LOCAL
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020
THE OBSERVER — 5A
GOP
Continued from Page 1A
she didn’t know where any of them
were.
House Republicans’ absence
could further jam up the already
uncertain session, which is facing a
March 8 deadline.
The boycott appeared to catch
many in the Capitol off guard
Tuesday. Many expected a House
walkout over cap and trade — if
it came at all — would occur once
Senate Bill 1530 made it past the
Senate.
It’s unclear how House Speaker
Tina Kotek will respond to the
move. When Republicans refused
to show up to a fl oor session on Feb.
18, she stripped one of the absent
lawmakers, Rep. Greg Smith of
Heppner, of a subcommittee chair-
manship.
But Smith still serves as a vice-
chair on the Joint Committee on
Ways and Means, and despite culti-
vating a reputation as a bipartisan
dealmaker, he decided to join his
caucus in walking out.
In an interview Tuesday, Smith
said the decision “weighed heavy
on my heart,” but the committee
Democrats’ refusal to consider GOP
amendments to the bill, includ-
Andrew Selsky/Associated Press
Oregon state Senate President Peter Courtney pauses after declar-
ing in the state Senate on Tuesday that amid a boycott by Repub-
lican senators, not enough lawmakers were present to reach a
quorum.
NELSON
Continued from Page 1A
the movement opposed to Oregon’s
climate change legislation.
The candidate and his fi ancée are
parents and foster parents, and he
said he sees the need for more re-
sources for our future generations.
“This area is a great place to raise
our children. However, the govern-
ment needs to step back and let
parents raise their children,” Nelson
said. “They have their best interests
SHELTER
Continued from Page 1A
one who had access to the
shelter’s checkbook and debit
card. The funds were meant
to be used strictly on shelter
business, Trachel said, but
during her time there, Brin-
lee spent shelter money on
personal items.
“John had a good heart,
he just didn’t know what he
was doing,” Trachel said. “He
shouldn’t have had access to
the checkbook.”
Trachel in June 2019
moved to Idaho while the
association and Brinlee were
renegotiating a contract.
“If I hadn’t moved I would
probably still be working at
the shelter,” she said.
The rewriting of Brinlee’s
contract was the board’s
attempt to address certain
issues, according to minutes
from the June 2019 meeting.
“The contract has been
seen as a way of legally
codifying expectations so
that we have grounds for
dismissal if John fails to do
what is required of him,” the
minutes stated.
Brinlee in January re-
signed as the shelter’s direc-
tor. At the time he was living
at the shelter and housing
his own dogs there. Brinlee
also used the association’s
van for all of his transporta-
tion during his time there,
Trachel said.
The board in January
discussed changing the locks
and the transition to new
leadership, the minutes
stated.
In addition to Beach, the
association’s new board
members are Bob Rynear-
son, Bri Troutman, Terri
Bradley, Mary Horn, Lani
Jones, Rebecca Lord, Shawn
Mangum and Mary Peter-
son. Rynearson serves as
vice president, Troutman
as secretary and Bradley as
treasurer.
The Observer attempted
to contact board members,
and most did not return
messages. Horn said, “At this
point we are in transition,
and I do not have any com-
ment.”
The association’s offi cial
name is the Animal Rescue
and Adoption Center of
Eastern Oregon, according to
its 990 tax forms, which are
“That meant that I needed to step
out of the building.”
Rep. Greg Barreto, R-Cove, said
he was participating in the walkout
to stop bad legislation.
“One of the few tools we have
left to fend off this bad legislation
is to deny a quorum. The Republi-
cans have asked to allow the good
people of this state to have a right
to vote on this life-changing bill.
The majority party has denied you
ing one that would send the issue
to the ballot, pushed him to leave
Salem.
“At that point in time, it really
left me with no option but to recog-
nize that it was probably better for
me to step back and have all of us
take a deep breath, and hopefully
allow leadership from all parts of
the Legislature and the executive
branch to come together and fi nd a
more reasonable solution,” he said.
“This area is a great place to
raise our children, however, the
government needs to step back
and let parents raise their children.
They have their best interests at
heart.”
Barreto “made positive change and
got out. I look forward to continuing
advancing positive change for our
area.”
Nelson faces Bobby Levy, a farmer
and business owner from Echo in the
Republican primary. Two Democrats
seek their party’s nomination: Nolan
Bylenga, a Portland State University
student from Pendleton, and Barbara
Wright of Pendleton, a merchandiser
and veterans advocate.
The fi ling deadline for Oregon’s May
19 primary is March 10.
— Mike Nelson, candidate from Union
County for Oregon House District 58
seat
at heart.”
The candidate said he has a lot
of respect for Barreto, stating that
“John had a good heart, he just didn’t know what
he was doing. He shouldn’t have had access to the
checkbook.”
— Rae Trachel, former treasurer of the Blue Mountain
Humane Association
public documents. The forms
indicate the association has
struggled with fi nances for
several years.
The organization’s 2015
taxes show it ended the
year more than $114,000 in
the hole. The next year that
improved to a loss of almost
$35,000. And for 2017, the
most recent year available,
the association again re-
ported a defi cit of $56,345.
The association plans to
repair relationships with
Union County, according
to the most recent board
meeting minutes, from
Jan. 29. The county has a
contract to pay the associa-
tion $50,000 a year to go
toward the cost of housing
and taking care of animals
the sheriff’s offi ce brings to
the shelter.
Commissioner Matt Scarfo
tions that would make carbon-
intensive energy sources more
expensive.
“Oregon House Republicans are
taking a stand, with working fami-
lies, in opposing cap and trade and
this rigged process,” House Repub-
lican Leader Christine Drazan said
in a statement. “We will continue
to keep all lines of communication
open. I call on Governor Brown and
the majority party to refer cap and
trade to the people.”
Despite a slew of modifi cations to
the climate change program, which
was initially proposed last year,
Republicans say that Democrats
refuse to accept their amendments.
They now insist the plan be put
before Oregon voters.
“Ultimately, if the Salem elitists
believe so strongly in how wonderful
and necessary their so-called emer-
gency cap-and-trade legislation is,
they should enthusiastically permit
the voters of Oregon to decide its
fate,” said Bill Currier, chairman of
the Oregon Republican Party. “Noth-
ing speaks more powerfully for the
legislative boycott than that they
refused to let this happen.”
In the House, one Republican did
show up Tuesday morning: Rep.
Cheri Helt, R-Bend, a self-described
moderate.
that option with the emergency
clauses which prevent a referral to
the ballot,” he said in an emailed
statement. “The short session was
never intended to undertake mas-
sive legislation like SB 1530 and
HB 4167.”
On Monday, Republicans in
the state Senate left the Capitol
rather than debate the so-called
cap-and-trade bill that calls for
the state to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions to at least 45% below
1990 emissions levels by 2035 and
to at least 80% below by 2050. The
bill would force big greenhouse
gas emitters to obtain credits for
each metric ton of carbon dioxide
they emit. The Senate Republicans
repeated their no-show Tuesday.
One Republican, Tim Knopp of
Bend, attended the Monday and
Tuesday fl oor sessions.
Bills that lawmakers are
considering — everything from
fl ood relief money for the Umatilla
Basin to money for more home-
less shelters — could be delayed or
scrapped entirely.
Republicans are pushing to
refer the legislation to voters. The
proposal aims to cut the state’s
greenhouse gas emissions through
a mechanism known as cap and
trade. It would impose new regula-
said the open line of com-
munication the shelter is
establishing will be impor-
tant to ensuring the previous
issues do not happen again.
Scarfo said he has a positive
outlook on the future of the
shelter.
“I have heard they have
been cleaning things up,” he
said.
FUNDING
Continued from Page 1A
from mixed socioeconomic
backgrounds partly because
it gives them a broader view
of the world.
Eastern Oregon Head
Start must submit its Pre-
school Promise grant request
by April 2. Kleng said all fund-
ing that goes toward early
childhood education is money
well spent because it gives
youngsters the skills they
need to succeed. Studies show
children who attend preschool
programs are more likely to
graduate from high school.
Kleng said James Heck-
man, a Nobel prize-winning
economist at the University of
Chicago, has determined every
dollar spent on early childhood
education provides a return of
7-10% a year to the communi-
ty because of increased school
and career achievement.
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