BUSINESS
A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2020
Protest that worried business
organizations lacks traction
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
A suggested protest that
had chambers of commerce
across the state worried has
not produced the feared
impact so far.
Last week the Hermiston,
Pendleton, Umatilla, Board-
man, Irrigon and Heppner
chambers shared a mes-
sage they had received from
the Oregon State Cham-
ber of Commerce, citing a
user post on the Open Ore-
gon Facebook page ask-
ing people to flood the Ore-
gon Occupational Health
and Safety Administration
with complaints against
businesses in order to over-
whelm the agency so that it
couldn’t take action against
businesses flouting COVID-
19 restrictions.
“We realize that local
businesses are at their break-
ing point and wanted to make
you aware of this effort,”
the message from the state
chamber said. “OR-OSHA
anticipates hundreds/thou-
sands of new anonymous
complaints against busi-
nesses across Oregon, and
these complaints could
result in compliance letters
being sent to your members
by OR-OSHA.”
In their own joint mes-
sage on Wednesday, Dec. 9,
the local chambers of com-
merce asked their members
to reach out if they appeared
to have become the target of
fraudulent complaints.
“We will be working with
local partners and OSCC
counsel on how to protect
businesses and move for-
ward should any situations
of this nature arise in our
region,” they said.
On Dec. 11, Oregon
OSHA spokesperson Aaron
Corvin said OSHA had so
far not seen “any evidence
of meaningful impact cre-
ated by false complaints”
since the post on Dec. 7,
By GARY A. WARNER
OREGON CAPITAL BUREAU
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
A sign from the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce along East Main Street in Hermiston advises
shoppers that businesses are open on Nov. 20, 2020.
however.
The post urging the pro-
test, made by Facebook user
Amanda Vital on the Open
Oregon Facebook page and
shared more than 60 times
over the next few days,
stated that if people “flood
the system” with anony-
mous complaints then “they
will never know where the
real targets are and they
will be done enforcing these
excessive laws.”
The post did not spec-
ify whether the com-
plaints should be about real
problems.
Larry Skyes, listed as the
administrator for the Open
Oregon page, said that the
protest idea did not come
from him, that he did not
believe in reporting busi-
nesses to OSHA and that
he encourages members of
the page to support their
local businesses. The post
later appeared to have been
removed from the page.
Kimberly Rill, direc-
tor of the Hermiston Cham-
ber of Commerce, said the
email sent out by the East-
ern Oregon chambers wasn’t
Kelly Schwirse
joins staff at the
Hermiston Herald
HERMISTON HERALD
The Hermiston Herald
recently welcomed Kelly
Schwirse to its staff as the
newspaper’s new multime-
dia consultant.
Schwirse will work with
advertisers in west Umatilla
County and Morrow County
to help them advertise their
business or event in the
Hermiston Herald and East
Oregonian.
She previously worked
for the Hermiston Cham-
ber of Commerce for nearly
nine years, working on
the chamber’s newsletters,
events and other services to
its members.
Schwirse replaces Jeanne
Jewett, who retired on Nov.
30 after working for the East
Oregonian for 32 years and
also working for the Herm-
iston Herald the last 12 of
those years.
She can be reached at
kschwirse@hermistonher-
ald.com or 541-564-4531.
intended as commentary on
protests against COVID-
19 restrictions, but rather
an effort to warn members
so they weren’t blindsided
if they did get contacted by
OSHA over what appeared
to be false complaints. They
wanted members to be pre-
pared just in case, she said.
Open Oregon and sim-
ilar Facebook groups have
recently promoted sev-
eral in-person demonstra-
tions outside OSHA offi-
cials’ homes in response to
actions taken by the agency
against businesses that have
flouted state rules regard-
ing COVID-19. The Orego-
nian reported that about 50
protesters showed up at the
Silverton home of an OSHA
inspector in response to a
$90,000 fine levied against
Courthouse Fitness, which
refused to close its gyms
in the Salem area despite
a statewide shutdown of
gyms.
On OSHA’s end, Corvin
said the agency’s mission is
to protect workers from haz-
ards on the job, including
COVID-19, through a range
of tools, including consulta-
tion and education for busi-
ness owners.
“So, an effort to attack
our ability to carry out that
mission — and that includes
fielding any complaints on
any workplace safety sub-
ject, not just COVID-19 —
makes no sense to us,” he
said. “It is a false narrative to
say that physical distancing
and facial coverings are part
of shutting down the econ-
omy, and it’s a false narra-
tive to say that the risks pre-
sented by COVID-19 are not
real. On the contrary, imple-
menting such measures to
reduce the spread of this dis-
ease and decrease the risk is
how we keep the economy
open and reopen portions of
the economy that have had
to close.”
He said it is worth
remembering that only a
small percentage of OSHA
complaints result in inspec-
tions, and if an effort to
flood the system did happen,
it seemed unlikely that “any
such false complaint will be
convincing enough to result
in an enforcement activity.”
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Small businesses in
Oregon struggling with
a drop in income due to
the COVID-19 pandemic
will receive some tax
relief, Gov. Kate Brown
announced Monday, Dec.
14. Brown ordered the
elimination of penal-
ties and interests on 2019
income taxes.
“Small business own-
ers who play by the rules
shouldn’t face penalties
and fees because COVID-
19 has robbed them of their
livelihood,” Brown said.
Brown may have to
issue a flurry of orders on
issues ranging from unem-
ployment to an eviction
moratorium.
Programs
for unemployment bene-
fits and other measures are
scheduled to end Dec. 31.
If the Oregon Legisla-
ture and governor cannot
agree on other steps, such
as a special session, exec-
utive orders could be used
as a stop-gap until the reg-
ular session of the Legisla-
ture convenes Jan. 19.
The scope in state
action is also wrapped up
in the struggle in Congress
to pass COVID-19 relief,
which could renew some
of the programs.
Sen.
Ron
Wyden,
D-Ore., the ranking mem-
ber of the Senate Finance
Committee, said a deal
must be struck before the
House and Senate adjourn
for the year.
“Congress must pass an
economic relief package
before the end of the year
to avert more economic
backsliding and financial
catastrophe for millions of
families,” Wyden said.
Brown’s order on Dec.
14 applies to personal
income, corporate excise
and corporate income
taxes. The action would:
Waive all penalties
on 2019 income tax due
from businesses that are
impacted by COVID-19.
Waive all interest on
2019 income tax due from
small businesses hurt by
COVID-19 and have less
than $5 million in gross
receipts.
Continue
extended
payment plans up to 36
months for any taxpayer
impacted by COVID-19 in
an approved payment plan.
Brown also ordered an
extension of the due date
of the amusement device
tax, which comes from lot-
tery machines, for the sec-
ond quarter of the 2020 tax
year. Brown said the move
would help restaurants and
bars that have been partic-
ularly hard-hit by restric-
tions on dining, gathering
size and other measures.
More information will
be available by calling the
Oregon Department of
Revenue at 503-378-4988
or 800-356-4222, or at
www.oregon.gov/dor.
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