Opinion
A4
Thursday, December 9, 2021
OUR VIEW
Finding
the right
answers
G
ov. Kate Brown has called the Legislature
into special session on Dec. 13 to try to
give renters additional protection against
evictions.
We don’t know if the solutions she proposes
are the right ones, but there is little question quick
action is needed.
There has been money available to help renters,
but the state has had trouble moving fast enough
to get it to landlords. The state has also calculated
that all the money it has to distribute will be gone,
leaving some people to face eviction just as the
weather turns colder.
“Oregon Housing and Community Services
received $289 million in federal rental assis-
tance funds to help Oregon renters impacted by
COVID-19,” the governor’s offi ce said in a state-
ment. “As of last week, OHCS and their local part-
ners had paid out close to $150 million in fed-
eral emergency rental assistance to over 22,000
households.”
Gov. Brown proposes to
• Give safe harbor protections for people who
have applied for rental assistance
• Ensure landlords are paid for what they are
owed
• Provide up to $90 million in rental assistance
• Provide $100 million to “long-term, locally-de-
livered eviction prevention services”
What’s not clear is how many Oregonians face
eviction without state assistance and how much of
that is due to the shudder given to the economy by
COVID-19.
State’s digital
vaccine card
is not really a
passport
A
passport is something that can be required
for entry. Oregon’s new digital vaccine
card won’t be a passport. It’s going to be
an optional way people can show their vaccination
status.
People already have options. They can carry
around their vaccination card — or what’s probably
smarter — carry around a photocopy or a photo of
it on their phone. We haven’t had anyone demand to
see ours, but it could happen.
The digital vaccine card, being developed by
the Oregon Health Authority, would be one more
optional way of carrying around that information.
Oregon’s card would be similar to the one in Cal-
ifornia and Washington state, according to a report
from the Oregon Capital Chronicle. You would
upload your name, date of birth, cellphone or email
and a four-digit number. Your vaccination status
would be checked. Once confi rmed, you would get
a link to the digital vaccination card to show on
your phone. It’s already being tested in Oregon.
You call it a vaccine passport if you want. It’s
similar to one. A vaccine passport is good short-
hand. But the idea in Oregon is that it will be an
optional way of carrying around vaccination status.
Removing the mental health security clearance
STEVEN
BERLEY
OTHER VIEWS
I
t was surprising recently to see
The Observer put mental health
on the front page. Let’s keep the
dialogue going.
What qualifi es me to continue
this conversation? As a CPA I have a
top-security clearance. Most people
can’t get two steps into my offi ce
without disclosing in confi dence
their personal issues. All income
levels are aff ected, trust me.
With the COVID-19 pandemic,
conspiracy theories galore and infl a-
tion squeezing everyone, mental
health has clearly risen to the top.
When in the presence of a pro-
fessional, you expect me, and my
peers, to be mentally above the fray.
One of my staff , who lives in LA,
calls me Mr. Perfect. She does my
books and she asked me recently
what it is like to make all of that
money. My response, “My 2021
tax bill is six fi gures” and “so I can
aff ord to live life on my own terms.”
Which means I have the luxury
to share my mental health without
retribution.
A little background of my situa-
tion. I have doctor friends in Denver
because I coached Little League
baseball for six doctors’ boys. Two
of the dads and I became close. One
day in 2011 Dr. D, with his own
wing at a Denver hospital, said I
think you are ADD. He said I am
giving you three months of Adderall
(amphetamine) and you must fi nd a
specialist. The next doctor said my
testosterone was low too. My wife
contested that notion, but I was like,
hey OK, give me testosterone shots.
Adderall continued, and he threw in
some Xanax and Ambien to boot.
Fast forward four years to a day
in May 2016. Six miles into a trail-
head near Enterprise, at around
3:30 a.m., I was discovered by the
Wallowa County Search and Rescue
team, unconscious, with a body
temperature of 91 degrees. At dawn,
I was Life Flighted to Enterprise.
What happened?
I made a calculated but failed
attempt at suicide.
A week later I visited Dr. Bump
at Grande Ronde Hospital. He
referred me to Mary Goldstein. In
thirty minutes, she changed my life.
She fi rst suggested I immedi-
ately stop those medications because
they had the opposite eff ect than
intended. I stopped the Adderall,
Xanax and the Ambien, but I did
ask Dr. Bump for the testosterone.
He showed me the test result – I
didn’t have a testosterone issue. My
wife was right.
Mary said I was not ADD. She
said read these books and articles.
The research is new, but you have a
rare issue called Bipolar-2. Though
from a family of successfully edu-
cated professionals and my grand-
father a doctor, my ancestry history
started coming together. Today, I
take an anti-seizure medication. It
works great, but not profi table for
Big Pharma.
There is no time here to discuss
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
Bipolar-2, nor is it the goal here. I
would not trade my life for yours.
I am successful at the 99th percen-
tile because of the upside Bipolar-2
provides.
May 2016 is surreal to me now.
My story is to remove my security
clearance to show that mental health
is just human nature, not based on
an educational level, or income level
or whether one is a drug addict.
When the world discovers more
about the brain and can make
improved diagnoses, and the drug
companies stop their gorilla mar-
keting techniques, we will discover
that all of us can have a better life
with a balanced approach to both
our physical and mental health.
Unfortunately, we are decades
from great mental health solutions.
Doctors are poorly, if even, trained
in mental health. In La Grande, we
are short many qualifi ed medical
professionals. At GRH how many
physical doctors are there? Many.
How many mental health doctors
are there? I think zero? You can see
that Mary works 12-plus hours per
day — i.e., her SUV sits out on the
street from 7 a.m. to at least 7, 8 and
9 p.m.
If anyone wants to get woke, get
woke on mental health. Denial is
more painful than discovery.
I am really grateful for where I
am today.
Thank you to my wife, Kelley,
and to Mary Goldstein for their
unwavering support.
———
Steven Berley is a CPA and lives
in La Grande.
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
Regional publisher. ...................... Karrine Brogoitti
Home delivery advisor ............... Amanda Fredrick
Interim editor ....................................Andrew Cutler
Advertising representative ..................... Kelli Craft
News clerk ........................................Lisa Lester Kelly
Advertising representative .................... Amy Horn
Reporter....................................................Dick Mason
National accounts coordinator ...... Devi Mathson
Reporter............................................Davis Carbaugh
Graphic design .................................. Dorothy Kautz
Multimedia journalist.........................Alex Wittwer
Page design .........................................Andy Nicolais
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
A division of