The Way: Jim Moore on Kotek's Run; Rep. Wilde on Gambling; Kristina Edmunson on Wildfires
PLUS: Is Oregon ready for nuclear energy? Which candidates for governor have the right mix of humility and boldness?
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Editor’s Note:
I grew up watching Ted Kulongoski on TV. As the Governor of Oregon, he was hard to miss, especially during the Great Recession. I vividly recall a segment on Governor Kulongoski’s pledge to spend a week on food stamps. This pledge wasn’t for the Governor’s Instagram page (he didn’t have one) nor was it meant to draw hundreds of new Twitter followers (he wasn’t one for Tweeting). Instead, Ted acted solely out of compassion for his constituents. His goal was to use his influence to inspire and motivate others to care about their fellow Oregonians. When the segment finished, my dad said, “That’s what leadership looks like.”
I never anticipated I’d get to know the Governor just a few years later.
While attending the University of Oregon, I joined what can only be described as a club for political nerds—the Wayne Morse Scholars. The club took classes together, wrote op-eds, and invited speakers to campus. One such speaker was Governor Kulongoski. When I learned of his impending visit, I quickly reached out to the professor who had corresponded with the Governor and asked if he’d pass along an additional invite—I wanted to formally interview the Governor for an article I was writing on...you guessed it...leadership.
Kulongoski accepted and our relationship got underway. Today, Ted is much more than someone I study from afar; he’s a mentor, and, above all, a friend. So, I prioritize staying in touch with him, even amid a crazy schedule of Zoom and in-person classes. It’s this sort of intentionality that’s essential to maintaining ties with those who matter most to you during law and policy school. Yes, it may feel odd at first to “schedule” conversations with a friend, but we live in hectic times and it’s too easy for the chaos of the day to override your best laid plans.
My conversations with Governor Kulongoski pushed me to attend grad school and his insights continue to propel me to think about how best to use my degrees. When I brought up grad school with Ted, he never told me where to go or what to study. Ted solely wanted me to find “furniture” for my mental “living room.” He then detailed his metaphor: the mind is like an empty room—it’s up to you to fill it with useful and beautiful things.
Some folks, Ted pointed out, opt to fill it with things they find on the street corner—putting convenience above all else. For Ted’s room, though, he found that the best furniture came from experiences that tested him—like serving in the military, going to law school, and earning a seat in the Oregon State Legislature. With those anecdotes in mind, Ted said that if I had the opportunity to learn, then I should certainly take them—if only to make sure that I was filling my mind with furniture that would serve me for decades to come.
Thankfully, I followed Ted’s advice and have since designed my graduate education around amassing meaningful furniture over more superficial things like taking easy classes just to get good grades. Instead, I have sought out the most interesting professors—folks like Paul Schwartz, a leading privacy professor at the UC Berkeley School of Law—and most compelling classes—like cybersecurity at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Now, with the end of my schooling beginning to inch above the horizon, I regularly consult Ted on how to best put my “furniture” to use. How can I...how can all of us...follow Ted and place humans above hashtags?
Here’s to a better Oregon,
Kevin
To look forward to:
Mark Hester calls out the inconsistency associated with “emergency” climate action plans that won’t come to fruition for decades.
Ciara Williams outlines how rural Oregon can emerge even stronger post-pandemic.
To read:
Kristina Edmunson discloses that most photos of Oregon’s wildfires actually aren’t of our state’s outdoors. As a result, Oregonians miss out on receiving the most accurate and compelling depiction of these conflagrations. Thankfully, there’s a policy solution.
read the full piece here.
Jared Garson questions how Oregon can set an example on climate change that will spur other states to follow its leading in safeguarding our environment. Though the state has made a lot of progress, it should champion nuclear energy and demonstrate the safety and power of the resource.
read the full piece here.
Rep. Wilde analyzes the positives and negatives of Oregon’s approach to gambling. As much as the state needs the revenue generated by these games, those funds cannot overshadow the need to confront the negative side-effects of gambling.
read the full piece here.
Kevin Frazier questions which candidates for governor have the right mix of humility and vision.
read the full piece here.
Jim Moore provides some historical facts related to Tina Kotek’s run for governor.
read the full piece here.
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"Tumalo Falls, Oregon" by Bonnie Moreland (free images) is marked with CC PDM 1.0