6 ms·

What's the population of these counties? The article says "(If your governance is so bad that half the state tries to leave, you're doing something wrong.)" --

• Symbiote 4y ago
  It says 400,000 in the article.
  • Volundr 4y ago
    In other words those counties represent ~10% of Oregon's population.
    • djfobbz 4y ago
      and ~50-55% of the Oregon's land
      • Volundr 4y ago
        Last I checked land does not vote and having more land does not make a person's opinion more important.
        • BackBlast 4y ago
          Yet we divide up political entities by what land you happened to live on. We have traditions to allow people within a region of land to self determine their government. Regardless of how many of them there are, exactly.
  • mikeyouse 4y ago
    Which of course is a lie to over-exaggerate their influence -- if you add up the populations of the 12 counties on their map it's only 210k people, and obviously not everyone in those counties agrees with these stupid performative measures, so some number well under 200k is likely the real figure. Malheur: 31k Harney: 8k Lake: 7k Klamath: 68k Grant: 7k Baker: 16k Wheeler: 2k Jefferson: 24k Sherman: 2k Morrow: 12k Union: 26k Wallowa: 7k https://www.oregon-demographics.com/counties_by_population https://www.oregon-demographics.com/counties_by_population It'd likely end up like Brexit anyways - these areas don't appreciate just how much tax money is spent supporting them and their "independent" lifestyles. Changing their allegiance to a poorer, smaller state would result in a much lower quality of life for them.
    • saboot 4y ago
      If I was a resident of portland, I'd certinaly hope no state resources would be used to prevent or contain wildfires entirely within 'Greater Idaho' borders. It's their problem now, and they can raise taxes to deal with it.
      • mikeyouse 4y ago
        I don't live there, so not really my business, but I picked a county at random from that list (Harney) and their county budget is almost $17M. Only $3M of their budget comes from local property taxes, something like $12M in governmental transfers. > Revenues increased by $3,301,780. Expenditures increased by $1,727,698. This increase in revenue is due to the receipt of grant dollars from the Federal Delegation requests and State of Oregon fair disbursements. The Federal amount was $1,546,000 for communication upgrades through our Emergency Management Department. A new fund #105, the American Rescue Plan, brought in an additional $718,000 in grant revenue. We received $1M from the State of Oregon for fairgrounds infrastructure upgrades also included in the noted increase. Just massively living off the government teat with no hint of irony. https://www.co.harney.or.us/PDF_Files/Treasurer/Harney%20County%20Fiscal%20Year%202021-2022%20Audit.pdf https://www.co.harney.or.us/PDF_Files/Treasurer/Harney%20Cou...
        • BackBlast 4y ago
          You put a high value on dollar amounts. It seems you do not realize that money and services that come from far away are often ridiculously inefficient and reflect the priorities and concerns of those that retain control over the attached strings. Their concerns and their money priorities likely do not match the concerns or priorities of the locals. Worse, they can be repulsive, offensive, or run counter to the best interests of the locals rather than contribute to their welfare. Predator controls. Forest and fire management. Being able to defend oneself (guns). State and federal control of school curriculum. These are all important to most of these rural counties and are not performed well or to their liking. Nor are they empowered to go their own way because these regulations are created at the state level. It is quite logical for them to ignore "benefits" and money being offered for the things that could be life changing for the better. They would be rather governed by Idaho, where many more people who live similar lives write those policies that affect them the most.
• not2b 4y ago
  Almost no people. Lots of land.