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Wasscally Wabbits in Eastport, Oregon

Teaching case developed for Introduction to Public Administration courses

Dr. Keith P. Baker

Associate Professor

Department of Public Administration

SUNY Brockport, State University of New York

Brockport Downtown

161 Chestnut St

Rochester, NY 14604

[email protected]

Dr. Ellen V. Rubin

Associate Professor

Department of Public Administration and Policy

University at Albany, State University of New York

135 Western Ave, Milne Hall 101

Albany, NY 12222

[email protected]

Date: January 2024

ALL INFORMATION IN THIS EXERCISE IS FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE SIMULATION ONLY. THE CASE IS FICTIONAL.

The City of Eastport, Oregon

Eastport is a small city on a tributary of the Columbia River, near the top of the Willamette valley. Eastport has a resident population of about 45,000 people within the city limits and is part of Lewis County. The city occupies about 1.7 square miles and has authority over area equal in size to 19.63 square miles

Eastport city government is overseen by an elected Mayor and a City Council. There are 6 elected Councilors and the Mayor serves as the Chair of the Council. Decisions regarding the deployment of municipal resources must be approved by a majority vote amongst the City Council.

Eastport was once home to an extensive logging industry and many of the privately owned hillsides around Eastport have been largely denuded due to clear cutting. A significant percentage of the cleared land and untouched forest is now owned by Lewis County, Oregon State University, or the US Government. . Eastport also includes undeveloped federal lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The federal land has not been clear cut and this creates a patchwork of forested and unforested areas. Many of the clear-cut areas have become overgrown with grasses and are home to sizeable and growing European rabbit populations. European rabbits are not native to this region and are considered an invasive species. Up until now, the residents of Eastport have largely ignored the rabbits. However, the rabbits are causing significant damage to roads, sidewalks, city parks, and trails which can no longer be ignored.

Eastport is relatively easy drive to Portland and the city has become a popular jumping off point for outdoor leisure activities in the Cascade region and the Columbia River valley. Due to Oregon’s relatively mild climate, outdoor recreation is a year-round activity and tourism plays a significant role in Eastport’s economy. Many people heading into the Oregon High Plains and travelling around Oregon use Eastport as a stopping point and park their Recreational Vehicles (RVs) at the local Walmart and other large ‘big box’ stores. Tourists often hire distinctive Cruise America vehicles. Although tourist numbers fell significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic but are now beginning to recover.

There is a degree of social tension between some Eastport residents. These tensions exist between the so called ‘townies’ – people who have lived in Eastport for many years – and newcomers from the Portland metro area. The average income and education levels of the new residents is substantially greater than long time residents and this has driven up house prices and produced a change in the nature of the shops in the city

Oregon does not have a sales tax and property tax rates are comparatively high. Oregon requires that any increases in taxation be voted on by the local municipality or the state depending on who is levying the tax. Around 75% of Eastport’s budget is raised from local property taxes.

19

The Politics of Eastport

Eastport is politically divided. Older residents and citizens from the rural areas surrounding Eastport tend to vote Republican but newcomers to the city and younger residents’ trend Democratic. This has produced a 3-3 partisan split in the City Council. Eastport’s Councilors are elected for 4-year terms and at each election, two seats are voted upon. The last election was held last year when one Democratic and one Republican candidate were elected. The Mayor is elected for a four-year term. Some information about the electoral demographics of Eastport is show below:

District	Date of last election	Victor	Turnout
1	Three years ago	D	40%
2	Three years ago	D	37%
3	Two years ago	R	29%
4	Two years ago	R	29%
5	Last year	D	35%
6	Last year	R	20%
Mayoral	Two years ago	R	35%

Eastport’s Republican party was historically a classic conservative party that was suspicious of government intervention in the economy and very sensitive to infringement of property rights and personal privacy. As many Republican voters fish and hunt, the Eastport Republicans were historically supportive of firearm ownership and environmental protection efforts to manage game animals or preserve water courses. In recent years, the party has changed and many younger Republicans are far more zealous in defense of the 2nd Amendment, often exercise their concealed carry rights, and generally regard the environment as something that is for their immediate and exclusive enjoyment. The Eastport Republican party has also become increasingly distrustful of government at all levels and it is not uncommon to hear Republican Councilors rail against bureaucrats and city officials. The Eastport Republican party generally considers spending on environmental matters wasteful unless they benefit commercial interests. In addition, many Eastport Republican’s believe that the state of Oregon should take a greater responsibility for Eastport’s problems – the city government of Portland is regarded as a particular source of problems.

The city Mayor, Valerie Phillips, is a Republican, and a former city councilor. She has a track record of bipartisanship and is a strong advocate of environmental conservation and sustainable economic growth. Some tensions exist between the two most recently elected Republicans (both men) and Mayor Phillips over a number of policy matters. The Republican party is increasingly in lock-step with the national party on many issues. However Mayor Philips is generally supported by younger voters due to her record of environmental conservation and support to addressing climate change.

The Eastport Democratic party politics have historically placed great emphasis on environmental protection and personal liberty. At the same time, the local Democratic party has become increasingly strident on matters of social justice and has argued strongly that the Lee-Jackson King park should be renamed. In recent years, an influx of highly educated voters into Eastport has transformed the party. Increasingly Eastport Democrats seek to cast their policy preference in terms of wider national and international issues, including the need to address climate change and entrenched economic inequality.

The rabbit infestation is a point of serious political controversy. Many of Eastport’s long-time residents believe European rabbits to be an invasive, nuisance species. This belief is shared by some of the newer residents – particularly those with college degrees who feel the rabbits are damaging the environment. However, a significant number of residents argue that the rabbits are attracting visitors and representatives of the hospitality industry have lobbied against aggressive control measures. At council meetings, the damage caused by rabbits has been repeatedly raised by increasingly irate citizens. Following a particularly contentious meeting, one councilman declared he would fetch his rifle “…from his truck…” and would deal with the rabbits himself if “…the government didn’t take action.”

The origins of the European rabbit population in the Eastport area are unclear. There are several competing explanations. The rabbits may originate from escaped or abandoned pets, they may have escaped from an organic butcher who was breeding them for the restaurant trade in Portland, or they may have escaped from a local hotel that released rabbits as part of Easter celebrations in the early 1990s.

The Homelessness in Eastport

Like many cities in Oregon, Eastport has a significant homeless population. Homelessness has many causes and these range from income insufficiency compared to home prices or rental costs, mental health problems, drug addition, or felony convictions. Owing to its relatively mild climate, Oregon does tend to attract significant numbers of homeless people. As Eastport has a significant tourist industry, it also attracts homeless people who are seeking seasonal work.

An underappreciated aspect of homelessness is that many people who are homeless are not without shelter and live in their cars, trucks, or camper vans. These vehicles are often scrupulously well maintained and clean. Individuals who live in their vehicles due to homelessness are often in work (albeit precariously) and may park their vehicles in municipal lots or shopping centre car parks during the night. Eastport prohibits parking in municipal lots over night (between 12:00am and 6:00am) but the police do not routinely enforce these checks around the various trails. Enforcement focuses on the municipal lots around the waterfront area, shopping district, and the schools. The local Walmart and several large stores allow people to park recreational vehicles in their lots but do not allow homeless people to park there.

Eastport has a ‘move-on’ system in which the police will issue a verbal warning for a first violation and an order for a second violation. The move on ‘order’ is enforceable on the issue of a second order and a fine can be issued. Approximately 50 fines are issued a year and some $10,000 is raised from enforcement of the move on orders. The move on order is very unpopular with residents who believe that the fines are too low, the police do not enforce the ordinance with sufficient vigor, and the presence of people living in vehicles is disruptive. People using the trails have complained about the presence of large numbers of ‘lived-in’ vehicles and RVs in the daytime as these block parking spacing around the trails. However, there have been several cases of wealthy tourists been fined by the city and in these cases, the ticket was voided by the local traffic court. The local judge expressed his reservations about the ticketing of recreational vehicles, noting that the use of RVs was a popular hobby, that a parked vehicle is not causing a disruption in an otherwise empty parking lot.

A more serious problem is the wooded areas around the trails. As the trails are often wooded and there are sheltered areas not visible from the road or easily accessible, many unsheltered homeless people have built makeshift shelters or hide their tents in these areas. Some of these shelters are quite elaborate and provide solid protection from the wind and rain. In some areas ad-hoc communities have developed and several of these ‘communities’ are made up of military veterans. It is estimated that there are about 8 or 9 such communities around the trails. More information about veteran homelessness can be obtained via the Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA) or the other sources listed in the footnote[footnoteRef:1]. There is a significant problem with drug addiction and mental illness amongst homeless people and it is eliminated that some 50% of homeless people had a mental health or co-occurring substance abuse problem. There is a significant opioid problem in Oregon and the risks of a unsheltered homeless person suffering an opioid overdose are around 1.8% compared to 0.3% for sheltered people[footnoteRef:2]. Many homeless people own dogs and there have been incidents involving fights between local dogs (walked off leash) and dogs owned by homeless women in particular. Homeless women and young people are far more likely to own dogs for protection. [1: https://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/Veteran_Homelessness_Fact_Sheet.asp https://www.npr.org/homelessness-affordable-housing-crisis-rent-assistance America’s Homelessness Crisis Is Getting Worse – The New York Times (nytimes.com) https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/why-its-so-hard-to-end-homelessness-in-america/ar-BB1hgsVZ] [2: Yamamoto, A., Needleman, J., Gelberg, L., Kominski, G., Shoptaw, S., & Tsugawa, Y. (2019). Association between homelessness and opioid overdose and opioid-related hospital admissions/emergency department visits. Social science & medicine, 242, 112585. ]

Eastport’s rabbit population has caught the attention of homeless people. The rabbits provide a source of revenue: skinned rabbit fur can be sold to local craft stores, and the meat can be sold to local restaurants (illegally). Rabbit fur hats and ruffs are popular items. However, the trapping of rabbits often involves snares – which have injured local dogs. Many of Eastport’s citizens allow their dogs to roam off-leash on the trails. In addition, the processing of rabbits has attracted protests by local people who have claimed that there is a considerable smell and health hazard. The local environmental protection officials have reported that significant amounts of rabbit offal have been dumped in the river and many trash can around the trails have been filled with bags full of rabbit offal and human waste. This has attracted complaints from residents.

The local police, city officials, and politicians have become increasingly exasperated and several ideas are floated.

Proposal 1 is a campaign of zero tolerance enforcement of all environmental codes and anti-homeless ordinances. In particular, city officials and many politicians (both Republican and Democrat) believe banning people with no permanent address from owing dogs would permit the rapid seizure and eventual euthanizing of dogs. This would drive out homeless people. A similar strategy was pursued in Eugene, OR to great effect[footnoteRef:3]. The zero tolerance strategy would involve the destruction of homeless encampments and the seizure or ticketing of vehicles[footnoteRef:4] but the campaign will require a great deal of police time, may require support from the Portland Police Bureau, and will have to be repeated several times over. It is also likely that younger voters would be opposed to the policy. [3: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/apr/15/eugene-oregon-dog-ban-homeless] [4: https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/despite-protestors-crews-clearing-large-portland-homeless-encampment/ar-AA1mm5pA https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2022-06-21/portland-liberal-support-lags-homeless-services-drugs https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/homeless/portland-rv-homeless-campers-move/283-07c1c684-df4f-4f02-82e7-eb41dd508f7e]

Proposal 2 is to increase shelter beds from 100 to 300 and the Department of Health and Human Services has identified a building that could be used this purpose. The existing shelter system is running at 40% capacity. The proposal also suggests attempting to work with nearby cities to secure extra shelter beds and busing some homeless people into Portland. Critics suggests that this will act as a pull factor and will actually increase the number of homeless people The Federal Department of Veteran’s Affairs can provide additional resources as need to support securing shelter for Homeless veterans – the VA would prefer Veterans be rehoused into apartments and low income housing.

Proposal 3 suggests removing the rabbits to deal the offal and smell problems. Environmental protection officials at the local and state level believe removing the offal pollution would be beneficial.

Proposal 4 is a targeting campaign aimed at identifying the most vulnerable homeless people (criteria would have to be determined) and using existing resource to assist these people into shelter. This may require some expansion of the shelter bed program (up to 100 new beds) buyt the Department of Health and Human Services

Proposal 5 is a policy that the Mayor’s policy advisor (you) is working on but may or may not be ready within the Mayor’s time scale and the Mayor’s policy advisor (you) has indicated that they may end up supporting one of the other policies.

The Economy of Eastport

Historically, Eastport’s economy was dependent on the farming and logging industries. The old-growth forests in the region were extensively logged and the fertile river valley was used for farming. Eastport was used by the timber industry to load barges that travelled down the Columbia River.

It is estimated that Eastport attracts about 300,000 visitors a year. Many of these visitors use Eastport as a stopping point on longer journeys, either on the way to Mount Hood or to the Cascades region. The majority of visitors spend a half day in the town. However, an increasing proportion are staying overnight. Due to Oregon’s mild climate, tourism is year-round but the vast majority of visitors arrive in the summer.

A number of hikers traversing the Pacific Crest Trail[footnoteRef:5] use Eastport as a convenient resupply point or a break from the trail. In addition, Eastport has become a popular tourist destination. The rabbit population has attracted considerable tourism and many visitors. International visitors are especially interested to see Eastport’s rabbits as a result of successful media campaigns organized by the Visitors Bureau. [5: A west coast version of the Appalachian Trail]

The growing popularity of Eastport has resulted in new coffee shops and restaurants opening in the waterfront area and along the state highway, which are home to the main business areas in Eastport. The new Waterfront Business Development District (WBDD) represents many of these new businesses, and its members are becoming increasingly vocal in local politics. The new businesses are providing young people in Eastport with much needed job opportunities. In addition, small, locally-owned hotels and bed and breakfasts have seen a growth in bookings. Recently a major hotel chain has discussed building a new 200 bed hotel in Eastport. Several restaurants have made the rabbits a key part of their advertising – ‘bunny burgers’ or other wild rabbit dishes (free range and organic of course) are key features of the menu. This form of natural harvest is popular with many of the new residents in Eastport and trapping rabbits is a valuable source of supplemental income and/or food for low-income residents.

The growth of the waterfront area, Eastport’s proximity to Portland, and the high percentage of income that is spent on rent has attracted property developers and asset management companies. Following the financial crises of the 1990s and 2008, Asset Management and private equity companies began to buy up significant amounts of Eastport’s housing stock, this is in common with many cities across the United States.[footnoteRef:6] In particular, over leveraged rental complexes and underwater mortgages were acquired and this has resulted in a shortage of low income housing in Eastport. Although some new apartments have been built, these apartments tend to be targeted at higher income commuters who work in Portland metro area and high income immigrants from neighboring Washington state – who are seeking to take advantage of lower house prices in Oregon. Eastport has 1% vacancy rate in its rental market and most single family homes sell within 3 days of their listing.. [6: Christophers, B (2023) Our Lives in Their Portfolios: Why Asset Managers Own the World. New York Verso]

Rabbits in Eastport

The western brush rabbit (Sylvilagus bachmani) is a cottontail rabbit native to Oregon. The major predators of the brush rabbit are coyotes, bob cats, feral cats, foxes, weasels and raptors. Brush rabbits are amongst the less fertile rabbit species and produce only 15 young a year. A closely related species – the America Pika is found in Oregon.

Cottontail rabbits (of all types) are increasing hybridizing with or been pushed out of their territories by the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). European rabbits are generally considered to be nuisance wildlife. European rabbits are prolific breeders; they have a gestation period of about 30 days, can produce litters of 10 kits, and are able to begin breeding once they are three months old. In the mild climate of Oregon European rabbits can breed year-round.

European rabbits live in polygamous groups or warrens. An average warren hosts up to 30 individuals, including up to 10 breeding females. The very largest warrens may consist of over 60 individuals and 30 breeding females. To ensure genetic diversity, juvenile rabbits will scatter and join other warrens. European rabbits rarely live more than 1 year in the wild. The major predators of rabbit are coyotes, bob cats, feral cats, foxes, weasels, dogs, and raptors. Foxes and coyotes are attracted into areas where European rabbits are plentiful. Rabbits will forage widely and can cover considerable distances.

European rabbits are a burrowing rabbit whereas native cottontails do not dig their own burrows. The burrows of European rabbits (sometimes referred to as warrens) are quite extensive. A large warren can occupy ½ acre of land and the average warren occupies about ¼ acre.

A European Rabbit[footnoteRef:7] [7: JJ Harrison (https://www.jjharrison.com.au/)]	A Pika[footnoteRef:8] [8: Frédéric Dulude-de Broin (2016)]
A Brush Rabbit[footnoteRef:9] [9: © 2006 Walter Siegmund (2006)]	Eastern Cottontail Rabbit

The Impact of Rabbits in Eastport

Rabbits are having a dramatic effect in Eastport. Free-ranging rabbits have entered into people’s yards and tunneled under fencing. Local homeowners have increasingly used unlicensed methods of rabbit control such as poisons purchased over the internet. In addition, hunters see the rabbits as valuable for target practice. Last year, Oregon State Troopers, Fish and Wildlife Division issued 5 citations to hunters who shooting at rabbits from the trails and a further 5 citations to hunters who trespassed onto private property (ORS 105.700 and 498.120).

Eastport Police have been called to several incidents where disputes have broken out between neighbors. In the majority of these incidents, unsupervised dogs have pursued rabbits into neighboring gardens, destroyed vegetable patches, and otherwise proven to be a nuisance by defecating on other people’s property. In one notable incident, a local man was arrested for pelting his neighbor’s house with vegetables after rabbits – which had established a warren on the neighbor’s property – broke into his vegetable garden and destroyed a prize-winning crop. Recently, Eastport Police, Lewis County Sherriff, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided an Eastport home after a local teenager purchased considerable quantities of lethal chemicals from the internet. The teenager had posted on Facebook that he wished to “kill the vermin infesting his school…” The family dog was shot and injured by a Sheriff’s deputy during the no-knock raid. The incident has led to an increase in anti-government senti