FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2015
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 5
Local
County: water rights, prayer Distracted
driving
CONTINUED FROM
PAGE 1
Health.
Nudd and Andrews pre-
sented a slide show, using
the County’s interactive
Smart Board, to display
issues and statistics regard-
ing the state of physical
and mental health in the
county, with a major focus
on tobacco use.
Some of the statistics
from the 2014 Baker Coun-
ty Fact Sheet: in one year,
2,500 adults were reported
to have regularly smoked
cigarettes; 919 people
developed a serious illness
caused by tobacco; 47
people died from tobacco
use; $9.4 million was spent
on tobacco-related medical
care; and $7.5 million was
reported in productivity
losses due to premature
tobacco-related deaths.
Also included in the dis-
cussion from the statistics:
cigarette smoking among
adults in Baker County
is higher, at 23%, than
the rest of Oregon, 19%;
cigarette smoking among
pregnant women in Baker
County is more, at 27%,
than Oregon overall, at
11%, and three times as
high as the rest of the U.S.,
at 9%.
During the discussion,
which included diseases
and negative effects of
tobacco use, an unidenti-
fied male attendee from
Hermiston stated that the
statistics are “…the biggest
pile of (expletive deleted),”
adding some other strong
comments, in doubt of the
accuracy and source of the
numbers.
Harvey responded that
Nudd and Andrews were
informing the public of the
statistics, and the dangers
and costs to the public with
tobacco use, and what the
overall health looks like in
the county.
Nudd said that disease
and death in the county
don’t necessarily have a
link to tobacco use, and,
the point of the statistics is
to make the public aware
of the state of overall
health in the county, and,
to look for ways to im-
prove it.
Ramona Creighton com-
mented about her observa-
tions regarding smoking in
the public parks, and the
lack of enforcement to cur-
tail it, and the issue with
proper signage involving
the restriction on smoking.
Harvey said he agreed,
and, he would discuss the
matter with City Manager
Mike Kee.
Prayer Before Meet-
ings.
Martin discussed the last
topic of the session, prayer
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Todd Arriola / The Baker County Press
Attorney Drew Martin advised County Commissioners that their meeting
invocation practices are well within the scope of the law.
before public meetings.
Martin said, “The issue,
and the question, of open-
ing public meetings with
an invocation or prayer--
this issue was fairly recent-
ly addressed by the United
States (U.S.) Supreme
Court, and, over the years,
different Supreme Courts
have addressed different is-
sues, in what’s acceptable,
and, what’s not…”
He said that it’s perfectly
acceptable to have an invo-
cation or prayer that’s spe-
cific to a certain religion,
however, it’s unacceptable
to advocate for or against a
specific religion.
Martin’s comments were
followed by applause from
Danser.
In response to Kerns’
statement that Martin’s
report to the Board is
that State law differs, and
Bennett’s question about
whether the Board violated
any State or Federal law
regarding prayer, Martin
responded that it hasn’t
been addressed by the
State Supreme Court, and
that the Board has not vio-
lated the State or Federal
Constitutions, with prayers
before the sessions.
Dielman, who initially
brought the issue to the
Board’s attention previ-
ously, was present at the
beginning of the session,
and he left shortly there-
after.
However, he provided
the Board with a copy of a
statement he drafted, titled
“Baker County Commis-
sion Prayer Policy.”
The document as read
verbatim by Harvey fol-
lows:
“For the past year Baker
County Commission has
operated under a de facto
Prayer Policy that begins
every Commission meeting
with a Christian invoca-
tion/prayer. This prayer
policy is unprecedented,
i.e., there is no history of
the Commission beginning
meetings with an invoca-
tion, let alone a strictly
Christian prayer.
“Why, after 152 years,
do the Commissioners find
it necessary to break with
tradition by beginning its
meetings the past year
with a sectarian Christian
prayer?
“The Commissioners
thereby take no notice of
the religious make-up of
the persons attending their
meetings.
“The Commissioners
have made no attempts to
diversify their invocations
to include religions other
than Christianity. The
Commissioners show no
consideration for the fact
that many Christians do
not pray in public.
“The Commissioners
cannot know what other
religions are represented
by the individual members
of the audience at their
meetings, unless they were
to take a poll. But they
have another way of deter-
mining the make-up of the
audience.
“By following the Pledge
of Allegiance, during
which everyone stands,
and then going right into
the Christian prayer,
persons who do not wish
to participate in a sectar-
ian prayer, either remain
standing, or they sit down,
thereby involuntarily
singling themselves out as
different from the rest of
the audience and signaling
to the Commissioners that
they differ in their religious
beliefs from the Commis-
sioners.
“A little related recent
history: for eight years one
of the seven Baker City
councilors was a Jew-
ish businessman. During
every one of those eight
years, Baker City Council
began its meetings with
a Christian prayer. This
is exactly what Baker
County Commissioners are
doing today with respect
to anyone in the audience
who is not a Christian or
is a Christian who does
not believe in praying in
public. After the Ameri-
cans United for Separation
of Church and State in
Washington, D.C., threat-
ened to sue, did Baker
City Council quit having
discriminatory sectarian
invocations.
“If the Baker County
Commissioners are
sensitive to the above
criticism of their prayer
policy, I hope they will do
something to change this
discriminatory practice that
has gone on almost a full
year. Gary Dielman 12-9-
2015.”
Harvey said, in response
to Dielman’s concerns, that
he had previously altered
the order, so that the invo-
cation was recited first, and
the Pledge of Allegiance
second, and, that he states
before the invocation that
it is optional and those
wishing to stand may do
so.
“He’s not been to our
meetings to actually see
that in practice,” Harvey
said, about the accom-
modations the Board has
made to address Dielman’s
concerns.
OTEC to return capital credits
Start checking your
mailboxes because the
Oregon Trail Electric
Cooperative Board of
Directors is pleased to an-
nounce the return of $2.3
million in Capital Credits
to its members beginning
in December.
“That amount is nearly
double from the $1.2 mil-
lion returned in 2014,” said
Werner Buehler, General
Manager of OTEC, “it is
a great opportunity for
the cooperative to give
its members ‘credit’ - in
the form of a check - for
continuing to help build,
sustain and grow their
electric cooperative.”
To date, OTEC has
retired approximately $27
million to its members.
Current members who
have eligible capital credits
of $15 or more will be
mailed a check in mid-
December.
Members with capital
credits of $14.99 or less
will receive a credit in the
amount owed to them on
their December bill.
“Capital Credits distin-
guish cooperatives from
any other business model
in the utility world,” said
Buehler. “When people
sign up to receive electric
service from OTEC, they
become a member of a
non-profit electric coopera-
tive. While for-profit utili-
ties (like Idaho Power and
Pacific Power and Light)
return a portion of any
profits made back to their
stockholders, non-profit
electric co-ops, like OTEC,
operate on an at-cost basis.
So, instead of return-
ing leftover funds to far
away stockholders, OTEC
allocates and periodi-
cally retires funds (called
"capital credits") back to
the members who live right
here in our community.”
OTEC operates in a four
county service territory
that includes Baker, Burns,
Grant and Harney counties.
“It is always good for our
Board to be able to return
Capital Credits during
the holiday season,” said
Buehler. “It brings good
cheer and is part of our co-
operative principle, to help
where we can during tough
economic times.”
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Sgt. Wayne Chastain agrees.
“It’s about dividing attention away from the task of
driving,” Chastain said. “The driver isn’t looking ahead.
Driving means divided attention anyway—turn signals,
operating the clutch—but when you’re texting, you’re not
even looking ahead out the window.”
Fatality accidents are up in 2015 compared to last
year—397 as opposed to 324 to date in Oregon.
In Oregon, from 2009-2013 there were 56 fatal crashes,
58 fatalities and 13,188 injuries involving a distracted
driver. 13 fatal crashes, 14 fatalities and 1,204 injuries
during the same period were caused by drivers using a
cell phone at the time of the crash.
“That’s nearly twenty percent of all distracted driv-
ing fatalities linked to cell phone use,” points out Tom
Strandberg, The Oregon Department of Transportation
(ODOT) Region 5 Public Affairs Director. “Distracted
driving is definitely an issue regarding crashes and a
concern for the agency.”
According to the Oregon-based nonprofit Oregon
Impact, distracted driving falls into the impaired driving
category right along with drugged driving, drunk driving,
and drowsy driving.
ODOT lists the Top 10 Driver Errors resulting in ac-
cidents as:
1. Failure to avoid stopped or parked vehicle ahead
2. Failure to yield right-of-way
3. Failure to maintain lane
4. Ran off road
5. Driving too fast for conditions
6. Following too close
7. Inattention
8. Improper change of traffic lanes
9. Left turn in front of on-coming traffic
10. Disregarded traffic signal
Strandberg added, “As an agency we will be putting
more effort into distracted driving campaigns in 2016.”
Lohner and Chastain added that texting while driving
is just as, if not more dangerous than attempting other
activities while driving, such as putting on makeup or
reading a book.
Strandberg writes in an email, “Distracted drivers pose
a deadly risk to everyone on the road. Drivers engage in
a range of distracting activities from eating, grooming,
reading and talking or texting on their phones.”
Lohner said the local saturation patrol would be pre-
ceded by press releases to inform the public via media.
“The point isn’t to give a lot of citations,” he said. “It’s
to try to make people understand why they’re doing what
they’re doing. To self-evaluate.”
The patrol would most likely happen for a couple
hours at a time on each of a couple days. An officer in an
unmarked car would radio ahead to an officer in a marked
patrol car, who would then stop the cell phone user. While
a citation is possible, in most cases Lohner envisions a
warning to the driver and providing written information
on distracted driving, particularly texting, possibly in the
form of a brochure or flyer.
According to ODOT, in 2014, there were 17,723 con-
victions for violating the cell phone law—a 23% increase
over the previous five-year average.
Strandberg offers up tips to combat distracted driving in
general:
1. Turn it off and stow it. Turn your phone off or switch
it to silent mode before you get in the car. Then stow it
away so that it’s out of reach.
2. Spread the word – there’s an app for that. Record a
message on your phone that tells callers you’re driving
and will get back to them when you’re off the road. You
can also sign up for a service or use a cell phone app that
that automatically notifies callers when you are driving.
Visit www.itcanwait.com for phone apps and more.
3. Pull over. If you need to make a call, pull over to a
safe area first.
4. Use your passengers. Ask a passenger to make the
call or respond to a text for you.
5. X the Text. Don’t ever text and drive, browse online
or read your email while driving. It’s dangerous and
against the law in most states. Even voice-to-text isn’t
risk-free.
6. Know the law. Familiarize yourself with state and
local laws before you get in the car. Oregon prohibits the
use of hand-held cell phones in addition to texting.
7. Prepare. If using a GPS device, enter your destina-
tion before you start to drive. If you prefer a map or writ-
ten directions, review them in advance. If you need help
while driving, ask a passenger to assist you or pull over to
a safe location to change your GPS or review your map/
directions.
8. Secure your pets. Unsecured pets can be a big dis-
traction in the car.
9. Mind the kids. Pull over to a safe place to address
situations involving children in the car.
10. Focus on driving. Multi-tasking behind the wheel
is dangerous. Refrain from eating, drinking, reading,
grooming, smoking, and any other activity that takes your
mind and eyes off the road.
More information is available at www.distraction.gov
or www.itcanwait.com.
Lohner said, “A cell phone is a convenience. Having
that convenience shouldn’t take the place of good plan-
ning. We’d like people to realize that there’s time to pull
over to talk.”
Exemptions to Oregon’s 811.507 do exist, including
among others, cell phone use driving during agricultural
operations, for emergency personnel and ambulance
drivers, utility workers on the job, or those summoning
medical or other emergency help if no other person in the
vehicle is capable of summoning help.