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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 29, 2020)
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020 THE OBSERVER — 5A IDAHO Continued from Page 1A Grant Darrow, Union Coun- ty’s captain of the Move Ore- gon’s Border movement, con- fi rmed the measure is just the fi rst step in the process. “The fi rst step is to poll the people,” Darrow said. “Any movement you have, you have to have a majority of the people decide if that is something they want to do. It then becomes the responsibility of the state to facilitate the changes.” If Union County residents and commissioners consider it is in the best interest of the county to move its border to be part of Idaho, the county will petition the state government to listen. Each county involved in the effort will have to do the same, and then state legislatures will decide if it is in the state’s best interest to reconfi gure the border. Burkhart said the historic connections and similar ideol- ogies are a strong backbone for the movement. “From a regional standpoint, BENTZ Continued from Page 1A the communities in Oregon, but particularly those sur- rounded by the woods, and say ‘You’ve got to do some- thing because we can’t have our people burning up. You can’t have this,’” he said. “This is one of those things people tend to forget when a fi re is put out.” Bentz said a bill was introduced in March of this year “that would have directed risk assessment,” but did not advance through the Demo- crat-led state Legislature. He said a risk assess- ment would fi rst need to address power line strength and how they would handle high winds, would need to address how to deal with grass — and not just timber — that gets tinder-dry in the summer and putting fi re Greateridaho.org/Contributed Photo Union County voters are considering a ballot measure that would man- date the county commissioners hold public meetings to discuss in- cluding the county inside the border of what would be Greater Idaho. the southwestern part of the state of Idaho, with Boise as its main urban area, often takes breaks around cities. “The people in Talent and Phoenix, just south of Medford, didn’t have a chance,” Bentz said. “Those 40-50 mph winds came up and took the fi re through. Three people were killed. They barely had time to get out. We have to have an understanding that this can happen. ... We’re going to lose cities. We don’t need to be doing that.” He also discussed con- cerns on a lack of housing, which he said came up in a meeting earlier Tuesday that included Wallowa County commissioners and mayors and that has been brought up, he said, in each county in the district. He said housing issues often come down to what a community wants. “I said (at the meeting) ‘What do your com- into account parts of Eastern Oregon,” Burkhart said. “There are historical and regional con- munities want?’ They said, ‘We want mid- dle-class housing.’ I said, ‘You’re going to have a real problem attracting people who are not making enough money to make the payment to either rent a middle-class house or build one. That’s what’s happening.” The solution, he said, is for communities to get set on what they want, then to reach out to the govern- ment, rather than having the government tell them what a city should put in place. Bentz, who if he defeats Democratic opponent Alex Spenser, will enter Con- gress during a time when the nation is severely divided, and, he added, likely in the minority, as he said recent indicators are the majority in the House of Representatives will stay Wallowa County backs using lodging tax for emergency services By Bill Bradshaw Wallowa County Chieftain ENTERPRISE — The Wallowa County Board of Commissioners recently approved a letter supporting the use of some transient lodging tax dollars to fund law enforcement and other emergency services. The letter supports a concept that came from a letter from Tillamook County requesting a change to the state’s Transient Lodging Tax Statute that requires 70% of lodging tax revenues be dedicated to tourism and tourism-related activities, while the other 30% could go for other uses. The Wallowa County letter stated the statute “puts a burden on the ability of these local juris- dictions to provide public safety for numerous visitors we entertain each year.” Commissioner Todd Nash said the letter came through the Association of Oregon Counties and he got the approval of the Wallowa County Local Public Safety Coordinating Council. “They were in full sup- port of the concept, so I thought I would bring that to the board of commis- sioners here,” Nash said. Commissioner Susan Roberts compared what she knew of the Tillamook letter to Wallowa County’s circumstances. “The numbers are dif- ferent, but the story’s the same,” she said. The need in Wal- lowa County arose this year at least in part due to extended stays by tour- ists reluctant to go home because of the COVID-19 pandemic. There also was a sharp increase in calls for search and rescue ser- vices, according to county counsel Paige Sully. “We got slammed this year,” Sully told the commissioners. The commissioners asked David Hurley, a board member of the Wal- lowa Lake Tourism Asso- ciation who owns Eagle’s View Inn and Suites in Enterprise, his thoughts on the letter as a lodging owner and tourism group member. “I would like to see a recognition that it is for tourism, but it’s also for law enforcement because we have so many more people here,” Hurley said. The letter noted the 7,000-plus population of “Advertising in the local newspaper is as important to my mobile computer repair business as antivirus software is to your online safety.” ~Dale Bogardus ‘Living the Dream!’ the county triples or qua- druples during the tourism season, thus increasing the need for law enforcement, search and rescue and med- ical services. Allowing the 70% of the lodging taxes to go toward those public ser- vices would “greatly reduce the pressure of trying to fi nance a sheriff’s deputy within our limited general fund,” the letter stated. Nash is going to take the letter to the Eastern Oregon Counties Associa- tion to gain its support and later to lobby for it in the Legislature. He said this is one of those rare cases where there seems to be no urban/ rural or east-west divide, as so often happens in Oregon, since the idea originated in Tillamook County. The only real pushback, he said, might come from lodging owners who may see a lower portion of that 70% go to them. However, he added, if Hurley’s posi- tion on the letter is any indication of other lodging owners, that may not be the case. The most valuable and respected source of local news, advertising and information for our communities. nections between the two areas.” Jefferson, Douglas and Wal- lowa counties will be voting on a measure similar to Union County’s. The effort to move the border includes Baker, Coos, Crook, Curry, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Jackson, Jose- phine, Klamath, Lake, Malheur, Morrow, Sherman, Umatilla and Wheeler counties. How- ever, there are not measures on the ballots in those counties requiring the discussion or con- sideration of joining Greater Idaho. While Oregon is considered more left leaning, the eastern part of the state tends to align with Idaho’s conservative atti- tudes. Burkhart noted that in removing parts of Oregon from legislative consideration, there would a loss of political competi- tion in the state. “Oregon does have a com- petitive two-party system with eastern more conservative, and west democratic, that would certainly be lost if you move the Republican side out of the state,” Burkhart said. “For democracy to function you need both points of view, and that with Democrats. Bentz, though, is used to being in the minority, and said he still was able to effect change in his 12 years in Salem despite that. “The way you accom- plish things is you focus on stuff where people are in agreement,” he said. “...What you do is seek common ground with people who are on the other side of the aisle and go get it done. What I found in Salem is about 80% was just the hard work of gov- erning. ... You’re just trying to get it done better. Fire is a really good example. How “Real Food for the People” Open Fri-Sun Take-out Menu 5pm-8pm Updated Weekly www.tendepotstreet.com 541-963-8766 tendepotstreet@gmail.com would be missing.” He warned that even when changing the border, the polit- ical leanings of an area may not remain that way forever. “Political portions can change, there can be partisan move- ments,” Burkhart said. “Just because a group says they want to join another place equally conservative, that doesn’t mean it is going to be conservative forever. Things can change too, changing from one area to another based on ideology is a strategy that may work, or it may not work.” The ballot also sets up a $125 civil fi ne if anyone prohibits, cancels or hinders any of the meetings that Measure 31-101 would require. “These secessionists move- ments aren’t unknown in the state of Oregon,” Burkhart said. “They are movements that are trying to fi nd solutions that are outside of internal state politics. One thing to consider is trying to solve a problem by moving to a different state as one way to approach a problem, but another way is working within the state.” do we address paying for fi re? Where do we fi nd the money? Or roads? There was almost always agree- ment that we need good roads and we need good bridges.” Bentz said there are fi ve issues he believes are important to those in the district he is trying to win that he would focus on in Washington. “First is going to be trying to help small busi- nesses and people unem- ployed through this COVID crisis,” he said. “Small businesses that are holding on as they wait for demand La GRANDE AUTO REPAIR 975-2000 www.lagrandeautorepair.com MOST ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE Joe Horst to return...help them hold on until we get a vaccine. People who have lost their jobs, help them with their rent. People who are land- lords who are not getting rent, try to help them.” In addition to helping individuals through COVID-19, he pointed to the aforementioned risk assessment, water, health care and housing as key issues. Johnson Family Fruits Pumpkin Patch Thousands of pumpkins to choose from! Highway 82 - 4 mi. North of Imbler (Follow Signs) ACDelcoTSS Great family fun! 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