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Friends and Neighbors,
October was National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. I grew up in Gales Creek in a home where domestic violence was present and very much a traumatic part of my upbringing. I am proud that I have had the opportunity to lend that painful experience to help create positive change here in Oregon. In 2018, we passed HB 4145 that helps prevent stalkers and domestic violence offenders from buying guns or keeping guns. In 2019, we passed HB 2013, that says a person subject to certain court protective orders is prohibited from possessing firearms if the person had opportunity to be heard on order and did not request hearing, failed to appear at hearing or withdrew request before hearing occurred. While these bills are not the sole tools to providing all the answers for protection, they are a critical step to addressing the gun violence issues in our state for victims. On the local level, the Family Justice Center of Washington County has been serving victims and their families since 2018. In the first year of being open, they provided 6,200 services! I am proud to work with the Family Justice Center to continue to help provide wrap-around services and support their one-stop center of services for those under stress and trauma. For more information on the center, visit their website at https://www.fjcwc.org/.
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Me with Family Justice Center Board President Judy Willey and Carolyn Ortman at the Family Justice Center of Washington County Open House
Right To Repair
One of the concepts I am researching for the upcoming legislative session is "right to repair". The idea appealed to my interests as a Metro Master Recycler, a concept that has potential to reduce waste. Unfortunately, current roadblocks make this difficult - many manufacturers of consumer electronics like phones, tablets, computers and sometimes even home appliances, make repair difficult or even possible if access to the parts, tools, and manuals needed to fix their products is not available. When buying new instead of repairing what we already have is the only viable option, that means more cost to consumers, but also more trash going to landfills, including heavy metals that can leach toxic chemicals into the environment. Giving Oregonians the "right to repair" by requiring manufacturers to provide consumers and community repair shops with the tools and resources they need to fix their electronics will extend the life of this equipment, reduce e-waste, and help narrow the digital divide. It also has the ability to support small, local business.
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Over the summer, I attended the NCSL conference in Nashville, Tennessee where I entered the ISRI (Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries) contest to guess how many scrap tires were recycled in my state each year. To my delight, I won with the closest answer- I guessed 4,000,087, and the estimated scrap tires generated each year in Oregon is 4.2M! Thank you to Champlin Tire Recycling for this beautiful bench, made up of 100% recycled plastics and rubber. #recyclingworks |
Industry Tours
During the Interim, it is great to have the opportunity to do behind the scenes tours and see our Oregon business and industry in action.
Thank you to Intel for the behind the scenes tour. I appreciated hearing about Intel's web effect, their impact to businesses and our economy all across Oregon, not just here in House District 30. It was great to share the experience with colleagues and to welcome them to my district.
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I was also fortunate to be part of a fantastic solar panel tour with three stops to check out three types of systems: utility scale solar farm in Gervais, by Carolina Solar Services, a commercial system supporting a school in Woodburn (using SolarWorld panels!) and a residential system in Woodburn. Thank you to Oregon Solar Energy Industries Association for arranging the tour. |
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Thank you to the Northwest Forest Protective Association for the tour of our local forest lands and the informative talk on the work they do to keep them protected. This association of landowners has been working together for forest protection since 1913. Today a mix of large and small landowners work cooperatively with the Oregon Department of Forestry to provide wildland fire protection on 1.7 million acres of forestland, stretching from McMinnville to Astoria and from the Columbia River to the ocean.
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Oregon's Initiative Petition Process
Oregon allows citizens to bring forward ballot measure concepts through an initiative petition process. It starts by gathering 1,000 signatures to qualify for a ballot draft. Once approved, the Attorney General's office will issue a certified ballot title and the Elections Division will issue a template to the Chief Petitioners (there can be up to 3) so that the petitions can begin to circulate. Then gather, gather, gather. For a petition process to be approved for the ballot, you need to gather 112,020 voter signatures, due four months before the election date. For a constitutional amendment, you will need 149,360 approved voter signatures. Learn more about the process on the Oregon Secretary of State website. See a list of the current initiatives that are in process here.
Disaster Preparedness
The Great ShakeOut was October 17th. Over 66 million people signed up to participate this year. Were you one of them? I was. Practice is important, your past experience in earthquakes may give you a false sense of safety; you didn’t do anything, or you ran outside, yet you survived with no injuries. Or perhaps you got under your desk and others thought you overreacted. However, you likely have never experienced the kind of strong earthquake shaking that is possible in much larger earthquakes: sudden and intense back and forth motions of several feet per second will cause the floor or the ground to jerk sideways out from under you, and every unsecured object around you could topple, fall, or become airborne, potentially causing serious injury. This is why you must learn to immediately protect yourself after the first jolt… don’t wait to see if the earthquake shaking will be strong!
Learn more about what to do in an earthquake at shakeout.org. Remember, Drop. Cover. Hold on.
Leaders of House District 30
Elizabeth Case is a native Oregonian who moved back to the state 5 years ago and lives in Orenco Station. She was recently elected to the Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce Board and is also a Hillsboro Library Board member.
I initially got involved with the Hillsboro Chamber after completing the Hillsboro Civic Leadership Academy in 2017 (along with Janeen’s amazing Chief of Staff Nickole Vargas!). I worked with the Small Business & Entrepreneurs Council as a part of the chamber to research the feasibility of developing a co-working space in Hillsboro which came out of our Civic Leadership Academy recommendations.
In April 2019 we opened the doors to HillHub - an awesome co-working space in Hillsboro adjacent to the Chamber offices. As House District 30 continues to grow we want to ensure that small business owners have access to affordable space to work and collaborate without the commute! Stop in to take a tour of HillHub, test run it for a day with a free day pass and stop by their Unwind happy hour Thursdays from 4-5:30pm! Make sure you say hi if I’m there - I may even have one of my dogs with me!
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October Activity - Out & About representing House District 30
- Visited MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility for celebration of the passage of SB1008
- National Manufacturing Day
- Volunteered on HillsDOer Day at the Hillsboro Harvest 5K at Orenco Woods Nature Park
- Attended Orenkofest
- Naral Gala
- OBI Statesman Dinner
- Visit to Intel-Ronler Acres in Hillsboro
- Solar Tour
- Edwards Center Lunch
- Family Justice Center Open House
- Congresswoman Bonamici Town Hall
- CPO 8 Meeting in North Plains
- Volunteered for Meals on Wheels at the Glencoe High School Health Fair
- Community Conversation #57
- BESThq Town Hall
- Visited the PCC Rock Creek Future Connect Class
- Volunteered to make and serve dinner at Home Plate Youth Services
- Field Tour of Wild land Fire Protection in Forest Grove
- Lunch with Project Search
Upcoming Events
- Talking Turkey Presentation with Moms Demand Action. Tuesday, November 5th, 2019. 7:00pm at First Congregational Church. 494 E Main St., Hillsboro, OR 97123. RSVP here.
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North Plains 2nd Annual Holiday Gift Bazaar. Saturday, November 9th, 2019. 10:00am-5:00pm. Jessie Mays Community Park.
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Hillsboro Elks Lodge #1862 Holiday Bazaar. Saturday, November 9th-Sunday, November 10th, 2019. 9:00am-5:00pm. 7553 NE Quatama St, Hillsboro, OR 97124.
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Lights Up on Climate Change at Bag&Baggage. Friday, November 22nd, 2019. 7:30pm. The Vault Theater. 350 E Main St., Hillsboro, OR 97123.
- Community Conversation (#58). Saturday, November 23, 2019. 10:00am-11:00am. Hillsboro Brookwood Library
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Come and speak with me at my November Listening Session. This is a great opportunity to ask your questions and share your concerns. Also streaming on Facebook Live for those that cannot attend in person. This will be my 58th listening session since becoming a State Representative in January 2017. |
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Come and see me at the Fiesta De Tamales. (I am a tamale tasting judge!)
Saturday, November 23, 2019. 11:00am-2:00pm. M&M Marketplace, 346 SW Walnut St., Hillsboro, OR 97123
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House District 30 City Links
As a way to keep everyone connected to the cities I represent, here are links to their most recent newsletters.
Here's to 50 years around the sun! ☀️ October 19th I turned the BIG 5-0! I enjoyed the chance to celebrate such a milestone year. I feel so blessed by where life has taken me. So blessed to have the family I have and the friends that I have in my corner. I feel blessed to be a part of such an awesome community and the opportunity to serve you in House District 30. Thank you for being a part of this incredible journey with me.
Onward and Upward,
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 Capitol Phone: 503-986-1430
Capitol Address: 900 Court St. NE, H-487, Salem, Oregon 97301
Email: Rep.JaneenSollman@oregonlegislature.gov
Website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/sollman
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