Opinion
A4
Tuesday, March 8, 2022
OUR VIEW
Fairgrounds
gets needed
cash infusion
T
he major spending package approved
by Oregon lawmakers at the end of the
so-called short session will deliver a lot
of money to Eastern Oregon, and while many
projects of merit will receive cash the most sig-
nifi cant outlay is money for the Union County
Fairgrounds.
The fairgrounds are on track to receive $1 mil-
lion, and it will be able to use every cent of that
to help fund renovations projects, not the least
of which will be the building of a new sewer
line connection. The new connection will allow
sewage to run from the facility to the city of La
Grande’s wastewater system. That, in turn, will
mean the fairgrounds will once again have func-
tioning restrooms, an amenity — really a neces-
sity — that has been missing.
The sewer line project will cost about $2 mil-
lion. The fairgrounds received around $270,000
in state funds earlier this year, and the additional
$1 million from the new spending package will
certainly go a long way to solving the sewer line
challenge.
That should be great news to the residents of
Union County. The fairground facility is more
than just a place to hold a carnival once a year
but an historic element to the county. Its worth
cannot be evaluated in simple terms of expedi-
ency but must be seen through a holistic lens.
The fairgrounds provide a place every year for
the 4-H youth of the county to show off their hard
work, and it also functions as an emergency site
for such operations as COVID-19 vaccinations.
The $1 million outlay is the work of a host of
lawmakers who deserve to be lauded. Those law-
makers ensured that money could be sent to fair-
grounds across Eastern Oregon, including Mal-
heur, Baker and Harney counties. The money is
needed and will arrive not a moment too soon.
We often can take a facility like the Union
County Fairgrounds for granted. We shouldn’t.
That’s because such facilities are part of our
hometown fabric and should never be forgotten
or dismissed. Is more money needed for the fair-
grounds? Certainly. Yet this latest infusion of
funds will help get a facility we need back on
track toward the future.
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YOUR VIEWS
Elitist wolf policy is not
equitable
Is the wolf policy equitable? We
learned that introducing wolves to
Yellowstone destroyed up to 80%
of the elk population. Following
that, we are now encouraging the
destruction of peoples’ food and
their cultural existence by further
encouraging wolves.
Indigenous peoples’ treaties
have hunting rights. The prolifer-
ation of wolves can vitiate these
rights and we need not take respon-
sibility for what we have done.
Indigenous peoples’ culture and
religion and the hunt intertwine, as
well as access to the health bene-
fits of this nutritious protein.
Rural people with little money
who have supplemented their diets
and bonded in other ways around
the hunt see the ending of this
viable and healthy activity.
Is the experience of the indi-
vidual who is eating a piece of
jerky they made the same psycho-
logically as the individual who is
going to pick up their government
cheese?
Is there going to be a difference
psychologically in independence
and self-satisfaction?
The ability to survive and shoot
straight, skills of an unmoneyed
rural people, have made us the
people who fi ght your wars for you.
Our military is composed of all
skin colors of rural people without
much money. By feeding this food
source to the wolves, access to the
skills that made us valuable sol-
diers is being lost.
The wolf policy is elitist, and
the damage that it causes is suf-
fered by the people who live on the
frontiers and in the forest, Indige-
nous and other unmoneyed people.
That is not equitable.
Katy Nelson
John Day
Americans should defend
freedom in Ukraine
Before the USA entered World
War I, an American contingent of
pilots composed a group known as
the Lafayette Escadrille under French
command. These pilots became dis-
tinguished during that war. They felt
it was necessary to defend freedom.
Before the USA entered World
War II, there was the American vol-
unteer group in China fi ghting the
Japanese as pilots under Claire
Chenault.
What has happened to the idea of
Americans volunteering to support
freedom from foreign invasion?
I propose calling on American
veterans willing to support to help
Ukraine. I am 78 and in poor shape
to volunteer for such a venture. I am
willing to die for Ukrainian people.
I could be used as cannon fodder.
We could use as our war fl ag the
Gadsden fl ag (coiled rattlesnake with
words “Don’t Tread On Me”), known
as the Rattlesnake Contingent.
Anyone interested please contact me.
Rudy Candler
Union
REPRESENTATIVES
GOVERNOR
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
Bobby Levy, District 58
900 Court St. NE, H-376
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1458
Rep.BobbyLevy@state.or.us
SENATOR
Greg Smith, District 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us
Bill Hansell, District 29
900 Court St. NE, S-415
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us
STAFF
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Every adult Oregonian should do
the math as it relates to the Oregon
Legislature’s runaway spending of
Oregon taxpayer money estimated at
$1.4 billion.
Then they should voice their yea
or nay on this pork barrel giveaway
to their local tax-and-spend senator
and/or representative. I’m sure the
majority-voiced vote will loudly, and
resoundingly, cry “nay.”
Why? Consider this.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimated
the July 1, 2021, Oregon population to
be 4.2+ million. Divide $1.4 billion by
4.2 million and you get an astounding
(potential refund of) $333+ per person.
For a family of four, it’s a whopping
$1,332. A family of eight, $2,664.
I’m sure the wide majority of pan-
demic-stricken Oregonians behind on
their rent, unable to pay their utility
bills, helpless to put food on the table,
and/or can’t aff ord to buy gas to get to
and from work would appreciate that
refunded money in their pocket rather
than have it thrown at questionable
projects, probably already eligible for
federal funding, located way out in
the most rural of Oregon’s areas.
To boot, chances are highly likely
most residents will never see the
benefi ts of their own ill-gouged, leg-
islatively appropriated money. Just
because you have it doesn’t mean
you have to spend it. To correct the
issue, adjust the tax rates biannually.
Fred Couzens
Bend
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Runaway spending
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