Perspective from the 19^th Hole 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 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.

Two views of the “State of the State” emerged in Oregon this week as Governor Tina Kotek delivered her semi- annual “State of the State” address.

In a story reported by a solid local news organization, Salem Reporter, here is a summary:

FROM KOTEK/She called for resilience and optimism even as she struck notes of frustration with the enormous problems facing Oregon that only have been partially solved.

Kotek’s first State of the State address was delivered to a joint session of the House and Senate, with Attorney General Dan Rayfield, Secretary of State Tobias Read and Labor Commissioner Christina Stephenson listening, as well as more than a dozen judges and the leaders of Oregon’s nine tribal nations.

It came two years after she took office and began with a reminder of the challenges Oregon faced five years ago:  2020 began with reports of a mysterious disease outbreak in China, and the resulting COVID pandemic upended everything.  That fall, the 2020 Labor Day fires burned more than 850,000 acres and destroyed more than 4,000 homes.

As she spoke Monday, more than 400 Oregon firefighters and 235 engines were at work fighting another fire in California. That, Kotek said, is what Oregon does for its neighbors. 

FROM REPUBLICANS/House Minority Leader Christine Drazan, R-Canby, and Senate Minority Leader Daniel Bonham, R-The Dalles, recorded a joint video rebuttal to Kotek’s speech, which Drazan called a “doubling down of the status quo and the failed policies of the past.”

She and Bonham said Kotek’s Administration is responsible for driving up costs of food, fuel and housing and driving Oregonians to leave the state. 

“If you listen to just the words that were presented today, Tina Kotek paints a very flowery picture of Oregon, one full of hope and optimism and a bright vision for the future,” Bonham said. “But if you look at her 10 years as speaker of the House and first two as governor, what you’re faced with is abject failure.”

So, there you have it.  Two very different views.

Part of the difference arises because there are still “two Oregons” – urban Oregon where most of the Democrat legislative leaders live, and rural Oregon which is represented mostly by Republicans.

The two sides have had difficulty over the years seeing issues from each other’s perspective.  The division continues.

What happened this – differing comments from Democrats and Republicans — is normal as the two sides square off to spend the next six months together in Salem for the long legislative session.

What emerges over those months will be more pivotal than comments from either side at the start of the session.

Will the two parties be able to work together to find solutions to housing, homelessness, K-12 education (including its funding) and transportation?  The fact is that workable solutions, as always, lie somewhere in the middle, but finding that middle ground compromise is always fraught with peril.

For me, as I saw all this in the last few days, the display prompted me to remember my 25 years as a lobbyist in Oregon in which I watched such speeches and responses first-hand at the Capitol. 

Then as now, early comments from both sides are important, but not as important as the final actions later this spring.  So, pay attention.