By Gregory Chaimov



My first impression of Ben Westlund was, I admit, not a favorable one. I found myself across the table from him in a Salem tavern, where he was holding court like some minor satrap. I thought that this was a fellow who had a good chance of living up to Lord Acton's dictum about absolute power. But I was also impressed that he had chosen as his throne the Democrats' watering hole.



Over the years I worked in the Legislature, I saw plenty of members go from Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader. Ben was one of the few who traveled that path in reverse.



We spent a lot of time together in the special sessions of 2001 and 2003, when, as Ways and Means chairman, Ben struggled to balance the budget. He'd come into my office with an idea. I'd explain that the constitution didn't allow it. He'd want to know why, and I'd tell him that the framers of Oregon's constitution may have been farmers, but they were a savvy lot, and they knew that when times got tough legislators would try creative accounting -- practices they crafted the constitution to stop. Ben didn't like the answer, but he kept coming back with idea after idea. I grew to admire his creativity and his persistence. I could tell that the cuts the Legislature was having to make were hurting Oregonians, and that in turn was hurting him.



Then came the speech he gave upon his return from treatment for cancer. A speech so forceful, so honest, that you could hear the proverbial pin drop in a room full of folks who normally talk over each other. From that day on, if not before, I knew Ben as someone who always put others ahead of himself. One example: A friend told me that X-rays had suggested lung cancer. I called Ben and asked if he would be a mentor to the friend. Before I could get back to the friend with Ben's unequivocal yes, Ben had called the friend and given his cell number and an invitation to call any time.



Ben was a call-any-time kind of person. He would call you at any hour. And you knew no hour was too early or too late for you to call him.



More than anything, Ben Westlund was a just plain good person. There aren't enough people like that in the world. Any now there is one fewer.



Gregory Chaimov is an attorney and Milwaukie city councilman.



