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TUESDAY November 25, 2003 - Subscribe - Contact Us Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels November 20, 2003 Cuts put Oregon governor on the road Oregon is a big state - ninth biggest in the country. Driving from Salem to Lakeview or Brookings or Enterprise is an all-day proposition. Oregon's governor ought to have an airplane at his disposal so that he can travel to parts of the state that justifiably believe they are too often overlooked by decision-makers in the capital. Because of budgetary constraints, the 2001 Legislature ordered the Oregon State Police to sell the two airplanes that used to ferry Oregon's governor around the state. That was a mistake. As a result of the Legislature's decision, Gov. Ted Kulongoski has been traversing the state by car. Now, however, Kulongoski has access to a 40-foot Beaver Patriot model motor home, worth between $350,000 and $400,000, to travel the state. The motor coach was donated to the governor's office for 12 months by Associated Oregon Industries, Monaco Coach and Intel. Some see the loan of the motor home as having the potential to make the governor beholden to the businesses that provided it. Nonsense. If anything, the companies providing the motor home will be subject to closer scrutiny than before. And if Oregon's governor can be bought for such a price, the state has bigger problems than can be found in a single act of corporate generosity. Yet even though the motor home will make gubernatorial travel more comfortable and convenient, it won't make it any faster. An airplane would be far better. Much of Oregon feels cut off from the population centers of Portland and the Willamette Valley. While a visit by a governor, by plane or motor home, can't bring greater unity to the state, people in places like Burns and Grants Pass appreciate occasional recognition that they, too, are Oregonians. That recognition would come more often if the governor could travel by airplane. Kulongoski, for his part, would also benefit from more frequent contact with constituents throughout the state - as would future governors. The motor home gives the governor what amounts to a mobile office. What he really needs is wings. - The (Eugene) Register-Guard DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved .:Advertisements:. What do you think of the new site? Let us know!