Kitzhaber Resignation Days After Denial

The Guardian and the Oregonian have both described the events of the past week "surreal". I have to say that I agree, though for more personal reasons. I used to often eat lunch alongside Kitzhaber and his team of officials, whilst I studied as an exchange Undergraduate at Willamette University. Our dinning hall was quite literally across the street from the State Capitol, and as a result of the high quality lunch on offer, many State officials including the Governor himself would often join staff and students for a bite.

I have therefore associated Kitzhaber, not only with his reforms of Oregon Medicaid, but as the silver haired, moustachioed man in front of me in the sandwich line. I would not have imagined the man I saw to have been embroiled in such political upset. I was clearly naïve.

However, he is, and John Kitzhaber will cease to be Governor of the State of Oregon on Wednesday. His resignation comes after months of pressure, pertaining to allegations of corruption involving his fiancé.

The 67-year old had recently been sworn in for a historic 4th term under Salem's Golden Pioneer, but controversy over both unpaid and paid roles given to Cylvia Hayes, including as Clean Energy and Economic advisor to Kitzhaber's office has led to this sudden resignation.

Hayes has previously been criticised for taking payment to marry an Ethiopian man in 1997, in order for him to attain US citizenship. In the same year, she had also been involved in a plan to buy property in Okanogan, WA, for the purpose of growing Cannabis. Importantly, these events took place years before Hayes met the long-standing Oregon politician, and though they may be adjudged to be indicative of her character, they are not directly relevant to the current case.

Ellen Rosenblum, Oregon's Attorney General has launched a criminal investigation into the possibility of a conflict of interest due to Hayes' roles within government. She has also demanded the realise of emails between Kitzhaber and Hayes. This move prompted Kitzhaber to attempt to delete many thousands of emails, according to The Willamette Week. Though the request was described as "routine" by an aide, this is obviously put into question due to the ongoing allegations of improper behaviour between the two.

Most interestingly, it seems as if Gov. Kitzhaber's exit was significantly more pushed than he would have liked. Although he was seen to be making moves towards this decision last week, by calling Secretary of State, Kate Brown, back from Washington, it then transpired that he had told Brown that he would not resign. However, as even Democratic Speaker of the House, Tina Kotek publicly announced that she thought resignation was called for, and the pressure on Kitzhaber rose, he fell.

But the stern looking man I knew from my days in Oregon, did not fall without dispatching a parting blow to the media, and his colleagues in Salem. Though he did not release this statement in person, it was his message was clear and unabashed.

He remarked that "it is deeply troubling to me to realize that we have come to a place in the history of this great state of ours where a person can be charged, tried, convicted and sentenced by the media with no due process and no independent verification of the allegations involved. But even more troubling -- and on a very personal level as someone who has given 35 years of public service to Oregon -- is that so many of my former allies in common cause have been willing to simply accept this judgment at its face value."

This nod to the ongoing investigation by Attorney General Rosenblum perhaps indicates that he believe he may be found innocent. Whatever the verdict may be, it is notable that is ire lies with his Democrat co-workers, who perhaps too quickly sided with the allegations of wrongdoing, rather than back their leader. Such a confident and long serving politician such as Kitzhaber might have been expected to put up more of a fight in the face of these allegations. However, it is clear that with little support in the House, even from his own side, this stand would have been short lived.

Unfortunate though it is that the longest serving Oregon Governor has left in a potential maelstrom of his own making, investigations like this do not often allow for continued and focused governance, and therefore his move to resign is seen by most as a correct decision.

It also opens the door for Oregon to maintain its mantel as one of the country's most progressive States. Kitzhaber's replacement under Oregon law will be the current Secretary of State, Kate Brown. She is already one of the most high profile LGBT women elected to a US government position, and with her ascension to Governorship, she will become the first self-identifying Bisexual leader of any State of the Union. She will join Tammy Baldwin, Senator for Wisconsin, as one of the highest positioned elected officials, self-identified as LGBT.

This may be a difficult time for Oregon, and it will certainly be a painful time for Mr Kitzhaber and Ms. Hayes. However, it is also an exciting time for Oregon, for Secretary Brown, and for the LGBT community in Oregon, and the Pacific-Northwest more generally.

 I hope she succeeds, and I hope to see her continuing Kitzhaber's tradition of dining at Willamette. Maybe I'll even get the chance to follow her in the sandwich line, one day.

New Zealand Post Cuts Delivery to 3 Days

In an announcement today, the Chief Operating Officer of NZ Post's Mail and Communications, Ashley Smout revealed that from as early as July, residents of urban centres should expect mail deliveries on only three days of the week.

This move was described as a "priority" for NZ Post, and is expected to have very little noticeable effect on residents. With a delivery target of three days for mail remaining, it is clear that the national postal organisation are confident that this move will not impact customers.

Mr Smout added that their priority services and courier parcel delivery will continue on a daily basis, so residents should continue to check mail boxes regularly. It is also notable that this change will only affect urban communities, so rural New Zealanders will not be affected at this point.

It is unclear whether these changes will ever extend to more rural communities, but with mail rates dropping, and as Mr Smout argues that most residencies only receive mail every three days (hence the current changes), it is not impossible that such changes will occur.

In a statement from the Postal Worker's Union of Aotearoa, spokesperson Graeme Clarke highlighted the issue of privatisation and profit. This cut is seen by Mr Clarke in the context of wider restructuring by NZ Post in order to "maximise profits", and furthermore, the Union sees the move as a "money grab".

The restructuring Clarke refers to led to the down-scaling of dozens of NZ Post offices and KiwiBank stores in 2011, (http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/4999517/NZ-Post-confirms-shop-closures) and the closure of Dunedin Mail Processing Centre in 2013 (http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/262599/nz-post-cuts-new-blow-city-economy).

These cuts may be seen as necessary by NZ Post, but are clearly seen by local activists, and national Unions as an attack on jobs in the name of profit.

Mr Clarke even went as far to say that this latest move was "encouraging privatisation". It is clear that the livelihood of postal workers is the concern for Clarke and his Union, and the cut to delivery days, whether for all mail or just some, is clearly a threat to workers.

Clarke is not alone in his protestations. Victor Billot, writing after the closures in Dunedin, declared that "The closing of the retail outlets around the country was a trial run for the wholesale dismantling of the postal service". (http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/opinion/263171/opinion-nz-post-ours-you-wouldnt-know-it)
Surely today's announcement only adds fuel to this claim.

In the Internet age, Postal services are perhaps seen as redundant. In the UK, many local Post Offices have been closed in recent years, due to a "drop in income" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22494919). This may seem like a logical move, in terms of modern business. But the question that must be asked, both in the UK and NZ, is whether our postal services should be run as money spinners, or as a public service.

As Mr Billot put it in his Otago Daily Times article, "This is about jobs, services and the responsibility of a public enterprise to the public." It is about public mail delivery, that does not charge extra for a fast delivery, but runs a competent service to all residents, no matter where they may live.
In the UK, the closures of rural post offices began protests all over the country, and despite the promise to keep 99% of the population within a 3 mile radius of such a service, Parliament figures show that there are nearly 3,000 less branches in 2014, than at the turn of the century. This is part of a decrease of nearly 7,000 branches nationally. (http://www.parliament.uk/Templates/BriefingPapers/Pages/BPPdfDownload.aspx?bp-id=sn02585)

Whilst the scale of the change is smaller, at least currently, in New Zealand, the Postal Worker's Union of Aotearoa is right to speak up about today's change. It signals the next step in a wider shrinking of the postal service, which can be seen as a cut in public services, along the lines of austerity worldwide.

N.B. I'm having some issues with hyperlinking to sources for some reason, so I have just left the links in the text. Apologies for this, I will work on it!