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9Local politics, the county, and the world, as viewed by Tammy Maygra Tammy’s views are her own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bill Eagle, his pastor, Tammy’s neighbors, Wayne Mayo, Betsy Johnson, Brad Witt, Former President Trump, Henry Heimuller, Joe Biden, Pat Robertson, Ted Cruz, Joe Biden’s dogs, or Claudia Eagle’s Cats. This Tammy’s Take (with the exception of this disclaimer) is not paid for or written by, or even reviewed by anyone but Tammy and she refuses to be bullied by anyone. See Bill’s Standard Disclaimer
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Oregon Has a Bright Future
Many people in Oregon are upset with our state and the way democratic Governors have been doing business. The dislike, which many Oregonians felt towards Governor Brown, was down right nasty, they blamed her for closing businesses during COVID, which she did, they hated the mask mandates. All of which saved lives and got us through the pandemic, well better than many other states. Brown’s term expired after serving the allotted time, and another Democratic governor was elected, many Oregonians felt that Tina Kotek was going to be the same as Brown. But I think she will be better and quite different. She has pledged to increase accountability within the state’s agencies and encourage more partnerships between the government and businesses run by the private sector. The soon-to-be governor has already met with Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler to discuss housing and homelessness and pledged to meet with him every two weeks. Something Brown didn’t do. She also promises to focus her energy on some of the most pressing challenges facing the state: rising housing costs and homelessness, a lack of access to mental health and addiction services and helping the state’s poorly-performing public school system improve. Oregon falls pretty short when it comes to our kid’s education. While the rural areas in Oregon feel left out and troubled by the way they have to abide by rules dictated by the more liberal and populous areas, and despite being from Portland and pledging to focus on the state’s biggest city, Kotek promised to travel to every county in Oregon her first year in office, starting with Yamhill and Douglas counties. She is, at least, trying to bridge the gap between urban, and rural areas. Kotek said she views her role, in part, as the CEO of state government, managing 42,000 employees, and she said she plans to spend more time with agency leaders to ensure her expectations are known. The day she is sworn in, she said, she will also release a list of expectations she has of state agencies, and she pledged to follow through to ensure there is accountability. As governor, Kotek promised to focus on the homeless and housing crises facing the state. The only way to address those issues, she said, is by cultivating private/public partnerships. In addition to housing, she said, she plans to work with the private sector on three priorities; the first is early learning and childcare. I’ve heard from working parents, business leaders and child care providers all over the state: The lack of affordable child care is a huge problem that is holding back too many families and businesses. We have people in the medical field who cannot even get childcare because of the shifts they work. Kotek said she and her team will focus on ensuring federal dollars. She plans to do this through the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure and Jobs Act. She will leverage this money in Oregon to create new jobs, help mitigate climate change, help the state’s semiconductor industry grow and invest more dollars in the state economies. Finally, Governor Kotek pledged to continue to bolster the state’s trade opportunities with places like Asia. Gov. Brown recently returned from a trade mission in Asia to promote the state’s agricultural industry and to work to expand the semiconductor industry. I think Kotek has a huge job and a rough road ahead but I believe she can get things done, and I would hope those folks out there would give her a chance to see what kind of job she will do. Unfortunately there will quite a few of the haters who will not give her a chance, or give her credit even if she does well. I think Oregon has done quite well under the leadership of democrats and think Oregon will continue to thrive in all directions and issues.
Tammy
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