Ron Holds Clatsop, Jefferson and Crook County Town Halls
Senator Wyden held town halls last week in Clatsop, Jefferson and Crook counties, fielding questions from constituents on raising wages for Oregon families and the need to pass his Secure Rural Schools (SRS) bill.
Ron also met with some of Portland’s best and brightest -- attending Puppet Labs’ open house for visitors to tour its new downtown Portland location, Lines for Life’s annual gala, SMART’s Portland gala, the Mittleman Jewish Community Center’s celebration of outstanding Jewish athletes in Oregon and the Portland Business Journal’s “40 under 40” awards to honor outstanding young leaders.
At the Clatsop County town hall on Feb. 20 at Astoria High School, students and community members asked Ron about everything from his vote against the Keystone XL pipeline to privacy issues.
At the Jefferson County town hall in Madras and the Crook County town hall in Prineville on Feb. 21, in addition to hearing about the need for SRS funds to help schools and local law enforcement, Ron was able to deliver the good news that had broken the night before about a resolution in the West Coast ports dispute.
Both he and Sen. Jeff Merkley had written letters to both sides urging a settlement that would benefit both workers and exporters of Oregon products.
Senator Wyden has held 721 town halls in fulfillment of his pledge to have annual meetings in each of the state’s 36 counties to hear what is on the minds of Oregonians.
One final and more personal moment came the night of Feb. 19 when Ron was able to attend The Verona Studio’s production in Salem of “Blonde Poison”, a one-woman performance of a play based largely on a book written by Ron’s late father Peter Wyden. To read more about the connection between the play and Ron’s father, here is the piece that ran in the (Salem) Statesman Journal.
