FRIDAY, JULY 29, 2016
4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
Opinion / Local
— Editorial —
The nature of
small-town
gossip
We think it was author Nicholas
Sparks who called gossip the toxic
waste of small towns. We agree.
Just wait a while, and if you live
in an area as sparsely populated as
Baker County, where everyone knows
everyone, you’re certain to learn about
something you’ve done that’s sure to
surprise you!
Some of that gossip is idle chatter,
brushed aside in days.
Some springs from when people in
a workplace, organization, etc. simply
don’t have enough information and
speculate to fill in the gaps.
Some, however, is intended to de-
liberately cause harm, destroy reputa-
tions, kill careers, or further personal
agendas—and this kind hangs on ...
until the next big local “scandal,” that
is.
Gossiping is really just bullying
taken underground—ofttimes more a
reflection of the character of the gos-
siper than that of the gossipee. (If that
isn’t a word, it should be.)
We read once that one never behaves
so closely to the devil as when one
chooses to slander another in this way.
Which is worse—the alleged sin of the
person you’re trashing? Or the way
you’re trashing that person? The point
is worth a good mental debate.
In looking back, most of us have
probably never handled being pre-
sented with gossip in a very prepared
or effective way. Most of us have, at
one time or another, added to a rumor
or allowed one to continue through
us because we didn’t nip it in the bud
right then and there. In fact, we never
even thought about how to do better.
Perhaps starting with the realiza-
tion that there are always, always at
least three sides to every story—one
person’s, the other person’s, and the
complete truth filtered through no
one’s point of view—would be a good
launch point.
We dug around online through news-
letters and blogs, looking for ways
people have effectively shut down a
rumor mill. Here are some:
• Deflection. If your co-worker or
friend begins to tell a whopper, point-
edly cut her off. “Hey, what do you
think about the weather today?” It’s
subtle enough to avoid an argument,
yet strong enough to work.
• Confrontation. Look at the gossip-
monger and firmly say, “I don’t ap-
preciate rumors, and I hope you won’t
come to me with one again.”
• Positivity. This one is perhaps the
strategy we like the best. “Oh wow,”
you’ll respond. “I can’t imagine she’d
do that. Did you know she feeds soup
to dozens of orphans on weekends?
Quick, let’s go tell her to her face
what you heard so she can address it!”
Wouldn’t you hope someone hear-
ing a rumor about you would do the
same?
We toss this editorial out there as a
challenge to individuals throughout
the community.
—The Baker County Press Editorial Board
— Letters to the Editor —
To the Editor:
The recent mass killings of police of-
ficers in Texas and Louisiana, coupled
with other murders of officers across the
nation, has led to an outpouring of public
support for those who serve in uniform.
The risks faced by law enforcement
personnel are the same everywhere. They
simply vary by frequency of occurrence.
The citizens of Baker City are clearly
aware of that as evidenced by their recent
expressions of support.
Since the Dallas incident our officers
have been the beneficiaries of cards, let-
ters, emails, gift coupons and all types of
food items delivered to the department. A
group of city young people even created
several dozen “survival kits” containing
gum, mints and other items intended to
brighten the officers’ workdays. Those,
like many other expressions of support,
were delivered to the police department
and were very much appreciated.
During the recent Miners Jubilee parade
one of the parade entrants modified its
entry to focus on support for law enforce-
ment. Our officers have frequently been
approached by citizens in our community
who have expressed their strong support
for the work that we do to keeps this com-
munity safe.
Police officers take an oath to protect
and serve and as seen in Dallas in particu-
lar officers will place their lives in jeop-
ardy to protect those whom they serve.
Baker City police officers are no different.
We do our job, and accept the risks that go
with it, because we care about the people
we serve. It is clear that the citizens of
Baker City care about us as well. It is
nearly impossible to adequately express
how much we appreciate the support we
have received. The best we can do is to
say “thank you” and to continue serving
as we always have.
Jerry Boyd,
Public Information Officer
Baker City Police Department
Baker City
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Police Department says thanks
New officer sworn in
— Guest Opinion —
Corporate tax
arguments
mislead,
manipulate
By Jeff Gudman
Special to The Baker County Press
Once again, Oregonians are
being misled by talking points
and statistical manipulations to
justify a political agenda.
It’s a shame, because it seems
like every news story is about
back-door deals to silence public
records requests, email scandals
and ballot title tinkering.
It’s no wonder Oregonians are
leaving the party system and hav-
ing less and less confidence in
their government telling them the
truth.
The latest proposal is Initiative
Petition 28. Make no mistake,
this is the most regressive form
of a sales tax we’ve ever seen—
one that doesn’t exempt food or
medicine —hidden as a tax on
“big corporations.”
If you can’t get past that
sentence because you believe
corporate America is greedy, ma-
nipulative and selfish, I challenge
you to leaf through the headlines
right now and see how many of
those themes belong to our own
state government leadership.
The proposal calls for a 2.5%
tax on the gross sales of corpora-
tions. There is no magic pile of
money this will target. The tax
will be passed through to the cost
of products and services to every
Oregonian who eats, sleeps or
drives.
On December 8, 2015 the
Oregon Center for Public Policy
distributed an email citing a
study claiming that Oregon has
the lowest business taxes in the
country. Of course, if you follow
the footnotes you’ll find enough
caveats and exclusions to make a
late-night infomercial jealous.
If you’re wonky enough to
read the study itself, you’ll find
a disclaimer that Oregon’s rank-
ing is due to its lack of sales tax,
accounting for 21% of state and
local business taxes nationwide.
Calling it an apples-to-apples
Submitted Photo
Jeff Gudman is a Lake Oswego City
Councilor and Republican candidate
for Oregon’s State Treasurer.
comparison with the 45 states
that do just isn’t honest.
I recently posted a story to my
Facebook page and was aston-
ished by a comment made by
a young activist who identified
herself as a paid signature gath-
erer for the petition.
She said, “Walmart can afford
to pay more than $150 a year. So
can Nike, Intel, etc.”
The $150 refers to an Oregon
minimum corporate tax that
most certainly doesn’t apply to
Walmart, Nike and Intel.
It also doesn’t take into ac-
count payroll taxes, property
taxes, Tri-met taxes, local gov-
ernment taxes, excise taxes, and
fees for licensing everything
from motor vehicles to profes-
sional cosmetologists.
How someone could leave
unchallenged the claim that big
corporations pay only $150 per
year baffles me. But I hear it
every day.
President Reagan once famous-
ly quoted a Russian proverb that
translates to “trust but verify.” As
Oregonians, we all need to com-
mit to putting forth that effort.
The stakes are simply too high
to blindly parrot claims that
should otherwise arouse suspi-
cion—regardless of which side
you’re on. The only way to com-
bat misleading information is to
challenge it, and refuse to trust or
support those promoting it.
Oregon’s PERS liability is a
good example of how previous
decisions effect future genera-
tions. The consequences of this
corporate tax will be no different.
Oregon’s future is at stake.
— 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
202.456.1414
Whitehouse.gov/contact
US Sen. Jeff Merkley
503.326.3386
503.326.2900 fax
Merkley.Senate.gov
Submitted Photo.
Officer Ben Wray being sworn in by Julie Smith
while Chief Wyn Lohner looks on.
On July 26, 2016 Ben
Wray joined the Baker
City Police Department as
a Police Officer. He fills
the vacancy created by the
recent retirement of long-
time officer Sharon Bass.
Wray is an Oregon
native, a graduate of
Gresham High School,
and attended the Com-
munity College of the Air
Force and the University
of Maryland while serving
in the armed forces. He has
also attended George Fox
University.
Wray has 21 years of
law enforcement experi-
ence including five and one
half years with the Mult-
nomah County Sheriff’s
office and the remainder as
a Police Officer with the
city of Gresham, Oregon.
According to a press
release, Wray, his wife and
daughter are pleased to
now live in Baker City and
look forward to the many
recreational opportunities
that are so abundant in
Eastern Oregon.
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
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Wendee@TheBakerCountyPress.com
541.624.2402 fax
David Conn, Advertising and Sales
David@TheBakerCountyPress.com
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