Walkout

True Tales of Democratic Flight!

Legislators on the Lam

Democrats from Oregon's House of Representatives went into hiding last month to prevent a Republican end-run around the governor's office. Associate Editor David Stroup asked Clackamas County legislators how they spent their week avoiding the process servers.

Clackamas County's state legislators are defending their participation in the recent walkout that brought Oregon's House of Representatives to a standstill; in fact, they say they'd do it again if they had to - despite nearly a week of hiding indoors and washing socks out in the sink.

The mass exodus by Democrats - which denied the legislative body the quorum needed to do business - was in response to a Republican plan to pass a redistricting measure as a "resolution" instead of as a bill, bypassing the governor's office. Republicans voted to order their colleagues to return, and then issued summons to force them back - if process servers could find them.

So the Democrats went into hiding while Republicans tried to track them down. Said Rep. Kathy Lowe, a Democrat: "It was very unnerving to realize that the people that you believed were your colleagues would do something that extreme ... to hunt down one another."

Democratic lawmakers hid out at the homes of relatives or supporters. The legislators-on-the-lam described a week-long hiatus that started out as almost fun - but became increasingly stressful as they feared every unknown visitor or unidentified phone call.

"I had lots of phone calls, and a few people came to the door," Milwaukie Rep. Caroline Tomei said. "It made me nervous - nobody left a note." Tomei and other lawmakers say the House quickly put the matter behind them and moved on with business - despite threats of censure or other repercussions from some Republican leaders. And Tomei said the walkout, which killed the Republican redistricting end-run, was worth it.

"I have no regrets," said Tomei. "I'm really proud of us - I'm proud of us as individuals and I'm proud of the Democratic Caucus."

Band on the run
The walkout started June 25 and ended Saturday, June 30, when Democrats agreed to return after it was too late for the redistricting resolution to have a chance.

"I was one of the 25 Democrats who left," said Lowe. "I stayed in the beach condo of a rather prominent Republican who shall remain nameless." She said that her Republican benefactor - and other members of the GOP - were themselves unhappy with the Republican leadership's plan to accomplish redistricting with a resolution. The process of drawing up new districts based on new census data is normally done with a bill, which has to go through the governor's office for approval.

Without a compromise measure, however, Governor John Kitzhaber had promised to veto the bill; that would hand the process to Secretary of State Bill Bradbury - a Democrat. Republicans said the state constitution was unclear on the question of whether a bill was necessary - or if they could pass their plan with a veto-proof resolution.

Oregon's Attorney General had issued an opinion that the Republican plan was illegal, but the Republican leaders announced they'd go ahead with it anyway. So over two dozen Democrats walked out - bringing the legislative process to a halt.

"Because we're in the minority, our options are very limited," Tomei said. At first, some lawmakers just stayed away from the office. But once the Republican leadership in the House ordered the Democrats to return - and then threatened to legally compel them to take their seats - the Democrats went into hiding.

"I washed my socks in the sink and ate hot dogs because I was too scared to go outside," Lowe said. She was joined by fellow House Democrat Vicki Walker and, for one day, Tomei.

"I only answered the phone calls that were clearly identified," she said; if the House leadership had reached her by phone, they could have legally ordered her to take her seat and be counted towards quorum. "If it was an unidentified call, I activated my messaging service.... There were several phone calls that I didn't pick up that came from the Capitol Building." Those calls may have been from her own staff, but she knows that the Republicans did try to track her down: "A process server did show up at the door of my home."

"It was really disconcerting to realize that the colleagues you'd worked so hard with ... were more than ready to fall on you like a pack of hungry dogs," she said.

Hiding at the beach ‚ and dealing with impostors
"Vicki Walker and I left our homes so abruptly we didn't have the opportunity to do any preparation," Lowe said. "We didn't have enough money to deal with groceries.... People we didn't know helped us out. A stranger came to our door to act as a courier to get money from one of our members.... He offered to move our cars for us and to assist us any way he could."

"I stayed at home at first, just laying low," said Tomei - but then she had to go on the run, too. She spent one night at the hidden beach home where Lowe and Walker were holed up. "And then I went down and spent a couple of days with my son in Depoe Bay.... I was staying in touch with staff, I was keeping busy, but I was also trying to keep out of the way.... I pulled all the blinds, put papers in front of the windows that didn't have blinds, didn't answer the door or phone. I think all of us were diligent - and somewhat lucky."

Lowe had one very unusual "close call." Midway through the week, rumors flew that she was hiding out at the Kah-Nee-Tah resort. In fact, someone who wasn't Lowe was checked in there under Lowe name, as a mysterious "honored guest" of the tribe.

Lowe said she still doesn't know who the woman was, or how she got the information to check in under Lowe's identity. Lowe said she was at the resort last year, and that she's had problems recently with an unknown woman trying to cash checks on her office's accounts.

The mystery guest did manage to throw Republicans off the scent, however. "[Legislative Counsel] Greg [Chaimov] called [Kah-Nee-Tah].... He said, 'Rep. Lowe?' and she said 'Yes,'" said Lowe. "He said, 'Do you mind if we serve you?' and she said 'fine' - and promptly checked out."

Lowe said the walkout will cost all of them: because they gave up their salaries and per diem payments during the hiatus, each Democrat is out about $700 - not to mention the time spent hiding out and, in her case, living off hot dogs with the blinds drawn.

"My personal perspective is, if I never see another hot dog, it will be too soon," she said.

Jan Lee: 'I was really put off'
The area's third representative was in a unique position: Rep. Jan Lee had just left the Republican party, but isn't a Democrat either. "As an Independent, I attended most of the sessions for roll-call" during the stand-off, she said - but except for one initial vote ordering the Democrats to return, she refused to take part in the Republicans' attempts to legally compel an end to the walkout.

"I was really put off by the Republicans' move," she said. "When they started badgering the Democrats, I got up and left.... I didn't want to be a part of that."

As the House's only Independent, Lee said she sides with the Democrats who voted with their feet. "I wasn't too happy when [the GOP] brought up the dubious resolution.... My sense is they didn't think it had much of a chance.... I put the blame on the Republicans, because it was unnecessary to make the move. The Democrats had no choice but to not form a quorum until Saturday so that the resolution wouldn't go forward."

Coming back Saturday, June 30 meant that the House had time to do the remainder of its budget business, and Lowe, Tomei and Lee say that legislators were able to put the standoff and walkout behind them.

"As soon as we came back Saturday morning, no one spoke of it," Lee said. "It has not been a contentious issue." She said they worked through 74 bills that first day back, and kept the pace up. "I haven't had any sense it created any difficulties."

"I was a little nervous about coming back," said Tomei, "but there was no need to be. People said, 'Glad to have you back - we missed you.'" The working relationship between the two parties she said, was "already reestablished.... They're working closely with us on the bills, and we're working with them. There are a few die-hards, but most [Republicans] have been very polite."

"Once we got back in the building, the first half of the day was tense," Lowe said, "but many Republicans went out of their way to welcome us back and give us hugs.... I got hugs on the floor, and camaraderie."

She said the Republican membership wasn't united on the crisis: "A substantial number of them were disgusted and appalled with the tactics of the leadership," she said. "Quite a few of them have privately admitted ... if the shoe was on the other foot, they'd have done the same thing."