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Editorial See other Editorial Articles Title: Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber's vote is the only one that counts In two dramatic moves — curiously timed for Thanksgiving week — Gov. John Kitzhaber has firmly established the pecking order in Oregon politics. Declaring the death penalty “a perversion of justice” and suspending all executions in Oregon, Kitzhaber reminds us that he feels empowered to overrule the vote of the people and the opinion of the Oregon Supreme Court. In shrugging off the dismissal of University of Oregon President Richard Lariviere, Kitzhaber asks us to believe, however, that he is powerless to second guess the State Board of Higher Education. Over the course of a lengthy political career, Kitzhaber has frequently displayed his preference for policy decisions made in hipwader solitude or with a small cabal of trusted advisers. That propensity was on full display last week. Kitzhaber had every opportunity to make his fervent opposition to the death penalty clear in his 2010 campaign, yet waited until he was safely in office to reveal a mind that long ago decided there would be no lethal injections on his watch. And while the ouster of Lariviere is not surprising — the OUS board only granted him a one-year extension last summer — Kitzhaber either quietly approved the firing or the board’s flamboyant disregard for public process. Lariviere was informed last Monday, he confided in an email to the UO community, that “my contract as president of the University of Oregon will not be renewed. I was told I could resign or accept the termination of my contract, which runs through July 1, 2012.” It took another 50 hours for the Board to frantically “convene a special meeting” on Nov. 28 at the Portland State Rec Center to vote on Lariviere’s tenure. Small wonder, then, that the president's supporters shook off their tryptophan blues Friday to draft an ethics complaint that argues the Board decided to cut Lariviere loose without public notice or public meeting. The circus around Lariviere’s dismissal is arming the lame duck with a level of support he failed to generate in 29 months on the job. The prez had his detractors. Many students and faculty deplored the decision to turn public safety officers into an armed police force. The salary bumps for 1,300 UO professors and admin workers were more popular in Eugene than Portland or Corvallis. As UO has become increasingly popular among out-of-state students, its balance sheet has been increasingly dependent on out-of-state tuition, leaving less room in the freshman class for Oregon’s best students. Yet as I wrote in September, it was increasingly difficult to root against Lariviere’s vision for the University of Oregon, “given how few institutions in this timid state have similar ambition.” And given last week’s summary execution, it’s hard to believe that anyone with the man’s independence or imagination will pop out of the woodwork — or Kitzhaber’s Facebook group — to take the university’s reins. That may help to frame the enduring lesson of the past week: There’s only one sheriff in town. John Kitzhaber took last November’s election, for good reason, as the only vote he needed to act decisively on his prescription for what ails us. He’s not asking for second opinions. His morality is law. And 1,142 days remain in his four-year term. -- Steve Duin Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 2.
#1. To: Ferret (#0)
Although I agree with Taxhaber on the death penalty I still despise him. He is a member of the machine that runs the state, and while I have no firm evidence I suspect he is tied in somewhere with the eastern elites. Oregon has been a bit of a laboratory for the NWO/Globalist crowd and so I think we are a carefully watched and manipulated stew. While there are an awful lot of good people here a lot of them are also awful deluded and brimming over with false information.
I am against the death penalty too. And this guy obviously is not intending to run for Governor again, but I'm sure he will be fodder in ads by some Republicans running for office, like our own 4th Congressional District wing nut candidate, Art Robinson.
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