4A
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2020
The Observer
Across the Fence
What does Union County need to do to fully participate
in a sustainable economy?
‘If we don’t participate in the decision
process, we will be its victims’
LOIS BARRY
A
pig farm near Island City? A pesticide
plant outside of Union? Not every new
business proposal is a good one, and our
economic choices affect us every day. If we
don’t participate in the decision process, we
will be its victims.
Always ask, “Who benefits? How does this
project make this a healthier, safer, more
integrated community?” Obviously we need
projects that enrich Union County, not out-of-
state corporations. We’re still recovering from
Walmart’s assault on our downtown businesses.
The Thriving Places Index, recently devel-
oped in England, goes beyond the fl aws of the
GDP, which considers only goods and services
exchanged for money. It measures sustain-
ability, equality and local conditions based on
three questions:
Is it a fair and equal place to live?
Is it sustainable enough so that future
generations can fl ourish?
Are the conditions present for everyone to
do well?
How would Union County rate? Without
focus on sustainability, we can be sure that
future generations will not fl ourish, and
success will not be measured by economic
vitality alone. It will include a healthy envi-
ronment and a welcoming, interconnected
diverse community.
What do we need?
Job opportunities that improve the envi-
ronment: sustainable agriculture, vocational
training in skills needed to build affordable
housing and to upgrade homes and build-
ings with energy-effi ciencies, development of
green energy sources, stream rehabilitation
and forest thinning projects.
Subsidies for local individuals who have a
skill, a talent or a passion to share with us.
Incubator business plans have been offered.
They need to be developed and supported.
Plans to shelter and feed hundreds of refu-
gees from the western side of the state in the
event of a massive earthquake. That will also
assure essential resilience in the face of local
natural disasters or toxic spills.
What do we value?
Our beautiful natural setting and the
wonderful facilities that make living here
so pleasant: the university, theaters, restau-
rants, farmers market, museums, art center,
bookstores, libraries, hospital and public
services. None of these comes without a cost.
UNION COUNTY
PROGRESSIVES/ DEMOCRATS
We should willingly support them through
our taxes and our patronage.
Get to know your county. Stop by non-
profi t offi ces. You’ll be impressed by all their
activities and projects; perhaps you’ll want
to volunteer. Attend city and county meet-
ings; elected offi cials need to hear from you.
Explore the local shops. They usually offer
far more than their signs indicate. It’s fun to
chat with owners and staff. Whether they’ve
been here for decades or just started up,
they’re dedicated to providing the best service
or products. They care about us. Amazon
doesn’t. Shopping locally brings us together,
and that helps us fl ourish as a community.
We thrive when people volunteer their
time and money for projects like the Elgin
Opera House and the Elgin Health Center.
We wouldn’t have the Cook Memorial Li-
brary or the Liberty Theatre without gener-
ous citizens who invested in the community
rather than the stock market.
Unlike many rural communities across the
U.S., Union County isn’t declining. Our popu-
lation is growing at a measured rate, surely
the envy of people who moved to Bend 20
years ago. We live in a beautiful natural area,
unpolluted by major industries, with vast
areas open for recreation. We have a wealth
of talented, competent people. Retirees are
moving here and young professionals are set-
ting up new practices.
Union County is on its way to economic
sustainability, and global challenges are cre-
ating opportunities for sustainable economies
that we can’t afford to ignore. What were
the county’s priorities 10 years ago? Be an
informed citizen. Google UCEDC Publica-
tions, dive into the 2009 Strategic Plan and
read pages 103-106.
We need volunteers and activists to share
their skills and experience, to cooperate and
develop a new set of priorities, work on them
together. We can avoid past errors and build
on our successes to create a new economic
vision for Union County.
Lois Barry is a member of the Union County
Progressives/Democrats and a retired
English faculty member from Eastern Oregon
University, La Grande.
‘Look for ways to encourage creativity,
support novelty and promote courage’
I
t seems there are as many ways to inter-
pret this question as there are to answer
it. The word “fully” calls for a measurement
we would likely never agree upon. “Partici-
pate” requires we ask who is concerned —
county residents or some larger group? And
“sustainable.” What does this word mean?
Let me begin with an opinion: A county,
city or state is no more than a refl ection
of its population. This being the case, our
county government must look fi rst to the
real rather than hypothetical, felt, as com-
pared to imagined, needs of its citizens.
Our economy is the wealth we’ve created
and the means by which we employ wealth
(mental, physical and resource based) to
generate more for ourselves and others. Our
economy is only indirectly the concern and
never the responsibility of government.
If Union County’s primary duty is concern
for the needs of the population, county
government would do well to develop strate-
gies that support our ability to produce and
trade, all with a minimum of restrictions.
This is not to say that considerations of ac-
cess and supply never benefi t from oversight.
But oversight and restriction often consume
too much government attention, thereby too
much of our economy. Add to this, there are
larger, more interesting concerns.
The many fortunate circumstances that
underlie a healthy economy cannot be
ensured. They can be studied and, in some
cases, understood. They must continually
be re-evaluated as the physical world and
societies change. Some call this examination
“future proofi ng.”
Future proofi ng attempts to look over the
hills and around the corners of time and cir-
cumstance. Future proofi ng could be called
an investigative consideration of the now-
real and the future-possible. Future proofi ng
considers that things do not stay the same,
that changes may likely be to our benefi t
and occur for reasons known or suspected
but, often, not known at all. Most important,
in the face of uncertainty, future proofi ng is
an affi rmation of the human spirit’s adapt-
ability — our ability to encounter change
and thrive.
By comparison, when the word “sustain-
able” is used, I hear the fearful voices of
those who would tell me the resources we
have now must be forever preserved to
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
Subscription rates per month:
Union & Wallowa Co. .......................................$11.80
By mail, all other U.S. ....................................... $15
A division of
UNION COUNTY REPUBLICANS
ensure a life similar to but probably less fun
than the one we’ve created. How unimagina-
tive. How very unhopeful.
What does future proofi ng suggest citi-
zens of Union County will do between now
and some unspecifi c future date? Much!
So many things that can’t be adequately
described because for the most part, they’ve
yet to be imagined and created.
Sustainability is an illusion, as nothing —
literally nothing — is sustainable for more
than some limited time. This earth is always
changing, as are we, the individuals who
spend a little time here.
By comparison, future proofi ng is a term
that recognizes life’s promise to always fi nd
a way forward. The landscape may change.
The people who see and participate with
it certainly will be different. What will not
change is life, its relentless reach for the
good, the true and the beautiful. However
much things change, “things” will be good,
and we will make them better. Life and we,
her children, insist upon it.
Grand as this sounds, why can’t Union
County be part of all this? As stated above,
it can, we can, and in so many ways we’re
already doing them.
But looking back at the original question
— “What does Union County need to do to
fully participate in a sustainable economy?”
— this sounds more like word-salad than
a way to help us, as a county, to face the
inevitable, always exciting changes happen-
ing even as I write this.
But again, the question: What does Union
County need to do…? Our county would do
well to continue its support of law and order,
transportation, public health and many
other important things that don’t readily
come to mind. But we should continue to
look for ways to encourage creativity, sup-
port novelty and promote courage in the face
of inevitable change.
Other than these? Not very much at all, I
think.
Tom Carroll has been a La Grande resident
since 1959 and a member of the Union County
Republicans. He enjoys coffee but dogs not so
much.
STAFF
Phone:
SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE
NEWSSTAND PRICE: $1.50
You can save up to 34% off the single-copy
price with home delivery.
Call 541-963-3161 to subscribe.
TOM CARROLL
541-963-3161
An independent newspaper founded in 1896
(USPS 299-260)
Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, Oregon
97801. Published Tuedays, Thursdays and Saturdays
(except Dec. 25) by EO Media Group,
1406 Fifth St., La Grande, OR 97850 (USPS 299-260)
COPYRIGHT © 2020
THE OBSERVER
The Observer retains ownership and copyright
protection of all staff-prepared news copy, advertising
copy, photos and news or ad illustrations. They may
not be reproduced without explicit prior approval.
Toll free (Oregon):
1-800-781-3214
Fax: 541-963-7804
Email:
news@lagrandeobserver.com
Website:
www.lagrandeobserver.com
Street address:
1406 Fifth St., La Grande
POSTMASTER
Send address changes to:
The Observer, 1406 Fifth St.,
La Grande, OR 97850
Periodicals postage paid at:
Pendleton, Oregon 97801
Publisher........................................Karrine Brogoitti
Classifieds ........................................ Devi Mathson
Regional circulation director ....................Kelli Craft
Home delivery advisor.................Amanda Fredrick
Editor .....................................................Phil Wright
Customer service rep ......................... Mollie Lynch
News clerk....................................Lisa Lester Kelly
Advertising representative...............Juli Bloodgood
Sports editor .......................................Ronald Bond
Advertising representative...................... Amy Horn
Reporter................................................Dick Mason
Graphic design supervisor................Dorothy Kautz
Reporter....................................Sabrina Thompson
Graphic design ..............................Cheryl Christian
IT support ........................................Nicole Gilbride
Chris Rush, Regional Publisher