I’m not usually a fan of anniversary stories — particularly those attached to tragedies. Too often they ask us to care again about something we would have cared more about the first time, had we known then what we know now.

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s family voiced concerns when a movement began to recognize the civil rights activist and martyr with a national holiday. Early efforts focused on the day his assassination woke a nation, but his family insisted we should celebrate the day he was born — not the day he died. They were right.

Today marks an exception to that rule. On this day, many years ago, people on two continents died unexpectedly and it’s worth remembering why. In Japan, it became known as the Silent Tsunami. Native Americans tell stories about a Ghost Forest. Nobody understood what caused those deaths until just a few decades ago.

Scientists only recently mapped the shifting tectonic plates beneath the Pacific Ocean. Geologic forces are pushing the plates in opposite directions, creating the Cascadia Subduction Zone. It stretches from Mendocino, California to Winter Harbor, British Columbia. The pressure along this fault line slowly builds, until the plates slip to relieve the pressure, creating a massive earthquake and enormous tsunamis.

Nobody alive today can speak to the horrors that happened on this day in 1700, but everyone alive today can do things to lessen the horror when it repeats. Because it will. The cataclysm that occurred 318 years ago today was the latest of a long series of recurring events.

Happy Anniversary, Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake! Today is a day to look back and look ahead because that’s how anniversaries are useful. We must face three fixed facts before we can move on.

First, the next occurrence of this earthquake is overdue. According to at least one geologist, it’s way overdue. Oregon State University professor Chris Goldfinger, using core samples off the coast of Oregon, traces 28 similar events over the past 6000 years.

Only once before, by Goldfinger’s measurements, have quakes been separated by more than 250 years. The average has been about every 200 years. Today we’re marking 318 years. Each delay adds more pressure. In this way, it’s less like a train than a sneeze.

Second, the next quake’s potential seismic power could be 9.0 or even 9.2 on the Richter scale. The shaking could last between four and five minutes. Tsunami flooding would quickly follow.

At that level, it would represent the largest natural catastrophe ever faced by the United States of America. Dams and bridges will fail. Landslides will block roads. Power grids will snap. Gas lines will explode.

People will find themselves separated into thousands of disconnected “islands” of survivors — workers, residents, and stranded passersby — forced to cooperate or compete for survival. In less time than it takes to make a bowl of microwave popcorn, society may be stretched and torn in ways we’ve never seen.

Third, nothing can be done to prevent it.

But much can be done to prepare for it. The state and federal governments could do quite a bit more to reinforce bridges and to strategically plan for shoring up the most vital points to reconnect those islands of isolation.

Families can plan where and how they will meet, in case of this or any other disaster. Storing canned goods and water for two weeks’ survival is considered prudent. You should pack a so-called “go bag” with emergency essentials. Stash one in your car and another near the front door of your house.

If your house was built before the early 1950s, you may want to inquire whether it was attached to its foundation, or simply placed upon it. Some neighborhoods are already mapping special needs and resources for their immediate area.

If preparing for an unavoidable disaster is what it takes for us to get to know our neighbors and understand how to help one another, so be it. With proper planning and just a little bit of luck, an epic disaster could be remembered by survivors as little more than a major inconvenience.

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Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column each Friday for The Register-Guard and blogs at www.dksez.com. Visit www.cprep.org to learn more about how you can be prepared.

The post The Big One is Coming appeared first on dkSez : : : : : : Don Kahle's blog.

Today marks 318 years since the last Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake. We know the next one is coming, and that it’s overdue. By all available estimates, the next one could be the largest natural disaster in the history of the United States.

But we also know something else. Humans don’t do well preparing for an indeterminate disaster. Fear is a fine motivator when the deadline is certain, but fear won’t mobilize most of us to get ready what’s coming.

I’ve been reading about this earthquake and how we can prepare for the worst, but my better angels wouldn’t stop asking what may seem an impertinent question. How can we use this impending disaster as an opportunity? If we can blot out the actual occurrence itself — we may be able to focus instead on what precedes and follows it.

Training and performance are actually two versions of the same thing. They are continuous, separated only by an event. This continuity has been intensely studied in musicians, athletes, military, and first responders. Simply put, you cannot react in ways for which you didn’t prepare. (Not all preparation is conscious, so any surprises on the latter side of that continuity are solely from our lack of awareness.)

But what happens to the training for which you never need to perform? Not every sequence you practice ends up being used, but does that mean those efforts were wasted? Where does that excess reside? Can it be found before it is needed? Or is the event the only way to tap that “extra gear”? I believe it’s possible that excess training always give a residual benefit, even though it may not be easily measured.

In the case of a societal upheaval, which the next CSZ earthquake could produce, those residual benefits could add up to make a significant societal difference.

If training and performance are really one thing presented as two, our definition of “normal” is really two things, but thought of as one.

We think of normal in two different ways: status and slope. We talk most often about normal as a static state of being — status quo. But what we experience as normal has more to do with an acceptable degree change over time. For things to feel normal, the rate of change tomorrow needs to be roughly the same as it was yesterday.

We all like neighborhood stability, but we don’t insist that no one on the block should be allowed to move or die or add a room to their house. It feels normal, so long as the people who move in are roughly similar to those who moved out. We’d also prefer that everybody not add an extra room to their house at the same time. Slow change is normal — it’s the very definition of normal.

Now, add and combust.

After a cataclysm, we’ll all want to get back to normal as quickly as possible. We should be preparing and training now, so we can get back to that status quo. The speed at which we return to that point is where we may have an amazing opportunity.

If we can accept the rate of change as we race back to status quo as our “new normal,” we can continue improving at that accelerated pace. Once we’ve seen we can get better faster, why slow down after we’ve recouped whatever loss the disaster produced? Sustained improvement at a quicker pace would then be available to us. But better than that, it would feel normal.

Japan’s manufacturing juggernaut after World War II was the residual benefit from their post-war ash heaps. Many parts of Africa today have better cell phone connectivity than we do, because they never got wired with copper. Sometimes it’s true that the last shall be first.

In this case, the last and the first are both us (after and before the occurrence).

How can we train in a way that allows us to perform at a higher level, returning as quickly as possible back to “normal”? And what will we need to maintain that “new normal” trajectory of change for as long as possible?

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Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column each Friday for The Register-Guard and blogs at www.dksez.com.

The post There’s a Big Opportunity Coming appeared first on dkSez : : : : : : Don Kahle's blog.

Their collection trucks are still emblazoned with the web address they popularized with an advertising campaign, even though the redemption rate doubled a year ago this week. How well do you “know your nickel?”

Visiting www.knowyournickel.org will land you at Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative’s website. (Just to save you the trouble, www.knowyourdime.org will get you to the same place.) Who is the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative?

It’s a story worth knowing, because those are your nickels-cum-dimes being collected whenever you buy a beverage. I can offer you a brief rundown, and yes — I’ll be glad to add my two cents.

Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative was incorporated in 1987, but didn’t do anything notable until it consolidated Container Recovery, Inc. and Beverage Recyclers of Oregon in 2009. It was ready to go when Oregon expanded its first-asterisk-in-the-nation Bottle Bill.

(Vermont had the nation’s first “bottle bill” in 1953, but repealed it in 1957. British Columbia was first to enact a beverage recycling deposit system, one year before Oregon passed its Bottle Bill in 1971.)

Oregon’s large grocers and beverage distributors have used OBRC as their front man to lobby for changes to how Oregonians recycle. They promised everybody something they wanted. It was less about beverage, more about leverage.

Lawmakers in Salem were assured that more containers would be recycled, with no cost to the government. The public was promised easier, more efficient bottle returns. Grocers could look forward to not mixing bottle sales with bottle redemptions.

You could have asked anyone in the grocery business what part of their job they liked the least. Nobody wanted to deal with the messy and sometimes dangerous work of collecting and crushing glass so it could be efficiently hauled away to make more glass.

Automated systems were constantly getting jammed. Bins of heavy glass had to be regularly swapped out. The grocery industry prides itself in optimization and cleanliness. Redeeming bottles and cans is neither.

Lobbyists like one-stop shopping as much as supermarket customers, and that’s what they got in 2007, when the legislature mandated a top-to-bottom review of Oregon’s container redemption system.

In 2009, bottled water was added to the redemption system. In 2011, the legislature passed another update which required the Oregon Liquor Control Commission to double the deposit amount if the redemption rate fell below 80 percent for two consecutive years.

That’s exactly what happened in 2016, when OLCC announced the deposit would double to a dime, beginning April 1, 2017. Why did the redemption rate fall below the acceptable level? One factor that must have contributed was that third promise made by the OBRC — the one they made to the grocers.

They began building BottleDrop™ Redemption Centers in 2014. Yes, they are clean and well lit — at least when they first open, as another site did in Springfield this week. Yes, they are modern and somewhat automated. But no, they are not as convenient as redeeming your bottles at the store where you bought them.

Supermarket chains are allowed to “pay their way out” of their state-mandated redemption responsibility. That’s not a viable option for corner stores, so many of them are forced to accept bottles brought to them or prey on the public’s ignorance about what is required by whom.

But this is all about knowing your nickel, er, dime, right? So where does the dime go after you pay the deposit at the store? It goes to the OBRC, which is effectively privately owned by beverage distributors. The dime comes back to you if you return that bottle, but what if you don’t? In large states like California and New York, that money is added to the state treasury, but not in Oregon.

The dime stays with the OBRC, to fund bottle collection and more BottleDrop™ Redemption Centers. The OBRC and its members benefit when redemption rates decline. “The beauty … is it relies on the people who don’t participate to fund it,” OBRC lobbyist Paul Romain bragged to Willamette Week last year.

Now you know.

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Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column each Friday for The Register-Guard and blogs at www.dksez.com.

The post Putting the Dime on Oregon’s Bottle Recyclers appeared first on dkSez : : : : : : Don Kahle's blog.

Friday the 13th isn’t a day we celebrate, but it is one we recognize. Superstitions aside, consider how much luck has contributed to whatever we call our fate — as people and as a state.

On this Friday the 13th, check out a new, six-part Netflix documentary, “Wild Wild Country.” It recounts some of Oregon’s unluckiest days. It includes some familiar faces.

In the first episode, Wasco County Commissioner William Hulse remarks, “Someone will write a book about this. The people that read it will say that it’s fiction.” The arrival of Indian guru Bhagwan Rajneesh and his followers in 1981 begins a tale of utopia, ambition, espionage, and attempted murder. But it’s not fiction, and there’s more that will be familiar than the names and faces.

Rajneesh charged his personal secretary and spokesperson Ma Anand Sheela to find land in America for a utopian commune that would practice Rajneesh’s “New Man” teachings, rejecting cultural limits on sexuality and greed. They bought the 64,000-acre Big Muddy Ranch near Antelope, Oregon and his disciples went to work.

The cult didn’t steal a part of central Oregon. They hacked our systems and freedoms to assert their rights as new Oregonians. The state’s new land use laws became the first line of defense. They voted to give themselves home rule as an Oregonian city. When that didn’t give them the freedoms they wanted, they set their sites instead on nearby Antelope, Oregon.

Rajneeshees began buying properties and claiming their rights as Antelope residents. They took over the town and elected their own mayor, changing the name of the village to Rajneesh. They kept an appearance of democracy by retaining one longtime resident, John Silvertooth, on the local city council.

Wasco County then exerted its authority, so the Rajneeshees began recruiting homeless people from across the country to move to central Oregon. They promised them room and board, if they’d only step on a waiting bus and register to vote when they arrived.

When it became clear they couldn’t amass a majority before the county election, they took another tack. They tried fiery rhetoric and poisoned salad bars to see if they could suppress the vote enough to gain control.

Against their plans, three heroes emerge. Dave Frohnmayer was Oregon’s attorney general. As a Constitutional law professor, he had a keen interest in the necessary separation of church and state.

Frohnmayer may not have become aware of the magnitude of the threat coming from a desolate spot of the state, had he not heard from his lifelong friend, Bill Bowerman. Bowerman’s son, Jon, ranched next door to The Big Muddy in Antelope.

Bowerman’s weren’t the only cowboy boots on the ground in Antelope. Silvertooth stopped one day at the city dump and saw some Rajneesh posters that might be worth saving as collectibles. Surrounded by his neighbors’ trash, Silvertooth discovered incriminating documents that hadn’t been properly shredded.

I don’t mind giving away parts of the story because the story’s not fiction. If you lived in Oregon in the early 1980s, you may remember how it all unfolded in real time. You won’t feel cheated that I highlighted a few points of the saga.

It’s hard to think of events in our own lifetimes as part of our heritage, but when those events are as large and spectacular as these, the shadows of history are cast quickly. After watching the miniseries, you’ll know Oregon a bit better — and probably love it a little bit more.

You’ll also recognize in the story some familiar themes that are recurring around us today. It’s important to remember that our freedoms have been hacked before, setting neighbor against neighbor. Antelope survived the tumult because they’d always been a place where people help one another. We may need to summon that mettle again.

You might not be an attorney general or the childhood friend of one. You might be only the guy who ends up finding important evidence carelessly discarded at the dump. We all have a part to play. Not every hero will be well known.

Circumstances don’t shape our destiny. Character does.

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Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column each Friday for The Register-Guard and blogs at www.dksez.com.

The post Recalling Some of Oregon’s Unluckiest Days appeared first on dkSez : : : : : : Don Kahle's blog.

Dear China,

Please take us back. At least take our stuff back. We had some good years together and then things went bad. We’re sorry. It’s just not the same without you. You were right and we were wrong. We see that now. We’ll do better. We’ve changed. You’ll see. Just give us another chance.

You started complaining about our recycling standards a while ago, but we didn’t really pay much attention. We figured it was just something you said to let off a little container-cleansing steam. We didn’t think you were serious. We certainly didn’t think you were talking about us.

But now that we have to throw away all that plastic we collect, it really stings. We can’t bear to look when we’re filling up our trash. It’s amazing how quickly it spills over the top. We’ll need to get larger trash cans and more landfills if we can’t patch things up with you.

You may not understand how much this hurts us in Oregon. The West Coast has more environmental consciousness than the rest of our country. Every holiday back home includes some reference to how much more careful we are about our trash. We hear “green” as a value first and as a color second.

But the rest of the West Coast has it easier. California uses tons more plastic than we do, but when they begin to feel bad about it, they can take that angst and make a movie out of it. Our neighbors in Seattle can write software or ship products that somehow make the world better.

In between, here in Oregon, recycling is just about all we’ve got. We’re nothing without you. Once our trash bins look like everybody else’s, there’s nothing special about us. Sure, we can take a long walk in the woods, but we’re bound to see some discarded ziplock plastic bags left behind by competitive hikers. That just reminds us all over again how we did you wrong, how we need you back.

We’ll do anything. We’ll give back our commingled collection containers. We wondered if that was really such a good idea in the first place. We’ll sort everything ourselves, if it means we can recycle lids again. We’ll go back to open receptacles so all the neighbors can see how we’re doing. Neighbors used to do that around here, calling out scofflaws.

We’ll wash everything by hand, or run every container through the dishwasher. We’ll flatten our cardboard completely. We’ll cut out the bottoms of our cans and flatten those too. We’ll even soak the cans and remove the paper labels. We used to do that, before somebody decided recycling should be easy.

We see things more clearly now. Nothing easy is really worth it, and nothing worthwhile is ever easy. We’ll take classes to learn more about what we can do. We’ll wear ribbons or buttons to recruit others to the cause.

Forget about collecting it all. We’ll bring our recycling to a central location, where it can be inspected for cleanliness. We’ll show our ID, we’ll sign an affidavit, we’ll name two Master Recyclers as character witnesses.

We’ll stack everything neatly and store it all in our garage or in our spare bedroom. We’ll tote it onto a barge ourselves, if that’s what it takes — return postage guaranteed!

Install cameras in our kitchens so you can randomly watch us clean every container. We’ll stamp every item with our social security number, if that’s what it will take for you to trust us. We won’t cheat again. We promise.

We feel terrible about the assumptions we made. We didn’t try as hard as we could, because we didn’t believe we’d ever really lose you.

We know things can’t go back to the way things were. We understand that. We want what you want. We want things to be different. We can get back together again, but it’ll be better this time.

We’re crawling over crushed-but-not-yet-recycled glass to win back your favor. Please don’t kick us to the curb again. The neighbors will be watching.

Sincerely,

Eugene Oregon

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Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) blogs at www.dksez.com.

The post Please Take Us Back, China! Please. appeared first on dkSez : : : : : : Don Kahle's blog.

I’m not sure which end of President Trump’s pardon for Dwight and Steve Hammond bothers me more — message sent or message received? Taken together, they leave less room for those of us who want a society shaped by something between monarchy and anarchy.

The Hammonds have claimed to be “victims of government overreach,” but the facts presented at trial show a case of “government reach.” For decades, they flouted federal grazing statutes and required range management practices. Each reprimand they received resulted in little more than a slap on the hand.

When U.S. District Court Judge Michael Hogan imposed sentences less than the law required, the U.S. Attorney’s Office appealed the ruling. The case eventually returned to Eugene, where Chief Judge Ann Aiken imposed the Congressionally mandated five-year prison terms. The system worked as it was designed.

Nevertheless, the supposed injustice it represented led Cliven Bundy, his sons and others to seize the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge outside of Burns, Oregon. That 2016 stand-off lasted 41 days, resulted in one death and enough property damage to attract additional felony charges.

The Bundys were prosecuted with anti-terrorism statutes and a jury acquitted them of all charges. If there was any government overreach, it was in this subsequent case. But the jurors refused to convict on the trumped-up charges. Again, the system worked.

Defenders of the Hammonds describe them as “responsible ranchers” and that may be mostly true. But the evidence presented at trial showed them also to be liars, scofflaws, arsons, and thugs. They poached a herd of deer out of season in 2001, then set a fire to federal property to cover up the crime. If they didn’t threaten violence themselves, they condoned it on their behalf.

They resented any government interdictions. They believed they always knew what was best for their cattle and the federal land they fed off, regulations be damned. In short, they were anarchists — skeptical of any role for government, except to benefit them.

Their imprisonment incited others to violence. Their followers have developed intricate theories of constitutional limits on the jurisdictional reach of the federal government. If the land they roam has no rightful owner, it’s an anarchist Shangri La. It’s not lawlessness if it’s beyond the reach of law.

President Trump’s action this week resets the ongoing battle of Bullets vs. Badges that has never stopped shaping life and order in the rural west.

Every federal worker who carries a badge now must consider what possible political connections a criminal may have to help them evade the consequences of their actions. The full force of the federal government became less fulsome.

The White House’s explanation for the pardon demonstrated nothing except a misunderstanding of the history and purpose of the presidential pardon power. “The Hammonds’ responsibility … was conflicting, and the jury acquitted them on most of the charges,” the statement read.

The framers of our government gave the president the same pardon power as the hated King George III. That couldn’t have been an easy decision. Pardons were retained, not as a corrective to the judicial system, but as a tool for mercy and magnanimity.

The judicial system works. But the system may not always be enough. Pardons should soften — not subvert — justice in America.

Previous presidents have used presidential pardons sparingly. Intricate systems have been built around the power, to prevent accidental abuse. Thousands of requests are received each year. Almost none receive the president’s attention until they have been thoroughly vetted by White House attorneys.

Most pardons typically have been issued toward the end of a president’s tenure in office, so that Americans won’t worry that this unbridled power is being used for personal or political gain. But as with so many other protective protocols, this president has removed the guardrails.

Pardons have become this president’s new favorite plaything. He uses them to burnish his image, to appeal to his most loyal supporters, or just to show how he relishes unchecked power.

Our president acts like a king and anarchists walk free. The rule of law is being attacked and diminished from both ends.

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Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column each Friday for The Register-Guard and blogs at www.dksez.com.

The post Searching for the Sweet Spot Between Monarchy and Anarchy appeared first on dkSez : : : : : : Don Kahle's blog.

I had a visit this week from a childhood friend who comes from Trump Country. He and most of his family voted for Trump, which was a topic we studiously avoided. Nevertheless, I understand better how hard-working Midwesterners have found themselves attracted to his candidacy and now to his presidency.

I learned this lesson somewhere between Walterville and Marcola. My friend Brett told me about the Left Turn Rule: “There will be no oncoming traffic on a rural road until you need to cross it.” Sure enough — when we reached the end of Camp Creek Road, we had to wait before turning left.

He recounted a time when he and his uncle saw nary a living sole in rural Wisconsin until the exact moment they needed to turn left. Opposition is conjured by desire. Weather and work can be hard in the Midwest. There’s something akin to comfort in knowing that it’s all part of some grand plan — even if that plan is malevolent.

The Left Turn Rule clearly falls into the canon of Murphy’s Law: “Whatever can go wrong will go wrong.” This law is enforced and reinforced by Murphy’s three henchmen: Woulda, Coulda, and Shoulda.

Brett told a story about a neighbor buying a commercial property he coveted. I countered with a similar story of a house I tried to buy, until a neighbor pulled a fast one and now I’m glad I wasn’t saddled with the burden of that fixer-upper. He answered the volley with a botched car deal that taught his son never to trust anyone selling anything.

At first, I was startled that we were threading our conversation so differently. His stories ended badly for whoever was the main character — usually him. Most had a dangerous undertow of “if only.” He was telling his stories, while also wishing he could rewrite them.

We’ve been close enough for long enough that I felt I could confront him. “Murphy was a heretic. You’re feeding a monster,” I told him in no uncertain terms. “If you’re expecting bad, there’s no doubt you’ll see it when it comes. But you’re also more likely to miss your own good fortune, because that’s not the story you’re telling yourself. Good news doesn’t fit your narrative.”

We’ve both had plenty of hardship in our lives. That’s not what’s relevant here. The stories we tell animate the world around us, and many people in the heartland have gotten used to shading their stories in darker tones.

The cold might not kill you, but it could kill your crop. If the cold doesn’t get it, a blight might. If bugs can be outmaneuvered, a drought cannot. Commodity prices could drop, just when it’s time to sell. It’s the Left Turn Rule. Conditions change at the least opportune moment to the worst possible outcome.

Contrast that sensibility with the potlatch heritage of the Pacific Northwest. Abundance abounds. Our land is as fertile as anywhere on the planet. The winter rains store water in the mountains, flowing toward us later, when we need it. Our world conspires in our favor, responding to each and every glimmer of gratitude.

I understand that neither model represents the world as it is. Brett tells his stories and I tell mine. In many ways, you could argue that his have produced more success. He’s wary of change, conservative in his choices, and expects little from others. He expects even less from government — he’s glad every day his pocket doesn’t feel picked.

I didn’t ask, but I’ll bet it made sense to him when candidate Trump asked African Americans in Detroit, “What the hell have you got to lose?” Trump’s acceptance speech claim that he “alone can fix it” probably resonated. The carnage Trump described at his inaugural address must have looked familiar.

That’s a picture of the world I grew up with, but it’s not the one I live in today. I don’t know if I changed or the world around me did. I guess I believe that’s a distinction without a difference. Brett and I still love each other. We just turn left differently.

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Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column each Friday for The Register-Guard and blogs at www.dksez.com.

The post Murphy’s Law and the American Midwest appeared first on dkSez : : : : : : Don Kahle's blog.

Nobody has started a full-fledged “Keep Eugene Weird” movement, because it hasn’t been necessary. Yet. Complacency about nonconformism can have grave consequences, recent Pacific Northwest history attests.

“Keep Portland Weird” took hold in 2003, copying a successful campaign to “Keep Austin Weird” that started in the 1970s. There is no “Keep Seattle Weird” campaign, because it’s too late for that now. If you google “Keep Seattle …,” the first six pages return “Keep Seattle Livable.” Seattle is stuck playing defense now.

In fact, the best homage to the slogan has emerged in a Seattle neighborhood that fears gentrification will dilute its reputation as a safe haven for the city’s substantial gay population: “Keep Capitol Hill Queered.” Seattle still does irony pretty well.

Eugene has seen no need to protect its eccentricities. For the last half century, we’ve had almost nothing else. “Weird Eugene” was considered redundant. Promoting Eugene’s weirdness made as much sense as renting a pillow factory for your pre-teen’s slumber party. You know it’ll be a mess in the morning, no matter what. If you don’t make it too easy, then at least they’ll be resourceful about it.

In any other place, a gray-haired guy who sells hand-written joke books on city sidewalks would stand out like a year-round Santa Claus — especially when almost no one knows his real name and no one can remember him ever doing anything else. And yet, here in Eugene, David “Frog” Miller fades into our woodwork of weirdness.

Last weekend’s Whiteaker Block Party showed plenty of weirdness, from a decidedly eclectic musical lineup to revelers regaled in back-of-the-closet outfits. But something weird has happened to even that reliable weirdness. Marijuana dispensaries are fighting for market share, so they rent booths at local festivals to build their brand awareness.

OLCC won’t allow dispensaries to sell or distribute a regulated product at all-ages street fairs. Instead, they give away swag. At various festivals, I’ve seen coupons for edibles, brand-emblazoned Frisbees and yo-yos, and a lemonade booth offering to add a micro-dose of CBD to their drink for an extra two dollars.

These are the sorts of things we used to see in the Oregon Country Fair parking lot, in Scobert Park after dark, or in particular downtown alleys (by appointment only.) Now there are billboards, sign wavers on street corners, and a flood of advertising in Eugene Weekly.

Weirdness has gone mainstream across the Northwest. At the same time, Eugene is developing a reputation as a place where you can succeed in business and raise a family in relative safety, while staying active and healthy. As other coastal cities lose livability, Eugene has begun to look like an attractive alternative.

We have a major university, a well-used library, and a vibrant nightlife without high crime rates. If you don’t have to live on the area’s median wage, our housing costs are affordable and taxes aren’t as high as they are in other places known for their quirkiness.

Can you see the encroaching peril for Eugene? Commercial and mainstream influences are effectively narrowing the channel of weirdness that we have always accepted as charm. That charm could fade to invisibility. Seattle’s lesson is this: once it’s gone, you cannot rebuild it.

Now more than ever, we must preserve and protect those things about us that make absolutely no sense. We have to support outdoor tuba concerts, mausoleum tours, nude beaches for middle-aged bathers, and our S.L.U.G. Queen pageant.

The Society for the Legitimization of the Ubiquitous Gastropod has been crowning a queen (of any gender) every summer since 1983. Royal rambunctiousness is more important now than ever — now, as in tonight!

It was 20 years ago when a S.L.U.G. Queen contestant proclaimed, “Normal is a setting on my washing machine. It has nothing to do with me.” She didn’t live inside her washing machine and we shouldn’t either. So grab a lawn chair and cheer for this year’s contestants. The coronation will take place on the Park Blocks tonight at 6 PM. Keep Eugene Weird.

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Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column each Friday for The Register-Guard and blogs at www.dksez.com.

The post Keep Eugene Weird appeared first on dkSez : : : : : : Don Kahle's blog.

The University of Oregon’s 2018 Commencement speaker, Miguel McKelvey, grew up in Eugene, graduated from UO in 1999, and is probably the university’s youngest billionaire alumnus. Amazingly, he made his estimated $1.4 billion in less than a decade.

He and two others founded WeWork in 2010, providing collaborative work spaces in 65 cities around the world, including more than two dozen major American cities. The basic business model is simple enough. WeWork rents workspaces to people and businesses who need an extra office for a few hours a day or a few hours a month.

The additional benefits for WeWork’s members may be less intuitive. Remote or online work can be lonely, so each WeWork facility makes it easy for members to meet one another. There are plenty of generous spaces for collaborating, conference rooms are available, and keg parties are not uncommon.

McKelvey’s degree was in architecture, so his role as Chief Culture Officer is focused on making the work environment as rich and satisfying as possible. As the company’s website describes it, “A place you join as an individual, ‘me’, but where you become part of a greater ‘we’. Community is our catalyst.”

Portland is the nearest WeWork location, and also one of its smaller host cities. McKelvey and his partners started in New York City, where renting a modest office or an apartment with an extra bedroom is out of reach for somebody trying to make it in the gig economy.

WeWork’s economic model is not new. Health clubs essentially rent space and equipment to their members. WeWork provides its members with fast Internet, business-grade printers, and a constant flow of fresh-brewed coffee. Think of them as “work clubs” — because Starbucks doesn’t work for everyone who needs a remote office.

Could the old downtown LCC building on Willamette Street be transformed into a WeWork facility? Possibly, but Eugene already has a couple of forward-looking tech incubators and shared work spaces that are filling this need already quite well. I’m wondering more about Oakridge and Mapleton and Blue River — places so small that they’ve been overlooked by Starbucks.

Small towns are not where the money is, but don’t tell that to Wal-Mart. They focused initially on small markets, where they had less competition. WeWork promises its members a better work environment, but small towns across America would be thrilled to have any work at all. Skiing and fishing don’t last all year, but residents’ desire to eat does.

Small towns have plenty to offer people, so long as they can somehow make a living. Housing costs and crime rates are low. Beauty, especially in Oregon, is easy to access. And the slower pace allows the pleasure of that beauty to sink in.

But jobs are hard to come by in rural America. Why exactly is that, with this thing we have called the Internet? If people had access to a high-speed connection and basic business amenities, how many of those “work from anywhere” jobs could be done by people attracted to — or motivated to stay in — a rural setting?

WeWork’s success relies on the serendipity of meeting others using adjoining workspaces. Can some of the benefits of proximity be replicated in a digital world? What would bring rural neighbors together around shared economic benefits?

Designers constantly rethink assumptions as new tools become available. Early residents of high-rise buildings weren’t meeting one another, because elevators are quicker and quieter than stairs. Automatic garage door openers isolated suburban neighbors. Moving mailboxes back to the curb or to common areas gave people opportunities to bump into one another. Waving and chatting with others is important.

Small towns will die if somebody doesn’t do something different. Could shared workspaces become the beating heart at their center? Those spaces might look less like a brew pub and more like a farmer’s market, but it could work. It could wework.

Given the widening cultural divide between urban and rural America, that’s something a Chief Culture Officer could see as more than an economic opportunity. Bridging that economic gap could be nothing less than an act of patriotism.

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Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column each Friday for The Register-Guard and blogs at www.dksez.com.

The post We Need a Rural WeWork Model appeared first on dkSez : : : : : : Don Kahle's blog.

Since they’ve been much in the news lately, why don’t you run and grab your utility bills? Let’s go through them together. Go ahead — we’ll stay right here.

While we wait, we have time for a quick joke. Never open your water and electric bills simultaneously, because you could get shocked. It all depends on how you conduct yourself.

OK, welcome back. You have your bills in hand now? Good. Look for the detailed part of your bill. We want to focus on the first line. If it’s a bill from Eugene Water & Electric Board, it’s called “Cost of Basic Service” and it’s listed separately for electricity and for water. (If you missed the joke, you didn’t miss much.) Lane Electric calls this first line “Basic Charge.” Northwest Natural goes with “Monthly Service Charge.”

This top line never changes. Utility companies could better label this line, “Cost of Having Service At All.” You must pay this amount each month, even if you never use an ounce of water, a watt of electricity, or a therm of natural gas — though I confess I don’t know what a therm is. This top-line charge covers the utility’s cost of keeping its lights on, even if none of its customers did the same.

It would be as if a restaurant charged each patron a set fee at the door to cover the establishment’s fixed monthly costs, and then charged only for ingredients and prep time for each menu item.

The next line on your bill reflects how much you used, sometimes accompanied by a separate line for delivering what you used. Looking at my own bill, if my power company included a carry-out option, I could save 30 percent. But how would I get my energy home? Maybe a large thermos would do the trick.

Below all that, you may find miscellaneous other charges that the utility company has no control over. They are sometimes required to collect fees for the city or the state — because government needs money to keep its lights on, even if nobody else does.

You didn’t think your bill would be this complicated, but we’re just getting started.

In 2001, EWEB decided it needed to give its customers a direct incentive to conserve power, so they instituted a tiered pricing structure. The first batch used by each household each month came at a lower cost. Second and third batches tiered the cost upward.

Now EWEB wants to eliminate the tiers altogether for residential customers. The reason for the change, they explain, is that power is suddenly much less expensive and more plentiful. The utility has so much excess power that they can only sell their excess supply at a loss.

What any of that has to do with its customers is not completely clear. They claim that the “streamlined” billing, without rates tiered by consumption, will not increase total revenue for the utility company. So why make the change?

EWEB officials maintain that the current pricing model is unfair to customers who use more electricity, because they have to pay more than low-power customers, even though EWEB isn’t incurring extra cost. That argument holds water only if the top line “Cost of Basic Service” is eliminated.

So that’s what EWEB should do, and other utility companies should follow, as they are able. Charge a sustainable unit rate, but eliminate the fixed top-line charge. Nothing would be more fair and more transparent than charging each customer only for the power or water or gas that’s being used.

No one disputes that conservation should be encouraged. Pricing structures shape public behavior. Habits are harder to change than rates.

As things stand, the champions of conservation pay nearly double the per-unit rate as those who use their full allotment of EWEB’s first-tier power. Once the fixed top-line cost is added in, 800 kilowatts costs a little more than a dime per kilowatt. A household that uses only 200 kilowatts per month pays almost double that rate.

If power companies want to energize the public’s conservation efforts, they should change how they do things currently.

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Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column each Friday for The Register-Guard and blogs at www.dksez.com.

The post How To Make Utility Bills More Fair appeared first on dkSez : : : : : : Don Kahle's blog.

Kristen didn’t come to Eugene to visit me. She came to breathe air that she can’t see. Four weeks of visibly unbreathable air has driven smoke refugees northward from Ashland and Crater Lake. Most visit us just long enough to catch their breath.

“It feels apocalyptic,” Kristen told me.“Each year has gotten worse. We can’t call it a ‘new normal’ because we aren’t seeing the trend plateau.” Whatever awaits us, it will be worse.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival has canceled several outdoor performances for health concerns, and moved some productions into a nearby high school auditorium. Medford’s Brit Festival is suffering too. Oregon’s tourism dollars are drying up, or shifting to the coast. California has never seen wildfires like this summer’s.

Kristen spent one day shopping for air purifiers. She’s renovating a house that’s well into its second century and she’d rather not add air conditioning to her plans.

“I don’t want to keep my windows closed. I want to feel the breeze.” But she also doesn’t want to shorten her life, breathing second-hand smoke from Redding’s Carr Fire. “I left Portland 20 years ago, because I wanted to escape the rain. But a little cleansing water sounds really good right now.”

Yesterday’s doomsayers have been replaced by today’s meteorologists. What can be done? The answer can’t be, “Nothing.”

But Kristen can’t help feeling hopeless. “It doesn’t feel like I’m making a difference,” she confessed. “If we protest current policies — and we should — the authorities are charged with maintaining order. They protect the status quo.”

I try hard not to use this space to promote partisan positions. I respect those who fight to keep things the same with Hank Stamper-like intransigence, as well as those who are fighting like hell to prevent a future that resembles it. Whether following a survivalist morality or a planetary ethicism, all sides may well be trying to do what they believe is the right thing in response to climate change.

Like it or not, in this instance, reality seems to have a liberal bias. Liberals and conservatives alike are shopping for air purifiers. But here’s the worst part: the rain (or lack thereof) does not fall equally on the just and the unjust. The dismay Kristen feels is not distributed equally across the political spectrum.

Those who protect the status quo can easily measure the result of their resolve. Every minor change can be answered with a call to arms. As conditions worsen, actions to maintain the present order become more limited, but also more clear. “Never give an inch,” as Ken Kesey’s fictional logger Hank Stamper proclaimed. That credo is self-sustaining — or at least self-satisfying.

Liberal lifesavers feel no such comfort at all — cold or otherwise. The ethical worldview grows wider with awareness, diminishing the scale of personal accomplishment. Wide-minded liberals cannot escape feeling inconsequential. Saving the planet — or just preserving its usefulness to humans — is literally all-encompassing. And so, all-consuming.

Who can rest, believing they’ve done enough to save the planet for one day?

As sea levels rise, weather systems intensify, and panic becomes more prevalent, this disparity will widen dramatically — apocalyptically. Liberals — especially those thinking globally — become more dispirited. Conservatives — especially those saving their homestead — become more determined.

For Kristen and those like her, measuring an action’s utility will minimize momentum. The problem’s magnitude and consequence will expand more quickly than any perceivable difference any of us are likely to make.

Better that liberals follow three crumbs of crisis-driven advice that have guided others to safety before. First, as Londoners were told between bombings in World War II, “Keep calm and carry on.” Hysteria does not win hearts and minds.

Second, as Mahatma Gandhi may never have said, but certainly as he lived: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Don’t try to make a difference in any literal sense. Simply do your duty, as cheerfully as you can.

The last piece of advice is normally the simplest, but still the most direct: Breathe (as you are able.) Life must be worth living before it can be worth saving.

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Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column each Friday for The Register-Guard and blogs at www.dksez.com.

The post Climate Hardships Fall Unevenly appeared first on dkSez : : : : : : Don Kahle's blog.

If you’re looking for a Grand Unified Theory for our current political dysfunction, watch Sen. Ben Sasse’s (R-Neb.) unexpected opening statement to last week’s confirmation hearing for Brett Kavanaugh. The consequences of that dysfunction will be felt and seen with unusual clarity this fall in Eugene.

Sasse brings fresh eyes to his work in Congress. He was elected in 2014, after being a college professor in Texas and the president of Midland University near Omaha, Neb. Using his allotted fifteen minutes for an opening statement as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he offered what he called “Schoolhouse Rock Civics” to explain why this hearing had attracted so much attention. Sasse made four points:

1. “The legislative branch of government is supposed to be the center of our politics.” It was designed to be messy and loud and public — and sometimes even rowdy. Citizens who don’t like what they see can remove their Congresspeople at the next election.

2. Congress has not engaged in the fierce debates that represent the diversity of views across America. Congress has “self-neutered” — delegating its power to the Executive Branch. Unelected administrators work out details in broadly written laws.

3. As a result, “the people yearn for a place where the politics can actually be done.” Because the nitty-gritty debates are not being done in Congress, the courts have become a “substitute political battleground.”

4. Citizens protest daily on the steps of the Supreme Court, because their voices are not heard or reflected in the Congress. “We badly need to restore the proper duties and the balance of power from our constitutional system.”

It’s not hard to see how and why this trend has occurred. Writing laws was never easy, and our current hyper-partisan climate makes it harder. Where our legislators will find the courage and stamina to change is less clear.

Senators and Representatives who only make speeches and name post offices will not make political enemies. Washington legislators would rather keep their jobs than do their jobs.

In our checks-and-balance system, the checks maintain balance. Each branch keeps other branches from grabbing too much power. But this is a different problem. One branch has collapsed, so the other branches lean in and step up to maintain balance.

The Executive Branch writes administrative rules that function as laws. The Judicial Branch overturns those rules when they have been improperly written or interpreted. And the Legislative Branch sits on its dubiously clean hands, naming post offices and winning reelections.

Citizens feel disconnected from solutions, so they seek remedies in the courts. This strategy will soon be very evident on the streets of Eugene.

Last Tuesday, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that cities in western states cannot prosecute homeless people for sleeping on public property if they have no access to shelter. The federal court wrote that such laws violate the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Boise, Idaho barred the homeless from staying overnight on public property, even though there were no shelters available due to capacity, curfew, or religious restrictions. “The 8th Amendment prohibits the imposition of criminal penalties for sitting, sleeping, or lying outside on public property for homeless individuals who cannot obtain shelter,” Judge Marsha Berzon wrote for the court.

Local legislatures in western states will now be forced to raise taxes or shift priorities to fund shelters. That won’t be easy and it certainly won’t be popular. But that’s what Sasse meant when he referred to restoring “the proper duties.” Legislating solutions is hard work — or should be.

And then there’s what could be seen as the Mother of All Lawsuits, getting underway October 29 in Eugene. Our Children’s Trust is suing the federal government for failing to provide plaintiffs — most of whom are children — with enough clean air and water to sustain them into old age.

It’s a novel use of the courts, but it may be the best and only way to force legislators to do the messy, political work that’s necessary. Until they do, we’ll have unaccountable administrators, undeclared wars, and judges acting as super-legislators.

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Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column each Friday for The Register-Guard and blogs at www.dksez.com.

The post Our Political Dysfunction (Easily) Explained appeared first on dkSez : : : : : : Don Kahle's blog.

I wrote last month about why and how city staff should be situated near the Park Blocks. It would be an appropriate honor of the Park Blocks’ past and a sound investment for Eugene’s future. Our first farmers market opened on that spot over 100 years ago. We have an opportunity to remake the Park Blocks as the beating heart at the center of the city. We should do it.

I didn’t address City Councilor Mike Clark’s long-held preference for moving city offices into the EWEB building along the river, because (as of last month) that that idea had come and gone, and come and gone, and come and gone — but most recently gone.

Now it looks like it will come again before the city council, because EWEB may declare its riverfront headquarters as surplus property. This could force the city to declare within 30 days that it will exercise its right of first refusal to purchase the complex. We should also do that.

I am sympathetic with many of the arguments Clark and others have made. The building was well built and it has been well maintained. Its location is both convenient and symbolic. The site has its own rich history. This riverfront location is a jewel that deserves the city’s investment.

These two buildings must stay publicly owned. But the offices shouldn’t be renovated to house city staff, for three reasons.

First, most people don’t go to city hall very often. They only go there when they have to. Forgive me for repeating myself, but city hall, for most citizens, is the principal’s office. It’s been a good day if you didn’t have to go there. Forcing citizens to pay their fines and fees there would be like hoping for a heart attack because those rooms have the best view at Riverbend. That’s no way for Eugene to “return to the river.”

Second, consider all the better public roles these buildings could fulfill. We need a history museum. We want our own art museum. We deserve a place that tells our region’s story. Visitors deserve to know why we love this place so much. Once we start telling them, we’ll also be reminding ourselves.

Third, there is one function of a traditional city hall that we should consider moving to the EWEB site, but it’s a relatively small one. EWEB’s circular north building would make an excellent city council chamber. That is the only function of city government that actively involves the citizenry on a voluntary basis. Arguing budgets and policies in a special and beautiful place makes perfect sense.

I want people watching the nightly news to see the majestic Willamette River, flowing as it always has, while we debate the issues of the day. That gives important context to whatever tempest we hold in today’s teapot. Everything washes away eventually. We’re fortunate we can be reminded of that daily.

So move the city council chambers to the riverfront location as soon as possible, but keep the offices for the city’s employees in the center of downtown.

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Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column each Friday for The Register-Guard and blogs at www.dksez.com.

The post Keep EWEB Building Publicly Owned (But Not As City Hall) appeared first on dkSez : : : : : : Don Kahle's blog.

Lane County voters narrowly declined to endorse Measure 20-290 on Tuesday. It would have ended our traditional “Ebert-Siskel” system — thumbs-up for one candidate — and replace it with a “Rotten Tomatoes” system, where each voter/reviewer assigns up to five stars for each candidate.

If co-petitioners Mark Frohnmayer and Alan Zundel were disappointed in their measure’s defeat, they were careful not to show it. “We were really encouraged that [it] got almost half the votes,” Zundel said. “That was really amazing to us.”

Frohnmayer referred to the defeat as “a phenomenal foundation for a truly groundbreaking reform.” Those are not the words of two guys who are giving up on their dream of changing how voters cast ballots. Looking back, they may have made three miscalculations in making their case to voters.

First, they believed the economics of STAR voting would appeal to voters. Having a single election with its automatic runoff feature instead of two elections would reduced government expenses, but voters care less about money once it’s left their pockets. Government efficiency was in this case not tangible enough to animate voters.

Second, related to the first, backers wanted to introduce the system at a large enough scale that the efficiency savings would be substantial. They focused their initial efforts on two of Oregon’s largest counties: Multnomah and Lane. If voters in Eugene and Portland liked STAR voting, a statewide initiative would be an obvious next step.

Third, they allowed the debate to become focused on the mechanics of the new system, rather than on the tangible improvements that voters, candidates, and even non-voting citizens could see as result of the reform. STAR voting is harder to explain than it is to use. Some things are better done than said.

Frohnmayer and Zundel will learn, because they are determined. I have no doubt they’ve already begun devising their next tack. They shouldn’t be afraid to go small. Cottage Grove has always had a wild streak in their civic life that goes unnoticed by outsiders, until they see something different underway there. Oakridge has made headlines recently that should attract keen interest in electoral reforms.

The Oregon Country Fair values decision-making that is inclusive and transparent. They might want to give STAR voting a whirl. Eugene’s neighborhood associations could also pilot the practice.

As groups or small cities experiment with STAR voting, misunderstanding will emerge. That feedback must be valued. They will form the necessary foundation for training and promotion materials that some found lacking in Measure 20-290’s campaign.

Any populist reform can succeed only if its deep structure appeals to those with a shallow understanding. People like what seems simple, even if it’s not. The engineering behind STAR voting is fascinating, but knowledgeable mechanics don’t always make the best salespeople.

Frohnmayer also runs a car company. His engineers understand that inside a bell housing, a fluid coupling acts as a torque converter to planetary gearsets. But no amount of technical knowledge about the inner workings of an automatic transmission will make the sale. That comes after people take it for a spin.

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Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column each Friday for The Register-Guard and blogs at www.dksez.com.

The post Rebooting STAR Voting appeared first on dkSez : : : : : : Don Kahle's blog.

You probably missed your chance to see this year’s U.S. Capitol Christmas tree. If you happened to be shopping at the Gateway Mall last Saturday afternoon, it was parked outside Cabela’s Sporting Goods.

It must have been quite a sight. The 80-foot noble fir could be viewed through large plastic windows on the tractor trailer, before beginning its trek to Washington, D.C. The tree will make a couple dozen stops, giving curiosity-seekers the opportunity to see a tree that weighs roughly four tons. The tree is accompanied by a banner that will be collecting signatures along the way.

The tree will light up the Capitol lawn for about a month, beginning Dec. 5. Its ornaments will have an Oregon Trail theme, marking the trail’s 175th anniversary and also the 50th anniversary of the National Trails System Act. (If you never knew there was an Act to our nation’s trails, much less a System, join the club. That tidbit was news to me.)

Most of the country needs an excuse to celebrate a tree, and these anniversaries provide it. Oregonians are perfectly happy celebrating the tree itself. What else do you know that grows 80 feet tall and amasses 8,300 pounds in 35 years? Just because it happens all the time and all around us doesn’t make it any less awesome.

Where but in Oregon would residents prepare for a major track tournament by planting giant sequoia saplings? They won’t look like much when the world’s track stars arrive in three years, but that’s OK. Our perspective on such things differs from most of our fellow citizens.

If you’re itching to see a noble fir through plastic windows, start driving east. The ceremonial tree is due in Soda Springs, Idaho later today. You could make that trip in 12 hours, if you really wanted to. By this time next week, our tree should be arriving in Ohio, after stops in Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri.

Or you could pull on your hiking boots and head to the Willamette National Forest. Tilt your head 90 degrees and that is what parade viewers in Scottsbluff, Neb. will be seeing this Sunday. (You’ll have to supply your own plastic window.)

Root around the forest outside Sweet Home and you might come across this year’s U.S. Capitol Christmas tree stump. You’ll certainly encounter thousands of that tree’s siblings — each as healthy as the chosen one, and many too tall to fit on a tractor trailer.

Pay a $5 permit fee, and you can cut down whichever tree becomes your favorite and take it on its own ceremonial tour, ending in your living room. Even better, take along a fourth-grader. They can get the same permit for free this year, as part of the U.S. Forest Service’s Every Kid in a Park initiative.

Just keep in mind that the signature-gathering banner and the plastic windows are not part of the tree’s original design, which remains on display nearby for all Oregonians.

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Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column each Friday for The Register-Guard and blogs at www.dksez.com. Details about Every Kid in a Park are available at https://everykidinapark.gov/

The post Capitol Christmas Tree Viewing appeared first on dkSez : : : : : : Don Kahle's blog.

California this summer passed the United Kingdom to become the 5th largest economy in the world. Since the Great Recession, California has added 2 million jobs and increased its economic output $700 billion. It’s time to acknowledge our southern neighbor’s prowess in new ways.

Election returns show what’s been called “the big sort” is accelerating. Blue states are becoming increasingly blue. Red states are getting redder. Democrats attained super-majorities in state legislatures in Oregon, California, and Washington.

On the other end of the country, New England is sending an entirely blue delegation to Congress, except for one embattled, centrist Senator. Many believe Sen. Susan Collins will retire or be defeated in 2020. A clean sweep may be coming soon from that corner of the country.

Returning to this coast, our three governors and their sympathetic legislators should begin crafting state-to-state treaties. It’s time to bind together into a pacific swath of political unity. The New England states have always shared a cohesive identity. Western states have preferred their independence to a single regional image.

We’ve coordinated efforts before, but on a case-by-case basis. The time has come to get ahead of this process and plan for collective action.

We’ve coordinated our efforts on automobile emission standards, net neutrality policies, and the Paris Accord’s climate response. We can do much more — if we agree in advance that we’ll do more. If our three states shared a single identity — call it Pacifica — we might not form the 4th largest economy in the world, but we would have substantial clout.

There are four major computer operating systems in the world today. All four of them come from Pacifica. Apple and Google are in California. Microsoft is in Washington. And the father of Linux recently moved to Portland. What sort of leverage could Pacifica exert for itself by controlling or inspiring how everyone’s computers think and connect?

Once the band is on the wagon, others will want to join us. Hawaii is another Democratic stronghold. British Columbia might be drawn closer to us than to the rest of Canada. Baja California could be next. Alaska might eventually fear missing out. As a political bloc, the western coast of North America could attain a unity that each nation involved currently lacks.

And I know where we can begin. California voters this month ratified Proposition 7, which frees up its state legislature to reconsider Daylight Saving Time. Some state legislators want to skip DST altogether. Others prefer that the state stay on DST year round.

The consensus seems to be that moving clocks twice a year is silly and no longer necessary. It doesn’t save energy and it doesn’t save lives. It just confuses people and cows and everything else around us. We’ve outgrown any need for biannual time shifting.

Oregon and Washington should pledge to follow California, wherever it leads. We should move together as Pacifica. If the federal government balks at giving our states permission to make the time change, we can remind them that everyone’s personal computer clocks are controlled by us. Problem solved, and Pacifica is begun.

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Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column each Friday for The Register-Guard and blogs at www.dksez.com.

The post Pacifica: If At First You Don’t Secede…. appeared first on dkSez : : : : : : Don Kahle's blog.

There’s no place quite like Eugene, but what other place comes closest? That’s not a question we ponder very deeply, but what good is an Oregon winter without a little quiet pondering? I’ve thought about this question a lot and my conclusion may surprise you, even if it shouldn’t.

I can list a dozen characteristics that would make another place seem familiar to us, but I’ll limit myself to three. What essential attributes are required for Eugene’s doppelganger?

It must first be a place where words like “doppelganger” can be used. College towns display eccentricities that stay hidden in most other places. Students and professors alike come to believe they have nothing to lose. Call it “the tenure effect.”

It’s not enough for our lookalike town to host a university. The university must be considered the undisputed center of the civic life. When it’s the only game in town, it’s easier to forget it’s only a game. This rule eliminates major cities, adjacent suburbs and all state capitals.

Eugene doesn’t get trapped in self-delusion the way many other college towns do, because we have the majesty of natural wonder surrounding us. Whenever we feel like we’re at the center of the world, a hike in the woods, a kayak down the river, or a climb to a summit reminds us otherwise. We’re searching for another college town that also offers nearby grandeur.

We hear the same list of towns that people compare to Eugene all the time. But none of the usual suspects have all three criteria that I’ve suggested.

Boulder, Colorado is really a suburb of Denver. They might insist otherwise, but the maps don’t lie. Santa Cruz and Berkeley residents can get to San Francisco is less than an hour.

Madison, Wisconsin and Austin, Texas have earned their stripes as quirky college towns, but they are both state capitals, so every other city in their state can’t afford to ignore them.

Burlington, Vermont might qualify, if you’re a hard core ski bum, but most would say its grandeur melts each spring. Other cities meet two of my criteria, and sometimes almost all three. On the East Coast, there’s Ithaca, New York. On the West Coast there’s Eureka, California. But I think there’s a better choice twin that you may not have considered.

If a Eugenean clicked her heels together and wished for someplace like home, she would wake to discover that the answer was in her own back yard all along. By any measure, the closest college town to Eugene would be just that — the closest college town to Eugene.

Corvallis resembles Eugene more than any other college town. Rivalries aside, ducks and beavers often share the same pond. Two college towns less than 50 miles apart would normally sprawl together, but not here. Thanks to Oregon’s land use policies, the Willamette Valley has grown two very distinctive towns that are really very much alike.

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Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column each Friday for The Register-Guard and blogs at www.dksez.com.

The post Eugene: Compare to Where? appeared first on dkSez : : : : : : Don Kahle's blog.

We’re a diverse nation. We don’t agree on much. We celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or solstice. Seinfeld fans are somewhere celebrating “Festivus, the holiday for the rest of us.” Our December traditions do share one organizing feature — gift-giving.

Voters recently gave themselves the gift of divided government, but they didn’t agree exactly what that gift should look like. Some would like to see impeachment papers in their stocking. Others will be happy with more coal. The largest majority did make one thing clear. They don’t want nothing. Governmental gridlock pleases no one.

We have a president who fancies himself a builder and an all-around rich guy. There are gifts his government could us that affirms what he believes about himself, while also pleasing his citizenry. I’ll list three. You’ll think of others.

Starting with the basics, everybody needs a bathroom once in a while. Our builder-in-chief should insist that public buildings include them.

Every police and fire station should have a bathroom that’s accessible to the public 24 hours a day — post offices, libraries and larger government buildings, when they are open. Encourage and reward businesses to provide facilities, especially those that stay open all night.

Monitoring the bathrooms to prevent bad hygiene and illicit behavior creates complexity, but the federal government is best suited to meet complex needs. We need government to solve problems that seem both intractable and ubiquitous. Sewers never could have been built by compassionate citizens without government resources.

Second, let’s bury every utility wire. Telephone poles are so 1955! They create hazards and outages during every major storm. These “shovel-ready” public works projects would bring jobs to every acre of America.

The jobs will be temporary, but the beauty will be permanent. Earlier in my life, I was a professional photographer (as was my father.) I married an artist because her landscape paintings could do what my photographs couldn’t — eliminate the wires that we’ve trained ourselves to overlook. (Our marriage ended around the time Photoshop was introduced, but I’m sure that was a coincidence.)

Beauty benefits all of us, almost always in ways we do not understand. That’s why my last request of Washington politicians is also the simplest. It would help arts organizations immensely. Use the Oregon Cultural Trust as the template for a federal tax credit program.

If you don’t know about the Oregon Cultural Trust, you should. Here’s how it works. If you donate up to $500 to any (or many) of the hundreds of cultural non-profits registered with in Oregon, you can then donate the same amount to the Oregon Cultural Trust, which then gives grants to arts organizations across the state.

Your OCT donation earns you an equivalent state income tax credit, so your second donation costs you nothing. The state is essentially doubling your donation’s impact on behalf of the arts in Oregon. It’s a program that is unique to Oregon, but we’d be more than happy to share the concept with the rest of the nation.

This is, after all, the season of giving.

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Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column each Friday for The Register-Guard and blogs at www.dksez.com. Learn more about the Oregon Cultural Trust at www.culturaltrust.org.

The post Gifts This President Could Give Us appeared first on dkSez : : : : : : Don Kahle's blog.

U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio could have his pick of Congressional offices, but he likes his corner of the Rayburn Office Building. It’s on the second floor, which affords a bit of privacy. The balcony is large enough to offer group photos with the Capitol dome as a backdrop.

Congressional perks often are doled out by seniority. Corner offices are not least among them. DeFazio has regaled constituents with that corner balcony view for more than a decade. DeFazio is the longest serving Representative ever from Oregon.

He arrived in 1987, replacing Jim Weaver — for whom he had previously been an aide. He’s beginning his 17th term this month. He shares the eighth spot on the House seniority list with civil rights icon John Lewis and Michigan Republican Fred Upton.

Only three Democrats and four Republicans have served longer. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi came to Washington several months after DeFazio. When the 116th United States Congress convened last week, DeFazio was given something he’s never had in Washington: a gavel.

DeFazio now chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He controls the budget and procedural debates for the government’s massive investments in transit connectivity. DeFazio has had his party’s seniority on four of its subcommittees. Now he will oversee the entire committee’s work.

Infrastructure investment is getting dangerously overdue. DeFazio’s committee work will be vitally important in the years ahead. President Trump promised a $1 trillion infrastructure initiative during his campaign. If it happens, those twelve zeroes will be crossing DeFazio’s desk.

It’s about time.

“Public service” is sometimes overused to explain why politicians run for office, but this much is true. Every elected official comes to Washington hoping to somehow make a difference.

A Congressional seat offers five different paths to wielding substantial influence in Washington. The first three have very little to do with lawmaking, and the fourth has too much. DeFazio has pursued the fifth.

First, you can crisscross the country, raising funds and recruiting candidates for your party. U.S. Rep. Greg Walden has done this. Second, you can join your party’s legislative leadership team, whipping votes and setting legislative calendars. Third, you can make yourself available to the media at a moment’s notice. U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley has chosen this route.

Fourth, you can leave Congress and become a lobbyist, writing or shaping legislation to benefit your clients. Former U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith plays this role for the National Association of Broadcasters.

Or, fifth, you can show up for work and keep showing up. You must earn your colleagues’ respect. Seniority alone won’t get you a chairmanship. The majority on the committee must vote for you and your party must hold the majority.

Being the ranking member of the minority party doesn’t count for much these days. Bipartisanship has fallen far out of favor since DeFazio first came to town.

Only the gavel matters now. And that’s what’s now in DeFazio’s hand.

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Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column each Friday for The Register-Guard and blogs.

The post DeFazio Has a New Tool in This Congress appeared first on dkSez : : : : : : Don Kahle's blog.

The Oregon Legislature convenes its 2019 legislative session on Tuesday. Legislators’ early attention naturally turns to small or simple ideas. We already have a state bird and a state nut and a state this and a state that. Some in the capital call this Salem’s “silly season.” I think of it like a body clearing its throat, hearing itself for the first time in months, finding its collective voice.

I believe our state’s collective voice will sound best in the current political climate as it joins the other Pacific coastline states’ voices. As our Senators and Representatives go looking for that low-hanging legislative fruit that ripens every odd-numbered winter, they should look at what our neighbors are pursuing.

I suggested that Oregon should follow California’s lead on clock-setting — either eliminating Daylight Saving Time or keeping it year-round. Joining California as a co-petitioner will strengthen the case for federal approval. Even better if Washington joins us. We move strongest when we move together. That’s just the beginning.

Oregon and Washington have earned reputations for innovative governance. California has followed us on a variety of cutting-edge issues — assisted suicide, recreational marijuana, voter registration reform, minimum wage increases.

Let’s ride California’s expansive coattails on other matters. Here’s one example: California is moving its presidential primary in 2020 from June to March. Oregon should follow, but at a safe distance.

The 2020 presidential election season is shaping up as an anti-Donald donnybrook. There may be two dozen Democrats vying for the nomination. President Trump may draw a challenger or two. Each candidate will be accompanied by reporters and film crews, eager to convey to the country what each successive state cares about. Why wouldn’t Oregon want some of that attention?

California will vote on Tuesday, March 3, 2020, though in truth, most California ballots will be cast in February. Absentee ballots are readily available and used by 60 to 70 percent of primary voters in California. That number in Oregon is a nice, round 100.

I checked the Oregon Constitution and it does not set a date for primary elections. It also doesn’t set a day of the week, which mattered to voters back when standing in line was required. Any Tuesday in early March will be crowded, leaving a small state like ours overlooked by candidates and the media covering them.

But if we moved our presidential primary election day to Thursday, March 5, 2020 — two days after Super Tuesday — we’d lead the national election coverage for the second half of that week. Wednesday: where next? Thursday: what now? Friday: who won? (Coverage will then quickly move on to Louisiana, where voters will line up to vote on Saturday, March 7.)

Two or three days of uninterrupted attention is about as much as Oregon could bear — or, frankly, deserves. I’d like to watch how film crews convey Oregon’s vote-by-mail system to the rest of the country on their national broadcasts. More importantly, we’d hear from candidates and they’d hear from us during what could be the most consequential campaign of our lifetimes.

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Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column each Friday for The Register-Guard and blogs at www.dksez.com.

The post Nation Should Hear Oregon’s Primary Concerns appeared first on dkSez : : : : : : Don Kahle's blog.