Opinion
A4
Tuesday, August 3, 2021
OUR VIEW
Brown deal
leaves bad
aftertaste
I
t is not a political scandal by any means, but
the recent news Gov. Kate Brown spent a
large chunk of taxpayer dollars to pay one of
her former advisers to serve as a political consul-
tant leaves a bitter aftertaste.
The news last week barely broke above the col-
lective consciousness of the state and it certainly
gained little traction in portions of the Willamette
Valley, a traditional base for the governor.
At its heart the news revolves around a deal
brokered in 2020 where the governor hired her
former communications director Chris Pair
through a no-bid state contract. The deal pro-
vides Pair with a salary of $6,500 a month to
attend weekly meetings of the Western Gover-
nors’ Association regarding enlarging the eff ort to
create infrastructure for electric vehicles. So far,
the state has paid Pair $91,000.
Brown has also paid Pair money through one
of her political action committees.
When Pair — a longtime member of Brown’s
staff — departed in January 2020, Brown made
no mention he might be hired back. A month
later, the governor’s offi ce asked state offi cials to
prepare the no-bid contract for Pair’s consulting
company.
Now, on the face of it, none of this is illegal. In
fact, former government offi cials turning around
to work as independent contractors for their
former bosses or agencies is commonplace. It just
looks bad.
Transparency in government is essential for a
democracy to function properly. That means tax-
payers have the right to know what their elected
leaders are doing and why.
The money paid out to Pair so far is, obviously,
just a drop in the bucket of the multibillion-dollar
budget of the state. But it is the principle that
counts in this situation. If the governor was going
to hire one of her former staff ers and let him or
her be paid with tax dollars, she should have dis-
closed it. State government — and especially the
governor’s offi ce — isn’t a private company. It’s
funded by taxpayers, and taxpayers have a right
to know — no matter how low the sum — how
their money is being used.
The governor didn’t break the law, but bank-
rolling one of her former staff ers on the tax-
payers’ dime doesn’t sit well with us.
EDITORIALS
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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
River Democracy Act shows
‘vision and determination’
Northeast Oregon connects
the Rocky Mountains to the Blue
Mountains, the Cascades and Coast
Range beyond. Its waterways pro-
vide a habitat connectivity corridor
of continental importance. Flowing
from some of Oregon’s tallest
peaks into deep river canyons,
including Hells Canyon — North
America’s deepest — these water-
ways fl ow through deserts and wet
forests rivaling the rain forests of
the coast.
Ours is truly a landscape of
superlatives.
Currently, only 2% of Ore-
gon’s 110,000 miles of rivers are
protected under the federal Wild
and Scenic Rivers Act. That is
why I was thrilled to read about
Sen. Wyden’s call for nomina-
tions (“Nominate your favorite
waterway for Wild and Scenic Act
protection,” The Observer, Dec. 16,
2019): “Whether you are a white-
water rafter, an angler or simply an
Oregonian who believes strongly
in protecting the river or stream
that provides safe drinking water
to your community, I want to hear
from you.”
Thousands of Oregonians from
every county in our state answered
that call by submitting more than
15,000 nominations of waterways
to be included in the legislation.
Congress passed the Wild and
Scenic Rivers Act in 1968 to pro-
tect our nation’s best free-fl owing
rivers, to ensure clean drinking
water, to safeguard fi sheries,
and preserve cultural resources,
scenery and outdoor recreation
opportunities for all future genera-
tions. Our Northeast Oregon water-
ways do indeed provide many dis-
tinctive wildlife habitats, clean
water and recreation opportunities
that make our region so unique.
I applaud the senator’s vision and
determination.
Brock Evans
La Grande
Nature is still
our greatest asset
Union and Wallowa counties’
opposition to the Rivers Democ-
racy Act was predictable given
their records over the years. They
opposed Rails to Trails and histor-
ically oppose any natural resource
protection.
Yet, they take off ense at not
being invited to the planning stages?
Would an ex be invited to plan a new
wedding?
I recall a Rails to Trails meeting
where Steve McClure, a long-time
county commissioner, said, “I’d hate
to tell my grandchildren I’d had our
tracks removed.” With foresight he
could now be crediting himself for
helping create Union Wallowa Rails
to Trails.
Logging, ranching, railroading
and farming sustained our past.
Those employment options are
all in steady decline in North-
eastern Oregon. Forests, decimated
by intensive logging, may never
recover. Ranchers facing invasive
weeds, overgrazed summer pastures
and disappearing water sources
struggle to turn a profi t. Trucks and
cars drastically reduced rail trans-
portation. Farmers drill deeper and
deeper wells as the water table rap-
idly falls. So young would-be log-
gers, ranchers, railroaders and
farmers must fi nd other employment
here or leave. Nature, as degraded
as it has become, is still our greatest
asset.
This month I again vacationed
with friends along Idaho’s Rails
to Trails. Towns built around coal
mining and trains were about aban-
doned before their tracks were
pulled and replaced by a trail. Now
it’s a bustling area once again with
fully booked motels and license
plates from across the country.
Urban vacationers of all ages pedal
scenic rural trails and patronize
local businesses.
Things change. We need leaders
who accept change and envision new
and vibrant futures.
There are far better places to
build industrial parks. But few
places other than national and state
parks rival our natural beauty. That
fact should guide us into the future.
Mary McCracken
Island City
Saddened by small-town
rigidity
A week ago our horse Beau drA
week ago our horse, Beau, dropped
dead in the 1/2-acre fi eld behind our
house after a brief illness. A friend
came over and buried him there.
Then the Union city manager
drove up to say someone turned us
in for burying our horse within city
limits, which is against city ordi-
nance. Our choice was to go before
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Take an honest look
at the For the People Act
Wow, great pretzel logic.
Let’s be honest here. The For the
People Act isn’t for the people. It is
for the Democratic Party — period.
This is bill HR1, which will allow
anyone to vote in our elections
without showing any form of ID. to
show that they are American and
they have the right to vote here in
this nation.
Teresa Smith-Dixon’s letter
in the July 13 Observer makes it
sound like you are anti-American
if you don’t vote for it when in fact
just the opposite is true. Is it not the
American way to have honest and
fair elections? The election of 2020
showed what happens when the
rules are changed: Anyone from
anywhere in the world can and did
come in and vote.
Now as far as Jim Crow goes,
just look at the beginnings of the
Democratic Party and you will see
where it came from. Our Joe Biden
in 1974 voted to keep from busing
black students into his area to keep
it white. Joe Biden in 1994 helped
to pass the crime law that put many
Black people in jail.
Joe Biden has now at only six
months in offi ce allowed hundreds
of thousands of illegals from all
parts of the world to come here
to vote in our upcoming elections
without any ID to prove who they
are. This is the true intent of the
bill HR1.
If you read Teresa Smith-Dix-
on’s letter and listen to Joe Biden
on TV, you will see that they both
say the same thing, almost word for
word. If you take just a few minutes
and see if what I have written here
is true, you will know the truth.
J.R. Kauff man
La Grande
STAFF
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a judge and be fi ned a hefty sum, Or
dig him up, winch him into a trailer
and take him to the Baker landfi ll.
So we dug him up, winched him
onto our fl atbed and he was on his
way to the dump the same day.
A neighbor had called city hall
and turned us in. I have not stopped
crying over this. This has been a
cruel wake-up call regarding small-
town rigidity. Our neighbors are not
close by, no utilities in our fi eld, no
close water.
It’s just sad.
Jane Wentzel
Union
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