FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2015
Opinion / Local
— Letters to the Editor —
Nonpartisan is bad for Baker
County
To the Editor:
The effort to change Baker County to
nonpartisan voting of County Commis-
sioners brings concern to me as a citizen
of Oregon. I have spent time as a City
Councilor and Candidate for County
Commissioner in Benton County. I have
watched the patterns throughout Oregon
with great concern.
I have personally seen the downfall of
the County Commissioners change from
partisan to nonpartisan. Polk County had
two Republicans and one Democrat with
great success. The movement to change
to nonpartisan at Polk County has created
an undertaking to stop Commissioners
from making sound fi nancial decisions.
There was a close election for a fi rst-term
Commissioner who made the decision to
allow an operating levy for the Sheriff’s
Department to go to ballot. An organized
group changed the election by building
their strength in public visibility against
the needs of the County and the Freshman
Commissioner.
Baker County has a history of Com-
missioner resignations. Specifi cally, Rod
McCullough, Ben Dunleavy, Paul York,
and Dr. Carl Stiff. We do not need the
Governor appointing County Commis-
sioners if one or two were to resign. It
is important to strengthen the two-party
system keeping the people involved in the
process.
We are currently suffering from the
efforts of special interest groups on both
sides spending a great amount of energy
to make it less about the people and more
about their agenda.
Jerry Jackson
Philomath
Nonpartisan change has been
horrible in Josephine County
To the Editor:
Dear Baker County Residents, I urge
you to vote NO in switching to a non-
Partisan Commissioner offi ce on Measure
1-63.
In the early 90s Josephine County
switched to nonpartisan and we have had
nothing but trouble ever since.
Josephine County has made worldwide
news due to the lack of funding of the
O&C funds and other overall ramifi ca-
tions for nonpartisan Commissioners.
It may seem like a great idea, but our
County has been suffering ever since it
has been adopted.
We have lost almost all of our Sheriffs
Department and those Union employees.
A better system is for each party (there
are more than two) to put forth their best
candidate, and hold them accountable.
Non-Affi liated candidates can still run.
The way our current system is set up we
have on average eight people running for
one position, so when two positions are
open we could have a fi eld of sixteen can-
didates, four or fi ve who run every single
time and only receive a small percentage
of the votes.
With so many candidates running it of-
ten discourages good people from running
and those who do run have the votes scat-
tered throughout all the candidates— and
this has been know to take away from the
good candidates.
With the lack of good candidates, we
have had two Commissioners recalled
and our current board with an overreach-
ing power that has cost the County in
a referendum vote to overturn the ordi-
nances, because they would not listen to
the people.
Many residents in the our County at-
tempted to activate another recall, which
ended up costing the County even more
money.
As you can see that most of this causes
discontent with Commissioners who are
not held accountable. I urge you to think
twice and vote no for nonpartisan com-
missioners offi ces as you can see it is a
bad idea. Please vote no on Measure 1-63.
Keith Trahern
Grants Pass
1-63 is dirty politics
To the Editor:
Please vote NO on Measure 1 - 63.
My friends, please don’t vote to change
the positions of county commissioners
from partisan to nonpartisan.
I am voting no on this measure for
many reasons. I can see no benefi t to any-
one for a change. It has no effect on any-
one’s right to vote. What I believe passing
this measure would do is make it harder
for us in the outlying districts to learn
who the candidates for commissioner are,
what they stand for, and leave us short of
a source of valuable information.
I consider one’s political leanings as
a measure to judge what we can expect
of anyone, to decide whether to vote for
them or not.
I believe that passing this measure
would result in many people giving up
trying to vote and losing out—the op-
posite of what the backers of this measure
claim.
In my view, it is wrong to tell anyone
that people have not been able to vote
when they have. This is dirty politics.
The right thing to do is to vote no on
Measure 1-63.
Carmelita Holland
Richland
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Estate / Moving Sale
Ski Boat | Antiques | Guns | Furniture |Appliances
April 25, 2015 Time: 10:00 A.M.
Sale Located at: 452 Bitterbrush Dr., Nampa, Id.
Terms: Cash or bankable check day
of sale. No merchandise removed
prior to settlement.
10% buyers premium.
Concessions available on site.
• 1997 Rinker Captiva
192 ski boat
• Winchester
collectable rifl e
• 1800s pump organ
• Duncan Pfi ffe
• Drexler
• Laz-E-Boy
• Top quality
appliances
• Power tools and
welders
• Quality household
items
• Recreational/
camping equipment
• Brand new whizzer
bike
• Hovearound
• Mantis tiller and
garden tools
• Much more!
This is an exceptional estate.
For a complete description and pictures go to:
www.snakeriverauction.com
Sale Conducted by
Snake River Auction L.L.C.
P.O. Box 672, Payette, Idaho • (541)212-5918
Roger K. Nakashima, Auctioneer
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 5
Irvine appointed to 5J
School Board
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
She has served twice
on the Baker 5J Budget
Board and has two young
children, kindergarten and
pre-school age, attending
classes in the Baker School
District.
Board Chairman Andrew
Bryan, who also runs in the
May 19 special election,
prefers working with a full
roster of board members,
he said. The appointment
of Irvine fi lls all spots on
the fi ve-member school
board. Bryan and fellow
board members are now
concentrating on fi lling
all seats on the District’s
budget board.
The 5J Budget Board
meets on May 12 at 5 p.m.
to discuss the budget for
the July 1, 2015 to June 30,
2016 fi scal year.
Oregon State legislators
have settled on a fi nal bud-
get number to fund schools
for the next two years.
The total biennium
budget for Oregon schools
is pegged at $7.255 billion,
according to Doug Dalton,
5J Financial Director.
Each student represents
a $7,000 payment to school
districts. One large funding
change coming next years
includes the addition of
full-time kindergarten.
The increase in funding
for full day kindergarten
should cover the costs of
additional personnel and
implementation of the ex-
panded program, according
to Dalton.
The Baker School Dis-
trict budget for 2015-2016
becomes available to the
public on May 8. Copies
may be obtained at the
district offi ce, 2090 Fourth
Street, Baker City.
At 1,6 76 students attend-
ing classes this April in
the Baker School District,
enrollment has remained at
about the same numbers as
this time last year. Sep-
tember marked the high
point in enrollment this
year with 1,721 students.
Brooklyn continues burst-
ing at the seams with 471
students and expects erec-
tion of another modular
classroom this summer;
Baker High School has
475 students; Baker Web
Academy teaches 583 en-
rolled students from across
the state; Baker All-Prep
Brian Addison / The Baker County Press
Newly hired 5J superintendent Mark Witty meets
with school board member Melissa Irvine, execu-
tive secretary Norma Nemec, board member Chris
Hawkins, and board member Kevin Cassidy before
the April 21, school board meeting.
and Early College program
has 180 enrolled; South
Baker has 316 students;
Baker Middle School has
239 students; Eagle Cap
with 31 students; and,
Elkhorn Adolescent with
11 enrolled.
Frisbee Golf may be
coming to the Baker
Sports Complex.
A new attraction may
soon be available to Baker
City residents. Baker High
School student Dani Mc-
Cauley gave the school
board members a detailed
description of a plan to plot
a nine-hole Frisbee Golf
Course within the Baker
Sports Complex.
McCauley said the Ford
Family Foundation has
offered a $5,000 matching
grant and the total bud-
get for the project equals
$12,000. The course would
be owned and maintained
by the Baker School Dis-
trict, said McCauley. The
district’s fi nance depart-
ment has done preliminary
work on the proposed
project. McCauley asked
the school district to act
as fi scal sponsor on the
project and asked for per-
mission to move forward.
While no fi nal vote was
made, McCauley received
encouragement to continue
putting together details
such as hours of opera-
tions and conferring on the
project with community
partners.
Students of the Month.
Promise of Baker in-
termediate student of the
month was awarded to
South Baker sixth grader
Gabe Gambleton. Gabe
was commended for
his focus on academics,
demonstrating applicable
skills that he has learned,
and for his “gentle, helpful
attitude”.
Promise of Baker
primary student of the
month was awarded to
Henry Hester, a fi rst grader
at Brooklyn. Henry was
noted for his honesty,
politeness, and great sense
of humor.
No shortage of Superin-
tendents.
The April 21 school
board meeting may have
had more superintendents
in attendance than normal.
And, all three attending
are either working for the
district or preparing to take
the helm.
The school board meet-
ing was led by interim su-
perintendent Betty Palmer.
Superintendent Walt We-
gener, who retires from the
job on June 30, attended
the meeting but sat in the
public seating section.
Newly hired superinten-
dent Mark Witty began
the school board meeting
with a presentation of his
participation in the China
Exchange educational
program and his recent trip
to China.
Witty has been hired
as the 5J District’s next
Superintendent and begins
in that role on July 1,
2015. When Witty takes
over the top job Palmer
then assumes the newly
created position Assistant
Superintendent/Director of
Curriculum.
OTEC places first in
safety award contest
Oregon Trail Electric
Cooperative placed 1st in
the 2015 Northwest Public
Power Administration
(NWPPA) Safety Awards
contest.
General Manager Wer-
ner Buehler was delighted
with the notifi cation
received earlier last month.
“This is a big deal for us.
While this is not the fi rst
time OTEC has received
this honor, it acknowledges
our continued perseverance
and commitment to safety.
It is priority number one.”
In 2014, between the
150,000-500,000 hour
category, OTEC had no
lost time accidents. This
paired with the lack of
injury cases is what put
OTEC in the lead for the
recognition.
“Utilities from across
the Pacifi c Northwest,
Alaska and California
compete in this annual
safety contest and it is a
great honor to be recog-
nized,” said Buehler.
The awards ceremony
was held at NWPPA’s
Engineering and Opera-
tions Conference on April
9, 2015 at the Tacoma
Convention Center in
Washington and a small
representative group from
OTEC traveled to accept
the award.
“The timing couldn’t
have been more perfect
as we are coming up on
National Electric Safety
Month in May,” Buehler
said.
“While safety for our
employees, co-workers and
members is a top prior-
ity year-round, Electrical
Safety Month is a time to
acknowledge the impor-
tance of safety excellence.
Our safety record is well
above average and that is
attributed to the culture of
care we have for one an-
other and a healthy respect
we have for the incredible
power of electricity. If
there is any metric that we
as a cooperative want to
succeed at it is no lost time
accidents.”
Additional benefi ts are
the savings in the form of
lower insurance premiums
for employees and remain-
ing in good standing with
the Occupational Safety
and Health Administration.
“This is just another
way we are continually
fulfi lling the vision of our
member-owned coop-
erative,” Buehler said. “To
deliver safe, reliable and
affordable energy. It’s what
we are all about.”