FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2016
4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
Opinion / Local
— Letters to the Editor —
I’m voting for Ash
To the Editor:
My 15 years as a Chief of Police taught
me that there are a number of attributes
the head of a law enforcement agency,
Chief or Sheriff, needs to possess. Of
those, three stand out as most important.
One, experience in as many operational
areas of the department as possible. Not
to “micromanage” as leader but to be able
to provide guidance, support and resourc-
es in major cases. Sheriff Ash has that
breadth of experience; his opponent does
not. Two, true management experience to
include personnel, budgeting, public rela-
tions and working at a management level
with other agencies and organizations.
The incumbent Sheriff has that experi-
ence. His opponent does not.
Three, current knowledge of crime
conditions and service needs throughout
the county. Sheriff Ash has that because
he is constantly out and about around the
county visiting with people to determine
their needs and expectations. Mr. Hoopes,
due to an injury, has not worked as a
Deputy Sheriff for a year. Thus he is not
current regarding conditions county wide.
In my professional opinion there is but
one choice in this election if the objective
is to have a Sheriff who is committed to
upholding the Constitution in a profes-
sional, appropriate, and community ori-
ented way. That choice is the incumbent
Sheriff, Travis Ash.
Jerry Boyd
Baker City
This “deplorable” is voting for
Hoopes
To the Editor:
I am proud to be one of the “deplo-
rables” who loves this country and honors
its culture and traditions. I watch with hor-
ror as my country is being taken over by
socialists who use unconstitutional federal
powers to accomplish their evil agenda.
I believe that our only hope to retain our
liberties and rights and property is to elect
a sheriff who understands his absolute
authority over federal law enforcement.
Unfortunately, interim Sheriff Ash has
already demonstrated his disregard for the
rights of others by openly supporting the
unlawful ambush and killing of a man not
even charged with a crime.
I cannot believe that Travis Ash would
act any differently should similar incidents
occur in Baker County.
I am standing behind John Hoopes, as I
know the strength of his character and his
commitment to lawful protection of our
rights. Join me in voting for John Hoopes
for Sheriff!
Dale E. Hoopes
Baker City
air, clean water, clean soil, open space,
schools, medical facilities, wildlife, wil-
derness and our public lands in general;
“4. A growing population leads inevita-
bly to more government laws, regulations,
police, centralized control, authoritarian
policies, and a generalized stifl ing of per-
sonal freedom for all but the very rich.”
Abbey was also progun. He thought an
armed populace was a barrier to tyranny.
Too bad the urban left is so poorly edu-
cated. Now, as if we don’t have too many
people, Hillary wants to build bridges
instead of walls and destroy the second
amendment. Good luck next generation.
Steve Culley
Baker City
Hoopes has the experience
To the Editor:
I see campaign signs for Travis Ash de-
claring that his “experience” is what sets
him apart from his opponent, Deputy John
Hoopes. I disagree.
Deputy Hoopes has 16 years of law en-
forcement experience of his own, mostly
dealing with day-to-day events of the
people of our county.
It is true that Travis Ash has been sent to
more educational seminars, but school-
ing does not mean good sense and solid
values and character to handle a situation.
Just take a look at John Hoopes and
imagine his great strengths in an emer-
gency. In many situations, it is “character”
that matters, not “experience.”
A competent Sheriff will delegate au-
thority to qualifi ed deputies, just as a com-
petent corporate CEO surrounds himself
with qualifi ed Vice Presidents to carry out
the objectives of his company.
If a Sheriff claims to be “experienced”
but has not bothered to educate himself
about his constitutional superiority over
federal offi cials, he may well allow federal
agents to wrongfully harm local people.
To do so is a violation of his oath of offi ce
and trust given to him by the electors.
John Hoopes is highly respected by lo-
cal people and deeply committed to the
traditional conservative values that once
made this country a beacon for liberty and
productivity. It is character that matters,
not taking classes.
Join me to elect John Hoopes to be our
Sheriff!
Joyce Hoopes
Baker City
Vote no on 1-74
To the Editor:
Every now and then I like to quote
Edward Abbey, the old environmental-
ist of The Monkey Wrench Gang and
inspiration for Earth First. In a letter to
the Industrial Worker Oct. 1st 1988 he had
this to say:
“As I have said and written many times,
in many places, I am opposed to all
further mass immigration, legal or illegal,
from any source, and my reasons for this
position are quite conventional. Like all
earth Firsters, almost all environmentalist,
most union members and (according to the
polls) the majority of blacks and Hispan-
ics, I think we should seal our borders
for the following good, clear and obvious
reasons:
“1.The USA is overcrowded already.
“2. A large infl ux of cheap labor-docile,
uneducated and desperate foreigners-will
put bonafi de native born( or naturalized)
American working people at further disad-
vantage in their struggle with big business
and big government;
“3. A growing population means greater
pressure on all resources, including clean
To the Editor:
Ballots will be out soon for the general
election. To keep our system of govern-
ment, which has worked for a very long
time, everyone needs to vote no on Baker
County Measure 1-74.
Everyone who wants to vote can vote
now…but to hear the “yes” crowd, you
would think someone is physically stop-
ping them from voting in every election.
The Nonpartisan system is the road map
to a one-party system. History all over
the world shows this – look at Mexico or
Cuba and see how well a one party system
has worked for them. Here in Oregon,
look at Josephine County and other coun-
ties which are currently Nonpartisan.
None are happy with this system and want
to return to the system Baker County has
today.
One of the arguments we hear today is so
everyone can vote in the primary elec-
tion. Well they can if they are registered
to vote…so why change the partisanship
of Baker County Commissioners? Maybe
it’s the folks who have tried to run for
offi ce and lost? Maybe they think hiding
their true identity will fool the voters into
voting for them in Baker County.
Join me in defeating this crazy idea for
the second year in a row. Vote no on
Baker Measure 1-74. Let’s keep transpar-
ency in local government.
Carole Dyke
Baker City
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Immigration argument isn’t new
— Editorial —
Representative
Republics and
our party system
A comment posted anonymously in
the public domain was sent to us from a
Disqus board recently. The full comment
is this in regard to the upcoming race for
Baker County Sheriff:
“Why are the Baker Co Republicans
supporting Hoopes with fi nancial contri-
butions? Shouldn’t that be for all Baker
Co republications to decide, not just a
few committee members. I understand the
Committee head is a staunch Hoopes sup-
porter and she is free to support whoever
she likes. But she is not free to spend all
republicans $ for her personal choices. I
am a republican and I did not even get no-
ticed re this choice. Once again transpar-
ency and accountability seem to be limited
in Baker.”
We admit—it’s frustrating after so many
articles on the subject found in so many
different media sources to hear once again
that the basic structure of how our politi-
cal system works is so misunderstood.
So let’s start with this—America is
a representative republic, not a pure
democracy. This means at every level,
voters vote in people to represent them.
Imagine how expensive, time-consuming
and unwieldy it would be to have an
election for every decision made at every
level of government each day. It isn’t even
feasible, this idea. Our Founding Fathers,
brilliant guys, knew this.
Here in Baker County, all registered
Republicans were given a choice on their
ballots to vote for the very most grassroots
level of elected offi cial—the Precinct
Committee Person or PCP.
The PCPs represent the voters from their
party inside their precincts. The Baker
County Republican Central Committee’s
PCPs are in place as volunteers to support
Republican candidates. The Democratic
Central Committee is in place to support
their Democratic candidates. That’s how
it all works. That’s how it’s supposed to
work!
So to answer the anonymous person’s
fi rst question about why this committee
is supporting Hoopes. Well, that fi nancial
support is because John Hoopes is the
only Republican candidate running for
Sheriff. Travis Ash is registered by his
personal choice as a Non-Affi liated Voter
or NAV. If either Hoopes or Ash had been
registered a Democrat, we’re pretty sure
that party would have helped them fi nan-
cially. That type of support is at the foun-
dation of why both central committees
exist: To help elect candidates on behalf of
the registered Republicans or Democrats
who entrusted these PCPs to represent
them, their like-minded constituents.
To address the comment about spend-
ing all Republican money for the Chair’s
personal choices ... we’d can’t for the life
of us fi gure out what that means.
Each year the PCPs in the Baker County
Republican Party spend hundreds if not
thousands of volunteer hours raising
money to support Republican candidates
in general. This coffer includes private
donations from the PCPs themselves,
raffl e events, proceeds from banquets and
the like.
During meetings that fall in election
cycles, the entire group of PCPs, again,
elected to represent their precincts, votes
on how to distribute the money they’ve
raised.
No money is being forcibly taken from
random Republicans around the County
and distributed against their will. Any
individual outside either the Democrat or
Republican Central Committee is quite
free—it’s America after all—to directly
donate his or her own money to whichever
candidate they please from any party.
—The Baker County Press Editorial Board
National Fire Prevention contest
announced for 4th-6th graders
The Baker County
Interagency Fire Preven-
tion Team, consisting of
Federal-State and local fi re
agencies, would like to
encourage Baker County
families to recognize
National Fire Prevention
Week: October 9 – 15,
2016.
Fire Prevention Week
was established to com-
memorate the Great Chi-
cago Fire, the tragic 1871
confl agration that killed
more than 250 people, left
100,000 homeless, and de-
stroyed more than 17,400
structures.
This year’s primary
National Fire Prevention
Week campaign, “Don’t
Wait – Check the Date!
Replace Smoke Alarms
Every 10 Years,” repre-
sents an effort to educate
the public about basic
but essential elements of
smoke alarm safety.
In addition to visit-
ing homes and installing
smoke alarms, fi re agencies
are working with schools
and 4th, 5th and 6th grade
students to develop Fire
Prevention Message Post-
ers promoting National
Fire Prevention Week.
This year, students can
develop a Fire Prevention
message poster on one of
(3) topics: Smoke Alarms,
Kitchen Fire Prevention,
or Holiday Home Fire Pre-
vention. The goal of the
poster contest is to have
students develop a Fire
Prevention Message poster
and spend some family
time discussing home fi re
prevention and safety.
“The Baker County
Interagency Fire Preven-
tion Team is anticipating
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Merkley.Senate.gov
Phone: 541.519.0572
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some great fi re prevention
message posters promoting
National Fire Prevention
Week. We’re also hop-
ing families will make
some time to discuss fi re
prevention and take ac-
tion to improve home fi re
safety,” said Gary Timm,
Baker County Emergency
Management/Fire Division
Manager.
The Team will review
poster entries and an-
nounced one winner from
each grade during National
Fire Prevention Week:
October 9 – 15, 2016.
For additional informa-
tion about National Fire
Prevention Week, or fi re
prevention steps for the
home – contact your local
fi re agency, or visit – nfpa.
org.
US Sen. Ron Wyden
541.962.7691
Wyden.Senate.gov
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Editor@TheBakerCountyPress.com
US Rep. Greg Walden
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Wendee@TheBakerCountyPress.com
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