For Bill Hansell, Brown’s firing of EQC members was personal
Published 8:00 am Thursday, May 4, 2017
- Hansell, shown here in 2017, announced on March 2, 2023 that he would not seek another term in office when his seat is on the ballot in 2024.
For Sen. Bill Hansell, Gov. Kate Brown’s firing of three members of the Environmental Quality Commission was personal.
The Republican from Athena was one of a handful of senators to vote last week (Tuesday, May 2) against confirmation of all three of Brown’s replacement nominees, although all won approval.
But Melinda Eden of Milton-Freewater, one of the deposed members, is a friend of Hansell’s. Eden also served on the commission from 1996 until 2003, and was a few months short of completing the term she was appointed to in 2013.
Colleen Johnson is a professor of economics at Eastern Oregon University and a longtime councilor and mayor of La Grande. Hansell said she was particularly well-qualified to understand rural issues.
The third deposed member was Morgan Rider of Portland.
“What happened to them was wrong,” Hansell said during Senate debate. “I do not believe this is the Oregon we want, an Environmental Quality Commission which will have zero representation from outside the Interstate 5 corridor.”
