Who Sits at the Table?

On Friday afternoon, the Newberg Public Schools Facebook page posted a picture of a dozen Newberg-area business and government leaders enjoying lunch together at arguably the best restaurant in town, Rosmarino’s. The photo included Superintendent Stephen Phillips, Newberg Mayor Bill Rosacker, Newberg Councilperson Elise Yarnell, and Yamhill County Commissioner Lindsey Berschauer, as well as other folks representing Newberg’s business district, brought together with the premise of finding common ground and creating partnerships within Newberg.

Of course, Newberg is desperately in need of finding common ground and collaboration. This Rosmarino’s meeting was ostensibly intended to bridge a chasm between groups, and certainly that should be lauded. One potential outcome, as Councilperson Yarnell noted in the post comments, is a partnership with Commissioner Berschauer, bringing fentanyl addiction curriculum to local schools. This is an important initiative, and could make a difference in our community. 

And yet, the picture itself is tone-deaf at best. At worst, it serves as a reminder of who remains marginalized in our community and by our school board, providing a stark representation of who gets to sit at the table where decisions are made (and good Italian food consumed); and who is on the outside, impacted by decisions about which they have no say (like deciding how to spend the taxpayer money that presumably paid for a Rosmarino’s feast).

It’s not clear who initiated this dinner, or who received invites. As one Facebook commenter noted, tongue firmly planted in cheek, “I see so much minority representation and inclusivity in this photo. I forgot to mention that there are also many parents of Newberg students.”  In response, someone who attended the meal, Kristin Stoller, said she might have been the only person there with children in the Newberg school district. Every person in the picture was white.

If a picture is worth 1000 words, this one might have narrated an entire epic about the last few years in Newberg, when a powerful few make decisions in the name of “what our community needs,” marginalizing large swaths of the community in the process.

Fundamentally, though, if the leaders seated at that table wanted to provide healing for a divided community, there are easily-achievable steps they could take right now to begin building bridges:

• They could talk directly to constituents who have asked to meet with them. School Board Chair Dave Brown, smiling at the table, has refused meetings with parents his board serves. According to one response to the picture, a constituent–and a community leader in his own right–has asked three times in the last month to meet with Brown, who says there’s no reason to meet because this person “is not a supporter.”

• They could take accountability for some of the mistakes they’ve made. That includes the school board’s back-room planning to fire former Superintendent Joe Morelock, recently ruled unethical by the Oregon Ethical Commission. They could apologize for ways their own actions have hurt students, rather than consistently blaming previous boards for the mistakes this current board has made. They could admit that their decisions compelled over 100 educators to leave the district, rather than blaming the astounding exodus on national trends.

• Chairman Brown could apologize for his grievance-heavy public comments. This includes the six-minute discourse he gave at a school board meeting less than three days before the Rosmarino’s luncheon, during which he railed against people in his district, while also obfuscating about when he filed his re-election paperwork.

• Chairman Brown and other community leaders could publicly disavow the work of the Yamhill Advocate. That publication’s smear campaigns resulted in death threats against Councilperson Yarnell; it has continually asserted that progressives in Newberg are part of a mafia, intent on grooming children. As one Facebook commenter noted, “If Dave REALLY means that wants Newberg to heal, then he will distance himself & mention PUBLICLY that Carey Martell’s ‘shenanigans’ aren’t welcomed & are a detriment to moving forward in the upcoming May school board elections.” 

Without taking these steps, claims about building bridges seem like empty promises, a dinner at Rosmarino’s more of a campaign photo opportunity than a good-faith attempt to build bridges Newberg leaders themselves have burned. 

The school district’s Facebook page promises that there will be more dinners, and more conversations. Perhaps this is indeed the step forward the district needs to take. Will the next conversation have far more representation than the all-white, CIS-gendered diners at the last luncheon?

Because while who is at the table matters, it’s who is absent from the table that might matter more.