NEWS UPDATE FROM STATE REPRESENTATIVE DAVID GOMBERG: Down to the Election Day Wire

By Representative David Gomberg, House District 10

Dear Neighbors and Friends,

Tuesday (tomorrow) is election day.

Voter participation across the state is low, under 20%, despite many important and contested questions on the ballot. Fewer people voting makes your vote particularly consequential.

You can still drop off a ballot or put it in the mail. Find drop box locations here. And under a law we passed in 2021, ballots postmarked on or before election day will still be counted if they are received within a week of the election. That means more votes are eligible and slow mail won’t disqualify you. But it also means final results of close races may not be known for several days.

Lincoln and Douglas County elections were briefly in the news this week when postal officials held ballots for a few hours to count envelopes so they could bill the state for postage. The short delays were caused by a “miscommunication” with postal workers and were fixed by Friday morning. State elections division reported that the minor delays were not going to affect ballot returns and certainly wouldn’t affect voters’ ability to cast ballots securely and safely. Read more here.

At issue appears to be how some post offices are processing ballots under a 5-year-old law that ensures the state — not voters — pays for postage. Elections officials keep track of how many ballots they receive by mail. But some post offices had taken the extra step of counting every ballot they deliver. Again, the problem has been resolved and all ballots are safe, secure, and being counted.

This is significant as about one in five Oregon voters, including about half of Republicans, believe voter fraud changed the results of the 2020 election. Also read this KGW report: “No, the US postal service hasn’t been mishandling election ballots.”

The switch to state-paid ballot postage was bipartisan. I voted against it. I believed that the cost of a stamp was not an unreasonable impediment to voting and that drop box sites were plentiful. The state pays the U.S. Postal Service between 75 and 81 cents per returned ballot, calculated from the weight of each ballot. I thought the millions of dollars this would cost per election could better be spent on other priorities. The only other Democrats to oppose the bill? Then Senator Betsy Johnson and then Representative Tina Kotek.

Oregonians who have questions or concerns about whether their ballots have been received and accepted can use the My Vote page on the Secretary of State’s website.

Last week I attended Oregon’s largest Cascadia preparedness exercise at the Newport Airport. Watch reports on this story here.

In the event of an emergency, the airport will serve as an evacuation assembly point or EAP. The site, which takes around 4 hours to set up, can hold around 80 people for up to 2 weeks. The strategy is to remove people who require a higher level of care from the area after a large-scale event. There are dorms for people to stay in, there’s a food tent, a command tent, a Wi-Fi generator, showers, and a medical tent.

The plan is to have people in emergencies rotate in and out.

Staff and volunteers from Lincoln County, the City of Newport, and the Oregon Department of Human Services Office of Resilience and Emergency Management, worked together May 14 and 15 to erect the encampment.

Life Flight landed a helicopter to deliver medical supplies. The Coast Guard simulated rescuing a person from the ground and hoisting them up to a hovering helicopter. Large drones simulated different emergency scenarios including delivering communications equipment and medical supplies to the EAP.

As part of the preparedness exercise, Oregon emergency personnel educated community leaders how to set up the evacuation assembly point equipment. The agency has made these supplies available to coastal communities because coastal areas are most likely to be cut off from emergency responders in the immediate aftermath of an earthquake.

I am very supportive of exercises like this and investments in the equipment that is stored in readiness for an emergency event. But I’m also harshly realistic about the scope of challenges we face. Two or three caches of tents and food along the Coast are not enough. Support for 80 people is not enough. And as I pointed out in my remarks, there are six bridges between my house and this facility that won’t be standing when Cascadia arrives.

We need facilities like this in every community in Oregon to be well prepared for the whims of Mother Nature, whether it’s an earthquake, fire, or a major freeze. And each family needs an individual plan as well because government won’t be here to help you immediately after something happens and lots of people are going to need that help.

I continue to believe the Coast is better prepared than most of Oregon. But I don’t think we are well prepared. I think we have a lot of work to do.

Learn more about this story and get more information here.

If you have tried to reach the Oregon Employment Division (OED) lately, you know they are having problems. The roll-out of a new computer program called Frances, new benefits like paid family leave, and a reduction in federal funding for staff have led to long telephone hold times and reduced customer service.

Meant to replace rigid, antiquated technology, the new website appears to be working for a majority of unemployment insurance and paid leave claimants. But for those having issues, it’s been a frustrating transition.

To address these issues, OED is cutting the time its customer service phone lines are open by two hours a day starting June 4 to work on open cases.

The agency also said it will temporarily halt phone service on Mondays until the understaffed department can hire and train more staff. Department leaders have repeatedly pointed to chronic underfunding from the federal government as the reason behind low staffing levels.

Earlier this year, the state Legislature approved more than $10 million for the Employment Department to add staff. Those funds can’t be used until early June, but they’ve already started hiring efforts. Agency leaders hope to have additional staff trained and in place by the end of August.

Here is the information our office received:

Phone lines will be closed for Unemployment Insurance, Paid Leave Oregon, and Contributions & Recovery on Mondays, starting Monday, June 3.
The phone hour changes go into effect on Tuesday, June 4.
Staff will answer inbound calls from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Staff will answer calls on hold until about 6 p.m.
This change will also affect live chat for UI.

The most efficient way to contact OED is by messaging through a Frances Online account or by using the Contact Us form.
Please do not send more than one request for the same issue.
If customers have questions about the status of their claim, they should log into their Frances Online account each day to check their action center, follow any instructions, and respond to any questionnaires they find there.

Hours for WorkSource Oregon offices and other OED programs will not be affected.
The weekly claim line, Frances Online, and the online Contact Us form will remain available 24 hours a day.
Customers can still start the initial claims process using the UI telephone initial claim line 24 hours a day, but they must complete it within phone hours.
Employers who need to file a payroll report but have no employees will be able to file a report 24 hours a day by phone at 503-378-3981.

If you or a family member are experiencing issues with Unemployment Insurance or Paid Family Leave, contact our office and we may be able to provide some additional assistance.

Here is something fun!

Oregon Business & Industry, in partnership with Here is Oregon, has announced the second annual “Coolest Thing Made in Oregon” contest. You can nominate and vote for the coolest thing manufactured in the Beaver State. Finalists will be chosen from a list of products nominated by the public. The winning manufacturer will receive formal recognition and, more importantly, enjoy bragging rights for producing Oregon’s coolest thing.

Cool things?? How about doormats and lamps made from used fishing rope? Robots that deliver meals to college dorms? Minimal environmentally responsible shoes for happy, healthy feet? Plastic wine bottles that can be reused? Rust-resistant sheet metal building supplies? Reusable medical splints made from aluminum and foam rubber? New foods made from seaweed?

The window to nominate products will remain open until July 12. Finalists will be announced in September, and the winner will be announced on October 23. Nominations can be made at Here is Oregon’s Coolest Thing Made in Oregon page here.

Oregon’s manufacturing sector employs more than 214,000 people and contributes $33 billion annually to the state’s gross domestic product, according to a 2021 ECONorthwest study. Oregon’s manufacturing sector has helped make the state an export powerhouse. As noted in OBI’s inaugural Oregon Competitiveness Book, the per-capita value of Oregon’s exports was the nation’s third highest in 2022. The value of Oregon’s exports topped $34 billion in 2022. That’s more than $8,000 in goods for every one of the state’s residents.

Manufacturing pays well, too. On a per-hour basis, manufacturing workers in Oregon made more than those in 39 states in 2021.

Freres Engineered Wood’s Mass Ply Panels won the inaugural Coolest Thing Made in Oregon contest. You can read about them here.

More information about the contest is available on OBI’s Coolest Thing Made in Oregon web page, which will feature all updates.

To qualify for the contest, products must be manufactured substantially within Oregon and be legal to buy in all 50 states. Anyone can nominate a product, and manufacturers are encouraged to do so. Nobody knows how cool a product is more than the people who make it.

And speaking of new products and good ideas, one of the coolest things I’ve seen lately was the Oregon Coast SBDC Youth Shark Tank.

Held at the beautiful new auditorium in Oregon State University’s Gladys Valley Building in Newport, the event featured five high school finalists presenting their innovative business ideas to a panel of judges and a captivated audience of over 100 community members. Sixty-five hundred dollars in awards were presented to support enterprises that included taxidermy, mobile dog grooming, using resin 3D printers to create made-to-order items for tourists and locals, and a subscription-based plan to sell kits and supplies to runners and fitness enthusiasts.

Ben Pasternak created the popular mobile game “Impossible Rush” at 15, and Mark Zuckerberg co-founded Facebook at 19. The Small Business Development Center encourages high school students with a passion for innovation to enroll in the next Youth Entrepreneurship Program. Plans are being drafted now and will be announced later this summer. Watch the SBDC’s web page for details.

We’re about to add more cool stuff to our district.

Timberlab Holdings, Inc., a leading national provider of holistic mass timber systems, announced that they have entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of American Laminators, an Oregon-based glue-laminated timber (glulam) manufacturer, and will continue operating their two Oregon-based facilities in Drain and Swisshome beginning June 10, 2024.

Swisshome is an unincorporated community in Lane County. It is along the Siuslaw River northeast of Mapleton, on Oregon Route 36. The American Laminators plant is on the south side of the road which is the south boundary of our large district. But the homes of the good people who work at the plant are all on the north side of the road and part of HD 10. So we are claiming credit for those jobs and the good work they do!

What this acquisition means is the preservation of current jobs and the potential to add more jobs to our rural forest economy.

Highlights this past week included speaking to the Philomath Chamber of Commerce and introducing my dear friend and mentor, Governor Barbara Roberts at Sheridan High School where the new CTE Center has been named for her. Barbara graduated from Sheridan High and I worked in 2019 to secure funding for the new career technical studies program before redistricting when I represented Yamhill County.

Sunday Susan organized a walking tour of the Yakona Nature Preserve and Learning Center. Yakona is a living laboratory that serves to protect, preserve, and enhance the natural ecosystems and cultural history of Oregon’s central coast spruce habitat and its wildlife through the arts, education, and stewardship. Our time there was inspiring and illuminating.

As usual, there is a busy week ahead.

Monday I will be at the Oregon Winegrowers Annual Meeting in my capacity as co-chair of the Legislative Wine Caucus. Tuesday (Election Day) I am the speaker at the Lincoln City Chamber and have a meeting with the Devils Lake Water Improvement District.

Wednesday I sit down with representatives from our small rural fire districts. That night I speak to the Lincoln County Democrats (I’m always happy to meet with Republicans too!).

Thursday my office sits in on the BOEM Oregon Intergovernmental Wind Energy Task Force. See my recent comments on wind energy developments here. “Oregon’s coastal communities deserve to have their voices heard and their concerns addressed before any further action is taken on offshore wind development. We simply cannot support the advancement of this industry without meaningful consideration of the impacts on our communities, marine environment, and tribal interests. If BOEM is going to do this, they must do it right. Currently, they are not.”

Saturday is the Lincoln City Cultural Center Plaza Palooza.

And of course, next Monday is Memorial Day. Take time that day – and every day – to recognize the commitment of members of America’s military services, and honor those who lost their lives while defending our country.