Opinion
4A
Thursday, June 17, 2021
OUR VIEW
Problems
with state
accounting,
again
he Oregon Secretary of State’s Offi ce
audits tell us what we know but need to be
reminded about: State government makes
mistakes with money.
Every year there’s a roundup of these mis-
takes. And it’s clear it’s necessary. For the fi scal
year 2020, state auditors found $6.4 billion in
accounting errors. That’s right, $6.4 billion.
Those were unintentional mistakes. It’s not
like somebody was trying to abscond with $6.4
billion. They were mistakes. Basically, numbers
were put in the wrong column and later caught
thanks to state audits. It does make you wonder
what wasn’t caught.
What can be more important is when the
audits uncover weaknesses in the policies for
handling money.
For instance, the Department of Consumer
and Business Services is a state agency ded-
icated to consumer protection and business
regulation. It failed to properly follow new
accounting rules required for fi scal year 2020.
Other state agencies got it right. The depart-
ment misinterpreted the new rules and reported
about $400 million incorrectly. That depart-
ment also failed to have required documentation
explaining how it made decisions about han-
dling money in two areas, such as determining
what is uncollectible money.
And there’s more. When state auditors tested
some spending to ensure proper procedures
are followed so federal funds may be used to
pay for them, it found mistakes. The biggest
problem was in the child care and development
fund. That is a federal grant program that helps
provide child care services for low-income fam-
ilies and improve child care overall. Auditors
found $4.2 million in errors. Numbers were
miscalculated, provider copays were off , there
was a lack of documentation to back up pay-
ments and more.
New report. Similar conclusions. Without
state auditors peering over the shoulders of
other state agencies, even more mistakes would
be made.
T
EDITORIALS
Unsigned editorials are the
opinion of The Observer editorial
board. Other columns, letters and
cartoons on this page express the
opinions of the authors and not
necessarily that of The Observer.
LETTERS
• The Observer welcomes letters
to the editor. We edit letters for
brevity, grammar, taste and legal
reasons. We will not publish con-
sumer complaints against busi-
nesses, personal attacks against
private individuals or comments
that can incite violence. We also
discourage thank-you letters.
• Letters should be no longer than
350 words and must be signed and
carry the author’s name, address
and phone number (for verifi -
cation only). We will not publish
anonymous letters.
• Letter writers are limited to one
letter every two weeks.
• Longer community comment col-
umns, such as My Voice, must be
no more than 700 words. Writers
must provide a recent headshot
and a one-sentence biography.
Like letters to the editor, columns
must refrain from complaints
against businesses or personal
attacks against private individ-
uals. Submissions must carry the
author’s name, address and phone
number.
• Submission does not guarantee
publication, which is at the discre-
tion of the editor.
SEND LETTERS TO:
letters@lagrandeobserver.com
or via mail to Editor, 911 Jeff erson
Ave., La Grande, OR 97850
Oregon needs independent voice in D.C.
KEVIN
FRAZIER
OTHER VIEWS
n the 2019 legislative year,
there were 236 Democrats in
the U.S. House of Represen-
tatives, four of whom were from
Oregon. Out of those 236, though,
the Oregonians were nearly indis-
tinguishable from the rest of the
Democratic block.
Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, Earl
Blumenauer, and Peter DeFazio all
recorded nearly perfect party-line
records; CQ Press reported their
party unity scores as 99 out of
100; Rep. Kurt Schrader came in
at 93. Comparatively, on the other
side of the aisle, then-Rep. Greg
Walden had a far lower party unity
score of just 81.
On the whole, these scores go to
show that Oregonians have lacked
an independent voice in D.C. Sure,
Oregon’s Democratic represen-
tatives have spoken out against
their party from time to time
and, though less frequently, even
voted against their ideological col-
leagues; but, from a voting record
perspective, there’s nothing dis-
tinctive about the state’s congres-
sional delegates — especially on
the Democratic side.
In defense of Oregon’s Demo-
cratic delegates, they’re just fol-
lowing a much larger trend. The
average party unity score in 2019
for House Democrats was 97.6 —
up from 75.8 in 1983.
Oregonians have a chance
I
to elect a voice, rather than an
echo, in their sixth congressional
district.
Now more than ever, indepen-
dent voices in the House have a
chance to sway the conversation
by virtue of the fact that neither
party has a controlling presence
in the chamber. Right now, there’s
219 Democrats, 212 Republicans
and four vacancies.
Electing independent represen-
tatives in a handful of districts
would upend politics as usual by
forcing both parties to cater to this
party-free caucus.
Of course, the odds of state leg-
islators drawing an independent
district are low. It’s in the interest
of both parties to draw “safe”
seats. These are seats with such
skewed party registration diff er-
entials that it’s a Sisyphean act for
someone from the other side to run
a credible campaign.
These sorts of seats save both
parties money because the general
elections are so uncompetitive.
They also reinforce the faulty idea
that we’re stuck with two options
when it comes to our elected offi -
cials and, therefore, entrench the
dominance of the two parties.
So as legislators start to redis-
trict, Democrats will push for a
map that has fi ve safe, blue seats
and that off ers the Republicans one
safe, red seat; Republicans will
push for a four-two map. Neither
will advocate for a purple district.
That’s why the rest of us, the
voters of Oregon, must do so.
A competitive district in Oregon
will give at least some Oregonians
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
STAFF
SUBSCRIBEAND SAVE
NEWSSTAND PRICE: $1.50
You can save up to 55% off the single-copy
price with home delivery.
Call 800-781-3214 to subscribe.
Subscription rates:
Monthly Autopay ...............................$10.75
13 weeks.................................................$37.00
26 weeks.................................................$71.00
52 weeks ..............................................$135.00
a meaningful choice every election
cycle. The two parties will have to
put forth their best candidates, and
third party or nonaffi liated candi-
dates may even have a chance at
running competitive races. This
district can become an example
of the sort of democratic compe-
tition that voters have long been
denied due to closed primaries,
gerrymandered districts and undue
infl uence aff orded to ideologically
exclusive parties.
If just a few other states take
this brave approach of thwarting
party eff orts to draw safe seats,
then we could see the emergence
of U.S. Representatives capable of
off ering their voice and not merely
an echo of the party line.
Our democracy is not broken;
it’s fi xed. The rules, the game
board and the players are tilted to
two sides.
Let’s create space for an inde-
pendent voice in Oregon again;
someone who can truthfully share
these same lines from Sen. Wayne
Morse: “I will exercise an inde-
pendence of judgment based on
the evidence of each issue. I will
weigh the views of my constitu-
ents and party, but cast my vote
free of political pressure and
unmoved by threats of loss of
political support.”
———
Kevin Frazier currently operates
No One Left Offl ine, which has dis-
tributed nearly 100 Wi-Fi hot spots
throughout Oregon. Kevin will grad-
uate from the University of Cali-
fornia, Berkeley School of Law in
May of 2022.
Anindependent newspaper foundedin1896
www.lagrandeobserver.com
Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, Oregon 97801
Published Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays
(except postal holidays) by EO Media Group,
911 Jefferson Ave., La Grande, OR 97850
(USPS 299-260)
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.
COPYRIGHT © 2021
Phone:
541-963-3161
Toll free (Oregon):
1-800-781-3214
Email:
news@lagrandeobserver.com
POSTMASTER
Send address changes to:
The Observer,
911 Jefferson Ave.,
La Grande, OR 97850
Regional publisher. ...................... Karrine Brogoitti
Multimedia journalist.........................Alex Wittwer
Regional circulation director .................. Kelli Craft
Home delivery advisor ............... Amanda Fredrick
Interim editor ....................................Andrew Cutler
Advertising representative ...........Juli Bloodgood
News clerk ........................................Lisa Lester Kelly
Advertising representative .................... Amy Horn
Reporter....................................................Dick Mason
National accounts coordinator ...... Devi Mathson
Reporter............................................Davis Carbaugh
Graphic design .................................. Dorothy Kautz
Intern ...................................................Carlos Fuentes
A division of