At some point, people get to live with their decisions. And in some cases, they get to live next door to their decisions. Wilsonville's situation, or course, would draw sympathy from anyone, and there might well be a better location - although the residents there won't be pleased about their new neighbor, either. Still, they reflect the clear priority decisions of Oregon voters. But the decisions that led to siting seven new prisons came directly from the citizens of Oregon against the advice of most of state government.
People vote for huge prison expansions, and then are stunned when a new prison is proposed nearby.
They vote for substantial rollbacks in taxes that largely pay for education, and then insist that they had no idea that cuts would affect schools. Oregon is becoming a state where people vote for something, and then are surprised and resentful when they get it. A number of Oregon school districts, including Portland, were facing a new round of cuts next year before Measure 47 ever appeared. If the prison-siting decisions could just be stalled for a year or so, there might be some evacuated school buildings on the market. Now, Oregon districts are heading into court to fight over the money available - following the example of the state's colleges and universities, who have turned the budget crunch into a fight among themselves.