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Some capitol watchers are dubbing it the battle of the beauty queens, but it's a lot more complex--and serious--than that. At issue is a special council on education that former Speaker of the House Lynn Lundquist created last session. The current speaker, Lynn Snodgrass, apparently is not enamored with the council. And it's staffed by Margaret Hunt, who beat Snodgrass for the title of Miss Oregon in 1969. Snodgrass, who went on to win the big prize in 1970, has maintained a congenial relationship with Hunt. She even recommended her for a job with Lundquist in 1995. Earlier this week, however, Snodgrass called for the elimination of Hunt's job. The snit seems to have far less to do with Snodgrass' history with Hunt than her testy relationship with Lundquist, whom she dethroned last month. Snodgrass says she asked to be named to Lundquist's council when it was formed, but she wasn't chosen. Now, she says, she can't get copies of any of the materials the council is using. And she sees no reason the state should foot the bill. Lundquist says that just isn't so. "She's been invited to all the meetings," he says. "We said we'd talk about anything she wants to know." The council--made up of 20 school administrators, teachers, business leaders and lawmakers--has been working for nearly two years to determine how much it costs to educate an Oregon child to meet statewide standards. It's about time, according to Hunt. "When you've got a superintendent telling you he's going to have to cut 20 teachers, you'll know it isn't just hype," she says. "You'll have the numbers." Those numbers will be higher than Snodgrass likes. The council will
release an education budget next week showing the costs of bringing
90 percent of the state's students up to standards. Hunt won't release
the figure yet but says it's higher than the budgets put forth by the
governor and GOP senators, and it even exceeds the $5.1 billion the
schools are asking for. --Patty Wentz
Since 1989, cops in Oregon have been seizing cash and property--such as houses, cars, cells phones, TVs and furniture--from people suspected of drug or vice crimes. (The idea is that people involved in dealing shouldn't be allowed to keep the profits from illegal activities.) The property is auctioned off, with assets going to local police budgets. These assets add up. In Portland, for example, the vice squad seized $489,000 in cash, 43 houses and 39 cars in 1996 alone. The forfeiture law is somewhat controversial because the police don't even have to charge the suspects before taking their property. Bowman says she supports the basic law. But her bill would require police to make a better case that illegal activity is occurring before they seize someone's property. Bowman's main focus is on the cash that's generated. Worried about the stream of newly released inmates coming out of the Oregon prison system without community support, Bowman has included in the bill a proposal to take 50 percent of the money and funnel it to local governments. "We have these mandatory minimums," she says, "but we don't have things to help [parolees] be successful when they come back. We need alcohol and drug programs, job-readiness training, child care, housing." Although Bowman is on the House Judiciary Committee, she's concerned that the police lobby is so powerful her bill will never get a hearing. --Patty Wentz What's Ours Is MinedFOLLOW-UP In the state Legislature, Rep. Randy Leonard has been a lone wolf in attacking the pollution problems in Portland's waterways. This week, he's calling out the rest of the pack. Leonard is determined to halt any further mining by Ross Island Sand and Gravel, which owns the island. He's sent a call to action to everyone with authority in the Portland area--from legislators to Mayor Vera Katz to neighborhood associations. He notes that the company's state mining permit is up for renewal, and he wants to pack the Department of State Land's public information meeting scheduled for next week (to be held 7 pm Tuesday, Feb. 23, in the State Office Building, 800 NE Oregon Ave. in rooms 120 B and C). The company, owned by the family of Portland multimillionaire Robert Pamplin, recently came under fire when it accidentally dug up some toxic dredge spoils from the lagoon and released them into the water. "I think there is enough evidence to show Ross Island Sand and Gravel is not complying with their previous permit," says Leonard, "and there is enough evidence to prove dredging provides an inhospitable environment for endangered fish." Leonard, who has submitted a stream of environmental bills, says that cleaning up the Columbia Slough and Willamette River is his No. 1 priority for the session ("Spare the Rod, Spoil the River," WW, Feb. 3, 1999). Ultimately, Leonard wants the state to buy Ross Island, which sits
in the middle of the Willamette River, for a public park. He says the
state agencies have done a poor job protecting salmon, herons and other
wildlife dependent on the island's habitat. --Patty Wentz
WHY, THERE OUGHTA BE A LAW...HOUSE BILL 4005 * RELATING TO IMAGINARY BUGS BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OREGON: SECTION 1: Whereas the Y2K bug is an overblown fear that will create more problems in hysteria than the underlying computer programming: (a) All persons with food stored in excess of six months of actual need shall be forced to publicly consume all stored food beginning Jan. 2, 2000 until said food supply is exhausted. (b) All persons with greater than two paychecks' worth of cash upon their person shall be forced to forfeit said cash to those unable to withdraw money from banks and automated teller machines as a result of year 2000 cash-hoarding hysteria. (c) Retail establishments mentioning the Y2K bug in any advertisement
as a method of inducing sale of any item, including, but not limited
to, electric generators, wood-burning stoves, freeze-dried food and
firearms, shall be taxed at double the rate ordinarily imposed on
such items to account for the false windfall created as a result of
millennium hysteria fueled by said advertisements. This week's amateur legislator, Tim Mooney of Southeast Portland,
wins dinner for two at Sweetwater's Jam House.
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