I am an eastern Oregon attorney and an Oregon taxpayer. I recently learned that the Oregon Public Utility Commission is creating rules to allow utilities to enter onto and seize privately owned land in Oregon without requiring compliance with Oregon’s condemnation laws. This concerns me as an attorney, because condemnation or “taking” of private land implicates landowners’ legal/Constitutional rights. Allowing seizures of land that violate the law will generate expensive litigation, and is highly likely to be overturned by the courts. As a taxpayer and as an attorney, I object to any waiver that will predictably result in costly litigation, at taxpayer expense, which is likely to lose in court.

Additionally, I am concerned about the extreme urban-rural divide within our state. There is substantial support in eastern Oregon for the idea that the interests and values of eastern Oregonians are not taken seriously by west-side politicians. Any decision by the state to ignore private landowner rights in favor of billion-dollar utility companies will only fuel the resentment of rural Oregonians who feel that their state fails to acknowledge or respect their values — particularly the rights of private landowners. I often hear my neighbors’ complain about this issue, and consider the political divisions in Oregon as frightening and serious. Any PUC decision to circumvent laws which protect private landowners will only deepen the divisions within our state.The PUC should exercise common sense, and deny waivers of the law if condemnation of private land is required.

Anne Morrison

La Grande