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Governor reverses Holly veto Holly Theatre restoration committee co-chair John Snider speaks about fundraising efforts Aug. 11 in front of the theater in Medford. Gov. Kate Brown announced today she would not veto $1 million in funding for the theater. [Mail Tribune / Andy Atkinson] Tuesday Aug 15, 2017 at 3:08 PM Aug 15, 2017 at 5:22 PM Damian Mann Mail Tribune @reporterdm Gov. Kate Brown did an about-face Tuesday and decided not to veto a $1 million grant for the Holly Theatre in Medford after the community voiced its support in Salem for the project. Last week, Brown signaled she wouldn't agree to the funding for the Holly and two other projects in Southern Oregon because of a political dispute with Rep. Sal Esquivel, R-Medford. In a letter to Secretary of State Dennis Richardson Tuesday, Brown wrote, "Since my veto notification on these projects, I have received extensive input from the Southern Oregon community on the importance of the Holly Theatre project. Because of this, I am not vetoing this project." Medford City Councilor Kevin Stine, who sent a letter to the governor in support of the Holly, said he was happy to see the funding secured and he applauded the effort by the Holly team to show local support. "I look forward to seeing the opening of the Holly in the coming year," said Stine, who is also the Medford Urban Renewal Agency board chairman. Brown followed through on her veto of $750,000 earmarked for Harry and David Field's stadium improvements and $1.8 million for a Rogue River Valley Irrigation District piping project that would benefit fish, farmers and the environment. She also decided against a veto of the Portland Capital Highway project for $2 million, also based on an outpouring of community support. Esquivel, who provided a key vote in the House to advance a health care tax designed to keep the Oregon Health Plan funded for two more years, later signed on to a referendum that seeks to overturn the tax at the polls. Esquivel says he was promised the local funding measures in exchange for his vote, but that he did not agree to any further support. Brown criticized Esquivel in her letter to Richardson. She said Esquivel agreed to vote for House Bill 2391 that funds the Oregon Health Plan in exchange for her approval of local projects. "I am not a fan of this type of explicit horse trading on unrelated legislation," Brown wrote. "The representative broke this straightforward agreement, and in the interest of being able to negotiate support for future legislation that all sides honor, I must hold him accountable." Esquivel said Brown wasn't involved in his negotiations over the health bill, saying he'd primarily talked to Rep. Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte. "She wasn't even in the room," he said. Esquivel said he described it as a "courtesy vote" to move the bill to the Senate floor. He said courtesy votes happen every day in the Legislature and don't mean you will support the bill in the long term. "I hated that bill," he said. "I said if you want to get the bill to the Senate, we need to make sure my district has some things." Esquivel said he was particularly upset to see the irrigation canal project vetoed. "The Bradshaw canal was real important to Southern Oregon," he said. Rep. Pam Marsh, D-Ashland, said, "The Holly people put a big effort into showing the project had broad community support. I'm sure it had an impact." Holly supporters appealed to Brown to keep the funding intact for the remodeling of the historic, 1930 theater, which is expected to begin construction in the near future. Marsh said she and other Southern Oregon leaders appealed personally to the governor to keep the project funded. Randy McKay, executive director of Jefferson Live!, which is funding the Holly renovation, said in a statement the governor's veto threat last week halted progress on the theater remodel. With the extra $1 million, the Holly will have raised $4.7 million, but McKay expects the project to cost in the $5 million range, though the exact number will be known soon when the bids come in. "While this funding allows the theater to begin construction, it will not be enough to fully complete the project, so fundraising will be ongoing during the first phases of construction," he said. — Reach reporter Damian Mann at 541-776-4476 or [email protected]. Follow him on www.twitter.com/reporterdm.