
When asked about the current state of the Oregon Senate and the Republican walkouts that have now resulted in several Senators being ineligible to run again due to Measure 113, Betsy said, “Both the R’s and D’s have done it before, it’s at tool in the legislative tool box (withholding a quorum) when the majority is trying to ram through bad legislation.” She continued, “There will be a legal challenge to 113 (the measure that was passed by a wide majority to make legislators stay on the job to complete their work) on constitutional, statutory grounds.” And if they stay out – what happens? “All policy dies and there’s a special session focused solely on the budget in February, that’s unbelievable pressure,” said Betsy.
The Tillamook Kiwanis hosted former Senator Betsy Johnson on May 17th. This was a “make-good” from her missing the Kiwanis 100th Anniversary celebration in early March. She shared a recent op/ed she authored for The Oregonian, “Our leaders must all get their ‘stuff’ together to save our state”
And, she shared a story about one of her “projects” … Betsy has an office in downtown Portland, so has first-hand experience with the deteriorating downtown core. For some time there had been a “lump” in a nearby doorway, and then one of Betsy’s interns made contact and the lump had a name and a need. ID. So began an odyssey that included dozens of phone calls to track down a birth certificate (from another state), get the ID, only to have it stolen again. “So, we repeated the process, and now I have the birth certificate, and an understanding about the hurdles and barriers these people face, and sometimes it isn’t ‘housing first’. Sometimes it’s food and a safe place, or other services. We need an individual approach and more advocates,” explained Betsy. “The governor has a big to-do list, and our well-fed state government lacks oversight and for regular citizens trying to get things done or simply do business, nothing is simple.”
