A4 Opinion Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, March 4, 2015 Tone matters in debate over public access I n their resignation letter ODVWZHHN¿YHPHPEHUVRI WKH*UDQW&RXQW\3XEOLF Access Advisory Board offered an unintended irony when they pressed the County Court to HPEUDFHUXOHVRIUHVSHFWIRURWKHUV DQGDJDLQVWDOOSHUVRQDODWWDFNV While criticizing the Court for its actions, the letter failed to DFNQRZOHGJHWKDWVRPHPHPEHUV RIWKHDFFHVVERDUGKDYHUXQDIRXO of those very rules with their own comments in recent meetings DQGFRPPXQLFDWLRQV7KHODFNRI civility in the road discourse has EHHQVWULNLQJDQGWKH\PXVWVKDUH WKHUHVSRQVLELOLW\IRUWKDW 7REHVXUHWKH&RXQW\ Court played a role in the eventual meltdown of the access ERDUG7KH&RXUWFUHDWHGWKH ERDUGRXWRIDJHQXLQHGHVLUH for a participatory process ODVWVXPPHUEXWLWZDVD UXVKMRE7KHFRQIXVLRQDQG contentiousness that ensued ZDVDOPRVWSUHRUGDLQHG7KH PHPEHUVZHUHDSSRLQWHGWRD vague purpose, without the Court providing a detailed charter for WKHERDUGRUVHWWLQJVLGHERDUGV IRULWVRSHUDWLRQV8QOLNHRWKHU DSSRLQWHGERDUGVDQGFRPPLWWHHV this group was left largely on its RZQWRFKDUWLWVFRXUVH It’s no surprise, then, that the ERDUGPRUSKHGLQWRVRUWRID SXEOLFSULYDWHK\EULG,QGHHG we suspect those who quit the ERDUGODVWZHHNZLOOEHIDUPRUH FRPIRUWDEOHDVDSULYDWHJURXS WKDQDVDFRXQW\ERG\7KDWZDV VXJJHVWHGDIHZZHHNVDJRLQDQ HPDLOH[FKDQJHREWDLQHGIURPWKH FRXQW\E\WKH(DJOHWKURXJKD SXEOLFUHFRUGVUHTXHVW ,QWKHH[FKDQJH&RXQW\ -XGJH6FRWW0\HUVDVNHG-LP Sproul, then chair of the access group, to restore the forest VXSHUYLVRU¶VQDPHWRWKHERDUG¶V PDLOOLVW6SURXOUHSOLHGWKDWWKH DFFHVVERDUG¶V³SULYDWHHPDLO OLVW´KDGEHHQGHOHWHGDQGWKDW DQ\SHUVRQDOHPDLOVVHQWE\ ERDUGPHPEHUVZRXOGEH³IRU information only to concerned FLWL]HQVRIRXUFKRRVLQJ´+H PDGHLWFOHDUWKDW³DOOHPDLOVVHQW E\WKHDFFHVVERDUGPHPEHUV to interested citizens of Grant County are for information SXUSRVHVRQO\DQGDUHSULYDWH´ 7KDWEOHQGLQJRISULYDWH FRPPXQLFDWLRQVDQGSXEOLF duties suggests the separation ODVWZHHNZDVLQHYLWDEOHDQG SUREDEO\DJRRGWKLQJ7RGD\ WKHVHPHPEHUVDUHIUHHWRSXUVXH WKHLUJRDOVZLWKURDGV±DQGDQ\ RWKHULVVXHV±DVSULYDWHFLWL]HQV without the constraints of transparency that go with serving RQDSXEOLFERDUG 6WLOOWREHVHHQLVZKHWKHU the tone of the road discussion LPSURYHV6RIDUZH¶UHKHDULQJ DQHVFDODWLRQRIDQJU\WDONRQ some social media platforms; a few of the more strident voices LQWKHZLGHUURDGGHEDWHDUH WDUJHWLQJLQGLYLGXDOVEXVLQHVVHV and agencies for personal FULWLFLVPDQGVFRUQ,W¶VQRWFOHDU KRZWKLVKDSSHQHGEXWZH¶YH apparently reached a point where demonizing those with different views is seen as an effective VWUDWHJ\WRDWWDLQRQH¶VJRDOV We hope that as the discussion moves forward, the former PHPEHUVRIWKHDFFHVVERDUGZLOO HPEUDFHWKHUHVSHFWDQGWROHUDQFH rules they urged on the Court and HQFRXUDJHRWKHUVWRGRWKHVDPH 7KH\KDYHWKHSRWHQWLDOWREHD IRUFHIRUSRVLWLYHPRYHPHQW±RU VWDOHPDWH±RQWKHVHLVVXHV As for the Court, we urge the PHPEHUVWR¿UPXSWKHFKDUJHRI WKHDFFHVVERDUGEHIRUH¿OOLQJDQ\ YDFDQFLHVDQGPRYLQJDKHDG:H DOVRXUJHWKHPWRDGRSWVSHFL¿F rules of conduct for their own meetings and to post them clearly, VRWKDWDOOPHPEHUVRIWKHSXEOLF ±QRPDWWHUZKDWWKHLURSLQLRQV PD\EH±ZLOOIHHOFRPIRUWDEOH DWWHQGLQJDQGSDUWLFLSDWLQJ±6& L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR Kudos to hospitals To the Editor: Over the past three months I had WKHQHHGWRFOHDUXSDPHGLFDOWKLQJ¿UVW with the Veterans Administration hospi- WDOLQ%RLVH,NQRZWKHUHKDVEHHQDORW RIEDGSUHVVIRUWKH9$KRVSLWDOVEXW, FDQWHOO\RX¿UVWKDQGWKDW,UHFHLYHGJUHDW FDUH I was transferred to Blue Mountain Hospital for follow-up care, and I cannot VD\HQRXJKJRRGWKLQJVDERXWRXUORFDO KRVSLWDO (YHU\RQH ± IURP WKH NLWFKHQ VWDII WR KRXVHNHHSLQJ WKH QXUVHV DQG &1$VWKHODE±ZHQWWKHH[WUDPLOHWR PDNH P\ VWD\ DV SOHDVDQW DV SRVVLEOH The director of nursing services and WKHQHZWHPSDGPLQLVWUDWRUVWRSSHGE\ DFRXSOHRIWLPHVMXVWWRFKHFNDQGVHH KRZWKLQJVZHUHJRLQJ :KHQWKUHHDPEXODQFHVDUULYHGLQ minutes, additional staff was called in so the level of care was not decreased, and those who came in were very willing to MXPSULJKWLQDQGGRZKDWZDVQHHGHG :HDUHEOHVVHGZLWKDKRVSLWDOWKDWLV VXSSRUWHGZLWKRXUWD[EDVHDQGDORFDO ERDUGRIGLUHFWRUV,IRURQHZLOOEHVXS- porting our local hospital in every way ,FDQ I hope you don’t need their services EXW LI \RX GR \RX ZLOO EH LQ JRRG KDQGV Eddie Smith Prairie City Roads or timber? To the Editor: When did we come to the point in Eastern Oregon that we found our- VHOYHVQHJRWLDWLQJRXUDFFHVVWRSXEOLF ORRECTIONS ODQGV IRU WLPEHU KDUYHVW DQG ZK\ LV ‡/DVWZHHN¶VDUWLFOHDERXWWKHWKUHH GXULQJKHUPHPEHUVKLSVLQFH WKLVDQDFFHSWDEOHPRGHOIRURXUHOHFW- $PHULFDQ /HJLRQ $X[LOLDU\ ODGLHV ‡$)HEDUWLFOHDERXWD&LUFXLW HGRI¿FLDOV" honored should have included the fol- Court hearing had a typo in the name The answer lies directly under our ORZLQJLQIRUPDWLRQDERXW5XWK+DUULV of the attorney representing Roy Pe- QRVHVEXWIRUWKHIDFWWKDWDJUHDWGHDO WKH RUJDQL]DWLRQ¶V FXUUHQW SUHVLGHQW WHUVRQLWVKRXOGKDYHVDLG'=DFKDU\ RIXVGRQ¶WNQRZLWH[LVWV&ROODERUD- $W WKH )HE 6ZHHWKHDUWV¶ 'LQQHU +RVWHWWHU WLRQDQGWKHEULQJLQJWRJHWKHURI³LQ- her granddaughter, Rhonda Millwood, Errors may be reported to editor@ terested” parties to negotiate projects WROGWKHDXGLHQFHRIWKHSXEOLFVHUYLFH bmeagle.com or by calling 541-575- LVNLOOLQJRXULQGLYLGXDOULJKWVHDFKDQG ZRUNDQGDFWLYLWLHVRIKHUJUDQGPRWKHU 0710. HYHU\GD\ The Grant County Court, as one H[DPSOH KDV GHFLGHG WR DOLJQ LWVHOI ZLWKWKH¿QDQFLDOLQWHUHVWRI,URQ7UL- Blue Mountain DQJOHDQGWKH³VWHZDUGVKLSFRQWUDFW´ In order for Iron Triangle to move for- ward with getting its projects complet- HGWKH\PXVWNHHSWKH)RUHVW6HUYLFH KDSS\ 195 N. Canyon Blvd. • John Day, OR 97845 0U %HYHUOLQ VXSHUYLVRU IRU 0DO- 541-575-0710 • Fax 541-575-1244 KHXU 1DWLRQDO )RUHVW PDGH WKLV YHU\ USPS 226-340 FOHDU LQ HDUO\ )HEUXDU\ ZKHQ KH LQ- IRUPHGWKH$PHULFDQ)RUHVW5HVRXUF- Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper es Council that any interference or John Day, Oregon SUHYHQWLQJ WKH )RUHVW 6HUYLFH IURP performing road closures will jeopar- MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION GL]HWLPEHURXWSXWVRQWKHIRUHVW P UBLISHER Marissa Williams, marissa@bmeagle.com That is where we have come as a E DITOR Scotta Callister, editor@bmeagle.com UHJLRQ DQG ZKHUH WKH )RUHVW 6HUYLFH A DMINISTRATIVE A SSISTANT Kristina Kreger, kristina@bmeagle.com KDVFRPHWRDVDQDJHQF\