NEWS UPDATE FROM STATE REPRESENTATIVE DAVID GOMBERG: Share Your Thoughts on Our Transportation Future

By Representative David Gomberg, House District 10

Since the legislative session for 2024 adjourned, I have been talking about the looming transportation challenge ahead for 2025.

An excellent editorial in the Bend Bulletin summed up the situation this week when it addressed the $1.8 billion gap in revenue between what the Oregon Department of Transportation Department figures it needs in a year for operations and maintenance and what it gets.

That’s a gap in the revenue for customer service, for road preservation, safe routes to schools, public transit, bike and pedestrian networks and more. That gap doesn’t include big construction projects like replacing coastal bridges. It’s about keeping what we have.

The state transportation system relies on three failing revenue sources. The first is the state’s 40-cents-per-gallon gas tax that is faltering as more Oregonians drive fuel-efficient cars or electric vehicles. The average driver now uses almost a quarter less fuel than they did a decade ago, paying about $40 less per year in gas taxes.

The second source, fees paid to the Driver and Motor Vehicle Services division, isn’t steady because some DMV fees aren’t enough to cover the cost to administer services, let alone bring in additional revenue. That puts more weight on the third option, weight-mile taxes charged to commercial truckers, who are now suing the state alleging they’re being overcharged.

So what’s ahead? The future could include difficult conversations about a road usage charge – paying by the miles a vehicle travels, tolling, and/or additional fees on electric vehicles. There are even fleeting conversations about replacing the gas tax with a general sales tax. If any of those options sound good or conversely, spike a rise in your blood pressure, there is an important opportunity for you to say something about them.

The Joint Committee on Transportation has announced a 12-stop Transportation Safety and Sustainability Outreach Tour to hear from Oregonians about how the Legislature can ensure Oregon has a safe, functional, and efficient multimodal transportation system now and for years to come.

Members of the joint committee will engage with local communities about the structural challenges facing the statewide transportation system and discuss various remedies, including how to provide stable and sufficient funding of the Oregon Department of Transportation.

The next public hearing will be held on June 18 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Port of Tillamook Bay, Officer’s Mess Hall at 6825 Officer Row in Tillamook. It will also be available via livestream on olis.oregonlegislature.gov. I’ll be there!

Members of the public interested in testifying can register in person starting 30 minutes before the meeting begins. The committee will also hear remote testimony if time permits, which the public can register for on the committee’s webpage at olis.oregonlegislature.gov. Additionally, written testimony can be submitted to the committee via email to JCT.exhibits@oregonlegislature.gov.

For residents of HD 10 living further south or east, there are similar hearings planned for Coos Bay, Eugene, and Albany. All hearings will be open to the public and members of the press.

● Downtown Portland – Tuesday, June 4

● Tillamook – Tuesday, June 18

● Albany – Tuesday, July 16

● Eugene – Wednesday, July 17

● Coos Bay – Wednesday, August 7

● Medford – Thursday, August 8

● Ontario – Wednesday, August 28

● Hermiston – Thursday August 29

● Bend – Thursday, September 12

● The Dalles – Friday, September 13

● Happy Valley – Thursday, September 26

● Hillsboro – Friday, September 27

The news that four prosecutors in the Lincoln County District Attorney’s office have resigned was concerning this week. According to a story in Yachats News, that will leave just two of eight prosecutor positions in the office by the end of June, not including Jenna Wallace, who won the May 21 election to become District Attorney next January.

And now, current District Attorney Lanee Danforth has announced Monday she will resign on June 21 and that she has asked the Oregon Department of Justice to come in and help run the office.

I reached out to DA-Elect Wallace to ask how my office can help.

When a vacancy like this occurs, the governor appoints the district attorney. But that usually takes time. So the governor directs the state Attorney General to discharge the duties of the district attorney and an assistant attorney general is then assigned to do that.

The Oregon Department of Justice said Tuesday it was ready to help.

Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum and her criminal justice division “are very familiar with the situation, and well-acquainted with that office”. “We do everything we can, given our limited resources, to help when requested.”

County commissioners have also said they would direct other staff to help Wallace or the Department of Justice prosecutors, should they be deployed. During the recent campaign, recruiting, training, and retaining prosecutors was described as a difficult task because of the office’s low pay, high caseloads, and the cost of housing on the Oregon coast.

District Attorney Lanee Danforth, who has been “embroiled in controversy and the office in turmoil almost since the start of her term in January 2021”, said she will resign June 21 and that she has asked the Oregon Department of Justice to come in and help run the seriously understaffed office.

Happy Pride Month!

According to the Library of Congress, “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month is currently celebrated each year in June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. The Stonewall Uprising was a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement. In the United States the last Sunday in June was initially celebrated as ‘Gay Pride Day,’ but the actual day was flexible. In major cities across the nation the ‘day’ soon grew to encompass a month-long series of events. Today, LGBTQ Pride Month events attract millions of participants around the world. Memorials are held for those members of the community who have been lost to hate crimes or HIV/AIDS.

The purpose of the commemorative month is to recognize the impact that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals have had on history locally, nationally, and internationally.”

Local events this year have included picnics, proclamations, dance parties, breakfasts, a beach cleanup and school programs fostering a safe, inclusive, and welcoming environment for all. The Philomath Pride event will run from noon-4 p.m. June 15, at Philomath City Park. Lincoln City will celebrate at the Cultural Center on June 29^th. And remember to save the date for Newport Pride, September 20-22.

Juneteenth, officially known as Juneteenth National Independence Day, is a federal holiday commemorating the emancipation of four million enslaved African Americans. This significant event, which originated in Galveston, Texas, marked the arrival of Union soldiers on June 19, 1865, when the residents of Galveston finally received news of the abolition of slavery. In the subsequent year, on June 19th, the first official Juneteenth celebration took place in Texas.

Juneteenth holds special importance in Oregon, where Black pioneers have long observed Grand Emancipation Day on January 1st since 1863. In 1945, Clara People, a Kaiser shipyard worker, introduced the Juneteenth tradition to Oregon, building upon these rich legacies.

I will be speaking at our local Juneteenth event on June 15 at the Lincoln City Cultural Center from 11am-2 p.m. Come and enjoy food, live music, inspiring speakers, children’s activities and educational exhibits.

Tides on the Oregon coast will soon reach their lowest point of the year, which makes this the best time to carefully explore our beaches.

Forecasts show extremely low tides on four occasions between now and August, with the lowest tides predicted July 22:

● June 23-24

● July 5-6

● July 21-23

● Aug. 20-21

Check out the tide table to plan your trip and take advantage of this amazing phenomenon.

These low tides can reveal hidden treasures or let you access a part of the Coast you normally wouldn’t be able to reach. But low tides still require caution as they turn into rising tides, sneaker waves, and riptides. Enjoy! But please do so safely!

Speaking of rising tides, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports sea levels are expected to rise along the United States coastline by about 2-7 feet by the end of this century due to human-caused climate change. An interactive map gives viewers a glimpse into the future if temperatures continue to rise across the globe, melting sea ice and causing oceans to rise.

NOAA’s interactive map shows exactly what that would mean to Oregon, even in places that aren’t adjacent to the ocean. A 6-foot rise in sea level would submerge islands in the Columbia River and encroach upon the homes of people living near the river. Along the coast, the damage would be extensive to places like Warrenton, Seaside, and Toledo.