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 (Les AuCoin), 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 could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

If you want to see quality journalism, go to Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB). 

Listen to OPOB radio.  Watch OPB television.  Go to OOPB’s website. 

You’ll find quality in each of those locations.  Often better than anywhere else.

I was proud to represent OPB as its lobbyist at the Capitol in Salem for more than 10 years.  My old company, CFM Advocates, still lists OPB as a client.

We did a lot of good work during my tenure.  One of the major achievements was to prod the Legislature to invest $3 million in making sure OOPB signals reached Eastern Oregon to make sure those areas did not go dark.

Gaining those funds was a tribute, not to just to me, but to the credibility of OPB’s management structure led by CEO Steve Bass, who remains there today and continues to lead a great organization.

He came to Oregon from the East Coast and, while I worked with Steve, he set out to become familiar with every corner of Oregon.  One of the ways he did was to join, for a day, a number of orchestras around the state demonstrating his ability to play his flute.

By such actions, he raised the reputation of OOPB.

A recent OOPB story on vaccine availability illustrates the point about quality journalism.  The story included information and perspective, a tribute to journalistic enterprise beyond what is available elsewhere in Oregon

Here are excerpts from the OPB story:

“The initial deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines to Oregon, Washington state and Idaho are spoken for — at least well into next month. High-risk health care workers, EMT/paramedics and nursing homes have top priority to get the vaccine jab.  But then who?

“’We feel torn,” said a vaccine administrator.  ‘There is limited vaccine and we need to do the best decision making we can with the data we have and the values that are out there in terms of trying to share equitable access.’

Western state governors and state health officials are now reviewing a finalized recommendation from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for how to prioritize future vaccination phases.

On Sunday, a CDC advisory panel voted 13-1 to urge states to give the next round of vaccines to people 75 and older along with “frontline essential workers.” Then remaining essential workers, seniors aged 65-74 and other high-risk people would get the vaccine in the following phase after that.

Jonathan Modie, a spokesperson for the Oregon Health Authority, said his agency was pleased that the CDC elevated the oldest Americans into the vaccination group coming up next.  Their turn came later in prior drafts of the guidelines.

“’If we could vaccinate the 12 per cent of Oregonians who are 70+ years of age, we could prevent 76 per cent of COVID-19 deaths,’ Modie said in an email.

“The frontline essential workers placed at the head of the line by the CDC include teachers, daycare staff, grocery store workers, farmworkers and food processing, prison staff and postal workers.

Vaccination for this grouping could begin in mid-January at the earliest, according to Washington assistant health secretary Michele Roberts. She said the states do not yet know how many vaccine doses they will get in January, which introduces much uncertainty.

“An Idaho committee advising Gov. Brad Little has already ranked and prioritized essential workers for the upcoming next phase, putting police and fire responders who weren’t in the very first group at the head of the next line.  Those folks would be followed by teachers, correctional staff, food processing workers, grocery workers and Idaho National Guard members, in that order.

“The Washington health department and Gov. Jay Inslee’s office said an announcement of the state’s priority list would be posted as soon as it is ready, possibly within days. A draft plan for the allocation of the COVID-19 vaccine posted online by the state health department several weeks ago includes some modest differences from the newly finalized CDC guidelines.

“One difference is that the preliminary state plan prioritized vaccination of inmates in prisons and jails. The new CDC list ranks correctional staff highly, but is silent about where inmates belong in the sequence.

“A Seattle-based union local representing grocery store workers said it had ‘strong hopes’ that its members would land on Washington state’s vaccine priority list after being included in the CDC’s guidelines for who should share the next allocation — formally known as Phase 1b of the COVID-19 immunization drive.

“’The federal government could and should be doing more to maximize the production of the vaccine,’ Geiger said in an email. ‘We are not in favor of one essential worker competing with another essential worker for a vaccine that they both should have access to.’

“Anthony Anton, the president of a trade organization that represents thousands of restaurants across Washington, said he thought it was appropriate to prioritize teachers for vaccination so that students could get back in classrooms soon.

“Dara Khosrowshahi, the CEO of Uber, wrote to Inslee, Little, Oregon Governor Kate Brown and other governors earlier this month to ask that ride-hailing company driver also be given early access to the COVID-19 vaccine.  The Uber chief said they provide an essential service that other frontline workers rely upon.

“The new CDC guidelines call out transit operators as frontline essential workers deserving to be in the next vaccination group.  

“Roberts (from Washington) said her state is working to build online tools to assess one’s place in line, and then be notified by the state when it is time to be vaccinated.  That information system may also provide links to vaccination locations.  Health care providers will probably notify their patients who are high-risk when it’s their turn, she added.

“In the meantime, even though folks are getting tired of it, people will need to keep wearing masks when around others outside of home, keep gatherings small and maintain social distancing, advise your state and local health officers.”

The fact that information has changed in the last couple days since this story first appeared is just an indication that more will be coming from OPB.