Our view: Governor shows recognition of rural issues during roundtable

Published 3:00 pm Friday, March 8, 2024

stock editorial our view

In the 2022 Oregon gubernatorial election, in every county east of the Cascades more voters cast their ballots for Democrat Tina Kotek’s Republican opponent, Christine Drazan, than they did for Kotek.

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Kotek won the election due to her big margins in the state’s most populous counties, all west of the mountains.

This has been the typical electoral pattern for state and federal races for more than two decades.

During a one-hour online roundtable on Feb. 28 in which Kotek answered questions from reporters and editors from EO Media Group newspapers, the governor showed a keen understanding that her state is divided politically as well as geographically.

More important, Kotek seemed determined to not only tell her constituents that she wants to bridge the former gap, but to prove her commitment through actions rather than words.

It was natural that the governor would tout her 2023 “listening tour,” during which she spent a day or more in each of Oregon’s 36 counties.

“It was a very inspiring year for me,” Kotek said during the Feb. 28 event.

Regarding the annual fees that owners of forest and rangeland east of the Cascades pay to the Oregon Department of Forestry for wildfire protection, Kotek conceded that the rate hikes the agency imposed in 2023 were “substantial,” and that the state needs to ease that financial burden.

The governor said she supported House Bill 4133, which is intended to accomplish that goal.

Housing, of course, was a frequent topic during the roundtable.

Although Kotek made predictable comments about the need to make more (and more affordable) housing available, we appreciated her recognition that tactics that might be effective in urban areas likely aren’t appropriate, or useful, in rural cities and counties.

“We need all different types of housing options, and we have to make sure we meet what the community’s needs are, particularly rural and frontier communities,” she said.

That could include the state offering incentives to construction companies to build housing in rural areas, she said.

Kotek also said she’s committed to expanding wildfire protection and Oregon State Police patrols, two issues that are important in our part of the state.

She also touted state efforts to make high-speed internet access available to remote areas, giving residents across the state the same options for remote work that urban residents already enjoy.

In response to a question about the Greater Idaho movement, the most palpable example of rural Oregonians’ dissatisfaction with the state government, Kotek said those sentiments “hurt me as a governor.”

But she also acknowledged that those concerns are not without merit.

Some of what the state government does, she said, is not working everywhere.

“And when it’s not working in your community, it’s not working in the state,” Kotek said.

These are general statements, to be sure.

But we’re encouraged by Kotek’s willingness to admit that rural Oregonians’ complaints are in some cases legitimate, and that as governor she is obliged to not merely recognize the problem but to take actual steps to try to address it.

“We have to show it, every day, in everything we do,” she said.

We’ll be watching to see whether her words translate into action.

Those voters who cast their ballots for Kotek’s opponent no doubt will be doing the same.

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