OPINION
A4 HERMISTONHERALD.COM
SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2015
EDITORIAL • COMMENTARY • LETTERS
HermistonHerald
VOLUME 109 ɿ NUMBER 5
JESSICA KELLER
EDITOR
jkeller@hermistonherald.com
541-564-4533
MAEGAN MURRAY
SEAN HART
SAM BARBEE
JEANNE JEWETT
REPORTER
mmurray@hermistonherald.com
541-564-4532
SPORTS REPORTER
sbarbee@hermistonherald.com
541-564-4542
REPORTER
smhart@hermistonherald.com
541-564-4534
MULTI-MEDIA CONSULTANT
jjewett@hermistonherald.com
541-564-4531
STEPHANIE BURKENBINE
MULTI-MEDIA CONSULTANT
sburkenbine@hermistonherald.com
541-564-4538
To contact the Hermiston Herald for news, advertising or subscription information:
• call 541-567-6457
• e-mail info@hermistonherald.com
• VWRSE\RXURI¿FHVDW(0DLQ6W
• visit us online at: www.hermistonherald.com
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Delivered by carrier and mail Wednesdays and Saturdays
Inside Umatilla/Morrow counties ......................................................................................... $42.65
Outside Umatilla/Morrow counties ...................................................................................... $53.90
The Hermiston Herald (USPS 242220, ISSN 8750-4782) is published twice weekly at Hermiston
Herald, 333 E. Main St., Hermiston, OR 97838, (541) 567-6457, FAX (541) 567-1764. Periodical
postage paid at Hermiston, OR. Postmaster, send address changes to Hermiston Herald, 333
Printed on
E. Main St., Hermiston, OR 97838.
recycled
A member of the EO Media Group Copyright ©2015
newsprint
Cause and effect
“
::YOU SHOULD
WRITE
SOMETHING
ABOUT CAUSE AND
EFFECT::” my editor
told me. Regular readers
will note that she
reads differently now;
apparently using brackets
to indicate Editorspeak
causes the words to
disappear on the internet.
This was not a problem
back in the quill and
parchment days of my
youth, but I can adapt.
“Cause and effect”
is an interesting topic,
in theory simple to
understand but in
practice, not so much.
Hold a pencil over the
ÀRRU/HWJR7KHSHQFLO
GURSVDQGKLWVWKHÀRRU
The cause of the drop is
gravity. The effect is a
dropping pencil hitting
WKHÀRRU6LPSOHULJKW"
So what kind of problems
could possibly arise with
VRPHWKLQJVRHDV\"
7KH¿UVWSUREOHPLV
that the human brain is
ZLUHGWR¿QGSDWWHUQV
even where patterns do
not exist. See further
examples at “that cloud
looks like a bunny” or
“those cracks in the lava
ÀRZDUHLGHQWLFDOWRD
road map of Hermiston,
except for the lack of
Beebe and Grouse.” This
wiring can be useful at
times, but it also leads
to the logical fallacy of
post hoc ergo propter
hoc: “After this, therefore
because of this,” or its
close cousin, “Correlation
is not causation.” In short,
just because two things
happen close together in
time does not mean they
are related. The bells
here in town that ring
around sundown are not
causing the sun to go
down. We do not need to
bang drums to save the
sun from a solar eclipse.
Stepping on a crack does
not hurt your mother’s
back — that effect was
caused when she slipped
on the Matchbox cars you
left laying in the living
room. Don’t ask me how I
know that last one.
There are entire
classes of people who
do not grasp the basics
of cause and effect, or
at least affect not to.
“I was arrested for no
reason!” they’ll say,
ignoring the fact that they
were pushing a shopping
cart of unpaid-for
Letters Policy
THOMAS CREASING
OFF THE BENCH
Herald columnist
merchandise out of a local
store when it happened.
The problem isn’t limited
to the criminal class,
either — scientists used
to believe that maggots
spontaneously appeared
on meat until Francesco
Redi proved differently
with an experiment.
Likewise, politicians
believe that jobs
spontaneously appear
because they give their
cronies money — an
experiment that has been
demonstrating drastically
different results for nearly
the decade.
One of the biggest
problems people have in
dealing with cause and
effect is the combination
of not knowing, or not
considering, what effects
their actions will have.
In fairness, sometimes
LW¶VMXVWWKH¿UVWSHEEOHRI
the avalanche — Gavrilo
Princip could not possibly
have had any idea that his
VKRWVZRXOGEHWKH¿UVWRI
World War I. On the other
hand, only the willfully
blind could have truly
believed that destroying
Iraq under Hussein would
somehow have led to a
calmer and better Middle
East. Sometimes the
%XWWHUÀ\(IIHFWLQYROYHV
DEXWWHUÀ\WKHVL]HRI
Mothra, after all.
Just what would be the
SRLQWRIDOOWKLV\RXDVN"
Well, in part it’s because
when the editor says
::JUMP:: you respond
ZLWK³KRZKLJK"´8QOHVV
of course, the response
is, “Well, you know, the
ceiling’s sort of low and
my knees are acting up
and my feet hurt...” More
likely it’s to get some
discussion on the table
in regard to an upcoming
column on “what were
WKH\WKLQNLQJ"´%XWWKDW¶V
going to be 600 words for
a different day.
That’s just the caused
opinion of an opinionated
guy. You can cause an
effect here by sharing
your opinions in response!
Letters to the editor or by
email to hermistonherald
offthebench@gmail.com.
Names of the terminally shy
will be withheld on request.
— Thomas Creasing is
a Herald columnist and
municipal court judge
The Hermiston Herald welcomes original letters for
publication on public issues and public policies. Submitted
letters must be signed by the author and include the city of
residence and a daytime phone number. Phone numbers
will not be published. Letters may be mailed to the
Hermiston Herald, 333 E. Main, Hermiston, OR, 97838;
or emailed to editor@hermistonherald.com
Don’t brush off judge issue
T
he question
of whether
the Hermiston
municipal court judge
should be elected by
voters or appointed
by the City Council
should not be casually
disregarded as just a
minor, insignificant part
of the proposed city
charter and deserves
closer consideration
by residents and city
officials, alike.
For the past 50 years,
Hermiston residents
have elected their
municipal court judge,
before whom people
appear when they
receive traffic or other
misdemeanor citations.
The City Council is
seeking to change that
in the proposed new city
charter.
One question
Hermiston residents
should be asking,
however, and one to
which they deserve
a thoughtful, concise
UHVSRQVHLVZK\":K\
would the community be
better served by having
an appointed municipal
court as opposed to an
HOHFWHGRQH":K\LV
this in the community’s
best interests, and how
will this benefit the
FRPPXQLW\DVDZKROH"
Why are do City Council
members think they are
better suited to decide
who should be municipal
FRXUWMXVWWKDQUHVLGHQWV"
Right now, the matter
of who will select the
municipal court judge is
being presented as part
of the whole city charter
package, after the City
Council elected to not
have voters decide on
the issue separately.
Even if Hermiston
residents are largely
ambivalent about the
issue, how the municipal
JESSICA KELLER
HERMISTON HERALD
Editor
court judge will be
selected will impact
them, and community
members need to know,
when city officials
are making decisions,
they are making them
with the residents’ best
interests in mind and
not arbitrarily. And city
officials always need to
be able to justify their
decisions.
Thus far, city officials
have not been able to
justify why this change
is necessary, and the
reasons behind why the
municipal court judge
should be appointed,
rather than elected,
have been largely
unsatisfactory and
the benefits vague or
minimal.
The logic behind
appointing, as opposed
to electing, a judge, is
a little flimsy, and the
few arguments presented
to the public thus far
in support of the move
have not been much
better.
One argument for
appointing the judge
that has been presented
in the past is, by doing
so, the city will have
more control over the
position. The reasons
why additional control
is needed, however, are
vague and have not been
adequately addressed.
First, the city already
sets the budget for the
municipal court. As well,
the Hermiston Municipal
Court’s existence is
entirely at the discretion
of city officials, who
long ago decided the city
should have one.
City Manager Byron
Smith also pointed out
recently, apparently as
an argument in support
of appointment, of
the cities that have
municipal court judges
in Oregon, only five
have judges that are
elected. The rest are
appointed.
But not all cities in
Oregon have municipal
courts. Many are in
counties that have
justice courts, which are
created at the discretion
of county commissioners
and are presided over
by justices of the peace.
In Oregon, justices of
the peace duties include
presiding over traffic
and misdemeanor court
cases, exactly the same
Hermiston’s municipal
court judge. And all
justices of the peace in
Oregon are elected, as
are all state judges.
In terms of what
Hermiston should do,
the fact that most city
municipal court judges
are appointed and all
justices of the peace
are elected do not carry
much value on their
own when presented as
arguments in support of
election or appointment.
Parents have long said
to their children, “Just
because your friends
are doing something
doesn’t mean you have
to do it. If your friends
all decided to jump off a
bridge, would you jump,
WRR"´7KHVDPHSULQFLSOH
applies in this case.
Smith’s argument
that municipal court
judge elections are just
popularity contests,
which suggests voters
are not electing
the candidates best
suited for the job and
are voting based on
sentiment, is also
questionable, if not
a gross disservice to
Hermiston residents’
intelligence. Following
his logic, if the new
charter passes as
proposed, City Council
members will be
appointing the judge.
But city councilors are
elected, and doesn’t it
stand to reason that if
municipal court judge
elections are popularity
contests, so, too, are
&LW\&RXQFLOHOHFWLRQV"
Why would City Council
members be better
suited to choose a judge
than the public if they,
too, are elected based
on popularity and not
TXDOLILFDWLRQ"
But let’s say the
popularity-contest
argument is justified.
How can residents be
sure the judge appointed
by City Council
members were chosen
based on qualifications
and not because that
person is a friend, a
former classmate, a
neighbor, a member
of the same church or
someone who owes them
DIDYRU"&URQ\LVPDQG
corruption is certainly
a possibility, if not a
guarantee.
Many questions
remain unanswered
regarding the municipal
court judge issue that
deserve attention. We
encourage residents to
ask them at the next
city charter public
meeting Tuesday.
If nothing else, we
encourage City Council
members to answer
them before moving
ahead with any city
charter plan. Hermiston
residents deserve
nothing less.
— Jessica Keller is
the editor of the Herm-
iston Herald. She can
be reached at jkeller@
hermistonherald.com
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Ideas on what should be done
here” logo on the water tower would make it look less
Editor,
OLNHJUDI¿WL$ZDWHUPHORQEHQHDWKWKHORJRZRXOGFDWFK
Two comments: Please show the Port of Morrow the eye of visitors to Hermiston.
MIKE MEHRENS
¿QDQFLDO ¿JXUHV DJDLQ DORQJ VLGH WKRVH IRU WKH 3RUW RI
HERMISTON
Umatilla. A heavy line around the “You can GROW
ELECTED OFFICIALS
STATE
District 29: Sen. Bill Hansell,
R-Umatilla Co., 900 Court St. N.E.,
S-423, Salem, OR 97301, 503-986-
1729. 101 S.W. Third St., Pendleton,
OR 97801 (541) 278-1396. E-mail:
ssen.billhansell@state.or.us.
District 30: Sen. Ted Ferrio-
li, R-John Day; 900 Court St. N.E.,
S-223 Salem, OR 97301, 503-986-
1950. 750 W. Main, John Day, OR
97845, (541) 575-2321. E-mail: ferr-
ioli.sen@state.or.us.
District 58: Rep. Bob Jenson,
R-Pendleton; 900 Court St. N.E.,
H-480, Salem, OR 97301, 503-986-
1458. 2126 N.W. 21st., Pendleton,
OR 97801, (541) 276-2707. E-mail:
rep.bobjenson@state.or.us.
District 57: Rep. Greg Smith,
R-Morrow, 900 Court St. N.E.,
H-280, Salem, OR 97301, 503-986-
1457. P.O. Box 215, Heppner, OR
97836, (541) 676-5154. E-mail:
smith.g.rep@state.or.us.
FEDERAL
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
Sac Annex Building, 105 Fir St.,
No. 201, La Grande, OR 97850;
(541) 962-7691. E-mail: kath-
leen_cathey@wyden.senate.gov;
(Kathleen Cathey, community repre-
sentative); 717 Hart Building, Wash-
ington, D.C. 20510, (202) 224-5244.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
One World Trade Center, 121 SW
Salmon Street, Suite 1250, Portland,
OR 97204; (503) 326-3386; Dirksen
6HQDWH 2I¿FH %XLOGLQJ 6'%%
Washington, D.C. 20510. (202) 224-
3753.
U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (2nd
District)
843 E. Main St., Suite 400, Med-
ford, OR 97504, (541) 776-4646,
(800) 533-3303; 2352 Rayburn
+RXVH2I¿FH%XLOGLQJ:DVKLQJWRQ
D.C. 20515, (202) 225-6730