The Way: Adam Davis on connection, Angus Duncan on cohesion, PPS students on homelessness
PLUS: a new cartoon and a flashback to "Rediscovering the Oregon Way."
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Editor’s Note:
Dave Frohnmayer, former Oregon Attorney General and President of the University of Oregon, introduced me to the concept of the Oregon Way. Legs crossed, coffee in hand, Dave recounted his interpretation of the state’s political culture during one of the many conversations we held in the Wayne Morse Commons at the University of Oregon School of Law. Legal pad in front of me, I scribbled sparknotes as he spoke. I have no idea where I put that pad...but I’ve never forgotten how Dave made me feel.
The way he talked about Oregon, you would think he had only known this small segment of the Pacific Coast. Of course, Dave was about as worldly as an Oregonian gets: for example, he had seen the upper echelons of power as a Rhodes Scholar and argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. But he was content to spend the majority of his time and energy on improving Oregon.
His family called the state home, his public service was done with Oregon in mind, and his time went toward helping all sorts of Oregonians reach their full potential. That is why Dave was sitting with me. Surely, he could have been elsewhere, but he rarely turned down the chance to help a student pursue a lofty goal.
I reached out to Dave for advice on my application to the Truman Scholarship, an award that supports college students who “demonstrate outstanding potential for and who plan to pursue a career in public service.” The coaching he imparted stuck with me, but his own good fortune in the Rhodes process did not; I lost (he won). Thankfully, even with the loss in my back pocket, Dave still agreed to meet with me on a regular basis.
Our meeting agenda rarely changed. First, grab coffee from the nearby cafe. Second, debrief local news. Third, see where that takes us. We ended up talking about everything and anything. In between talks, we sent articles back and forth and assessed Oregon’s political scene as if it were a chess game. Our conversations always traced their way back to Oregon...and eventually we ended up discussing the Oregon Way.
To Dave, the Oregon Way wasn’t something you looked up in the dictionary. His Way was more like an atmosphere that enveloped the state’s political discourse and direction. He described it in anecdotes more so than in facts and figures. Stories about the Way jumped from the Rajneshees to the Rogue River. They included the likes of Tom McCall, Norma Paulus, and Vera Katz. Dave delivered each narrative in a personal manner that touched on political rivalries without becoming partisan. Though he never explicitly defined this Way, I inferred that Dave would have sent the following definition to Merriam Webster: Oregon Way [awr-i-guh wey], noun, a manner of conducting political and community affairs that a) relies on community engagement and fosters strong, independent civic institutions, and b) safeguards social norms and individual autonomy.
Collectively, Dave’s stories conveyed that the Way had shifted since Dave left the political arena. New political players introduced new norms. The composition of the atmosphere changed and the Way was becoming something unfamiliar. I craved more information on how he thought the state was shifting: What was good about these shifts? How were the shifts affecting politics and community affairs? Which stakeholders were behind the shifts and how were they making them happen? In search of answers, I did my best to keep up my meeting schedule with Dave. With that goal in mind, at 9:41pm on March 9, 2015, I sent Dave the following message:
Hello Dace,
I just wanted to check in on meeting around 12pm or after 2pm on Thursday.
Looking forward to it,
Kevin
He never responded. Hopefully, he never read it and wondered why this kid couldn’t even spell his name correctly. Dave died the next day on March 10, 2015.
The Oregon Way matters. For several decades, the atmosphere that Dave described fostered political outcomes unseen in other states (but later replicated by many of them) and nurtured leaders with unique abilities and deep understandings of the Oregon people. This atmosphere fueled the Ten Dam Nights debate series between Congressman Sam Coon and State Senator Richard Neuberger. It was the air that Governor McCall breathed when he oversaw the implementation of the Beach and Bottle Bills. It filled the lungs of Oregonians during the push to establish statewide land use laws. Some thing or some things have since polluted this air.
There’s no longer a soft air that moderates our politics and connects Oregonians. The current atmosphere feels toxic. In some cases, it’s as if no atmosphere even exists. We can’t even talk with one another. So big ideas and the potential to do good pass by like clouds over the high desert.
We need the atmosphere Frohnmayer described. Restoring this Oregon Way requires rediscovering what used to be ubiquitous in Oregon. The process of isolating what created and sustained this atmosphere will only get harder as more Oregonians who experienced that era start to leave us. I am determined to learn as much as I can from these leaders and political pioneers before too many of my emails go to inactive inboxes.
I owe it to Dave to continue the conversation we never got to finish. The feeling that Oregon was special and deserved our full attention and protection was the starting point for most of Dave’s stories. This blog aims to share similar stories and to spark new tales of Oregonians getting stuff done.
Our collective exploration of the Oregon Way will hopefully spur others to start cleaning up the atmosphere and to bring conversation, connection, and common sense back to Oregon.
Here’s to a better Oregon,
Kevin
*This is an excerpt of Rediscovering the Oregon Way. You can find links to the entire book here.
To look forward to:
Our #GovernorGoals series. Learn more about how you can help shape the future of our state here.
Greg Wolf thinks elected officials have a superpower of sorts: the power to convene. Those capable of wielding it can accomplish a lot.
Rob Harris highlights an underappreciated response to the homelessness crisis.
To interpret:
#GovernorGoals Submissions on Homelessness
A group of Portland Public School students lament that absent bold action, their collective future does not look very bright.
Read more here.
Additional reading:
Adam Davis pinpoints the central role of forming connections with other people to solving big problems.
Angus Duncan yearns for greater social cohesion. He reflects on how we may be able to restore some degree of that cohesion.
Read more here.
Taylor Stewart is continuing his work to help Oregonians confront and address the state’s racist past to create a more inclusive present.
Read more here.
To do:
Read the latest version of the Liftoff here.
Share The Oregon Way with three friends
Join our editorial team or nominate someone to join
Tell us how we can improve!
Photo credit: "Yaquina Head Lighthouse, Newport, Oregon" by Bonnie Moreland (free images) is licensed under CC PDM 1.0