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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (April 8, 2016)
FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016 4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS Opinion / Politics — Letters to the Editor — Nichols is the Democrats’ candidate To the Editor: I wondered why the Baker Democratic Party didn’t run a candidate for the Coun- ty Commissioner race, then it dawned on me, they did! I live in Halfway and I see many Bruce Nichols signs on the most of the liberal Democrats homes in the area. The same in Baker Valley. I also see signs posted in vacant houses that are Nelson Real Estate rentals. Fred Warner now works at Nelson Real Estate. Nichols’ campaign is being run by the same liberal group that brought the County Fred Warner and company. The same group that wanted to change the most basic form of county government from partisan representation to nonparti- san commissioners in an attempt to cloak who a person really is. If a person is judged by the company they keep, it appears Bruce Nichols is part of this very liberal group, which is contrary to Baker County’s conservative beliefs and values. If you want a con- servative elected to continue these basic values, vote for Kody Justus. Kasey Wright Halfway Justus represents grassroots change To the Editor: Our country is in trouble. It is in trouble because we have allowed our government to encroach into areas historically the gov- ernment was never meant to be. We see a great divide between people who do not understand the founding documents which formed this country and those that do. There is a grassroots movement to get back to a Constitutional government. But now there is a faction of society that thinks if you are for upholding the Constitution you are now a terrorist, a bad person, someone who wants anarchy… well no, we just want our government to follow the law. My uncle Kody went to Harney County to support the Dwight and Stephen Ham- mond families, as did most of the people who went to Burns. The Hammond fam- ily has been pushed to the brink of losing their family business by abusive BLM employees. Some Federal employees are out of control. Combine this with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals who has slapped a first right of refusal (to BLM) on the Hammond’s property should they have to sell the family business—how crooked is this? Change begins at the grassroots level, the county level. When elected, Kody will more than recite the words of the oath of office; he will mean them with every fiber of his being. If the voters of Baker County truly want someone who loves the custom and culture of this county and will manage the county business fairly, vote for Kody Justus. Katy Davilla Baker City Nichols was “filler” board member To the Editor: Baker County is very dear to my heart. That is why I am asking you to support Kody Justus for Commissioner. I grew up and graduated high school here. It was my honor to have served on the Baker 5J School Board. I continue to serve in the Army National Guard based here In Baker City. I will always consider Baker County home. I was very involved in local politics as an elected official, and in the Baker County Republican Party. That is why it saddens me to see the unfair and vicious attacks on Kody. Once again the local democrats and the status quo are attacking the conservative guy. Why? Well, that’s what liberals do, The drive-by shot at the beginning with incor- rect and inaccurate information. Then a smear campaign attacking conservative values at hopes of allowing their candidate to win. If the Democrats wanted a liberal candi- date as a commissioner so bad why didn’t 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 a Democrat run? Once again, they have their candidate. Bruce Nichols. What really worries me about Nichols is not who supports him. It’s his past govern- ment experience. One of the most important job duties as commissioner is budgeting and manage- ment. Nichols once served on the Baker City budget board and touts his budget experience history. Nichols does have a history, a history of being absent. Most of the meeting minutes show Nichols as “Absent” and in 2014 he skipped the whole year altogether. The budget is very important and should be taken seriously. Skipping an entire year and over half of the meetings is unaccept- able. This is not the type of budget experi- ence Baker County needs. The minutes are available at (www. bakercity.com/DocumentCenter) It seems these local boards or commit- tees get filled with people to fill slots to prevent opposition or change. A filler or a no show would not make a good commis- sioner. It is clear that Nichols is a businessman. Nichols might be good at minding other people’s business just not the County’s business. Kody will show up, and is the conserva- tive choice. Vote Kody Justus for Baker County Commissioner. Kyle Knight La Grande Nichols helped the Cemetery District To the Editor: Bruce Nichols should be considered by all the voting public as a great choice for a County Commissioner. I have worked with Bruce for the last decade as Secretary for the Haines Cemetery District. Bruce is the Accountant for the Haines Cemetery District. When Bruce became the accountant the District was in dire straights financially. Now the District is financially secure thanks to Bruce. Bruce is very helpful with explanations to the budget committee when budget time comes around. I believe Bruce would be a good ad- dition to the commissioners as a strong financial background is essential for a strong financial Baker County. Carol Proebstel Haines Voting for Nichols To the Editor: It was a pleasure to learn recently that our long-time friend and ranch accoun- tant, Bruce Nichols, has filed to run for the county commission position that Tim Kerns now holds. I would like to thank Tim for all his years of service. I know it wasn’t for fame or fortune, but for his commit- ment to the betterment of Baker County. Thanks, Tim. Great job. As with Tim, I know Bruce has the desire to serve for the betterment of our county. Bruce and his family have deep roots in Baker County. One of Bruce’s ancestors was an original homesteader on Burnt River in the Bridgeport area. Over the years, Bruce has had many ag producer clients such as ourselves. Because of that experience he knows very well that agriculture is the backbone of Baker County’s economy and how important it is to do what can b done at the county level t support the county’s ag industry. The majority of ag income goes back into the local economy in the form of wages, the purchase of goods and servic- es, and property taxes. Bruce’s experience in the budgeting process will be a real access to the court. Bruce has also shown his interest in the community by serving on a number of local boards. I know Bruce to be a man of honesty and integrity. I believe he is the best man for the job. I encourage my fellow republicans not only to vote for Bruce Nichols on May 17, but to encour- age others to do the same. Lynn Shumway Baker City 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. Transfer of Public Lands CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The resolution in full is as follows: OREGON REPUBLI- CAN PARTY RESOLU- TION IN SUPPORT OF WESTERN STATES TAKING BACK PUBLIC LANDS WHEREAS, The federal government promised all newly created states – in their statehood enabling contracts – that it would transfer title to the public lands; WHEREAS, This prom- ise to transfer title to the public lands is the same for all states east and west of Colorado; WHEREAS, The federal government honored this promise with Hawaii and all states east of Colorado and today controls on aver- age less than 5% of the lands in those states; WHEREAS, The federal government has failed to honor this same promise with MT, WY, CO, NM, AZ, UT, ID, NV, WA, OR, CA and AK and today still controls more than 50% of all lands in these states (more than 80% in Nevada); WHEREAS, The Su- preme Court of the United States Congress ended its nearly two hundred year public policy of beneficial- ly transferring ownership of public lands by passing the Federal Land Policy Management Act (FLPMA); WHEREAS, Public lands previously held in trust for the individual states were managed for their resource value prior to the passage of FLPMA; WHEREAS, After the passage of FLPMA, our public lands are instead being managed perpetu- ally for their conservation value; WHEREAS, Local state and national economies are all being adversely impacted by the loss of use of natural resources thus being managed; WHEREAS, Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT), Secure Rural Schools (SRS), and other public offsets are financially inadequate, have been unreliably funded and do not adequately compensate the States for the breach of their Enabling Acts; WHEREAS, The U.S. Supreme Court case Ha- waii v. Office of Hawaiian Affairs speaks to the proposition that Congress cannot by subsequent, unilateral action alter or di- minish the rights conferred upon a state in conse- quence of its admission to the Union; WHEREAS, Under the guise of “sequestration” to cut federal expenses, the federal government is cutting western states’ rev- enues in the form of PILT< SRS and FML (Federal Mineral Lease) cutbacks; WHEREAS, States east of Colorado pay billions each year to subsidize western states to not use their lands and resources to education their own children and care for their own communities; WHEREAS, Western states already manage mil- lions of acres of state lands generating more revenue with less expense and less environmental damage in general than federally managed public lands; WHEREAS, The Nation- al Association of Forest Service Retirees recently issued a paper describing the unsustainability of cur- rent federal forest manage- ment practices; WHEREAS, The result- ing increase in catastrophic wildfires is needlessly killing millions of animals, destroying habitat and watersheds for decades; WHEREAS, Western states are incurring inordi- nate expenses to suppress forest fires related to failed federal forest policies; WHEREAS, The federal government discourages capital investment and job creation by taking ten (10) times longer to approve en- ergy development permits than states where the fed- eral government honored the promise to transfer title to the public lands; WHEREAS, The insti- tute for Energy Research discovered in 2013 there is more than $150 trillion in mineral value locked up in federally controlled lands; WHEREAS, Opening 8% of coastal plain of ANWR in Alaska would provide billions of dollars to the Federal treasury, create more than 500,000 jobs nationwide and add between 9-16 billion bar- rels of oil to our nation’s supply; WHEREAS, In 2013 the United States Govern- ment Accountability Office testified to Congress there is more recoverable oil in UT, CO, and WY than the rest of the world combined locked up in federally controlled lands; and WHEREAS, Legal analy- ses by the Sutherland Insti- tute and the Federalist Society concluded that the intent of the parties, the text and the context of the statehood Enabling Acts, obligate the federal government to dispose of public lands; now THEREFORE be it RESOLVED, The Oregon Republican Party calls upon the federal govern- ment to honor to all willing western states the same statehood promise to trans- fer title to the public lands and it be honored with all states east of Colorado; and RESOLVED, The Ore- gon Republican Party calls upon all national and state leaders and representatives to exert their utmost power and influence to urge the imminent transfer of public lands to all willing western states for the benefit of these western states and for the nation as a whole. Adopted by the Oregon Republican Party State Central Committee. OFF rates candidates The Oregon Firearms Federation (OFF) has announced its ratings of candidates in various races. Candidates who are incumbents have been graded on their votes on gun bills. In 2015 and 2016, anti-gun votes were overwhelmingly from Democrats. On the major gun related bills, Republi- cans voted 100% pro-gun. For candidates who are not incumbents or who have no previous record of serving in elected office, grades were determined by answers to a candidate survey. “NR” in the grade column indicates the can- didate chose not to answer — Contact Us — The Baker County Press PO Box 567 Baker City, Ore. 97814 Open Monday-Thursday for calls 9 AM - 4 PM Open 24/7 for emails a survey. If no candidates in your district answered the survey, OFF says contact them and ask them why they do not want their positions made public. Full scores can be found online at www. http:// www.oregonfirearms. org/2016-candidate- ratings. YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS President Barack Obama 202.456.1414 202.456.2461 fax Whitehouse.gov/contact US Sen. Jeff Merkley 503.326.3386 503.326.2900 fax Merkley.Senate.gov Phone: 541.519.0572 TheBakerCountyPress.com US Sen. Ron Wyden 541.962.7691 Wyden.Senate.gov Kerry McQuisten, Publisher Editor@TheBakerCountyPress.com US Rep. Greg Walden Wendee Morrissey, Advertising and Sales Wendee@TheBakerCountyPress.com 541.624.2402 fax David Conn, Advertising and Sales David@TheBakerCountyPress.com 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 541.624.2400 Walden.House.gov Oregon Gov. Kate Brown 503.378.3111 Governor.Oregon.gov 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 Copyright © 2014 -2016 541.523.8201
