01.26.07
Cowan explains legislative process for proposed secession
The time to act is now - and, if necessary, later.
Oregon Rep. Jean Cowan (D-Newport) gave that advice as part of a Jan. 22 public forum at Toledo High School. Nearly 150 people gathered to hear what representatives from Toledo’s Save Our Schools Committee, the Lincoln County School District, and the Eddyville and Siletz charter schools thought about the future of county schools, and the attempted secession effort by the SOS group.
Cowan briefly described the legislative process required to split up a school district in Oregon, and how parents, students, and other community members could voice their opinions on the matter to those within the Legislature’s hallowed halls in Salem. Under current state law, only legislators can grant a secession request by approving a bill outlining the particulars of such an effort in both the House and Senate.
“This is really a very strange process,” Cowan said at the forum.
The SOS committee must submit the draft legislation, along with petitions showing support for the effort, to the 2007 Oregon Legislature - specifically the Legislative Committee - by Monday, Jan. 29.
The Legislative Committee will hold public hearings on the issue before deciding whether or not to send it on to the Education Committee in either the House or the Senate (depending on which, if any, legislators opt to sponsor or co-sponsor the bill) for additional scrutiny, including more public hearings. If the proposed bill passes muster, it would go to a vote of the full House. If successful there, it moves to the Senate for approval or rejection. And so it goes until, if all goes well, it reaches the governor’s desk.
Much can happen in the interim, and the effort could falter at any step along the way.
The most vital part of the process for the communities involved, Cowan noted, is letting legislators know where they stand, individually or collectively, now and throughout the process as far as it goes. She said legislative committees must give 72-hour notice for any public hearings to allow folks who want to attend enough time to make the proper arrangements.
Cowan has been busy gathering information through the public forums, private conversations with concerned individuals and groups, and on her own.
Her inquiries led to an informal request from James Sager, Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s education and workforce policy advisor, to the Oregon Department of Education, asking for a preliminary analysis of tentative budget projections prepared by the SOS Committee. Michael Wiltfong, an ODE analyst, told the News-Times he had done the analysis, mostly to determine the potential financial impacts and ramifications.
Wiltfong contacted Lincoln County School District Fiscal Services Administrator Julie Baldwin with some questions about the SOS numbers - queries that alarmed Baldwin.
The proposed budget Wiltfong analyzed “very, very clearly includes the charter schools,” she noted.
This occurred after the Jan. 22 public forum, during which Tad Brown of the SOS Committee announced the Eddyville and Siletz charter schools were now excluded from the East Lincoln School District’s proposed boundaries, per charter school officials’ requests.
Cowan told the News-Times ODE provided the analysis as a courtesy to her in response to her questions. “It’s part of my effort to help the committee see where there might be some challenges,” she noted. “I need to look at what’s in the best interest of the children, and to respond to the desires of the community, whatever those might be.”
Cowan wanted to remind everyone that an initial piece of legislation rarely, if ever, emerges intact, whether from committees or the full legislative body. Nothing is “cast in stone,” especially a first draft.
“Legislation gets amended all the time,” she said. “It pops out in one form, and gets tweaked, amended, or adjusted along the way.” The key for those on either side of the issue is to chime in and tell legislators how they feel - by letter, by telephone, by e-mail, or by testifying at public hearings.
“The great big question is whether or not it will get through the scrutiny of the committee process with a recommendation for passage,” Cowan said, noting that anyone who contacts her office will have their names placed on the list of an e-newsletter to “keep them posted” on the process as it unfolds.
Let voters decide
The fact that school secession is a legislative process doesn’t sit well with many folks, including those on the SOS Committee.
SOS member Tad Brown raised the issue during the Jan. 22 forum.
“It would sure be nice if we could vote on this as a county,” he said. “Unfortunately, we’re not sure if we have a way of doing that. There’s nothing more fair than for the whole county to vote (on this). It would really, truly show the will of the people.”
SOS committee members are moving toward the possibility, with help from Sen. Joanne Verger (D-Coos Bay) and her staff.
In an e-mail message to Verger and LCSD Superintendent Tom Rinearson, Brown - on behalf of the SOS Committee - has proposed “that we have a vote of the electors within the current Toledo attendance area” how they feel about the possible secession. Through conversations with Cowan and Lincoln County Clerk Dana Jenkins, they discovered it was possible to “put an advisory type question on the May ballot, and ask the voters in the current Toledo attendance area if they support the separation of the school district.”
In exchange for LCSD putting the question on the May 2007 ballot, SOS “will include in our legislation a clause making implementation of the law contingent on the voters.”
“If the legislation passes in Salem, and the vote is no for separation, then there would be no separation of the district,” the missive stated. “In fact, if the bill is still in the legislature at that time, we would withdraw our bill, and turn our attention to other education matters in east county.”
The proposed language for the ballot question is “Should the current Toledo School Attendance area, excluding the charter schools within that attendance area, be formed into a new school district separate from the Lincoln County School District?” LCSD has until March 15 to put the question on the ballot, and the SOS members indicated they would “continue with our legislative effort with this election in mind.”
“We think this is a way of letting the wishes of the people in east Lincoln County be heard,” the SOS e-mail concluded, noting they would like to meet with LCSD officials as soon as possible to discuss the ballot question and their proposed legislation.
Voice an opinion
Those who want to register support for or opposition to the proposed secession, or comment on the potential ballot question, should contact Cowan, Verger, or members of the House Education Committee.
To send comments to Cowan, call (503) 986-1410, send e-mail to rep.jeancowan@state.or.us, or send a letter to: Representative Jean Cowan, 900 Court St. NE, H-473, Salem, OR 97301.
To send comments to Verger, call (503) 986-1705, send e-mail to sen.joanneverger@state.or.us, or send a letter to Senator Joanne Verger, 900 Court St. NE, S-301, Salem, OR 97301.
Or contact anyone - or everyone - on the House Education Committee:
€ Peter Buckley, chair, (503) 986-1405, H-372, rep.peterbuckley@state.or.us
€ John H. Dallum, vice chair, (503) 986-1459, H-289, rep.johndallum@state.or.us
€ Betty Komp, vice chair, (503) 986-1422, H-383, rep.bettykomp@state.or.us
€ Brian Clem, (503) 986-1421, H-278, rep.brianclem@state.or.us
€ Mitch Greenlick, (503) 986-1433, H-493, rep.mitchgreenlick@state.or.us
€ Jerry Krummel, (503) 986-1426, H-281, rep.jerrykrummel@state.or.us
€ John Lim, (503) 986-1450, H-496, rep.johnlim@state.or.us
€ Arnie Roblan, (503) 986-1409, H-384, rep.arnieroblan@state.or.us
€ Gene Whisnant, (503) 986-1453, H-277, rep.genewhisnant@state.or.us
Terry Dillman is a reporter for the News-Times. He can be reached at (541) 265-8571, ext. 225 or terrydillman@newportnewstimes.com.
