Eastern Oregon Leadership meet with Governor Kotek
By Garrett Christensen on Thursday, May 11th, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
EASTERN OREGON – Commissioners and representatives from several Eastern Oregon Counties, including Union County, met directly with Governor Tina Kotek recently. The governor visited Eastern Oregon, specifically Union and Wallowa counties, in person May 4 and 5 as part of the ongoing Oregon Listening Tour. While visiting, Union County Commissioner Paul Anders had the opportunity to speak directly with Kotek along with a small group of representatives, discussing subjects such as local representation and the activities of various boards and commissions. Anders specifically named some subjects that Kotek brought up, stating:
“She talked quite a bit about wildland fire, land use, land use planning and housing. She makes no secret of what her priorities are during this first term, homelessness, housing, mental health and education are her priorities. I had a productive conversation with her.”
The correspondence with Eastern Oregon representatives didn’t end with the listening tour. Seven Eastern Oregon commissioners, including Anders, were invited to meet with Kotek in Salem earlier this week. Further describing his talk with the Governor, Anders noted:
“Again, we had a really good conversation, everything including the Economy in Eastern Oregon. I referenced the recent socioeconomic report that has been produced by the REV Center” (Rural Economic and Vitality) “for the Eastern Oregon Counties Association and the Forest Service. It looked to me like the Governor was, not necessarily shocked, but pretty surprised when I told her what our mean income for the counties over here was and what we would rank if we were a state, which is 48 out of 50, only behind Mississippi and West Virginia. She agreed with me that that is unacceptable, and we need to figure out a way that Eastern Oregon is able to prosper as well as Western Oregon.”
Other topics that came up included Eastern Oregon representation on boards and agency commissions along with other legislative and physical priorities for Eastern Oregon counties. This won’t be the last attempt at correspondence between Eastern and Western Oregon either. Commissioner Anders is planning what he referred to as a “commissioner exchange” with Multnomah County Commissioner Susheela Jayapal. During the month of July, Commissioner Jayapal will visit Union County, meet representatives, learn local history and generally gain an understanding of Eastern Oregon. Commissioner Anders then plans to visit Multnomah County for the same reasons.
