The Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce will host State Representative Jean Cowan as the guest speaker at their luncheon at noon, Friday, Aug. 10 at the Shilo Inn & Suites. Cowan will be speaking on the Legislature’s 2007 Session and recap the legislative agenda for next year.

The Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce luncheons are held each Friday at various locations in town and surrounding locales starting at noon. Cost is $10 per person and is open to chamber members and invited guests. Luncheon topics range from informative and small business-oriented issues, theatrical performances from theatre groups to updates on non-profit organizations and service groups.

For more information on the Chamber Friday Luncheons, or for information on becoming a member of the Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce, contact Sheena Scarberry, Membership Services Director, at 265-8801 or 800-282-7844 or visit www.newportchamber.org.

Lincoln City Chamber gets information on the upcoming ‘Jazz At Newport’ series

The Lincoln City Chamber of Commerce will hold a lunch forum at noon Friday at Chinook Winds Casino Resort Hotel. Claire Little will provide information on the upcoming Jazz at Newport series and the schedule of events, and attendees will be treated to some performances. Chamber members and community members are invited to attend. Lunch is $10 inclusive and reservations are required no later than noon Thursday by calling the Lincoln City Chamber of Commerce office, 994-3070.

State Rep. Jean Cowan (D-Newport) carried the operations budget for the Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development Wednesday, leading the House of Representatives to approve a $511 million package for community colleges.

“Today marks what I hope is a major turning point for the future of Oregon’s community colleges,” said Cowan on the House floor. “Deep, hurtful appropriations shortfalls in prior sessions have left many of Oregon’s 17 community colleges reeling from loss. Today, that changes.”

The House of Representatives approved $500 million to the Community College Support Fund and $11 million for the agency. This budget prevents drastic cuts and tuition increases at most of the community colleges, including Oregon Coast Community College. OCCC will add to its nursing program and continue to expand its signature aquarium science program. Capital construction for Oregon’s community colleges will be voted on separately.

“This budget is a significant reinvestment in post secondary education that puts our community colleges on a path toward recovery,” said Cowan. “Our investment in community colleges allows us to produce a first-class workforce with family wage jobs and stimulate our local economy.”

The budget, contained in House Bill 5012, is a $17 million increase from the Governor’s proposal earlier this year and a $71 million, or 16.6-percent, increase from the 2005-2007 budget cycle. HB 5012 should allow community colleges to expand associate degree program completions by 18-percent over the next three years, and to expand the number of professional and technical degrees and certificates awarded by 19-percent over the same time period.

“Our community colleges are the front line of our higher education system and they provide a gateway to the economic security of all of our communities,” said Cowan. “We must start with House Bill 5012 and, in future sessions, work to provide stable and adequate funding to our community colleges.”

OCCC President Pat O’Connor said, “We appreciate Representative Cowan’s support in carrying this bill to the floor and highlighting the value of community colleges to the citizens of Oregon. This budget helps Oregon Coast Community College avoid drastic cuts and tuition increases in the upcoming year. It is a step in the right direction and will help our community college to begin recovering from years of insufficient funding.”

Cowan is serving in her first term as State Representative for House District 10 on the Central Oregon Coast. She is serving on the House Veteran Affairs Committee, on the House Human Services & Women’s Wellness Committee, and as Vice-Chair of the Joint Emergency Preparedness & Ocean Policy Committee. Cowan served as a Lincoln County Commissioner from 1993-2004 and mayor of Elgin for two terms.

Pictured at the State Land Board ceremony held this week to honor the recent project to modify the Rock Creek Dam for fish passage are, left to right, Paul Robertson, Lake Manager, Devils Lake Water Improvement District; Governor Theodore Kulongoski; State Representative Jean Cowan (D-Newport); Paul Katen, President, Salmon Drift Creek Watersheds Council; Chester Noreikis, past Lincoln City councilman and PADL (Preservation Association of Devils Lake) member; Randall Edwards, State Treasurer; Madeleine Vander Heyden, Coastal Program Biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Louise Solliday, Director of the Department of State Lands; and John Spangler, Watershed Council Liaison, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The project, completed in September 2006, involved the Salmon Drift Creek Watershed Council, the City of Lincoln City, the Preservation Association of Devils Lake, the Devils Lake Water Improvement District, the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.Katen emphasized the collaboration which made the project possible, saying, “The important thing here … was the award went to the project and the team that made it happen, and that the project was paid for by OWEB (Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board), USFWS and the City of Lincoln City.” Katen added Lincoln City Mayor Lori Hollingsworth and City Engineer Stephanie Reid “were both instrumental in helping to bring the project partners together and find a solution that protected the city’s interests.” (Courtesy photo)

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.

State Representative Jean Cowan (D-Newport) supported efforts on Monday to set strict limits on gifts and travel for members of the House of Representatives. The ethics reform package, created with a bipartisan coalition, prohibits out-of-state travel and gifts of value worth more than $10.

“I appreciated that these common sense proposals were created from a lengthy bipartisan effort,” said Cowan. “These rule changes limit undue influence on the legislative process while recognizing the realities of working with individuals and constituent groups, limiting the gifts to tokens of small appreciation only.”

The new rules included a new provision requiring a 72-hour notice for all public meetings.

“Increasing the notice time for public notice will broaden opportunities for public input in the law-making process,” said Cowan.

Members of the House of Representatives will also be prohibited from accepting private restaurant meals from individuals, businesses, or organizations that have business before the Legislature.

Other rules adopted included public records retention guidelines, priority consideration for bipartisan bills, proportional representation on committees, and allowing any member to sign on as a sponsor of a bill without the permission of the Chief Sponsor.

“Many of these new rules will help Oregon restore faith in the Legislature and the Legislative process,” said Cowan. “The ethics reform efforts will tighten gift guidelines and limit undo influence from powerful lobby interests.”

Cowan is serving in her first term as State Representative for the Central Oregon Coast, including Lincoln, Lane, Yamhill, Polk, and Tillamook Counties. She will be serving on the House Veteran Affairs Committee, on the House Human Services & Women’s Wellness Committee, and as Vice-Chair of the Joint Emergency Preparedness & Ocean Policy Committee. Cowan served as a Lincoln County Commissioner from 1993-2004 and mayor of Elgin for two terms.

Jean Cowan (D-Newport) was sworn in Monday morning to her first term representing House District 9 in the Oregon House of Representatives.

Rep. Cowan has been appointed vice-chair of the Joint Committee on Emergency Preparedness and Ocean Policy. In addition, she will serve on the committees on Human Services and Women’s Wellness and Veterans Affairs.

“Today our exciting, but tough, work begins to create an Oregon with a world-class educational system for our children, to build a better economy that sustains living wage jobs, to guarantee access to quality health care regardless of income and to maintain a smart and accountable state government that Oregonians can trust,” said Rep. Cowan. “I am honored to represent the people of my district and to serve my state as we work together to make this vision of Oregon a reality.”

Oregon House of Representatives Speaker-Elect Jeff Merkley has announced committee assignments for the 74th Legislative Assembly which convenes Jan. 8. District 10 Representative-elect Jean Cowan will serve on three committees: Human Services & Women’s Wellness, Veteran Affairs, and the Joint Committee on Emergency Preparedness and Ocean Policy where she will serve as Vice-Chair.

Cowan has expressed satisfaction with her new assignments, noting they fall in line with both her past experience and areas of particular interest to our coastal district. “My personal background in the health care arena makes me well-suited to address the complex human services issues within the Department of Human Services (DHS.) In addition, I have a long history of interest and involvement in emergency services, in particular,” Cowan stated. She further commented the vast array of ocean policy issues currently under discussion requires close attention, and she is pleased to be able to provide local insight into the formulation of Oregon’s ocean policies.

As a former Lincoln County Commissioner, Cowan supervised the county’s emergency services and veterans programs. “As we look at the increasing challenges for our aging veterans, as well as the prospect of adding a new group of younger veterans from the Iraq conflict, I am pleased to be able to help plan the services we will provide these deserving individuals,” Cowan commented.

Cowan also served as a county representative to the Local Government Advisory Committee (LGAC) to DHS, chairing that group for several years. She was a member of the Oregon Health Council and continues as a member of the state Public Health Advisory Board.

Democratic challenger Jean Cowan ousted Republican incumbent Alan Brown in another nip-and-tuck campaign for the District 10 State Representative seat.

Cowan received 12,546 votes - 9,812 in Lincoln County - to Brown’s 11,809 and 9,317, respectively. Elsewhere in the district, Cowan received 2,407 votes in Lane County, 173 in Polk County, and 154 in Yamhill County to Brown’s 2,062, 171, and 258, respectively. He also reeled in Tillamook County’s lone vote in District 10.

With the victory, Cowan captured a seat she narrowly lost in 2004.

Brown’s campaign focused on his state government experience under the slogan “Trusted, Respected, Builds Consensus, and Delivers.” The News-Times could not reach him for post-election comments.

Cowan’s priorities were education, health care, and public safety. She pointed to her experience in county and city government, and focused her campaign on the need for change, saying she would take “a proven record of local leadership” to Salem. Declaring her “independence from special interests,” she said she would eliminate waste by giving agencies incentives to find efficiencies, stop tax giveaways to out-of-state corporations, and stop “playing politics” with education budgets, and “stop closing local schools.”

“This race was what we expected it to be,” Cowan told the News-Times Wednesday. “I have been on both sides of a close election, and, frankly, this time around is much better. I’ve had some pretty enjoyable conversations. It’s been very, very pleasant.”

Cowan is eager to begin her new role and excited about going to Salem, especially since her victory helped the Democrats gain a majority in the House.

“This was critical to the overall picture in the state of Oregon,” she noted. “We knew going in that a few races would determine the majority in the House, but it’s hard to picture District 10 as so critical a piece in the overall outcome.”

Much work lies ahead for Cowan and her colleagues.

“We need to figure the best way to provide a reasonable balance of services,” she said, noting the need to also look at ways to achieve balance throughout the system in terms of revenue. To get there means finding a fair and equitable way to balance the tax burden between small businesses and individuals on one side of the scale and large corporations on the other side.

Despite what she referred to as conservative talk radio’s “doomsday predictions” about imminent tax hikes, Cowan said she and others in the state legislature simply want to “make sure we fairly share the burden, and provide an adequate level of service.”

During her campaign, she focused on the need to create new jobs while protecting those already here, and promised to stand up for local businesses, even if it meant standing up to her own political party. She wants to stop giving state contracts to corporations who ship jobs overseas, and would like to protect industries on the Oregon coast, and “help them adapt to the future.” To make that future brighter, Cowan said Oregon must provide proper education funding, focus on public safety, including the addition of 125 state troopers to fight methamphetamine trafficking and take repeat drunk drivers off the roads, and improve access to health care, especially for children.

Cowan ended by thanking the voters for their support, and expressing her “sincere appreciation” to the more than 100 volunteers and more than 500 individual contributors for “all their hard work.”

Terry Dillman is a reporter for the News-Times. He can be reached at 265-8571 ext. 225, or terrydillman@newportnewstimes.com.

Responding to the lack of real solutions produced by the 2005 legislative session in Salem, former Lincoln County Commissioner Jean Cowan (D-Newport) announced today she is officially entering the 10th District race for the Oregon House of Representatives.

Jean Cowan has strong ties to her district - made up of Lincoln County and parts of Yamhill. Polk, and Lane Counties. Whether working as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) or as a community organizer for education, safety and health causes, Cowan has earned a reputation for independently getting things done.

“With the legislative business in Salem taken behind closed doors this session, and with our most important work on key issues like education funding and prescription drug access left undone, we need representatives in Salem who will choose decisive leadership over divisive politics,” Cowan said. “That’s why I’ve decided to run for the Oregon House.”

Cowan, 58, began her career of public service more than 25 years ago. Formerly the mayor of Elgin, Ore., she has served on a variety of state boards and commissions including the Oregon Seismic Safety Policy Advisory Committee (OSSPAC) and the Oregon Health Council (OHC), and is currently a member of the Public Health Advisory Board (PHAB).

“I spent my 12 years as a county commissioner working to confront Lincoln County’s most serious challenges and to cultivate the economic interests that not only create jobs, but make this area’s way of life unique,” Cowan stated. “I am willing to take on another tough campaign because I still have a passion about keeping Oregon’s promise of opportunity to the next generation.”

Cowan was also the Democratic nominee for the 10th District in 2004, falling 400 votes short of incumbent Alan Brown, but she doesn’t intend to run the same campaign again this time. “In the last race, I learned a great deal about this district and the voters here. This time around, we’re getting an early start, and I won’t let anything get in the way of our positive, issues-based campaign.”

With numerous expected endorsements and a strong fundraising base, Cowan’s early entry is expected to present a formidable threat to Oregon Republicans’ grip on the State House of Representatives.

Cowan said she will campaign in every precinct and every county of the district over the course of this election. “I want to represent the entire 10th District,” she concluded. “That’s why I will be traveling to every corner of District 10 to talk to voters about their ideas for a better Oregon. I look forward to meeting you on your doorstep or at your local coffee shop in the months ahead.”

Cowan’s campaign manager, Patton Price, can be reached at (541) 270-6223, or inquiries can be made to info@jeancowan.com.