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About Appeal tribune. (Silverton, Or.) 1999-current | View Entire Issue (June 30, 2021)
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 2021 | SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK County’s projected budget nearly doubles in three years Bill Poehler Salem Statesman Journal USA TODAY NETWORK Marion County’s budget has nearly doubled in the past three years. The county is budgeting to spend $576 million in the 2021-22 fiscal year, up 14% from the $503 million it budgeted in the 2020-21 fiscal year, the $324 million it spent in the 2018-2019 fiscal year and the $317 million it spent in 2018-19. Much of the additional money Marion County, which has 576 employees, is projected to receive and is spending is tied in with federal money for projects like bridges and a radio tower near Detroit. The county has proposed to receive $69 million, up 131% from the current fiscal year’s $29 million and from the $9 million it received in 2018-2019. The budget goes into effect July 1. “As things happen throughout the year, we’ll have what are called supplemental budgets,” Marion Coun- ty spokesperson Jolene Kelley said. County will get another $67M The county hasn’t determined what it’s going to do with all of the $576 million in its budget. When the American Rescue Plan was signed into law in March, $67 million was earmarked for Marion County from the massive $1.9 trillion federal plan de- signed to stimulate the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. “Just knowing the complexity of the needs across the country, the strategy we really had at the federal level was get the funds to the county leaders and let them decide how best to use them,” U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley said. “Marion County is receiving $67 million and the cities in the county are proportionally receiv- ing another $50 million.” Kelly said Marion County is expecting two pay- ments of $33.5 million each over the next two fiscal See BUDGET, Page 2A Oregon National Guard's Ashley Smallwood of Springfield counts out boxes of face masks to be given to Willamette Valley farmers while participating in a distribution event at the Oregon State University Extension Service-Linn County office in Tangent in May 2020. MARK YLEN/AP Silverton's Jordan McCarty and his father, coach Jamie McCarty, pose for a portrait at Silverton High School. BRIAN HAYES / STATESMAN JOURNAL Why local Oregon agencies struggled to meet PPE needs Bill Poehler and Connor Radnovich Salem Statesman Journal Silverton boys basketball team is among the best in state A father and son duo has the Silverton boys’ basketball among the elite programs in the state of Oregon, regardless of the school size. l Since taking over the program four years ago, head coach Jamie McCarty has the program playing at a high level. l His son, junior Jordan McCarty, is the starting point guard for the team and has been a varsity player since his freshman season. l “I didn’t get back into coaching just to coach him, but it’s been an added blessing to be with him and watch him compete every day,” Jamie McCar- ty said. “For him and all the boys, it’s probably been the hardest year of their life. To his credit, he never stopped working. I saw him lift harder than he’s ever lifted, and it was always preparing for the opportunity to play.” Playing under your father comes with added re- sponsibility, but Jordan has been able to embrace it and become one of the leaders on the team. “It’s been great, he’s definitely pushed me pretty hard,” Jordan McCarty said. “I definitely know it’s all love and it’s been fun playing for my dad. If you ask anybody, he definitely is a little harsh because I’m his son, but I know he’s just trying to make me better.” The younger McCarty has come into his own over the years and hopes to put himself in a position to play collegiate football or basketball in the future. “As a sophomore he was really able to gain more confidence offensively and come out and really play a key role on our varsity team,” Jamie McCarty said. See DUO, Page 2A Lawyers offer resources as end of rent moratorium nears Tatiana Parafiniuk-Talesnick Register-Guard USA TODAY NETWORK The end of Oregon’s moratorium on rent is June 30. On July 1, for the first time since Gov. Kate Brown’s first executive order pausing rent payments in March 2020, renters will be expected to pay their rent, re- gardless of their financial situation. However, they have until Feb. 28, 2022, to pay back rent accumulated over the course of the pandemic. The Oregon State Bar assembled a resource page online at osbar.org/public. The state bar is concerned about Oregonians’ abil- ity to access legal help, as lawyers specializing in landlord/tenant law report being fully booked and un- able to take on new clients, according to a news re- lease. Even if they can find one, many Oregonians may not have the financial means to hire a lawyer. “Pre-pandemic, nearly 90% of landlord/tenant cases saw people trying to navigate the law alone,” OSB spokesperson Kateri Walsh said in the release. “Add to that the moratoriums, and other constantly shifting rules, and it’s a recipe for trouble.” The page contains written details, videos and in- formation in multiple languages. Alongside Oregon’s legal aid providers and landlord representatives, the bar also will host a live webinar at noon Thursday to give further answers and current updates for both own- ers and renters. It will be available through the same See RENT, Page 2A USA TODAY NETWORK Much was still uncertain about best coronavirus protection when the first wave of the pandemic ar- rived: mask-wearing for the public was not yet rec- ommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes flew off store shelves. Demand for masks, gloves, gowns and face shields skyrocketed overnight from health care pro- viders and emergency responders. The state of Ore- gon had a limited stockpile of personal protective equipment left over from the H1N1 flu of 2009, and the entire world was trying to buy the same products at the same time. The state soon effectively ran out of PPE, unable to fill anything but the most critical of requests from health care facilities. And even those locations re- ceived only half or a third of what they requested. "There were a few weeks there where we really didn't have anything we could distribute between when the H1N1 supply was gone and the orders start- ed coming in," Debbie Dennis, Oregon's chief pro- curement officer, said. "Requests were being priori- tized and if it wasn't super critical they were being asked to wait." According to spending records obtained by the Statesman Journal, the state Department of Admini- stration spent $129 million on personal protective equipment from March 2020 to March 2021. Additional PPE was donated locally, sent to Ore- gon from FEMA or purchased by other state agen- cies. These are not included in the Department of Ad- ministrative Service's spending data. DAS used its own funding to purchase PPE before the state received money from the CARES Act. After it did, those federal funds were used to reimburse the state and cover the costs of additional PPE pur- chases. It was later decided that FEMA would cover the state's PPE purchases. The state Department of Administration is still awaiting FEMA reimbursement for its PPE pur- chases. As of mid-June, $75 million had been reim- bursed and $53.9 million was still outstanding. After purchasing, the state distributed millions of pieces of PPE to counties, tribes, hospitals and state agencies: 9.7 million surgical masks, 2.5 million N95 masks, 17.4 million KN95 masks, 1.5 million medical gowns, 740,000 face shields and 18.2 million pairs of gloves. But the state still was unable to provide local agencies with the supplies they needed. First re- sponders were told to make their own purchases with a promise to be reimbursed by the state, but some reimbursement has yet to materialize. “There were a lot of people really hurting for PPE,” Polk County Fire District 1 chief Ben Stange said. Changing protocols quickly Vol. 140, No. 28 Online at SilvertonAppeal.com News updates: h Breaking news h Get updates from the Silverton area Photos: h Photo galleries Serving the Silverton Area Since 1880 A Unique Edition of the Statesman Journal QEAJAB-07403y It became clear early on that the state's normal procurement process would not be sufficient in a pandemic setting. See PPE, Page 3A
