PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

If you are a golfer like I am – and even if you don’t set out to play every day as I do – there is good news coming.

As of January 1, 2019, major golf rule changes will go into effect and the changes are designed to simplify the rules, which can come across as a set of regulatory statutes many pages long – too many pages long.

The changes are being proposed jointly by the United States Golf Association (USGA) and the Royal & Ancient Golf Association (R & A), which have won plaudits for a review that covered a number of years, involved both sides of the Atlantic and featured ample opportunity for input from all kinds of golfers, from pros to amateurs.

Oregon’s own Barbara Trammell, the excellent executive director of the Oregon Golf Association, served on the overall committee that drafted the rules – and deserves plaudits for, first, being selected for the role, and, second, contributing to a solid proposal.

The overall effort was sparked by a major concern. The rules of golf were too complicated, sometimes hard to find in the rule book, and not always clear to most golfers. You almost had to act like a budding lawyer trying to pass the bar exam when you looked at the rule book, along with its 500-page summary of “golf decisions.”

In the new code, words such as “hazard” and “through the green” are gone. They have either been taken out or replaced by simpler to understand rules or phrases.

“Through the green” is a perfect example. I have played a lot of golf for more than 30 years and I found it difficult to understand the term, which was critical to many of “old” rules. The phrase has been replaced by the term “general area” to cover all of a golf course except four defined areas – the teeing ground on a hole, all bunkers, all penalty areas, and the putting green of the hole the golfer is playing.

Here are a few of the major rule changes:

• Ball Accidentally Moved in Trying to Find or Identify It: There is no longer a penalty for this accidental act. Good, I say.
• Ball lost or Out of Bounds: The change is that a ball would be considered lost if not found within three minutes, not the current five minutes. Plus, a golfer can take relief for a lost ball at the spot of the loss without heading back to the tee. Again, good.
• Dropping a Ball in a Relief Area: It used to be that the golfer was supposed to drop a ball from shoulder height. That has been now been reduced to knee height, far easier to assess than shoulder height. At one point, the draft rule changes suggested dropping from one or two inches above the ground, but that properly was determined to be close to placing the ball – and, in fact, placing the ball was considered, so I imagine that placing could be another change considered down the road. Good.
• The Flagstick: Players will have the option next year of playing a stroke from anywhere on the course – including on the green – with the flagstick left in the hole.   This change was a nod, at least in part, to speed up play. Good.
• Playing a Ball in a Bunker: Under the new rules, it will be possible, (a) to remove obstructions and loose impediments, and (b) to take a two-stroke penalty, remove the ball from the bunker and play out of the grass, an obvious nod to amateur golfers, not pros. Good.

In all of this, famous pro golfer Gary Player put it well: “Change is the price of survival, so I applaud the governing bodies’ effort and initiative to continuously implement rule changes to help golf in the long term and simplify the game. We have witnessed several instances over many years that unnecessarily changed the outcome of a tournament. So, recognizing the need for continuous improvement is paramount for our future.”

To Player’s quote, I would add only that the rule changes will help amateur golfers who love the game AND want to play by the rules. They also may help me pass the USGA rules test in order to become a certified rules official. We’ll see about that in 2019.

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

On a number of occasions since I left state government in 1990, I have reflected on lessons I learned from my boss at the then-called State Executive Department.

He was Fred Miller, a veteran state government administrator who came to the job after previous experience in a number of state agency director positions. In his role as director of the Executive Department, he functioned as the “chief operating officer” in state government, asking agency directors, with the support of the governor, to report to him on a routine basis.

That approach left major statewide issues to the governor who, of course, relied on Miller for advice and counsel as he, the governor, provided overall leadership in Oregon.

At the Executive Department, I worked with a small group of administrators who essentially functioned as deputy directors of the department. They were the budget director, the personnel and labor relations director, the accounting director, and information management director, the executive recruitment director – and me, the internal and external communications director.

One of the purposeful tasks I pursued during those years was to serve as “secretary of the cabinet” where I developed the agenda for meetings every week of agency directors. There were three – two for large agencies and one for small agencies because (and this is not well known) there are more than 100 state agencies, each with a statutory foundation for existence.

Miller presided over cabinet meetings to free the governor to remain involved in major political tasks.

From Miller, I learned several key management lessons, as follows:

• Send at least one thank-you note every day: Miller practiced this seemingly easy but important task. Every day, he would write a thank-you note to someone who had helped him in his job. I have tried to mimic that action over the years to reflect the reality that no one ever accomplishes something alone without help from others.
• His approach to employee evaluations: Miller’s skill in this area was noteworthy. For all of his direct reports, including me, he would prepare a carefully written summary of performance, then share it with his reports, as well as meet with each of us individually to review performance.

His evaluation helped me to improve as a manager. It was a very effective commitment to solid management, one I tried to mimic in my own career.

• His advice about the Oregon Legislature: Miller was fond of saying that “the easiest thing to do is to be cynical about the legislature.” His advice: Don’t be cynical.

Skepticism might be warranted, he agreed, but not cynicism. Besides, Miller said, with all of its shortcomings, legislative representative government is better than whatever is in second place.

This was great advice, something I tried to keep in mind as I transitioned for the next 25 years after state government service to be a state lobbyist.

• The virtue of transparency and “availability” to talk with the media: One of the most overused words in talk about government today is transparency. I don’t know what it means most of the time.

Back at the Executive Department, we practiced full and open transparency, meaning that our management actions were open to public review, including by the media.

Here is only one example. In the late 1980s, state employees decided to strike, which was a foolhardy act on the part of those employees because, when on strike, they would not get paid and it would take many years for them to recover the lost payments when the strike ended. And surely it would end!

The major public employee union practiced what was called a “rolling strike.” In other words, it would not follow state law by alerting management where a strike would occur, but would endeavor to surprise us every day with a new strike location, as well as with a “rolling agenda” of those who would be on strike.

For the reporters and editors covering the strike, that meant every day they wanted to know how many employees were on strike and where the strike would occur.

To provide this information, Miller and I decided to walk the two blocks over to the State Capitol every day with exact strike reports in hand. There, we visited the Capitol Press Room, which, then, was occupied by key reporters covering state government.

We went around the room sharing the information and answering questions, thus winning credibility as we reported progress – or lack thereof – on the strike. With Miller’s approval, I also agreed during the day to be interviewed on camera by TV stations reporting strike news as I “spoke for the management side of state government.”

The approach was a tribute to real transparency, not some sham attempt to say we were open to review.

For me, these were important lessons learned. Each has stuck with me during the rest of my career. And I still keep in touch with Miller and other members of the Executive Department management team. We fed off each other during those years to make state government better and we still talk today.

[A footnote:  When Miller left the top job at the Executive Department, his successor decided to make a change in the department’s name.  It became the Department of Administrative Services.  I didn’t like what the name change portrayed.  An “executive agency” with high-level management because “administrative services,” which, to me, sounds like pushing pencils.]

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

If you think about it for a moment, the headline in this blog captures a noteworthy fact.

In my 25 years as a private sector contract lobbyist in Oregon, I only remember two cases where I developed major questions – negative questions – about a client.

That’s saying something!

And that means that the vast majority of my firm’s clients were top-drawer folks. It was a pleasure to represent them at the Capitol in Salem. Two of the best were the Port of Portland and Providence Health & Services. My association with these and many others added positively to our firm’s reputation, as well as, I hope, to my own.

Now, just quick summary about the two bad applies.

One was a company that came to Oregon hoping to establish a bail bonds system here. It didn’t take me long to realize that it was a client we never should have accepted. But it was early in the throes of starting our business, so, I guess, that was a reason for taking the client.

I knew it was a bad deal when I met with representatives of the client in a Portland hotel and I felt like I was meeting with members of the mob. I wanted to take a shower after the meeting. Clearly, a bad deal.

The second bad client was a company that wanted to start a major, NASCAR-like racetrack in the Boardman area east of Portland along the Columbia River.

At first blush, it sounded like an idea worth pursuing, though the effort would contain all the inherent risks of such a major economic development project in rural Oregon. Still, we felt the proposal was worth our involvement to be involved in what produce an economic boost for an area that needed help.

So, we accepted the client. However, I knew the client almost immediately it was not a good choice. In the first meeting in our firm’s downtown Portland office, the client representative reiterated his request for our help in a way that went against everything we stood for as a lobbying and public relations company.

He asked us “to open our Rolodex,” a reference to the old way of keeping a list of our firm’s contacts that we had cultivated over the years.

We were prepared to engage the client in a strategic way – analyzing the goal, deciding on the overarching aspirations, and then (and only then) coming up with a list of tactics designed to support the strategy.

Needless to say, we didn’t keep the client for long and the proposal in Boardman never materialized.

Upon reflection, I guess there was a third client, which gave me misgivings. It was health insurance coalition headquartered in Washington, D.C. It came to us to ask us to come up with a list of individuals in Oregon who would be willing to go to the polls to oppose over-the-top health insurance regulation if, in fact, as predicted, there would be such a proposal on the ballot.

That kind of work – forming a coalition to advocate for a point of view — was in our firm’s wheelhouse. But the trouble was this: There was no immediate threat of a ballot measure in Oregon. So it was hard to energize folks to oppose something that didn’t yet exist!

I was assigned to lead the work in Oregon, but, after I pushed back several times on the task, the coalition in D.C. decided to stop our work. Good – and the fact is that the threat to health insurance companies never materialized in Oregon, at least not at the polls.

Over 25 years, I worked with and for many top clients and appreciated the chance to do so. But, for me, it also pays once in awhile to remember the bad ones if only to focus on the contrast of all the good ones.

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

I recently wrote a blog about great quotes, but missed one that stands out.

It is this:

“There is no end to the good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.”

It was a phrase uttered by General Colin Powell at about the time he decided not to run for president as he “bemoaned the loss of civility in politics.”

Civility would produce the kind of “you don’t care who gets the credit” attitude typical of Powell. He came across as a public official who wasn’t interested in credit, even though he did a lot of good work over his years in the military.

In that way, he stands as a huge contrast to the current occupant of the White House, a man who wants to get credit for everything, no matter whether he deserves it or not. To Donald Trump, credit is what matters, not the act of doing good.

Powell’s quote also mimics the style of a governor for whom I worked many years ago in Oregon – the late Victor Atiyeh. He also was not interested in taking or getting credit; he wanted, first and foremost, to do a good job for all Oregonians.

As the years have missed since Atiyeh’s eight years in the Governor’s Office, his reputation has done nothing but gone up. That is the case for many Republicans who are members of his party, as well as for many Democrats who didn’t share party labels, but appreciated his down-to-earth, open style.

You could actually talk to this governor when you saw him walking down of the Capitol, which he loved.

Nowhere was this “do good work style” more evident that in the serious leadership Atiyeh displayed in opposing the invasion of the Rajneesh cult in Eastern Oregon. Recent media coverage of that episode in the 1980s shed at least a little light on the quiet, resourceful leadership Atiyeh displayed to control a vicious, criminal-minded cult.

It was my pleasure to serve in the Atiyeh Administration and to get to know first-hand this great Oregonian for whom getting credit was not the highest goal. Sharing credit, as in the case of General Powell, was the motivation.

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

The difference noted in the headline is one I followed for a number of years as a partner in a lobbying and public relations business in Oregon (though we also had offices in Washington, D.C.)

It is this:

A strategic focus is looking at the big picture, then designing tactics to fit that focus.

Too often, I saw lobbyists focus on routine tactics as a way to achieve desired ends. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn’t.

But a focus on strategy would have been better.

Here is the dictionary definition of the two words:

• Strategy: A plan, method or series of maneuvers for obtaining a specific goal or result.
• Tactics: Any mode of procedure for gaining advantage or success.

There is at least a subtle difference between the two, but one I think is important. It is that strategy is the bigger word, one that doesn’t just focus on activities, but that emphasizes goals and aspirations. It was what motivated us to call our firm, CFM Strategic Communications (CFM), when the time came several years ago to recognize that one of our partners was going to retire and we needed a new name.

An example or two from my role as a lobbyist may help to underline the difference between strategies and tactics.

1. Deepening the Columbia River Channel on behalf of the Port of Portland (a CFM client)

Our strategy here rested on the theory – not to mention the reality – that the Port of Portland served the entire region, not just Portland. Our work also rested on conveying a perception – a true one, by the way – that deepening the channel would serve as an economic benefit for the entire region as deeper-draft ships could ply their way up and down the Columbia River.

Our tactics were designed to cement that strategic focus in the minds of legislators who eventually would have to vote to make the channel deepening money available over multiple biennia. In one case, we produced a list showing how businesses in all of Oregon’s 36 counties used the Port of Portland and would benefit from increasing ship traffic – and we often called the Port of Portland, the Port of Oregon, if not the Port of the Region.

We also produced statistics that showed the potential economic benefit for the region beyond Oregon.

We started with a strategy, aiming at the big picture, then built the individual, daily tactics to serve that strategy. It was not just about the appropriation; it was conveying a big-picture rationale for the appropriation. The result was that legislators approved the allocation.

2. Supporting continued investments in Medicaid for low income Oregonians on behalf of Providence Health and Services (CFM’s long-standing client)

Here, we set out to describe Medicaid, the joint federal-state program, as a key feature of Oregon’s safety net for low-income Oregonians, many of them single mothers with young children.

To design tactics to serve the strategy, we developed a variety of communications materials to convey the reality that physicians and other medical personnel supported continued Medicaid investments. We also designed materials to make the funding case on behalf of actual patients who agreed to allow us to use photos and to tell their personal stories.

It was not just – appropriate the money. It was developing a strategic rationale for the appropriation. Again, the tactics served the strategy, not the reverse. And the result was success – the appropriation was approved.

All of this reminds me of the times when I have been asked to appear before a Willamette University graduate class where I often described the differences between strategy and tactics. My impression was that the class members accepted the difference.

I hope they did and that the differences between the two will help them succeed in their chosen fields, just as the differences have helped me succeed in mine over the years.

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

“Three Chears for Internships” was a headline for a piece that ran last week in the Wall Street Journal and, based on my own experience, I could not agree more.

I have watched as my daughter and her husband turned internships into full-time jobs. Without the internships, it is likely they would not have landed the employment, at least not as early as they did.

Here’s how the Wall Street Journal conveyed the point in its headline:

Three Cheers for Internships

Even without pay, they offer experience far more valuable than most classes.

The writer, Andy Kessler, put it this way:

“It’s that time of year. Students hoping to land summer internships are flooding inboxes with their résumés. Managers should hire as many as possible. It’s good for the company but even better for the student—and for society. Pay them? Don’t pay them? It doesn’t matter. Just let them in the door.

“In my junior year of college, I got an internship at Hewlett-Packard. It was way across the country in Cupertino, Calif., where Apple’s spaceship headquarters is today. To save money, since I had little, I got an apartment with no furniture, slept on the floor, used a shopping cart for a dresser, and borrowed a friend’s bike to get to work.

“Still, I can’t think of anything better for college students than plopping them in the middle of some exciting enterprise. It almost doesn’t matter what the company does; good interns absorb it all. I call it learning by osmosis. Lessons about your industry, trends, pricing and profits can’t help but work their way into the pores and brains of hungry students bored from endless reading assignments and seminars.

“Put them at the center of whatever a company does—not in the copy room. I can almost guarantee that they’ll be a net positive. The payback usually comes in the form of a single good idea, one productive change that fresh eyes will see while others, especially those sucking up for a promotion, won’t.”

For my daughter, her internship was arranged by Seattle Pacific University (SPU) at a new children’s clothing company organized by Anne Geddes, the famous photographer of babies. It was a great place for my daughter to get her start in the business.

Plus, she loved textile design, which was her major at SPU.

That first job led directly to another one as a clothing designer for Tommy Bahama, which was headquartered in Seattle.

Great for my daughter, but also great for me because I got a bunch of Tommy Bahama clothing, which was rejected for sale because of the smallest reasons, none visible to my naked eye.

From SPU, which my son-in-law also attended, he competed and got an internship at Microsoft, also headquartered in Seattle. It was a huge achievement because all of the other interns were from Ivy League schools back east.

My son-in-law has proved his worth. His internship led directly to employment and today he ranks as the CFO of Microsoft’s entertainment division, which includes X-Box.

To be sure, internships are not a magic answer to anything. But they provide a basis for a college student to obtain some experience that, as they apply themselves, will give them a leg up when they compete for full-time, post-internship jobs.

So, I say to colleges and universities – arrange all the internships possible. And I say to businesses – hire interns to give them experience, which can be gained in no other way.

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

This department, remember, is one I run with full and complete authority. This time, rather than just include quotes of the moment that may not leave much of a lasting impression, I list quotes that either have or will last the test of time.

The first, from General Colin Powell, is one I have referenced before and it speaks volumes about our national government, which has descended to depths Powell would not recognize today.

So, here goes with “quotes worth remembering for a long time.” 

1.  From General Colin Powell as he declined to run for president in 1996

It is one of my favorite quotes of all time because, in only a few words, a general who had earned the right to comment made it very clear that he would not run for president in 1996 – and he also commented on the sad state of government in the late 1990s.

“I bemoan the loss of civility in politics,” Powell said, as one reason why he would enter the race.

I didn’t blame him then and I can only imagine what he thinks today as our political life has descended to new depths due, in large part, to the “administration” of Donald Trump if the word “administration” is one that could be applied to the tweet-by-the-moment president.

2.  On why it is tougher to convict public officials of ethics violations , including in the matters involving former Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey, escaped conviction on corruption charges this year thanks in large part to “the Supreme Court’s 2016 McDonnell standard demanding clear evidence of a specific quid-pro-quo.”

Menendez escaped prosecution and, in the end, so did Kitzhaber as the Court issued a ruling in a case involving Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell who was in prison for misdeeds while in office, but who was released based on the new standard.

In some ways, it’s hard to argue with the standard, not to mention that it was promulgated by the highest court in the land. But it does make it harder to gain convictions for alleged public office corruption.

3.  Hillary Clinton hurt herself deeply when she used the phrase “basket of deplorables” in the race against Donald Trump

“You could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. … The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic … (Trump) tweets and re-tweets their offensive hateful mean-spirited rhetoric. Now, some of those folks — they are irredeemable, but thankfully they are not America.”

No doubt most of those in the “basket” voted for Trump.

Now for a quote closer to home.

4.  Prescient words from Oregon government administrator Fred Miller in his role as chief operating officer

I had the privilege of working with and for Fred as, with distinction, he served several governors in Oregon.

Off to the side, we often discussed big-picture issues involving government and one of his admonitions to me, one I remember very well to this day, was this:

“The easiest thing to do about government, including the legislature, is to be cynical about it. Don’t be.”

Fred’s point was that, with all its warts and distractions, representative government in Oregon is better than all the other alternatives.

His quote was one I remember almost every day as I went on to work as a state lobbyist for 25 years after my “training” with Fred. I tried to avoid being cynical about the legislature.  Instead, I tried to give those I was lobbying the benefit of the doubt that they were trying to do what they thought best, even if their view didn’t agree with me or my clients.

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

This was a headline the other day: “New Netflix documentary revisits the still-shocking story of the Rajneeshees in Oregon.”

With that headline – not to mention a number of other stories — memories of the strange episode in Oregon’s history, as well my role in it in the 1980s, came flooding back to me. Not just my role, but the role of the Administration of Governor Victor Atiyeh, for whom I worked and which faced incredibly difficult challenges from a rogue band of international cult followers.

When you reach the end of this blog, you’ll see how something so threatening for Oregon turned into something incredibly positive.

Oregonian newspaper reporter Kristi Turnquist wrote this about the upcoming Netflix documentary:

“Oregonians who were here when the amazing-but-true story of what happened when Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh came to Wasco County can still remember the shocking twists, turns and revelations about what the Rajneeshees and their leaders were up to.

“Those who weren’t here then can revisit this still-shocking saga in ‘Wild Wild Country,’ a new, six-part documentary series that begins streaming on Netflix on Friday, March 16.

“’Wild Wild Country’ goes back to the early 1980s, when a philosophy professor-turned guru from India called Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and his followers bought land in Oregon’s Wasco County. Rajneesh’s chief of staff, Ma Anand Sheela, was the organizer, and thousands of crimson-clad followers showed up to live and work on the commune.

“The headlines flowed like water from Rajneesh’s compound, where the Bhagwan was amassing a collection of Rolls-Royces, and Sheela was clashing with Oregon land-use officials and planning criminal schemes, including poisoning salad bars at restaurants in The Dalles.”

At the time, Governor Atiyeh, even with his long and credible record in state government, could not believe what was happening to “his state.” Neither could I.

It’s one thing for out-of-towners to camp in the Eastern Oregon wilderness. It’s another for thousands of them to flood into a state from around the world, intending to stay seemingly forever, taxing local resources, and planning destructive criminal enterprises while riding around in Rolls Royces.

As I worked with the governor’s chief of staff, Gerry Thompson, and others in the office, we tried to keep track of developments in Wasco County so we would know how best to respond, as well as help local officials respond.

We also had another huge benefit – Governor Atiyeh’s calmness and seasoned demeanor that helped to prevent a full-out battle with what clearly was a group of intruders with no understanding of the state they were invading.

It was the Governor who was able to bring all federal and state agencies together to deal with the Rajneesh threat. His steadfast posture also conveyed to Ma Anand Sheela (the Rejneesh leader named above) that she would not get what she wanted from the Atiyeh Administration, nor from the State Oregon.

The Governor did not get much credit for dealing with the Rajneesh emergency, but that was his style – credit wasn’t the issue; handling the problem with skill and dispatch was the priority. Without the Governor’s steady hand, the threat would have escalated far more broadly.

I wish various recent documentaries on the Rajneesh episode in Oregon would have included summaries of what the Atiyeh Administration did to control the problem. The Administration deserves far more credit than it is getting. And, in some cases, the documentaries have painted a far-too-positive picture of the invaders, suggesting that the episode was more fun than threatening.

Another articular piece of good news was that the governor’s chief of staff, Gerry Thompson, followed the governor’s lead by demonstrating a cool, but firm, hand in aligning all of the state’s resources to stop damage from the Rejneeshees. For one thing, she, with the State Police, had cultivated a source within the Rajneesh camp who alerted us privately to at least some of what was to come, including the crime of poisoning salad bars in The Dalles.

I remember standing in my Salem home late one evening on the phone with Gerry and her source as we endeavored to learn more about the Rajneesh plans, including the prospect of criminal action by commune leaders.

Another tactic employed by Rajneesh leaders was to go around the country and recruit homeless persons to come to Oregon to become part of the commune. Those persons, most of whom came to Oregon by bus, landed first in Portland where they taxed a variety of local charitable resources.

Many of the homeless persons didn’t make it to Wasco County. So, at one point, I was dispatched to Portland to help local charitable organizations respond to the influx of homeless persons who needed services. There were so many of them that we eventually decided to buy bus tickets to get the homeless persons back “home” where, at least, the demand for services could be spread out around a number of cities.

This story doesn’t end with just the fact that a strange and threatening commune invaded Oregon, though the foreboding reality episode has receded over the years.

Incredibly, the site of the former Rajneesh invasion has become a Young Life camp where the worth of knowing Jesus has been described literally to hundreds of young people in the last few years.

A fitting end to the Rajneesh story, I say!