Opinion
A4
Tuesday, July 27, 2021
OUR VIEW
City council
is public’s
business
T
he Joseph City Council made a series of
decisions last week that seem — at least
for now — to be steps in the right direc-
tion after months of internal upheaval and angst
that led to the censure and resignation of a
councilor.
Joseph City Councilor Lisa Collier was elected
to serve as the mayor pro-tem, a slot held by
former city councilor Kathy Bingham, who was
censured and removed from the position last
month — and pulled from several committee
assignments — because of controversy over her
conduct as a councilor.
Bingham was also banned from contact with
city employees. She later submitted her resig-
nation, eff ective the day after her censure was
handed down.
The council will wait until later to fi ll Bing-
ham’s committee assignments because the mayor,
Belinda Buswell, was ill and did not attend the
regular council meeting.
At fi rst glance the entire Bingham-city council
saga could appear to be much ado about nothing
but, unfortunately, when it comes to elected
leaders, conduct is important.
There is also the important point that elected
leaders are stewards of public — read voter —
dollars. How they act, what they do and how
they make decisions are crucial. There was some
regret by the local lawmakers that portions of the
debacle became “public.”
Certainly, the months of turmoil were
unseemly, but whether the issues should have
been “public” is a moot point. That’s because the
actions of small-town city councils are the pub-
lic’s business. Period. Barring situations where
Oregon law stipulates some level of secrecy, the
council’s actions are, and should be, open to the
public.
That means voters have every right to know
exactly what is always going on with their elected
leaders. Not some of the time. Not when elected
leaders believe it is convenient, but always.
We live in a democracy and that means the
government’s books, so to speak, are open.
We hope the council chaos will recede into the
past and the elected leaders can get back to doing
what is important — the people’s business.
We also hope elected leaders across the region,
no matter how small a role they play, understand
that they work for the people. Not the other way
around.
EDITORIALS
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opinion of The Observer editorial
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cartoons on this page express the
opinions of the authors and not
necessarily that of The Observer.
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LETTERS
EOU should reevaluate
requiring vaccination
A recent story (“EOU to stay the
course — for now,” July 8) reports
that Eastern Oregon University is not
changing its guidelines for COVID
risk reduction after Gov. Kate Brown
recently lifted mask restrictions. EOU
is still requiring vaccination for all
students, although the EOU web-
site contains the vague statement
that “accommodations will be avail-
able for medical and non-medical
exemptions.”
I believe that EOU should re-
examine its policies in light of current
knowledge.
We know much more about
COVID and its treatment than we
did a year ago, and no longer have to
make decisions from sparse data. It is
clear that there is no signifi cant threat
of death from COVID for healthy
young people. Moreover, protocols for
treatment have been developed that
greatly reduce symptom severity and
risk of death.
The safety of the mRNA vaccines
is widely touted by the media and
government, but a look at the CDC’s
Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting
System shows that these statements
are too sanguine. The FDA has
recently issued a warning concerning
possible myocarditis (heart infl am-
mation) after vaccination, unexpect-
edly high in young people. The CDC
has similarly recognized a correlation
between the vaccine and myocarditis,
albeit with low numbers.
I have reviewed several studies
showing that the vaccine has no added
benefi t for those who have already
had the disease, and there is some evi-
dence of adverse immune responses
among some who take the shot after
having had COVID. One should, then,
make exceptions for students who
have already recovered from COVID.
Moreover, there have been no true
studies of the eff ect of these vaccines
on fetal development, and VAERS
reports hundreds of miscarriages after
vaccination. At the very least, EOU
should discourage pregnant students
from taking the jab.
The Observer reports that 65% of
EOU students polled were against
mandatory vaccinations for COVID.
I am puzzled that the administration
would ignore this and seriously com-
promise the principle of informed
consent. Requirements for well-
studied vaccines (such as for mea-
sles) are reasonable, but mRNA-based
treatments given under an emergency
use authorization are another matter.
As a retired faculty member, I urge
EOU to reevaluate these policies.
Tom Herrmann
La Grande
Solving labor shortage will
take balanced thought, ideas
I wanted to commend The
Observer editorial team, and Alex
Wittwer in particular, for the
thoughtful article “Help Wanted:
Eastern Oregon feels pinch of labor
shortage” (July 15, 2021).
I’ve been listening to friends in
the community talk about how “gov-
ernment handouts” are solely respon-
sible for the labor shortage issues —
without off ering facts to support their
claims — so it was a pleasant surprise
to see such a well-researched piece in
our local paper.
I agree with Professor McCo-
nnell’s comments that this is not a
simple issue, and lacks a single cause.
But without open and honest discus-
sion about this issue, and applying
balanced thought and ideas toward
solutions that work, we’ll continue to
sit in our respective camps, blaming
the other side for the problem. We
are not going to solve these issues by
repeating old tropes about handouts.
I am not ashamed to say that, as
my business suff ered in 2020, I took
advantage of the state and govern-
ment programs aimed at helping
people like me. I had never before
applied for unemployment, nor had I
taken out loans for my business, and
I initially struggled with it. However,
those funds helped me stay afl oat for
a diffi cult six months last year, and I
am appreciative of the fact that there
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Commissioners or post
turtles?
Gov. Brown fi nally gave Umatilla
and Union counties what they have
wanted and now folks are happily
involved in a COVID super-spreader
event. By my count as of July 18, 24
new cases or as high as 53, which
accounts for the majority of Oregon’s
new COVID cases.
As far as I know all county
employees have been vaccinated,
which must include the commis-
sioners. Now they sit there like post
turtles doing nothing to halt the
spread of COVID.
Kudos to Jeremy Davis’ (CEO of
Grande Ronde Hospital) comment
in the June 7, 2021, Observer, where
he pointed out the low 36% Union
County vaccination rate.
Long before COVID, surgeons
were donning gloves and face masks
to keep their patients from being
exposed to any of the surgeons’ bugs,
not to protect themselves.
If our county commissioners have
any respect for their supporters,
they must bite the bullet and at least
attempt to protect their supporters.
The most eff ective would be to
establish some mask wearing prin-
ciples, which requires all citizens to
wear masks indoors, both unvacci-
nated and vaccinated, so the public
can feel safe.
I have friends and extended family
who voted for Trump, and all of them
still chose to be vaccinated.
Vaccinations are not that compli-
cated. Most all of us were vaccinated
for measles, fl u, diphtheria, pertussis
and tetanus. Many of us old codgers
have also been vaccinated for shin-
gles, too. Let’s not forget.
Stuart Croghan
La Grande
STAFF
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were options for me (and many, many
others).
Thanks for writing about this
issue, for doing it so thoroughly, and
for asking the diffi cult questions.
Rick LePage
La Grande
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