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
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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
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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 —
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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.
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