The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current, December 31, 2020, Image 13

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The Observer., December 31, 2020, Page 13, Image 13

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Newspaper Page TextTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2020 THE OBSERVER — 5A RALLY Continued from Page 1A option in Wallowa County,” Sheehy said. “Basketball should be played in the winter months to have the most social, mental and health beneﬁ ts to students and the community.” Student athletes spoke fervently in support of returning sports to the schools. “I’ve been going to wrestling tournaments across the country, with thousands of kids from across all 50 states and from all those tournaments, not one participant has gotten COVID-19,” Enter- prise High School wres- tling and football standout Trace Evans said. “Sports have always been a huge part of my life. It’s been a coping mechanism. Having sports taken away from me Ellen Morris Bishop/For the Wallowa County Chieftain Rally organizer Dennis Sheehy addresses a crowd of more than 80 people who gathered at the Wallowa County Courthouse on Monday, Dec. 28, 2020, to support high school basketball and other sports this winter. has made all parts of my life extremely difﬁ cult. My motivation to get school- work done is way down, and I need to ﬁ nish that online English course. It can be done. And I hope something is done about it.” Carrie Hermens, Wal- lowa assistant girls basket- ball coach, spoke about the damaging consequences of the removal of sports and other extracurricular activi- ties are having on students. SEWAGE Continued from Page 1A came spewing out of the three-inch sewer pipe his home had been connected to, they knew they’d found the problem. “Right as we were done re-plumbing it, it just blew up out of the ground … and just started, a full stream ahead of wastewater on us,” Butcher said. “It comes ﬂ ying out of there and (the plumber) was like ‘Steve, this isn’t your house.’” The plumber removed a clog of feminine hygiene products from the main sewer line more than 100 feet from Butcher’s home, which had been blocking the ﬂ ow of sewage down- stream and forcing his neighbors’ waste back up into his plumbing, causing it to burst. Butcher said he went to Anita Smith, the owner and landlord at Island City Mobile Manor, immediately to notify her of the problem with the park’s sewer line. A dispute soon broke out between the two over who would cover the cost of the repairs to Butcher’s plumbing, and the situation began to escalate. Shortly after, Butcher said, the sewer line plugged once again, and raw sewage began spilling into his back- yard from an access pit feet from his home. The issue persisted, and in July 2020 — some 15 months after the sewage debacle initially began — Butcher decided to stop paying rent until Smith ﬁ xed the problem. He said he felt that she was not upholding her responsibili- ties as a landlord. RELIEF Continued from Page 1A County who lost their jobs due to COVID-19. “Many are totally depen- dent on unemployment ben- eﬁ ts. If they lost them they would lose everything,” Kleng said. The EOU Head Start director said he cannot imagine what it would have been like if the new relief package had not been passed by Congress. “It would have been truly devastating for Union County and La Grande,” Kleng said. Spring Roberts, the owner of Le Bebe Cakes Bakery and the head of La Grande Strong, a volun- teer organization assisting people in need, agrees that the COVID-19 relief legis- lation is a lifeline. “The need is big in our community,” Roberts said. The business owner credits the stimulus bill Kaleb Lay/The Observer Raw sewage seeps from the ground behind Steven Butcher’s home at Island City Mobile Manor, Dec. 11, 2020, more than a year after a clogged sewer line in the neighborhood ﬁ rst caused the backup of human waste. Butcher said that at its worst the sewage created a “pond” below his home, which still has not been cleaned up. “I wasn’t getting no reso- lution to asking … so I gave her a letter that said I was going to not pay rent any- more,” he said. On July 17, 2020, Butcher received a “144 hour notice to vacate for nonpayment of rent,” signed by Smith, warning him to pay his rent plus late fees by July 23 and that failure to do so would result in ter- mination of his tenancy. Butcher provided a copy of the notice to The Observer. Since April 1, 2020, late fees, eviction and threats of either for nonpayment of rent have been prohibited by Oregon law and executive order. They remain prohib- ited until June 1, 2021, fol- lowing an extension during the state Legislature’s Dec. 21 special session. The notice was unlawful when it was issued. Butcher said that at least one other person in the park received an eviction notice on the same day. Other res- idents have asked not to be identiﬁ ed or declined to speak with The Observer due to fear of retaliation. He did not pay and was not evicted, but Butcher has been accruing late fees ever since. According to a Dec. 1 statement Butcher provided to The Observer, the Mobile Manor had charged him for 25 days of late fees and was threatening to increase the daily fee from $2 per day to $20 per day. Butcher also claimed that Carol Partney, Smith’s daughter and agent, came to his home on Sept. 3 and threatened to burn his house down if he did not pay rent. Partney declined opportunities to respond to the accusation. Smith told The Observer there wasn’t a problem with the sewer system in her park and declined to comment further. Partney also denied there was any sewer problem and accused Butcher of dumping the sewage outside his home himself, then declined to comment further. “I don’t know why Steve is doing this, but we have a lawyer and he is gonna get his ass in a sling here pretty soon,” Partney said. “As soon as all this COVID is over with, that guy is gonna get sued until the cows come home, and he doesn’t want to mess with me because I’ll throw every force after that (expletive deleted) that I can.” The Observer attempted to contact Partney, Smith and her attorney for addi- tional comment and to respond to Butcher’s accu- sations. They did not reply. The saga ultimately cul- minated in a violent con- frontation between Butcher and Kelly Moore, Smith’s grandson and plumber, in November 2020 when Moore came to the park to work on the sewer line, which continued to spill waste into Butcher’s yard. passed by Congress last spring — the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act — with providing assis- tance that allowed her to keep Le Bebe Cakes open while continuing to employ all of her staff. Roberts said that had there been a delay in passing the $900 billion COVID-19 relief package, which President Trump had threatened to veto, her bakery would have been in serious jeopardy. “Many businesses could have closed, and mine could have been one of them,” she said. She said the timing of the passage of the second COVID-19 stim- ulus package comes at a most opportune time for business owners, not only because beneﬁ ts were set to expire but because the post- Christmas season is a time when sales are often slow. Mike Mallory, the owner of La Grande Stereo and Music, is hoping that the second stimulus bill will have the same posi- tive impact as the ﬁ rst one, which was signed into law on March 27, 2020. “I noticed (a boost in business) as soon as the (CARES) checks started coming out,” Mallory said. “It made things a lot easier for a lot people.” Valerie O’Dai of Elgin, the executive director of Relief Angels, a nonproﬁ t formerly known as Emer- gency Equipment Solu- tions that assists disaster victims and those in need, is ﬁ nding that people have mixed feelings about the new COVID-19 relief package. “A lot of people are super excited and eternally grateful,” O’Dai said. “For people on the brink, this is massive.” About half of those she talks to, though, are wor- ried about how much the stimulus package will boost the national debt. “They are concerned about the long -erm conse- quences. They are worried they will be paying higher taxes (in the future because of the stimulus bill),” O’Dai said. Kleng believes the long- term impact will be posi- tive because of how signiﬁ - cantly the stimulus package will help the American people. “The government is investing in its citizens during a national emer- gency. There will be a pos- itive return on this invest- ment,” Kleng said. FAMILY OWNED According to an audio recording of the incident provided by Butcher, he and Moore traded threats of vio- lence that quickly escalated into physical aggression. The Observer attempted to contact Moore multiple times regarding the work he did in the park and the alter- cation with Butcher. He did not respond. Incredibly, Butcher had tried to sell his home and move out of the Mobile Manor before his plumbing burst in the ﬁ rst place. He’d reached an agreement with a buyer, but Butcher said the sale was blocked by Smith because the buyer would have children in the home. The Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibits discrimi- nation based upon familial status, except in housing for persons 55 or older. The park is listed as a 55-and-up community by the state of Oregon under the name “Island Mobile Court,” but Butcher noted that he him- self was below that age and children regularly reside in several homes in the park. Other residents of the park, who spoke with The Observer on the condition of anonymity, said that Smith does rent to people younger than 55 and advertises the park as friendly to all ages. A page for the Island City Mobile Manor on mhvillage.com, a website for buying and selling man- ufactured homes, listed the park as an “all ages commu- nity” as of Monday, Dec. 28. “She’s holding every- body freaking hostage there, and everybody’s scared because they don’t want to get kicked out,” Butcher said of the landlord. “I’m just done. This has really been frustrating.” Butcher said that he’s been threatened, harassed and subjected to uninhabit- able living conditions at the Mobile Manor — so much so that he has opted to leave the Grande Ronde Valley to take a job out of state. He said he feels that he’s been run out of the park by the owner, and he worries about the other residents in the park who can’t afford to leave. “I hope for the sake of the people who can’t leave that this changes. Because they’re all living there in fear, walking on pins and needles and wondering when and if Anita will dis- like something and make them move their home,” Butcher said. As recently as Dec. 29, 2020, Butcher said that fresh sewage was still coming up in his backyard. 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Subject to Credit Approval cases of COVID-19 or other adverse effects. “It has become clear from the experiences of other states that with enhanced safety measures in place, we can safely allow these activities to resume,” she said. “Our kids should not have to suffer the con- sequences of unimaginative blanket decisions regarding sports and other activities that are handed down from the state. There is no time to waste. Please, please, please let them play.” “In this county and sim- ilar counties in Eastern Oregon, schools and school sports are the back- bone of the community,” Sheehy said. “Without school sports and other and other extracurricular activities, Wallowa County will lose even more of the fabric that connects and sustains people in our communities.” Wishing you a Merry Christmas & Safe & Happy New Year! Prepare for unexpected power outages with a Generac home standby generator FREE “The sudden loss of young people’s most cher- ished and anticipated high school experiences is having devastating consequences on their mental and phys- ical well-being. School is more than just going to class and turning in your home- work,” she said. “It is get- ting to be part of something bigger than yourself, and growing into a more mature and well-rounded person. That includes everything from public speaking in FFA to playing in a sports game with your whole town cheering for you.” Hermens, like other speakers, pointed out that the few incidents of COVID-19 among youths made the ban on high school sports somewhat irrational. She noted that Oregon stu- dents have been playing basketball on “travel teams” across Idaho every weekend for months without any