FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2015
4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
Opinion / Local
— Guest Opinion —
— Guest Opinion —
Graffiti and
gangs: the
correlation
What did the
SOS do?
By Dennis Richardson
Being out of politics this past year
has given me time to reflect on my
time in the Legislature, reconnect with
family and friends, and recharge my
spirit through volunteer work in the
community. The journey I’ve been
on has been one marked with creating
new relationships and building a deeper
understanding of just how difficult life
is for some of our neighbors.
Whether it’s been helping people
find jobs or serving someone a hot
meal, I find that the challenges in our
state haven’t gotten better. For many,
they’ve gotten worse. Housing prices
may have rebounded since the Great
Recession and unemployment rates in
certain sectors may have decreased,
but these indicators are masking what’s
really happening in Oregon. Far too
many Oregonians are accessing social
service programs and face hunger
insecurity. I serve on the Board of
Directors for ACCESS Food Share and
I’ve seen first-hand how the demand
for food and shelter continues to grow.
Great work is being done by dedicated
individuals across our state to help al-
leviate suffering and want, but it’s not
enough.
The work Cathy and I have been
doing to help individuals prepare for
and get jobs has reminded us that
poverty may be statistical in the State
Capitol, but it’s a real life problem for
the people who are suffering without a
good income.
Let me tell you about a man named
Jermaine. It had been more than a
decade since he graduated from high
school, yet he had never had real
employment. When I saw Jermaine last
January, he saw himself as a failure
without even the basic skills needed to
get a job. He was depressed and felt
like no one would hire him.
Like so many job-seekers in Jer-
maine’s situation, he needed a mentor
and an opportunity. It was a pleasure
for me to help him realize he had value
and was worthy to be hired at an entry
level job. I brought coins to the of-
fice and taught Jermaine how to make
change so he could qualify for a job
working for a fast food establishment.
I helped him prepare a clean, one-page
resume and coached him on interview-
ing skills. Eventually, Jermaine stood
a little taller, had a successful interview
and got hired. He has now been on the
job for nearly six months. The pay is
a starting wage, but Jermaine’s self-
worth has never been higher. As a result
of working, he now helps his mom with
the family bills, and someday, I hope
he’ll take the next step and move up the
economic ladder. Jermaine is learning
what it means to have a budget and not
spend more than he earns.
Unfortunately, the State of Oregon,
with its $69 billion 2015-17 State
Budget, still hasn’t learned such a basic
lesson. In the past ten years Oregon
spending has increased significantly,
while our educational system has too
many drop-outs and sends too many
high school graduates out the door
without sufficient skills and guidance
to go on to higher education or, like
Jermaine, to even get a basic, entry-
level job.
We know too few of our educa-
tion funding dollars are reaching the
classroom, so where is all of the money
going if not to educate students? The
Oregon legislature has projected more
tax revenue than ever, yet we are told
Oregon is going to be facing a multi-
billion dollar budget hole in 2017-19,
Letter to the Editor Policy: The Baker
County Press reserves the right not to pub-
lish letters containing factual falsehoods or
incoherent narrative. Letters promoting or
detracting from specific for-profit business-
es will not be published. Word limit is 375
words per letter. Letters are limited to one
every other week per author. Letters should
be submitted to Editor@TheBakerCounty-
Press.com.
Advertising and Opinion Page Dis-
claimer: Opinions submitted as Guest
By Jerry Boyd
Special to The Baker County Press
Submitted Photo
Dennis Richardson is a former State
Representative who ran for gover-
nor in the last election. He is consid-
ering a run for Secretary of State.
largely driven by rising PERS and
healthcare costs. Focusing beyond
the budget, we should look to another
culprit of financial mismanagement—
the on-going corruption and waste of
hundreds of millions of precious tax
dollars that could be used to educate
our youth and help prepare them with
the skills needed to succeed in the 21st
century economy.
For example, recently we’ve read
in Willamette Week and The Orego-
nian about sweetheart deals benefiting
certain wealthy tax-credit brokers who
have been abusing the tax credit sys-
tem. The articles tell of how Oregon’s
Department of Energy (D.O.E.) which
is in charge of administering hundreds
of millions in Business Energy Tax
Credits, showed favor to one tax credit
broker, giving his firm a huge discount
while all the other brokers paid full-
price.
When pushed by reporters to respond,
what explanation did the D.O.E give?
Silence. The D.O.E. did what we’ve
become accustomed to over the years
of one-party rule. They went straight
into cover up mode and tried to pass a
rule that would have been retroactive to
July 1, 2012.
The Secretary of State told The
Oregonian that while her office was
looking into the situation, there was
not going to be an official audit of the
D.O.E. What is apparent in the post-
Kitzhaber era is that very little has
changed. Public officials continue to
avoid accountability and the Demo-
cratic leadership team in the legislature
continues to block ethics reforms.
The business practices at the D.O.E
warrant a full audit. Instead, the Sec-
retary of State and agency officials just
hope the taxpayers won’t notice and
that these issues can simply be swept
under the carpet.
Few Oregonians realize Oregon’s
Secretary of State (SOS) has the as-
signment to be the watch-dog over the
people’s tax dollars. The SOS has had
the ability to audit and expose hundreds
of millions in waste by state agencies.
Instead, Oregon is a favorite foil of
late-night comedians, who ridicule our
state for its growing list of expensive
failed projects. Oregon’s Secretary of
State should do better. That’s not how
we want our state to be known.
I’ve asked myself repeatedly, why
didn’t the Secretary Of State empower
her team of auditors to properly oversee
and stop the Cover Oregon debacle
before more than $250 million was
wasted? How much could have been
saved from the $175 million wasted on
the Columbia River Crossing bridge
project or the $70 million on the failed
DHS Modernization Project? Bet-
ter oversight by the SOS on those and
many other projects could have warned
the Governor and Legislature of the
impending failures.
So, the question remains unanswered,
“Who’s watching out for the people of
Oregon?”
Opinions or Letters to the Editor express
the opinions of their authors, and have not
been authored by and are not necessarily
the opinions of The Baker County Press, any
of our staff, management, independent
contractors or affiliates. Advertisements
placed by political groups, candidates,
businesses, etc., are printed as a paid
service, which does not constitute an
endorsement of or fulfillment obligation
by this newspaper for the products or
services advertised.
“Beauty is in the eye of the behold-
er,” some say.
True, except when it comes to infor-
mal “art” like graffiti.
Living in a town like Baker City
where “nothing bad ever happens”
we are often lulled into complacency
regarding those things which, else-
where, have proven to be detrimental
to quality of life and safety.
The temptation to ignore something
as innocuous as graffiti is compound-
ed when the city in which it occurs
was ranked “safest in Oregon” in 2014
and when people fail to understand
the nexus between graffiti and gang
related crime.
That’s a stretch you might say.
Baker City has no gangs. True,
and I’d like to see it remain that way.
Baker City has no established gangs
for a variety of reasons, not the least
of which is a concerted effort by lo-
cal law enforcement to keep gangs
out. But to think we do not have the
potential for gang activity is to bury
one’s head in the sand. And to think
that there is no connection between
seemingly harmless “art on a wall”
like “Movie Rat” behind the Eltrym
Theater and gang graffiti is to fail to
understand the connection.
Baker City does have the potential
for gangs. We are bracketed by cities
in Malheur and Umatilla Counties
which have them and wish they didn’t.
Those folks travel through Baker on
I-84 and stop here.
We have a prison in town. It houses
some folks with strong street gang
affiliations.
Friends and families of those in-
carcerated, also with gang affiliations,
migrate to our town and stay for the
duration of their inmate’s incarcera-
tion.
Over the past year the police depart-
ment has had much success in attack-
ing the drug problem, which undeni-
ably exists in Baker City. It is a battle
that is far from over, and one our
citizens wish to see continued. Drugs
and gangs are inexorably wedded
together.
The sources of the heroin, cocaine
and methamphetamine we see on our
streets are gangs.
Among the drug dealers sentenced
to state prison from Baker County
over the past several years are those
with gang connections.
So how is spray paint “art” like
”Movie Rat” related to the potential
Submitted Photo
Jerry Boyd is a retired Chief of
Police who during his career worked
in areas where gangs were well
established.
proliferation of gangs in our commu-
nity? It’s really very simple and easily
understood by those who have seen
how gangs operate in other communi-
ties.
Any, I repeat, any graffiti on walls,
doorways, or sidewalks visible to
passersby are an invitation to gang
members to add their “tags.”
Those tags tell others in the gang
world that this is their territory. It is
nothing more than a challenge to those
from other gangs to block out the graf-
fiti they see and replace it with their
own.
In addition to being unsightly and a
nuisance to remove, gang-related graf-
fiti causes tempers to flare. Violence
on the part of opposing gang members
is an inevitable result.
Not good for any community I think
you’d agree.
So, again, what is the nexus be-
tween “Movie Rat” and gang graffiti?
Unbeknownst to some, before it
was removed, on the same wall adja-
cent to “Movie Rat” was a gang tag
that referenced a particular “set” of
one of America’s most violent gangs:
the Crips. Yes, it was removed, but
until “Movie Rat” is as well, it will
serve as an invitation to other gang-
banging taggers.
There is some thought being given
to modifying the existing anti graffiti
ordinance. Why?
The existing code and the manner
in which it is enforced are entirely
fair and reasonable. Property owners
are given more than adequate time to
remove graffiti and the services of the
Baker County Juvenile Department
are available to assist in that regard.
Overreaction to a nonexistent prob-
lem may be your reaction to what I
have written.
Based upon experience elsewhere,
my response is that an ounce of pre-
vention is much more desirable than a
pound of cure.
True, because if gangs become es-
tablished—and graffiti is the first step
in that process—getting rid of them is
almost impossible to accomplish.
— Contact Us —
YOUR ELECTED
OFFICIALS
The Baker County Press
President Barack Obama
PO Box 567
Baker City, Ore. 97814
202.456.2461 fax
Open Monday-Thursday for calls
9 AM - 4 PM
Open 24/7 for emails
Office location: TBA
Phone: 541.519.0572
TheBakerCountyPress.com
202.456.1414
Whitehouse.gov/contact
US Sen. Jeff Merkley
503.326.3386
503.326.2900 fax
Merkley.Senate.gov
US Sen. Ron Wyden
541.962.7691
Wyden.Senate.gov
US Rep. Greg Walden
Kerry McQuisten, Publisher
Editor@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Wendee Morrissey, Advertising and Sales
Wendee@TheBakerCountyPress.com
David Conn, Advertising and Sales
David@TheBakerCountyPress.com
541.624.2400
541.624.2402 fax
Walden.House.gov
Oregon Gov. Kate
Brown
503.378.3111
Governor.Oregon.gov
Published weekly every Friday.
Subscription rates per year are $29.95 all areas,
e-mail delivery. $39.95 print issue, home delivery,
Baker City city limits only. $49.95 print issue,
mail delivery, outside Baker City city limits only.
Payment in advance.
A division of
Black Lyon Publishing, LLC
State Rep. Cliff Bentz
503.986.1460
State Sen. Ted Ferrioli
541.490.6528
Baker County
Commissioners Bill Harvey;
Mark Bennett; Tim Kerns
541.523.8200
541.523.8201
Copyright © 2014