THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020
COUNCIL
Continued from Page 1A
“Some have doubled
their footprint downtown,”
Howard said.
She said many talk
of drawing in new busi-
nesses as the best way to
boost the local economy,
but she believes helping
the businesses already
here to thrive
is an equally
effective way
to help make
downtown
more vibrant.
Howard
Wheeler
also is running
because she
wants to put
to good use
the experience
she has gained
over the past
Howard
four years.
“Having that fi rst term
behind me would be a real
advantage,” Howard said.
In a second term,
Howard said she would
focus some of her efforts
on ensuring the city’s plan
for responding to poten-
tially massive wildfi res in
the region in upcoming
years is as strong as it
can be. She said it may
be just a matter of time
until wildfi res such as the
ones that devastated por-
tions of Western Oregon
in September hit Northeast
Oregon. She said she wants
to make sure the best pos-
sible evacuation routes and
emergency communication
systems are in place.
Howard works as a his-
tory professor at Eastern
Oregon University. She
said her position at Eastern
provides her with a sense
of the needs of the uni-
versity students and that
helps her in working to
strengthen the relationship
between EOU and the city.
She said she has learned
during her fi rst term that
much of a city council’s
service involves making
small thoughtful decisions
that add up to major differ-
ences over time. Howard
said this makes her role
as a councilor sometime
tedious but also rewarding.
“I am just as proud of
the small improvements
as the big ones,” Howard
said.
Howard, who is married
to David Moyal, a candi-
date for vacant Position 6
on the city council, said
La Grande also has a lot to
be proud of, especially in
terms of services offered
to the public.
“Our parks and rec-
reation department and
library are what you see in
towns three or four times
our size,” Howard said.
Howard said she does
not believe partisan party
politics should infl uence
city council races. She
pointed out the city coun-
cil’s positions are all non-
partisan and decisions
councilors make are not
based on ideology. She
said there does not “seem
to be a real place for par-
tisanship” on the city
council.
Wheeler, however, sup-
ports partisanship at the
city council level and said
THE OBSERVER — 5A
many cities are making
their council races more
partisan because this
assists voters in making
more informed decisions.
“I believe it is important
to get as much informa-
tion to voters as possible. It
also helps voters to deter-
mine who will represent
their similar values. Non-
partisan elections tend
to confuse voters. Most
voters just guess who
to vote for in local elec-
tions unless they know the
person personally or get
information from some-
body who knows the can-
didate. Because of the
lack of information, most
local nonpartisan elec-
tions unfairly favor incum-
bents,” Wheeler said.
She said a city council
meeting in 2019 inspired
her to run for a position on
the legislative body.
Wheeler explained she
was upset when she heard
the council discuss the
pros and cons of allowing
the sale of recreational
marijuana in La Grande.
She said it seemed mem-
bers of the council had not
done much research on the
topic or looked closely at
the impact the legalization
of recreational marijuana
sales had had on cities of
comparable sizes. She con-
tended crime rose in cities
that legalized recreational
marijuana.
Wheeler said she also
is concerned about La
Grande’s economy, which
she claimed has grown at a
much slower rate over the
past 10 years than others of
comparable size.
“We need to reex-
amine the restrictions, put
in place by the city, that
have been inhibiting our
growth. The city council
needs to support area busi-
nesses and encourage
new businesses to move
in. They could do this by
offering incentives and
easing of restrictions,”
Wheeler said.
Housing is another issue
Wheeler would tackle.
“La Grande has a
shortage of housing, espe-
cially affordable units.
When we moved here, 18
years ago, there were only
two choices when it came
to four-bedroom homes.
We need to have more
housing for all economic
levels. The city must pro-
mote the construction of
additional housing units
wherever possible for fam-
ilies with a variety of
income ranges. The city
should seek advice from
property developers on
barriers to building new
housing units to make con-
struction easier,” she said.
Wheeler, her husband
Kenn and their children
moved to La Grande in
2002. Since moving here,
Denise has worked with
the Eastern Oregon Uni-
versity theater department,
where she has directed,
costumed and choreo-
graphed productions. She
also directs, costumes and
choreographs musical the-
ater productions at La
Grande High School and
works at Grande Ronde
Retirement as a life enrich-
ment assistant.
VOTING
Continued from Page 1A
voter turnout. The 2020
election has doubled voter
turnout at 10.62% as of
Monday.
Cook Memorial Library
Director Kip Roberson
said he turned in his ballot
the evening he received it
in the mail.
“While I do fi nd a bit
of satisfaction in actu-
ally turning in my ballot
on election day, this year’s
election is one I’ve been
waiting for for the past four
years,” Roberson said. “So
many issues important to
me and those I care about
will be determined by the
outcome of this election.
As I walked my ballot over
to the courthouse, I truly
felt the heft and impor-
tance of my vote this
time around. I wanted to
know without a doubt that
my vote was going to be
received and counted.”
La Grande resident Zach
Spoehr-Labutta said he is
planning to vote early but
has not submitted his ballot
because he wants to look
over the voter pamphlet.
“It is convenient
around your own time and
schedule,” Spoehr-
Labutta said. “Actually,
since being a legal voter,
I’ve only been to the polls
once. Voting early allows
me to fulfi ll my civic
duty as well as my work
schedule.”
Church said despite this
option many voters still
may wait for Election Day,
Nov. 3, to cast their ballot.
“One thing that I have
noticed over the years is
that people will tend to
wait to cast their ballot if
there is a hot measure or
race that tends to be very
controversial — so they
wait to see what might
come out next,” Church
said. “I know from experi-
ence that I, several times,
have cast my ballot and
then some news will come
out that if I had not already
cast my ballot, I would
have voted differently.”
Voters can drop off their
ballots in drop boxes at
the Union County Clerk’s
Offi ce or a local city hall
by 8 p.m. on election night.
Church said it is important
to put your ballot in the
signed envelope when drop-
ping off or mailing your
ballot, otherwise it will not
be counted if it is only in
the white secrecy envelope.
BOISE
Continued from Page 1A
judicial review.
DEQ spokeswoman
Susan Mills said the
department is working
toward a settlement with
Boise Cascade.
“Oregon DEQ became
aware of contamination in
leachate runoff from Boise
Cascade Elgin’s landfi ll
and established limits to
protect the environment
and public health,” Mills’
statement said. “Those
requirements are now the
subject of a lawsuit fi led
by the company. We are
working diligently and in
good faith toward a settle-
ment with BCE. We are
not able to comment in
more detail because this is
a matter of ongoing litiga-
tion. Oregon DEQ’s mis-
sion is to protect public
health from environmental
contamination.”
Boise Cascade in the
court documents con-
tended DEQ knew the
water the Elgin mill would
use contained dioxins as
reported in a fact sheet
LIBRARY
Continued from Page 1A
“In recommending
that EOU rename Pierce
library, the committee
The Observer, File
The Boise Cascade Company reports it could shut down its plywood mill in Elgin in
2021, shown here in a 2018 fi le photo, due to a lack of logs because of wildfi res and an
order from the Oregon DEQ regarding wastewater use.
provided to the Depart-
ment of Environmental
Quality.
“Thus, DEQ issued
the 2018 WPCF Permit
knowing the dioxin-con-
taining leachate would be
transferred to the ponds
and then used in and
around the Elgin Mill,”
according to the petition.
The Elgin facility
cannot operate without
the use of a state-ap-
proved wastewater system.
Because of the DEQ’s
notice about dioxins and
requirements for a new
plan for water usage,
Chapman said the mill in
Elgin may need to close
while Boise Cascade works
through the litigation and
determines a solution.
“We are not sure yet
what the resolution will
be,” Chapman said. “We
should know by December
if we will have to cut back
hours or fully close the
plant for a while, but we
will give the employees in
Elgin plenty of notice.”
believes this is an oppor-
tunity for our university to
take a symbolic but deeply
signifi cant step toward
becoming a great univer-
sity — Oregon’s Rural
University, interconnected
with the world in the twen-
ty-fi rst century and gen-
uinely committed to
empowering itself and its
students with a knowledge
of history and the courage
to move beyond it,” the
report concluded.
EOU will consider tes-
timony until Nov. 9 at
https://www.eou.edu/
pierce-library-renaming.
The report is available on
the university’s website.
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