NEWS UPDATE FROM STATE REPRESENTATIVE DAVID GOMBERG: Thawing Out and Moving Along

By State Representative David Gomberg, District 10

1/22/2024
Dear Neighbors and Friends,

The storm seems to have moved on.

Temperatures are rising, the ice is melting, and for most of us, power has been restored. Ahead of us are weeks of cleaning up the mess left behind.

Gov. Tina Kotek on Thursday night declared a state of emergency for Oregon due to the winter ice storm that swept into the state almost a week ago, leaving behind closed roads, widespread damage, and a host of closures. In Lincoln County, as many as half the residents and businesses were without power.

A dozen local jurisdictions have declared a state of emergency, including Lincoln County, Lane County, Lincoln City, Newport, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, and just north of us, Tillamook County. The declarations allow areas to get help from the Office of Emergency Management, the Oregon Health Authority, and the Oregon Department of Transportation.

Often, a state emergency declaration is required before federal assets can be activated. This includes the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, which allows other states to send assistance and waivers from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which are needed to facilitate interstate travel and response for mutual aid assets for power restoration. This helps the Public Utility Commission to get power back up and running. It also unleashes help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Across the state, at least 11 people have died, with six suspected hypothermia deaths and five others related to the weather by falling trees, fires, or downed electric lines. Very sadly, we may have experienced a passing here in our own district.

With conditions returning to some semblance of winter normal, we are left to consider how we could have done better or been better prepared.

ODOT struggles with covering costs for roads, maintenance, and winter storm response. Cities and Counties did well with warming shelters but with roads closed or slippery, getting to them was difficult. Good current information in our strained media market was difficult. Most gas stations were out of service because tankers could not get over from the valley. Grocery stores that closed due to lack of power or couldn’t run freezers or refrigerators on generators lost meat and other perishables. A large assisted living center in north Newport had to evacuate its residents. Motels filled up with locals fleeing their frigid homes. Our hospitals served us well, but in a meeting Thursday with Samaritan Health Services, I learned that they operate with just a 96-hour supply of generator propane.

Over a dark, cold weekend, many of our 70,000 residents were on their own – turning to family, friends, and neighbors.

I often talk in Salem about investing in emergency response. It is a lonely conversation. Few legislators want to spend time and money on possible future problems when we have so many clear, current challenges. Here in my own neighborhood, we have dealt with fires and with ice, and someday, we will see a major earthquake.

I have worked to have our schools offer disaster instruction. I urge families to make an emergency plan, to prepare an emergency kit, and to be two weeks ready. I have tried to find money to help our public institutions to prepare adequate water and fuel supplies and to strengthen building resilience. I sincerely believe we are better prepared and informed here at the Coast than in most parts of Oregon. But all it takes is an icy weekend to teach us how far we still have to go.

On Sunday, the Oregonian editorialized that we need to build a culture of resilience. Although predictably Portland-centered, the paper argued that, “Certainly, we can and should ask more of our public entities to reassess policies and practices that fail to match the urgency of an event”. “And finally, but perhaps most critically, Oregonians must take ownership of their role in protecting themselves and the community and prepare for emergencies as state and local agencies have long urged”.

To everyone who stepped up, the responders in difficult and dangerous conditions, the businesses that kept us supplied, fed, and warm, and the neighbors who reached out to check on others, you all have my sincere gratitude and respect. But please, as we put this storm behind us, let’s each consider how we can be better prepared for the next big challenge Mother Nature throws at us.

And now we return to our regularly scheduled Salem update.

Two weeks ago, legislators came to the Capitol for a series of meetings and hearings as we prepare for the one-month legislative session that begins in February.

Together with my friend, Representative Emily McIntire (R-Eagle Point) I unveiled plans for a major state investment in water and sewer infrastructure. We plan to produce 36,000 new units of housing each year. We need that housing growth. But at the same time, we need water and sewer to support it. And across Oregon, too many local systems are failing, at capacity, or unable to support new connections. Improvements and expansion are expensive. And too often small towns can’t afford the cost of big projects.

I often point to the city of Siletz with 1,100 residents and a $12 million sewer problem. Dozens and actually hundreds of communities across the state are in similar circumstances.

Over the past six months, my office has been working with the legislative Joint Water Caucus to develop a list of critical water and sewer proposals. We have reached out to the League of Oregon Cities, the Association of Oregon Counties, the Special Districts Association, and to other legislators. We now have a list of nearly 300 proposals in hand.

We are also working to create a means of evaluating those projects to prioritize funding support. Who is ready to go now? Who has invested local funds rather than just asking for state support? Where will state investments have the most effect? Where is the situation most critical??

At the same time, I’m working with other legislators on similar proposals. And we’re coordinating closely with the Governor as she proposes $600 million in housing investments this session with as much as $200 million committed to infrastructure.

In past sessions, I have coordinated successful bi-partisan investment packages for rural infrastructure and rural economic development. Now I’m focused on water and sewer with hopes to continue past successes.

Please take a moment to hear my testimony

before the House Committee on Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water or read, Two legislators to sponsor public works funding in the Business Tribune.

The Joint Committee on Addiction and Community Safety Response is developing a package of legislation for the legislature to consider in 2024. Their work will emphasize prevention, cracking down on drug dealers, moving people into addiction treatment, and reducing the number of overdose deaths. The joint committee serves as the legislative hub for the coordination of an urgent public health and safety response to the drug crisis.

As was reported in the Oregonian, the Committee is also considering potential proposals to address the future of Measure 110. There is a proposal to elevate minor drug possession from a violation on par with a traffic ticket to a low-level misdemeanor crime. The proposal creates chances for people to get treatment help after an arrest before being booked into jail and before they enter a plea. They would also be candidates for diversion if they end up being prosecuted. Also being considered is giving defendants several options to have their charges dropped well before conviction, so long as they enroll in some sort of treatment program. The overall point is to motivate people to seek and accept help.

If adopted, these changes would remove the most controversial part of Oregon’s voter-approved drug law. I favor treatment over incarceration and punishment. I also believe measure 110 needs some adjustments. We do not tolerate public drunkenness, so I think it is fair to have similar standards for public use when we are talking about fentanyl and methamphetamine.

The proposal is still in its early stages. You can watch the hearings here.

Governor Tina Kotek announced last week that Oregon has exceeded housing production goals for 2023. Across the state, communities created 1,032 low-barrier shelter beds, surpassing the 600-bed goal, 1,293 households moved into homes, exceeding the initial goal of 1,200, and 8,886 households facing eviction remained housed, surpassing the 8,750-household goal.

You can see the effect of these efforts across our district.

Oregon made national news last week, as a case stemming out of Grants Pass landed in the Supreme Court. The New York Times reported that the United States Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear a challenge to cities using local ordinances to enforce bans on public camping particularly in parks, a case that could reshape policy on homelessness for years to come.

Back in 2018, Martin v. Boise was decided in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. This case said that citing homeless people for violating anti-camping ordinances when there aren’t enough homeless shelters to serve the entire homeless population violates their 8th Amendment rights protecting people from cruel and unusual punishment. In plainer terms: you can’t be charged for a crime when your only crime is sleeping on the sidewalk and there’s nowhere else to go. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case, meaning the Martin v. Boise decision is the law of the land.

More recently, the City of Grants Pass was sued by two homeless individuals who were cited for violating the City’s ordinance against camping in public places. See this article in the Oregonian for more details. Grants Pass and other local elected officials have asked the US Supreme Court to hear the case in order to gain clarity on how state and local governments can respond to the increase in homeless encampments on sidewalks and in parks.

As one of my colleagues said in his own newsletter, this is a tough, tough case, and a very big deal. “This case also does not strike me as a left or right, or Republican or Democrat, which makes it all the more interesting. On the one hand, governments need some sort of tool to encourage camping in more desirable places. Our parks are for recreation. On the other hand, it is unfair to the homeless population to cite them for camping when they do not have a place to live and they literally have nowhere else to go. I’m hopeful the Supreme Court can shed some light on this topic and find a ruling that satisfies all the parties involved. We will see – probably this spring.”

Here’s an example of the kind of stuff we find in government that makes me crazy.

Through the Oregon Wine Board, Business Oregon, and Travel Oregon, we spend money to promote Oregon’s wine industry. And then through the Oregon Health Authority, we spend money telling people, not to drink wine.

Viewers who watched football games over the holidays probably saw an ad called “Why,” which is part of an OHA campaign called “Rethink the Drink”. In the ad, a young father puts a case of beer in his shopping cart. He then picks up a bottle of wine. When questioned by his daughter, he admits it “isn’t good for you” and puts just the wine back on the shelf.

Buy the beer. Put wine back on the shelf. See the full ad here.

Our district now includes the world-class wineries of western Lane and Benton Counties. Support for them has landed me a position as co-chair of the legislative Wine Caucus.

I absolutely support moderation in alcohol consumption and support for people facing problems or addiction. This ad does not address addiction or problem drinking or provide information for resources. Instead, it says don’t buy wine.