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LEGISLATURE '99 First day's rituals humble rookies Southern Oregon legislators get started By PETER WONG SALEM -- For two Southern Oregon first-term legislators, Monday's opener for the 70th Oregon Legislature was exhilarating and sobering. Their wives, parents and other family members watched as Rob Patridge of Medford and Jason Atkinson of Jacksonville took their oaths of office among the 60 members of the Oregon House -- 27 of them new. Patridge, former president of the Medford City Council and a former deputy district attorney, was named to the Legislature's joint budget committee. He'll sit on subcommittees dealing with transportation and public safety budgets. "Casting my first vote, then standing at the rostrum and reading aloud the names of members for a roll call were humbling experiences," Patridge said. "It is great to be part of the ritual of almost 150 years of Oregon history. "I feel fortunate to be on such a substantive committee, especially in light of the transportation issues facing Southern Oregon. Also as someone who's worked in the criminal justice system, it will give me an opportunity to see that our funds are spent properly and efficiently." Among Patridge's guests were his wife, Mary; his parents, Bill and Barbara Patridge of Grants Pass; brother Brian, sister Marisa, and former Medford mayor Jerry Lausmann and his wife, Donnis. Atkinson was named to four committees, including those dealing with water and business issues. It's a heavier-than-usual load for a first-term member. "You think about politics, you prepare for years and you work hard," said Atkinson, at 28 the youngest Republican in the House this session. "But when a day like this comes -- the day you are sworn in to public office -- nothing can really prepare you for it. "When I crawl into bed at the end of this day, I'll realize what happened. Right now, it seems surreal. "Last week, eight people per day, on average, asked me whose staff I was on. Now it's down to about one per day. I just smile and say I'm on Jason Atkinson's staff." Joining Atkinson were his wife, Stephanie, and parents, Perry and Peggy Atkinson of Medford. Perry Atkinson, a three-time congressional candidate, is bidding to become state GOP chairman later this month. For Rep. Judy Uherbelau, D-Ashland, the start of her third and final term gave her a feeling that differed from the others. "When I was being sworn in, I turned around in the chamber -- and missing were a lot of faces that have been here since I have," she said. "There would be Eldon Johnson, John Watt, and others," she said in reference to Atkinson's and Patridge's predecessors. "But I look out there now and I do not have a sense of this Legislature yet. It is going to take some time for us to get to know each other, learn to work together and trust each other." Uherbelau was joined by one of her daughters, Becca, who will work for her again this session. Across the Capitol, despite a tiff over rules, Southern Oregon's veteran senators were more upbeat about the prospects for the session, which has Republican legislative majorities and a Democratic governor for the third time in a row. "In the next six months, I pledge to work with you toward positive solutions," said Brady Adams, a Republican from Grants Pass who was elected Senate president for a second two-year session. "My door will always be open. I ask that we walk together into a new century and do the job our fellow citizens have sent us here to do." First-graders from Lincoln Elementary School in Grants Pass, where his wife Pat teaches, provided the entertainment. Adams is in the final two years of his second four-year term, and Sen. Lenn Hannon, R-Ashland, started his seventh and final term. Hannon said the speeches by Adams, House Speaker Lynn Snodgrass and Gov. John Kitzhaber not only struck the right tone for the day but set a course for his 13th session. "This day has taken on more of the look of previous opening days in the 1970s, when everyone talked sincerely about starting in a bipartisan manner to work toward solving problems," said Hannon, the Senate's senior Republican and one of its two senior members. "We have not had that in recent sessions because of partisan wrangling. "Perhaps people have seen what has gone on in Washington, D.C., and say this is not the kind of representative government we want or expect here." Committee assignments SALEM -- Here are the committee assignments announced Monday for Southern Oregon legislators: House : Rep. Rob Patridge, R-Medford -- Joint Ways and Means (budget); Public Safety/Regulation and Transportation/Economic Development subcommittees. Rep. Jason Atkinson, R-Jacksonville -- Business and Consumer Affairs; General Government, vice chairman; Rules and Elections; Water and Environment. Rep. Judy Uherbelau, D-Ashland -- Agriculture and Forestry; Judiciary (and civil Law), vice chairwoman. Rep. Susan Morgan, R-Myrtle Creek -- Species Recovery and Stream Restoration; Water and Environment. Rep. Carl Wilson, R-Grants Pass -- Education; General Government, chairman. Senate : Lenn Hannon, R-Ashland -- Joint Ways and Means, Transportation and Economic Development subcommittee, chairman; Public Safety/Regulation subcommittee. Bill Fisher, R-Roseburg -- Joint Ways and Means, Human Resources subcommittee; Health and Human Services, chairman; Trade and Economic Development. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA