Town hall with Weber and Javadi centers on drug recriminalization, education

Debates about drug recriminalization, housing and education dominated a town hall held Tuesday night in Astoria by state Rep. Cyrus Javadi and state Sen. Suzanne Weber.

The Tillamook Republicans mediated a conversation with residents spanning the political spectrum, responding to questions that often turned to fiery disagreements shouted across the Port of Astoria conference room on Pier 1.

Cyrus Javadi

State Rep. Cyrus Javadi, a Tillamook Republican, represents House District 32, which includes Astoria.

The town hall began with a recap of the legislative session. Both Javadi and Weber spoke in favor of House Bill 4002, which was signed into law this month and walked back the voter-approved Measure 110 to recriminalize possession of small amounts of illicit drugs.

“We were going down a sinkhole,” Weber said of Measure 110. “We were spinning. And it was causing a lot of issues.”

Under the new law, people caught with small amounts of illicit drugs can face up to six months in jail, with an option to pursue drug treatment and avoid criminal charges through deflection programs implemented on a county-by-county basis. Clatsop County is among the counties developing a deflection program.

“We need some compassion,” Javadi said. “We don’t want people who get mixed up in drugs to have their lives ruined forever if they’re willing to make a change, so we want that. But we also wanted to give law enforcement some teeth so they could get drugs off the street and get people who are possessing drugs into a program, hopefully, that will get them clean.”

People in the audience voiced concerns about the lack of drug treatment and behavioral health care options. Seaside Mayor Steve Wright argued that local agencies are overburdened.

“The big issue for this part of the county, or this county as a whole, is that we’re kind of ignored,” Wright said. “We’ve got some agencies that have really taken hold here, but they’re overburdened, and they’re doing everything they can now. So we’ve got to get more people here and health care workers.”

Weber and Javadi also spoke about the housing package and the challenges of building housing on the North Coast.

“Part of the frustration has been, I think the main thrust of the housing bill and all the housing initiatives have been with Willamette Valley in mind,” Javadi said. “And it’s not that they’ve completely forgotten about rural (areas), but we have not really spent the time and effort yet to deal with problems that are unique to rural Oregon, especially on the coast.”

Another person in the audience asked about Oregon’s suspension of the essential skills requirement for high school graduation and raised concerns about struggling public schools. Oregon is consistently ranked among the worst states in the nation for kindergarten-through-12th grade education.

Weber, a former elementary school teacher, spoke about her participation on the state’s early literacy task force.

“We have been working on that to be able to encourage our students that are in college to know more about teaching reading, and what is important in teaching reading,” she said.

The discussion about education led to a debate about school choice and the value of public schools in Oregon.

“I think our schools should be a safe, happy place for any kid that wants to go there,” Javadi said. “So to the extent that we can create that environment, I think it’s on us to do that … We can provide that type of experience for our kids and we owe it to them, in whatever venue they decide to attend school.”

Conversation also touched on the state’s habitat conservation plan, abortion and the Israel-Hamas War in Gaza.

“You guys have been great,” Javadi said. “And I know we disagree on some stuff. That’s politics. These are big, complicated, messy issues that have lots of moving parts … We just want to make sure you feel heard and that we had an opportunity to work through some of that. And if we don’t get across the finish line on an issue this time, it doesn’t mean we can’t be persuaded next time.”