Oregon Trails

An Occasional Newsletter

from

The Association of Oregon Counties

Summer in Oregon

Way better than the East Coast

July 19, 2012

Salem:  The first of what promises to be many updates for Oregon county officials was held Monday, July 2nd.  AOC Executive Director Mike McArthur led the discussion by asking participating commissioners and county staff to outline their recently completed budgets.  Director McArthur also inquired about the impact the recent Congressional reauthorization of federal forest payments would have in the near future.  Most of the counties responded that the additional payment would probably be put in reserves when it comes later this year.

Greg Wolf of the Governor's Office briefed the group saying open communication between the state and the counties at this juncture is critical.  He agreed with many of the commissioners who commented that while the extension of federal forest payments is a welcome development, it is certainly not the answer to the fiscal crisis facing Oregon and Oregon counties.  The Governor, says Mr. Wolf, wants to find a long-term mechanism to deal with public safety problems several Oregon counties are now grappling with.  Mr. Wolf also told the group that Governor Kitzhaber is keenly interested in developing a policy regarding forest and public land management, including the O&C lands, that will be acceptable to Oregon and both chambers of the United States Congress.

In addition, Mr. Wolf outlined a proposal now circulating that would involve the use of faculty and students at three Oregon public universities and a team of retired county and city administrators to research risks facing Oregon counties and potential solutions.  Jim Johnson of Oregon Solutions added more detail to the proposal and discussed a proposal using RDI to develop a "Kitchen Table" public involvement model to help counties gauge public knowledge and opinion.  Sarah Gates of the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) COO's office detailed the state agency team studying various ways to help counties weather the current crisis and how the Governor's office and the COO's office are developing legislation for the 2013 Oregon Legislative session concerning counties and vital public service delivery. 

The next update for elected county officials and staff will be July 30th at 3:00 pm.  Tele-conferencing and video-conferencing information will be provided ahead of the call. Information on these briefings is only going to those who indicated they wanted to receive it. If you want to be added to the list, please contact Laura or Eric.  

The Government Efficiency Task Force, chaired by Rep. Nancy Nathanson, D-Eugene, met July 17th and acted on an impressive slate of recommendations from three of the group's subcommittees.  The recommendations came from the Criminal Justice subcommittee chaired by Yamhill County Commissioner Mary Stern, Elections and General Government subcommittee and the Human Services subcommittee. 

For a look at the recommendations, please visit the Task Force Website and please feel free to contact AOC staff for specifics. The Task Force will meet two more times in August and September to finalize recommendations, establish the need for possible legislation and prepare a report for the Legislature.  Rep. Nathanson remarked on the speed and efficiency of the Task Force thus far.  She said it usually takes a task force a couple of years to do what the GETF has done in a just a few months. 

NACo's Annual Conference took place this past weekend in Pittsburgh, PA, home of the Steelers, Pirates and Penguins.  By all accounts, the former steel city has become quite a diverse urban center and the conference went well. 

Pittsburgh, PA

NACo has a new Executive Director.  Matt Chase will succeed Larry Naake who is stepping down after 21 years with NACo.  Mr. Chase comes to NACo from NADO - National Association of Development Organizations and brings an impressive resume.   

As usual, Oregon counties were in the forefront of resolutions at the NACo conference. 

AOC's economic development resolutions in support of keeping rural post offices open and funding for the Economic Development Administration were approved.  Columbia County Commissioner Tony Hyde and AOC policy manager Ann Hanus serve on the NACo Community Development Steering Committee.  Commissioner Hyde made the motion in support of the resolutions.  Oregon was also instrumental in revising the committee platform placing emphasis on jobs, funding for economic and community development  programs, need for flexibility, and dealing with home foreclosures. 

Malheur County Judge Dan Joyce spoke forcefully for the need for rural post offices at a work session that included representatives of the US Postal Service. The work session sparked a lively discussion.  We were heartened to hear from the USPS that many rural post offices will be kept open and input will be solicited this fall from any affected communities regarding options and impacts.

AOC proposed three additions to the NACo platform through the Energy, Environment, and Land Use Steering Committee. They are: 

• Logging roads should be excluded as a "point source" under CWA rules and regulations (pertaining to stormwater discharges)
• Support federal legislation and policies that enables funding mechanisms, including grant programs, for community renewable energy projects.
• Support legislation that encourages research and development of energy storage technology. 

Additionally, AOC proposed two resolutions:

• "NACo urges Congress and the Administration to oppose EPA's final Boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) rule until accurate data is available and the feasibility of implementation concerns are addressed."
• "NACo supports the permanent exemption of emissions from renewable biomass combustion from the Environmental Protection Agency's "Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule" and supports policy that recognizes the full carbon benefits of biomass combustion for energy consistent with established and well-supported science." 

All of the platform changes and resolutions were accepted and approved by the NACo Board.  As a reminder, the NACo platform policies remain NACo policy indefinitely, whereas policies adopted via resolution are only valid for one year. 

AOC President Tammy Baney and AOC's Emily Ackland soaking up east coast sunshine

A report released July 17 by a national task force examined threats to both the near and long-term fiscal stability of the states. The task force was led by Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, and former New York State Lt. Governor Richard Ravitch. The report could be viewed as sort of a national version of former Oregon Governor Kulongoski's "Reset Cabinet" report from 2010.

The themes are familiar but striking: mounting unfunded pension and health care obligations, budgetary "gimmicks" that obfuscate reality, use of one-time funds, lack of rainy-day savings, and narrow, eroding tax bases. The report also makes clear that, much as the federal fiscal crisis pushes problems onto the states, the states fiscal problems fall squarely on the backs of local government. The report can be found at:

statebudgetcrisis.org/wpcms. 

The Board of Directors of the Council of Forest Trust Land Counties, which represents the 15 counties that transferred land to the State to become State Forests, has decided to intervene in a federal lawsuit that challenges state management of marbled murrelet habitat. Cascadia Wildlands, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Audobon Society sued the State in federal district court in Portland alleging unlawful "take" of the murrelet habitat under the federal Endangered Species Act. The effort is intended to force the State to enter into a Habitat Conservation Plan, which the Department of Forestry and CFTLC consider unnecessary and an inadvisable business decision. ODF and CFTLC consider the "take avoidance" measure now in practice as more than adequate.

CFTLC decided to intervene to gain status as a party, which permits it to sit at the table during closed discussions, engage in settlement discussions, and, if necessary, appeal. Mindful of costs, CFTLC will participate narrowly on a targeted basis. CFTLC interests are distinct from the State and industry because of the extra-statutory stake forest trust counties have in these lands, and the counties' attention to community well-being and the public interest.

The Sage-Grouse Conservation Strategy Local Implementation teams will meet at the end of July and beginning of August 2012 to discuss the team updates and prioritize on the ground efforts for sage-grouse conservation within the newly identified Action Areas of ODFW's Core Area maps.

• The Jordan Valley meeting will be held July 24 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Jordan Valley Lions Club Hall, Highway 95 North, Jordan Valley.
• The Lakeview meeting will be held July 25 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Bureau of Land Management office, 1301 South G Street, Lakeview.
• The Prineville meeting will be held July 26 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Bureau of Land Management office, 3050 NE 3rd Street, Prineville.
• The Baker City meeting will be held July 30 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Bureau of Land Management office, 3285 11th Street, Baker City.
• The Hines meeting will be held August 2 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Bureau of Land Management office, 28910 Hwy. 20 West, Hines.

The meetings are open to the public, and there will be a public comment period.

There are five Sage-Grouse Conservation Strategy Implementation teams, one for each Bureau of Land Management District within the current distribution of sage-grouse in Oregon as well as one in the Baker Resource Area within the Vale district. Public meetings will be held in each of the Implementation Team areas.

Teams have been meeting since 2005. In May 2011, they reviewed and recommended changes to the Core Area maps as defined in the April 2011 revision of the updated Greater Sage-Grouse Conservation Assessment and Strategy for Oregon. In December 2011 and January 2012 they developed Action Areas with the Core Area maps that identified areas that share common threats to sage-grouse which will help to focus efforts for future habitat management actions and/or mitigation.

The Greater Sage-Grouse Conservation Assessment and Strategy for Oregon, is available on ODFW's website.

Sage-grouse photos are available on ODFW's Flickr site.

Contact:

Autumn Larkins
ODFW, Sage-Grouse Conservation Coordinator
(541) 573-6582

On June 29, 2012, the Commission on Public Safety held their second meeting. The topic of this meeting was Oregon prison growth. The PEW Center on the States prepared a presentation discussing the prison growth drivers: examining admissions, length of stay, and the impact of current trends. Various policy drivers, as well as forecasting of where Oregon will be in 10 years was also discussed. 

Currently Oregon's prison population is 14,057 inmates. According to the data PEW examined, Oregon's prison population has grown four times faster than its general population since 2000, with prison admissions having increased 16 percent since then. Also, offenders are staying in prison longer now than at any other point in the last decade. It was reported that increased length of stay and admissions for technical violators of probation costs the state as many as 500 extra beds for each admission cohort.

In the presentation, various policy drivers that have contributed to Oregon's prison growth were also examined.  These included key citizen initiatives and legislative changes such as Measure 11, Measure 57, Measure 73, House Bill 3488 and House Bill 3508. It was reported that increased prison sentences and length of stay for offenders indicted for M11 crimes accounted for about 3,000 additional prison beds. The presentation also reported that 17 of the top 20 offenses leading to prison in 2011 are impacted by M11, M57, and M73.

Bulleted below are some of the outcomes the presentation highlighted of Oregon's current policies:

• Increasing use of prison for convicted felons
• Increasing percentage of admissions made up of technical probation violators
• More low risk offenders going to prison
• More property and other (DUI, weapons) offenders going to prison
• Offenders staying longer in prison
• M11 is not causing the most recent growth, but still having a huge impact on the prison population because of lengthy sentences

Forecasting of where Oregon will be in 10 years was also presented by PEW, where they projecting that an additional 2,000 beds will have been added. In terms of the growth breakdown, 40 percent of the growth will be from the continuation of current policy and population trends, 36 percent will be increasing incarceration of property offenders based on M57, 17 percnet will be increasing incarceration of drug offenders based on M57, and 8 percent from other policy changes.

The next meeting is scheduled for July 23rd, 2012 at the Oregon State Capital, Hearing Room A and will be focused on cost drivers, community corrections, local control, and the Oregon Youth Authority. This meeting will also be streamed live. All related documents to the Commission on Public Safety can be found on the Criminal Justice Commission Website.

Last week the Federal Government formally approved the waiver for Oregon's Transformation Initiative, as well as the $1.9 billion to support these reforms. This is the final step in getting federal approval for Coordinated Care Organizations (CCOs.) Oregon will continue to meet objectives set by the Federal Government to continue to receive these funds.

Eight CCOs will officially be operating on August 1st (Wave 1 of CCO applicants). After Wave 2 CCOs go operational on September 1st, 34 of the 36 counties will have at least partial coverage from CCOs.

The Early Learning Council met in Roseburg last week. The ELC has assumed a variety of duties and responsibilities outlined in HB 4165 such as the duties previously held by the Commission for Childcare and the Oregon Commission on Children and Families, both of which expired June 30, 2012.  In addition, the ELC has the responsibility to serve as Oregon's official State Advisory Council on the Education and Care for Children as required under the federal Head Start Act.

The ELC's three workgroups continue to meet and develop the details for how the Early Learning Initiative will move forward.

Save the Date! The Governance Forum, in a joint meeting with the AOC Human Services steering committee, will meet September 14th in Bend. More details will follow but the meeting will cover AOC Human Services steering committee's legislative principles, a discussion on CCOs with leaders from OHA and the governor's office, and a discussion of the progress of the ELC. Remember to block out September 14th for this very important meeting.

The AOC Human Services steering committee will also be holding its regularly scheduled August meeting at the Local Government Center on August 10th at 12:30 PM. Contact Mark Nystrom with any questions.

Is your county interested in exploring new ways of working with neighboring counties around public health services?

Oregon Business Development Department (OBDD) and the Oregon Broadband Advisory Council are looking for cities, counties, or tribes that wish to create a Broadband Strategic Plan for their community.

OBDD announced a solicitation to cities, counties, and tribes to participate in this unique opportunity. This solicitation seeks proposals from Oregon cities or counties, government consortia, councils of governments, tribes or regional governmental entities who wish to produce a broadband strategic plan for their community.  OBDD will provide financial (up to $5,000), technical and consulting support to each selected community in order to develop a broadband strategic plan that advances the individual community's economic and community development goals through increased utilization of broadband technology and services.  Four communities will be selected this year, and another four communities next year.

Broadband is critical infrastructure that can help create jobs and contribute to economic growth in our state.  Broadband and related applications can have a significant impact on the effectiveness of public safety agencies, increase access to education, improve economic development, increase civic inclusion and improve government transparency.  Ultimately, broadband provides a platform for Oregon communities to develop new ways to solve problems.

OBDD has contracted with NetCity Inc. to develop a Broadband Strategic Planning Process and to work directly with the selected communities.  NetCity has a team to provide project management, administrative support, technical assistance and training for the participating communities to develop Broadband Strategic Plans.

If your county is interested in participating in the Oregon Broadband Outreach and Strategic Planning Project and would like more information regarding the solicitation, please follow this link or contact Christopher Tamarin for more information. 

We are pleased to announce the hiring of two Business Development Officers to fill the job openings resulting from the retirements of Rick Minster and Bob Warren.

Sean Stevens, Business Development Officer for Linn-Lane-Benton Region (South Valley), Eugene RST Office, and

Melisa Drugge, Business Development Officer for the Eastern Oregon Region , La Grande RST Office

Both started employment on July 16th and I look forward to introducing them to you at our Fall Conference. 

Gary A. Van Huffel, Businesss Development Manager, Business Oregon

LGPI Annual Conference, Oregon Garden Resort, Silverton, August 21-23, early bird registration opens in June!