LOCAL
2A — THE OBSERVER
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2019
Wallowa County
Council considers vendor fee rate hike
By Steve Tool
EO Media Group
EO Media Group fi le photo
Secretary of State Bev Clarno has rejected two proposed
ballot measures that would force Oregon to transition to
carbon-free sources of electricity in the next 25 years.
Oregon Secretary
of State rejects
energy initiatives
JOSEPH — Part-time vendors in
the city of Joseph may get a shock
when they apply for a license in 2020.
The city is considering a substantial
jump in fees for the coming year.
City Administrator Larry Braden
brought up the subject at the city’s
council meeting Dec. 12.
The vendor fee hike is a part of city
resolution 2019-23, which covers fees
for the city’s administrative services,
including administrative, business and
land use services. The vendor fees fall
under the business category.
The city staff suggested the annual
license fee for non-commercial food
vendors (such as raw fruit or vegetable
sales) at $375 while commercial food
vendors (such as prepared foods) pay
$475 per year. Mayor Teresa Sajonia
said the $375 fee matched with the low
end of Chief Joseph Days vendor fees.
She asked Becky Rushton, co-owner of
the Outlaw Restaurant and Saloon, who
said food vendors pay $375 while booth
fees vary.
“That’s just way too low for a whole
annual year,” Rushton said. “Those
people (the CJD vendors) do it for four
days, and to think you’re going to do it
on an annual basis for that amount of
money, I just think that seems really,
really, really low.”
Sajonia, who owns Embers Brew
House in Joseph, agreed and said she
had the same response, even though
she admitted the suggested fees were
at the high end of what other munici-
palities levy against vendors. Rushton
took it one step further.
“I think if we put moratoriums on
other things, we should put them
on that too,” Rushton said. “In other
words, if you can’t have air bnb’s and
that sort of thing, then I don’t think we
should have transient vendors.”
Rushton remained defi ant.
“It’s no different than people not want-
ing parks,” she said and giggled. An ensu-
ing discussion with Sajonia revealed the
city of Bend charges $110 per year less
than Joseph’s prospective vendor fees.
The mayor said the vendor fees
were instituted so the city can recoup
fees. She added it was the city’s re-
sponsibility to protect local businesses
from vendors who operate only during
lucrative summertime months while
permanent businesses pay street,
sewer and water fees, even during
winter months.
Rushton said as head of the CJD
booths, she often has local business own-
ers ask how much money the city is mak-
ing from vendors while local businesses
lose money on the biggest weekend of the
year.
■ For the second time in recent weeks, Bev
Clarno rebuffs petitioners trying to get
measures on the Oregon ballot next year
By Dirk VanderHart
Oregon Public Broadcasting
SALEM — Secretary
of State Bev Clarno has
rejected two proposed ballot
measures that would force
Oregon to transition to car-
bon-free sources of electricity
in the next 25 years.
Setting up a second po-
tential confl ict with environ-
mental groups, Clarno ruled
Thursday the two proposals
violated a constitutional
requirement that they stick
to a “single subject.”
“Both measures speak for
themselves, if read carefully,
that the issues presented
are not limited to a single
subject,” Deputy Secretary
of State Rich Vial said of
Clarno’s most recent rul-
ing. “The secretary has the
responsibility to make that
constitutional decision.”
That’s the same contro-
versial rationale Clarno
used earlier this year when
she rejected three separate
proposals aimed at protect-
ing state forests. In that in-
stance, her decision led to an
unsuccessful court challenge
from environmentalists that
is currently being appealed.
“There is now a pattern
of fl agrant abuse of power
by this secretary of state, far
outside the norms for any
Democrat or Republican who
has held the offi ce,” said Tera
Hurst, executive director of
the group Renew Oregon,
which is backing the rejected
clean energy measures.
“The secretary of state is
siding with the oil industry,
corporate polluters and
anti-worker special interests
to block the ability of the
voters to decide their clean
air future.”
The two proposals Clarno
rejected Thursday, initiative
petitions 48 and 49, are seen
as a backstop Renew Oregon
and its allies can turn to if
Oregon lawmakers fail to
regulate greenhouse gas
emissions next year.
If passed by voters, the
measures would require
Oregon to source all of its
electricity from carbon-free
or renewable energy sources
by 2045. That’s a standard
Hawaii and at least six other
states have adopted since
2015.
But the petitions also in-
clude a number of provisions
that opponents argue make
them too broad. Both IP 48
and 49 require construction
projects related to the new
standards pay a prevailing
wage, offer benefi ts and meet
a number of other bench-
marks. IP 49 also requires
electric utilities to invest in
“benefi cial electrifi cation
programs” that help the state
meet its emissions reduction
goals.
In comments on the pro-
posals, opponents Willis Van
Dusen and Janet Steele said
Oregon AG: ‘ACA is
still law of the land’
SALEM — Oregon
Attorney General Ellen
Rosenblum issued a
statement Thursday
after the Fifth Circuit
Court of Appeals
decision in Texas v. U.S.
involving the legality of
the Affordable Care Act.
A coalition of 21 at-
torneys general, includ-
ing Oregon, defended
the ACA and the health
care of millions of
Americans in the Fifth
Circuit in July. The at-
torneys general argued
every provision of the
ACA remains valid.
According to the
Rosenblum’s state-
ment, the result of the
decision means that, for
now, all the provisions
of the ACA, except the
individual mandate,
continue in effect.
“Even with yester-
day’s adverse decision,
I want all Oregonians
to know that the ACA is
still the law of the land,”
according to Rosen-
blum. “It is an integral
part of our health care
system, and we will not
stop fi ghting for the
health care of millions
of Americans and all
Oregonians. We are
hard at work with other
states involved in this
litigation and we intend
to seek U.S. Supreme
Court review promptly.”
they “include extensive new
labor practice requirements
likely appealing to members
of the proponents’ voting co-
alition who otherwise might
not support the measure.”
The provisions violate a
constitutional requirement
that initiative petitions deal
with “one subject only,” they
argued.
Clarno evidently agreed,
though Vial would not give
specifi cs about her decision.
The rulings mark the sec-
ond time Clarno has tossed
initiative petitions based
on her reading of Oregon’s
“single subject” requirement.
When she rejected the
three forest-related proposals
in September, the decision
was questioned by both envi-
ronmentalists and Attorney
General Ellen Rosenblum,
who made clear she didn’t
agree with Clarno’s strict
interpretation of the law.
However, when the group
Oregon Wild challenged the
decision, a Marion County
judge ruled that Clarno was
correct. That ruling is being
appealed, and attorneys for
the Oregon Legislative As-
sembly say it could have ma-
jor implications for Oregon’s
legislative process if upheld.
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