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 to 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 press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as 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 often fear that we, in Oregon as well as nationally, have lost all ability for politics to work as it should, which means that those in public office appear unable to seek and find the smart middle on issues.

Too often, certain officials believe they alone are right and other side be damned.

This was best expressed several years ago by military leader and talked-about presidential candidate Colin Powell when he uttered one of my favorite quotes:

“I will not be running for president because I bemoan the loss of civility in politics.”

I am no Colin Powell, but I share his sentiment.

So it was that I read this week a column by former Salem Statesman Journal editorial page editor Dick Hughes who writes under the Capital Chatter headline.

His piece focused on legislators from both sides of the political aisle who gathered in Florence for the eighth annual Oregon Coastal Caucus Economic Summit.

“It was,” Hughes wrote, “a profound two days of wide-ranging discussions about infrastructure, which sounds boring but was not.

“It sets an example for decision-making. It is bi-partisan and bi-cameral. The current chair is a south coast legislator, Representative David Brock Smith, R-Port Orford. The vice chair is a north coast lawmaker, Senator Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose (whose districts stretches over to the North Coast).”

Here’s more information based on Hughes’ column.

During a legislative session, the eight coastal legislators meet once a week to discuss issues affecting the coast. They do not take a group stance on an issue unless everyone agrees. The relationships formed through their collaborations allow them to disagree on other issues while respecting the divergent viewpoints.

“The unity of this group is very unique,” said Senator Dallas Heard, R-Roseburg, who previously served in the Oregon House and now represents a large Senate district that includes the South Coast.

To Hughes, he recounted being so dispirited by partisanship in the House that he wondered about continuing as a legislator. He credited the Coastal Caucus with helping restore his hope and his passion, adding that it really is the “responsibility of legislators to work together for the common good of everyone.”

The rural-urban divide also was a big topic at the caucus meeting on the Coast. “I see it all the time on the national level,” said Representative Kurt Schrader who represents the 5th Congressional District. “There’s a lack of understanding by the folks in the cities about the plight we have out here.”

Schrader, who has a small farm in the Canby area, said he sometimes feels like he lives in a petting zoo.

“The city people will come out and spend money and time in my backyard,” he said. “Then they go back in the city and they pass all this legislation that makes it almost impossible for me to do what they seem to like to see and be part of.

“That’s a big problem. That’s why this group of bi-partisan individuals can make a huge difference in your state legislature.”

He said rural Oregonians need to be able to make a living, including through agriculture and forestry.

Representative Dave Gomberg, D-Otis, and his coastal colleagues pointed out that many of them represent districts that are neither conservative red nor liberal blue. Their constituents are both, and thus their districts are purple.

As a result, they have to collaborate and be able to defend their decisions on sound policy, not politics. Note this quote above:

“The relationships formed through their collaborations allow them to disagree on other issues while respecting the divergent viewpoints.”

Good news from the Oregon Coast. Perhaps the approach could serve as a model for the entire state. The Legislature in Salem would be better for it.