Wednesday, January 6, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
9
Politicians, activists push back on restrictions
By Jim Cornelius
Editor in Chief
Since the reimposition
of business closures and
restrictions due to a surge
in COVID-19 cases in
November, a groundswell
of resistance has devel-
oped among business own-
ers, local politicians and
activists.
A dozen mayors and may-
ors-elect across Oregon cre-
ated a <Main Street Mayors=
coalition that urged small
businesses to reopen January
1, despite the state COVID-
19 restrictions.
In a press release, the
coalition stated that, <Main
Street Mayors is supporting
members of the coalition
operating in counties labeled
8Extreme Risk9 who will vol-
untarily comply with state
requirements for 8High Risk9
counties starting on January
1, 2021. This will allow res-
taurants and gyms to open
at significantly reduced
capacity.=
Mayor Stan Pulliam of
Sandy has been the point
man for the coalition.
<People are packing
into malls and grocery
chains supporting corporate
America, and yet we can9t
sit down at a locally owned
restaurant to support a local
business owner and their
employees while enjoying a
meal with our families in a
safe and responsible way,=
he stated. <The double stan-
dards must end.=
Cork Cellars Wine Bar
& Bistro in Sisters opened
on January 1, employing the
COVID-19 safety protocols
that they had in place before
the renewed restrictions were
imposed (see related story,
page 1).
The effort has been pro-
moted and supported by a
community organizing activ-
ist network titled People9s
Rights, Oregon 5. The group
has been meeting at Aspen
Lakes Golf Course in Sisters.
Matt Cyrus, whose family
owns Aspen Lakes, con-
firmed that the golf course
rents its facilities to the
group and told The Nugget
on December 30 that they
had met at Aspen Lakes the
previous evening.
The organization9s point-
man, BJ Soper of Redmond,
did not respond to The
Nugget9s phone calls as of
press time. Soper has been
involved in constitutional
rights activism for several
years, including taking a
group to Burns during the
Malheur Wildlife Refuge
takeover in 2016. He said at
the time that he did not sup-
port the takeover led by anti-
government activist Ammon
Bundy, but he sympathized
with the group9s frustra-
tions and was outraged by
the death of occupier LaVoy
Finicum in a shooting by
police along a highway in
Eastern Oregon.
Bundy was an originator
of the People9s Rights net-
work, but Soper recently told
Oregon Public Broadcasting
that the network9s leadership
is not centralized and told
reporter Emily Cureton in a
text that <Ammon has noth-
ing to do with Oregon.=
People9s Rights describes
itself on its website (www.
peoplesrightsoregon5.com)
as <People and citizens of
the USA that recognize that
we have rights, and are will-
ing to unite to defend those
rights and each other. We are
an inclusive and welcoming
group to all people regard-
less of race, age, nationality,
religion, or political beliefs.=
The group, which has
promoted anti-lockdown
<We Will Not Comply= ral-
lies in Central Oregon, is
opposed to mask mandates
and supports and promotes
businesses that have defied
state-mandated restrictions.
On its website is an <Oregon
Business Owners Guide=
(available on this page:
www.peoplesrightsoregon5.
com/local-news) that argues
that:
<There is no statutory
law that requires you, your
employees, or your cus-
tomers to wear a mask, get
their temperature taken or
stay six feet apart. There is
no law that requires you to
serve your customers out-
side or reduce the number
of people in your business
establishment. In fact, if
you require your customers
to wear a mask or restrict
their movement or entry if
they are not wearing a mask,
you are at risk for violat-
ing several federal and state
laws.=
The growing pushback
against restrictions, particu-
larly on the part of local poli-
ticians, drew a strong rebuke
from Governor Kate Brown,
who issued a statement on
December 31:
<It9s unfortunate and irre-
sponsible that some local
politicians are choosing to
willfully mislead business
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ties, nor are they likely to
be willing to be held respon-
sible for the public health
impacts their actions create.=
(See full text of Governor
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page 8.)
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