Category: Articles
Checking in: A conversation with Theresa Kohlhoff
Posted on 15 May 2020, 10:43 - Category: Articles
Amid COVID-19 closures, loss of community gardens hurts
Originally Posted Wednesday, April 08, 2020
Luscher Farm may not open until (maybe) April 13. I am so sorry for you, Community Gardeners. I understand the reason is that you would have to drive there and for now, non-essential driving is being discouraged.
But Gardener to Gardener, I am sorry.
Fruit and vegetable gardening can be for food, yes. It is also exercise. Most importantly it can be a strategy to "sublimate one's passions," i.e. to create art out of stress and suffering. Lincoln coped by words, crafting not more than about 100 speeches in his life time. Playing or writing music and baking bread fits here. If you saw my garden at home, it would be immediately evident that is where I do all kinds of my work.
If we focus only on food insecurity as an impact of being unable to go to Luscher farm right now, we miss a major urgency to gardening. Houseplants can be an outlet. Container gardening in urban areas has always been a "thing." There is also starting plants from seeds which can then be transplanted when Luscher reopens. The alternatives are OK but not real substitutes. It is necessary for me to get my hands in the dirt. I suspect it's why you garden, too.
Finally, in my opinion, personal health conditions have no real relevance to gardening or the garden. If I knew I was to die today, I'm sure I would take a long walk around my garden — to observe what was thriving, what looked like the slugs were crushing on, what the deer were destroying, and on. You get my point. Even Mike, who hates gardening, and only sees infrastructure where I see growing things, has taken to weeding paths and putting down gravel. (This you should take as a sign of acute tennis withdrawal!) And the truth is both — beauty and order — together, are what make the garden elegant and productive, confined and wild. Here we find solitude. We find Love.
May all gardens yet flourish this year. May you and all remain safe and healthy?.
Theresa Kohlhoff is a Lake Oswego city councilor and mayoral candidate.
Read More...Posted on 09 Apr 2020, 13:05 - Category: Articles
DEI task force isn't just 'checking the box'
It is no secret that many of us are anxious during these uncertain times. Even those of us living in safe conditions—with all we need to be healthy—know that none of that safety is guaranteed, and it is certainly not shared by everyone in our community. In fact, unless you are a white, educated man, you are, in some way, slightly to greatly disadvantaged by the system. No one wants to admit this. Many claim that narrative was from a time long ago and the injustices are all fixed now.
We know these systemic problems haven’t been fixed. They exist now, somewhat veiled but there, and often unabated. It’s not just race or gender; it’s whether you have money, how old you are, whether you are disabled, have young children, are LGBTQ+, practice a religion that is not Christian, etc. Or as it was once explained to me, it’s your problem unless you are a person who has the privilege of not having to listen to anyone else.
Lake Oswego fully understands its reputation. Along with several others, I spent a year writing a policy affirming that we wanted our city to be welcoming and inclusive, especially at our facilities, events, and meetings. We wanted our city services to be relevant and responsive to all residents, and we wanted everyone to have a chance to participate in city projects and decisions.
Read More...Posted on 18 Feb 2020, 13:10 - Category: Articles
Where I stand on the forests
Lake Oswego? It’s a destination. It’s a place. It’s beautiful. Our neighborhoods and businesses thrive. Our schools are top tier. Our biking and pedestrian trails go on for miles. Yes, we work hard for our future and our families. And, yes, we enjoy playing, too.
Lake Oswego is in Cascadia, and there is no place on earth like it. We have the largest, longest lived forests in the world. Our trees - the Western Red Cedar and Doug Firs - grow slowly and can live to a 1,000 years. For sure they can live to the end of this century.
I am Theresa Kohlhoff, a city councilor, and I am running for Lake Oswego Mayor, in part, to preserve big trees, to push back climate change impacts and to maintain the esthetic we all love.
Read More...Posted on 11 Dec 2019, 11:06 - Category: Articles
Where I stand on Transportation
As the weather has been turning more wetter, and more of us head indoors, I often think about the reliance we’re forced to have on our cars. Many of us can’t bike in the rain and dangerous conditions, certainly can’t walk the miles to our jobs, can’t pick up waiting children at their schools through transit and the like. Even if we can afford cars or don’t have disabilities which limit our mobility, none of us is going to avoid the time when we are too old to drive by car. We do not now have high capacity transit or other infrastructure. We simply have few other options.
Like many Lake Oswego residents, I commute into Portland where my law office is located. What used to take 20 minutes is now at least 45 minutes. I personally go through two of the five worst choke points in Oregon every time I go to and from work. You don’t need to be told that congestion is increasing and there are no immediate plans for reasonable alternatives.
I, for one, am really fed up.
Read More...Posted on 03 Dec 2019, 11:12 - Category: Articles
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