The Future of the Deschutes Has an Advocate in Salem
Oregon’s Capitol Building becomes a busy place this week.
A Well-Timed Ask
This week, Oregon state legislature commences its 2025 session, and the lower Deschutes River will have one of Salem’s best lobbyists working on its behalf. Greg Peden, a partner in Gallatin Public Affairs, has been retained by the DRA.
When DRA board chair Pat Becker, Jr. approached Peden with the idea of representing a river, it might have seemed like a stretch for a seasoned Salem insider whose firm’s clients include the Portland Timbers, several major universities, and various trade and industry associations. But even before his career began, Greg fell in love with the Deschutes.
“I moved out to Oregon from Pennsylvania for law school,” Peden recalls of his stint at Willamette University in Salem. “And I just fell in with a group of guys who were heading over to the Deschutes as often as they could. I learned to fly-fish, and loved it until my three kids came along. At which point my gear went into a corner of the garage and collected dust for a few years.”
All three of those kids successfully launched, at which point Greg dusted off his rods and reels and began pursuing fly-fishing with the passion he brought to it as a younger man. The timing of Pat Becker’s ask couldn’t have been better.
When You Need a Lobbyist
Greg Peden, all smiles when he thinks about fishing the Deschutes.
In an age of unbridled cynicism over politics, some may wonder what good it might do to bring a lobbyist on board to the effort to fix the lower Deschutes River. “A good lobbyist is experienced in how you communicate with government,” says Greg. “It’s no different than going to court, where the sensible advice in legal matters is to hire an attorney. The government has its own language, it’s own procedures. If you want something from government, or need something from government, or want the government to stop doing something, you probably need a lobbyist.”
Peden learned the inner-workings of the legislative process as a young staffer on John Kitzhaber’s first gubernatorial campaign in 1994. Kitzhaber won, and Peden was offered a job as an entry-level staffer. “They had me doing everything from pounding campaign signs into lawns to writing speeches,” he recalls. In the late 1990’s, Peden took a job as counsel and lobbyist for what was then U.S. West (now Qwest) as the telecommunications industry was deregulated by fiat of a Clinton-era federal law. The roller coaster ride convinced Peden he should diversify his client base, and he went to work for Gallatin Public Affairs, eventually becoming a partner in the firm.
The Deschutes Deserves a Quick Solution
Working the legislative session is something of a speed date with democracy. Peden says the legislative session can look and feel a little like the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, though a little less frenetic. “I wake up in the dark, drive to Salem in the dark and rain, and drive home in the dark and rain,” says Peden. “In between, I’m talking to members of the legislature, there are 60 members, and probably 200 other lobbyists wandering the halls of the Capitol Building.” Peden notes that close to 2,000 bills have been drafted, and there may be 1,000 more. “There’s so many draft bills that it’s not possible for any legislator to read all of them. So they will rely on staffers, but also lobbyists. There has to be a certain amount of trust involved for any lobbyist to continue to work.”
As the session unfolds, the future of the lower Deschutes may well have its day as bills grind through various committees and a lucky few make it to the floor for a full vote. “I’d like to be able to sit down with PGE and the Confederate Tribes of the Warm Springs in the next 6 months,” says Peden. “The Deschutes deserves a quick solution to get it back to good health.”
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