November 20, 2003

Engaging Oregon

While I was covering the 4th annual neighborhood summit this past weekend, Emma of The Oregon Blog was off in Hood River attending the Engage Oregon Conference, an event put on by the New Progressive Network (I once covered an earlier event of theirs).

NPN described the event as, "Oregon's Progressive Swap Meet, Think Tank, and Boot Camp all rolled up in 72 hours of wild abandon."

And says Emma:

But the really cool part was considering the policy papers. It was also the most inspiring. For a year I've been whining: Why doesn't someone try to bridge the urban/rural divide by bringing loggers and environmentalists together?; Why doesn't someone put together a proposal for fixing the Frankenstein's monster of Oregon tax policy?; Why doesn't someone try to fix the campaign finance laws? Well, they have.

For the next few days--for as long as it takes, I'm going to discuss those proposals. Some of them were just marvelous, some surreal. One was even sufficiently strong to make me flip my position on it. I'll put links up on the blog that connect to the issues, where available. I encourage anyone who has an interest in these issues to look into the initiatives and get involved.

So far, she's given an overview, offered some selected quotes, mentioned a proposed speedway in Morrow County, and discussed proposed changes to the east bank of the Willamette River.

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