State Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, called journalists into his office on Monday to demand that the Legislature invest more in mental health, instead of trimming those programs.

Here’s the irony: As Senate president, Courtney could make that happen. He could twist arms behind the scenes and insist that the Legislature’s budget writers include the $100 million that he wants for mental health services.

That is not his style, unlike some legislative leaders who ruled by force of authority. He’s more of a private negotiator than a private demander. By making his demand publicly, Courtney is ensuring his fellow legislators know where he stands.

The downside is that Courtney pays less heed to building the political base, inside and outside the Capitol, to achieve what he wants. (That also has been a criticism of his former Senate colleague, now governor, Kate Brown.)

A prime example is the collapse several years ago of Courtney’s legislative plan to have lawmakers vacate the Oregon State Capitol so it could be seismically retrofitted and upgraded. Courtney was, and is, right about the Capitol being in bad shape. But he didn’t see the value in launching a statewide fundraising campaign to rebuild the Capitol – a campaign that would have been as important for building grassroots political support as for whatever money it raised.

In the same vein, Courtney is right on when he talks about overcoming the stigma of mental illness and elevating mental health to the same societal priority as physical health. But he scoffed at the idea of launching grassroots efforts to overcome that stigma and to create community advocacy for better mental health programs.

Side notes: In Washington state, the Pierce County library system conducted public forums — “Mental Health Mondays” — to educate people and answer their questions.

The Oregon Health Authority this week urged parents and families to talk openly about suicide and about mental health, in part because of the questions raised through the teen-oriented Netflix series, “13 Reasons Why.” Suggested resources:

Lines for Life — Resource for prevention tips and resources at http://www.linesforlife.org/. Teens can text with a peer by texting 839863 or call 1-877-968-8491.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline — A confidential service for adults or youth who are in crisis or know someone who is, at 800-273-8255 (TALK) or chat is available at: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/.

The Trevor Project — Provides crisis intervention for LGBTQ youth at 866-488-7386 or text “Trevor” to 1-202-304-1200 (available Tuesday-Friday between noon and 6 p.m. Pacific time) or at http://www.thetrevorproject.org/.

Veterans Crisis Line — Confidential help for veterans and their families, 800-273-8255 or http://www.veteranscrisisline.net/.

• When will it fall? During this legislative session, Courtney has been quieter about the Capitol’s physical deficiencies. But he could erupt anytime on that issue as well. He’s gone as far as to say the Capitol should be off-limits to schoolchildren and tourists — thousands of whom visit each year — because the building will collapse in a significant earthquake.

• Running to the head of the parade: Only last year, the State Land Board planned to sell the Elliott State Forest. But this year brought a new state treasurer, a new secretary of state and — most important — a new position by the governor. That trio makes up the Land Board.

On Tuesday, that board voted not to proceed with selling the forest to a consortium of Lone Rock Timber and Indian tribes.

Earlier this year, Treasurer Tobias Read had been in office only a few weeks when he rebuffed fellow Democrat Brown, and voted with Republican Secretary of State Dennis Richardson to go ahead with the sale. Although she was on the losing side that day, Brown made clear she would not tolerate the forest’s sale.

Read has now switched to favoring continued public ownership, proposing that the Oregon State University College of Forestry take over the forest and operate it as a laboratory. OSU could conduct badly needed research on threatened or endangered species while managing parts of the forest for timber production.

OSU President Ed Ray told the Land Board that his school’s College of Forestry is ranked No. 2 in the world, behind only a Swedish university. The only other U.S. university in the top 10 for forestry is the University of California, Berkley.

Meanwhile, Richardson came up with a list of principles for maintaining public ownership. He suggested the Elliott’s critical habitat areas could be traded to the U.S. Forest Service. The federal government would protect the species in those areas, and the state would acquire harvestable forest land.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Richardson apologized to the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians. In reversing course, he said, the Land Board showed its lack of trust in the tribes — to which Brown objected. When it came time to vote on that reversal, Richardson said he was now free to vote his conscience. He voted with Brown and Read in the board’s unanimous decision to terminate the sale process.

Side note: People testifying at Tuesday’s meeting ranged in age from teens to 97. Brown said the teenager deserved extra credit at school and offered to sign a note saying so.

• Yay for higher taxes – or not: Three House Democrats — Speaker Tina Kotek of Portland, and Revenue Chair Phil Barnhart and Ways & Means Co-Chair Nancy Nathanson, both of Eugene — announced a plan last week to raise $2.1 billion by changing Oregon’s corporate tax system. Their plan builds on the work of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Tax Reform.

Some Democrats praised the plan. Others simply praised the legislators’ being for something, because so many people only say what they’re against.

Unrelated side note: Barnhart, who owns three Tesla vehicles, supports higher taxes on himself and other well-to-do Oregonians.

• A rural Republican’s critique: Republican Sen. Brian Boquist of rural Polk County gave me his notes from the Democratic trio’s presentation. Here are excerpts:

— Do not know whether to believe the presenters are delusional or disingenuous.

— It was couched in emotion for helping kids and education but the facts presented did not support the thesis.

— It was total political rhetoric. They said they needed to get beyond “political rhetoric” but it was their rhetoric. Their play on words.

— Their slides claimed “current law spend” which is complete [expletive]. Again a play on words. Current law does not require a 14 percent biennial growth. The real term is “current services level,” which as a complete subjective opinion of state bureaucrats on how much they need to spend in the next two years as the spent in the past two years.

— The Democrats who have been in charge for four decades got Oregon to this place. Now the presenters claim “now is the time”‘ to increase taxes to match spending.

— The whole presentation focused on General Fund spending, which is a fraction of the $72 billion-plus overall state spending and budget.

— They claimed “commitment” to real cost cutting but the presentation displayed zero commitment to cost cutting. In 2011-13, the Legislature cut in real dollars $5 billion in the biennium. At this point in the session, in 2011, there was a plan. Every cost containment proposal presented this session has been worked before. To claim that $400 million in cost containment and $250 million in cuts is “real” cost containment in a $72 billion state budget is more than disingenuous. …

— Absolutely nothing stable about the proposal. It is about as stable as falling into the Grand Canyon. Their own numbers show shortfalls in which they will ask for more tax increases in two years.

— Did not find the “fiscal discipline” lecture as believable. We have had plenty of time to flush out the numbers yet it is claimed they do not know. Wrong answer.

— Likewise, the claim it is not “business as usual” is simply not supported by facts. It was a presentation laced with emotional political statements instead of known facts. Nor did it reflect the realities [that] 14 percent growth cannot be sustained even with huge tax increases.

— The tax was named a “corporate activities tax” for political purposes to skip over the fact it covers all businesses, including sole-proprietors. …

• Oregon roads and bridges: Boquist does favor some tax and fee increases being considered to improve Oregon’s transportation system. He and Sen. Lee Beyer, D-Springfield, made a lengthy presentation to the joint transportation committee on Monday.

The discussion resumed Wednesday evening. Because the issue is so complicated and potentially divisive, bystanders were taking bets on how late the meeting would run.

• Marion legislator against marionberry pie: On a 53-6 vote, the Oregon House passed HCR 19, which would make marionberry pie the official state pie of Oregon. One of the six was Marion County legislator Bill Post, R-Keizer. His list of reasons for opposing the bill:

1. The resolution called for changing the “marionberry” by name to the “marion blackberry.”

2. I am going to be a “no” from here on out on all of these “state _____” resolutions until we balance the budget and get a schools budget.

3. I think the loganberry and the catataberry deserve equal recognition!

Dick Hughes has been covering the Oregon political scene since 1976. Contact him at TheHughesisms@Gmail.com or follow him at Facebook.com/Hughesisms.