FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2016
4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
Opinion
— Letters to the Editor —
Hoopes is my guy
To the Editor:
The Sherriff’s race has
only one good candidate
in my opinion, and that
is John Hoopes. As I am
fairly new to the area, I
made a point to speak with
both candidates in the race,
to inform myself to the
best of my ability.
John Hoopes is a Marine
Vereran, a Constitutional
supporter, as well as a
Baker County Deputy with
14 years of experience.
Both candidates may
have valuable and varied
experience, but I support
John. He is level-headed
and very approachable.
Mr. Hoopes has not
been “handed” anything in
regards to his career.
John is not vindictive
and will look at all sides
of an issue. He is not a
bully and has not used
bully tactics to get votes
or try to garner support. In
fact he has gone door to
door meeting the people of
Baker City. John listens.
Baker County needs his
steady hand.
Join me in voting for
John Hoopes, please!
Sherri Chapple
Baker City
Still supporting Ash
To the Editor:
I have been watching the
Sheriff’s race very closely
and I am amazed at one
candidate who has men-
tioned the “previous ad-
ministration” several times
as being the reason he
decided to run for Sheriff.
I find that interesting for
several reasons, one being
I have been retired for 18
months and I am surprised
and perplexed that he
would even bring that up
or why he feels that criti-
cizing someone else would
make him look better. He
also seems to be critical of
the lack of training that he
received over the years. If
he had attended training in
management I would still
not be able to support him
for sheriff. Besides training
someone has to show the
ability to be a leader and
a manager, as well as the
attributes to communicate
with the people that he su-
pervises and interact with
citizens on a daily basis.
I also have read several
letters in the paper that say
Ash was my “protege” and
others that say they want to
stop the “cronyism” at the
Sheriff’s Office.
To this I would just like
to say that I am support-
ing Travis Ash, he has
shown and continues to
demonstrate the leadership
and management abilities
as well as other qualities
that make him an excellent
Sheriff and representative
of our County. Why would
I support someone who is
not qualified and has never
shown these attributes?
In closing I would like
to express how much that I
enjoyed my 10 years as the
Sheriff of Baker County.
It was one of the most re-
warding experiences in my
Law Enforcement career.
When I was first elected in
2004 I stated several times
that when I left one job for
another I always wanted to
leave it better than I found
it. I know I accomplished
that when Travis Ash was
appointed Sheriff to fulfill
the remainder of my term.
Travis Ash is the most
qualified and experienced
candidate who is looking
to the future and not dwell-
ing on the past. Join me in
voting for him to continue
to be your Baker County
Sheriff.
Mitch Southwick
Baker City
1-74 is supported by
liberals to get them
elected
To the Editor:
Ballots are out, and I am
asking everyone to vote no
on Baker County Measure
1-74.
Baker County voters
defeated this last year,
yet here it is again. Have
you wondered why some
people are so interested in
changing how we elect our
Commissioners?
Electing our County
Commissioners has
worked fine for a lot of
years. All of a sudden it’s
a problem. Well, I guess
it’s become a problem
when Democrats or liberals
cannot get elected. Maybe
they need better candi-
dates or a stronger county
committee. To change a
system that works well just
seems silly.
Our Commissioners
make County Laws, draft,
and pass ordinances.
Much like our federal
and state representatives,
which are partisan posi-
tions. Other nonpartisan
offices in county govern-
ment , carry out the laws,
which is a huge difference
in job descriptions.
Other counties through-
out Oregon who have
gone nonpartisan are not
happy with it, there have
been several letters to the
editor from residents of
those counties in the Baker
papers. This grand experi-
ment has not worked so
well. As has been stated
from other counties, there
are so many candidates
now running for their
county commissioner it
dilutes the vote and the
one elected is usually only
elected by a small percent-
age of the votes.
Many times the truly
good candidate gets lost in
the crowd.
Baker County has
enough serious issues to
deal with, like keeping our
roads open on public lands.
Join me in voting no on
measure 1-74. Baker
County is fine the way it
is now.
Patty Trost
Unity
I support Hoopes
To the Editor:
I am supporting John
Hoopes for Sheriff. Hav-
ing lived in rural Baker
County, I’ve asked for
the help of the Sheriff’s
Department on more than
one occasion.
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John was always the
one that came out to help
resolve those situations.
He was always very polite
and went out of his way to
solve problems with com-
munication so that they
didn’t get out of hand. I
was very impressed with
the professional way he
handled things.
I have never seen John
be arrogant or be a bully
to anyone, or treat you
like you were a five year
old, but he has no problem
keeping control of the situ-
ation.
One of the things I
admire and respect about
John is that he has served
his country honorably in
the U.S. Marines. Having
been in the Marines my-
self, I know the discipline
and character that it takes
to serve your country in
that way.
I urge people to vote
for John Hoopes. With
his personality, military
experience, and 16 years
of experience as a Baker
County Sheriff Deputy, I
believe he is the best quali-
fied to be our next Sheriff.
Jared Foster
Baker City
Good ole boys
fostered by
nonpartisan agenda
To the Editor:
Here it is back again,
“take the politics out of
local government.” Our
nation cannot even take the
politics out of the Supreme
Court. Look at the concern
over the next appointments
and the bias they will carry
to the highest court in the
land.
More now than ever,
I want to know a candi-
dates affiliations and the
platform they support, es-
pecially at our local level.
Local is where our voice is
reflected.
Historically the “non-
partisan” agenda is pushed
by the weaker of our two
party system in Baker
County, the party lines
have become very foggy.
Not everyone is what they
claim.
We wish to retain the
partisan vote and maybe
maintain some of this
transparency everyone
likes to throw into the
conversation.
Nonpartisan will foster
more good ole boys ap-
pointments and the voter
voice weakening. We have
enough of this presently
without opening the door
wider.
Wanda Ballard
Baker City
1-74 proponents
don’t understand
County government
To the Editor:
The yes on Baker Coun-
ty Measure 1-74 people
just don’t understand the
county system of govern-
ment. One recent letter,
once again used the argu-
ment that they should be
nonpartisan because other
elected offices are already
nonpartisan. Reminds me
of the argument I used
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the opinions of their authors, and have not
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services advertised.
as a kid, ”all the other
kids are doing it.” And
Mom would point out just
because others are doing it,
doesn’t make it right.
Some people just don’t
understand our county
commissioners are the leg-
islative body of the county.
They can make rules/or-
dinances that become the
law in Baker County. The
other nonpartisan posi-
tions, such as the Sheriff,
DA , Clerk & Treasurer
just carry out the laws.
Consider it separation of
powers. Look into the real
duties of the Commission-
ers and you will see the
difference.
Keep transparency in
Baker County government,
know for whom you are
voting. Keep the replace-
ment powers should there
be a resignation with the
most amount of people al-
lowed by law.
It seems the only
reason people want this to
pass is because they want
to hide their true identity
from the voters.
If you want to see why
non-partisan is wanted,
take a look at how Bruce
Nichols is listed in the vot-
ers’ pamphlet.
He is a Republican,
Democrat. What is that? A
Democrat trying to hide?
Vote no on measure 1-74.
Jim Longwell
Baker City
Abortion leading
cause of death in
Oregon
To the Editor:
The Oregon Vital
Statistics Annual Report
for 2014 gave abortion as
the leading cause of death
among the following:
• Accidents: 1,796
• Stroke: 1,821
• Lung Disease: 1,958
• Heart Disease: 6,523
• Cancer: 7,862
• Abortions: 8,231
Did you know that abor-
tion is legal through all
nine months in Oregon?
It is unbelievable that a
baby can be aborted just
before it has lived full-term
in the womb, and that is
where the slippery slope
has taken our culture since
the Roe v Wade decision
in 1973. People may talk
about a “woman’s right”—
but what about the baby’s
right to live?
As a culture we must
respect the sanctity of hu-
man life and quit killing
the most vulnerable in our
society. It is important
that we consider our next
generation when we vote.
John and Susie Busch
Baker City
Ash should separate
self from anti-patriot
movement
To the Editor:
The anti-patriot militia
gathering at the local li-
brary seemed to be geared
mostly toward the demo-
cratic party agenda. The
DNC platform 2012 was
pro-abortion and homo-
sexual marriage and this
traveling ROP group and
their local supporters with
the All African People’s
Revolutionary Party cheer-
ing for them on Facebook
and their security guards
wearing New Black Pan-
ther logo T-shirts seems
more like a traveling hate
group to me than neighbors
or some benefit to man-
kind.
If I was Travis Ash, I
would certainly distance
myself from these people
and their endorsement. I
might even join a militia,
too—that’s right; it was the
patriot militias that freed
this county from tyranny in
the first place. They wrote
the Declaration of Indepen-
dence and the Constitution
of the United States, and
countless men and women
like them have given their
very lives for these things.
My own family was part of
a militia in 1775, was part
of the Hanover Associators
and at least one relation
took the oath of allegiance
at Valley Forge under
George Washington. After
the Revolutionary War,
we settled out on the wild
frontier in eastern Tennes-
see at a place called Big
Limestone Creek. Davy
Crockett was born on this
same creek. My family and
close relations have served
this country in just about
every conflict since we
helped establish it, includ-
ing me, a combat medic,
Vietnam.
Cheers to Bill Harvey and
Sheriff Glenn Palmer.
Chris Keefauver
Baker City
Progressives defend
the Rural Organizing
Project security
To the Editor:
Many folks attended the
Rural Organizing Project
(ROP) meeting at the Li-
brary on Oct. 8th, that Jake
Brown referred to in his
letter. It’s important that
the actual facts be present-
— Contact Us —
ed so our neighbors know
what really happened.
First is the fact that many
at the meeting were glad
Jake and others sharing his
beliefs came to the meet-
ing. The problem is that
they chose to leave right as
the open discussion began.
Not shortly before the end
of the meeting.
The first point of discus-
sion was the disappoint-
ment of most that these
folks chose to leave instead
of participating as every-
one had hoped they would.
Second is the fact that it
was Jake who called the
police. The police log is
public record. The police
responded within minutes,
spent 10 minutes investi-
gating. It’s disappointing,
and hurts our community,
that non-existent problems
have to be trumped up.
Third, the “intimidating”
security people were not
intimidating. A few folks
from the sponsoring groups
met with them in advance
to understand how they
handle security. They are
purposely visible to dispel
disruption. This is because
of the threats, vandalism
and intimidation that the
ROP people have faced in
several places around our
state.
These security people
are trained in, and have the
goal of conflict de-escala-
tion. They simply do not
intimidate or bully people.
They are there primarily to
make sure no harm comes
to the ROP organizers and
if the potential for physical
harm were to arise, they
would surround and safely
escort the organizers out of
the event.
The final fact is who the
Panhandle Community Al-
liance is. PCA is made up
of Republicans, Democrats
and Independents. Pro-
gressive, yes. Living in a
rosy image of the past does
not move our communi-
ties and people forward in
changing times. We need
to progress. We can learn
from the past, yes, but we
must look forward. We
have too much in common
to continue to create un-
necessary divisiveness.
Rick Meis, Frances
Vaughn, Wix Covey,
Margaret Durner, Rob
Crawford, Carla Inman,
Spring Bartlett, and
Betsy Crawford
Halfway / Richland
The Panhandle
Community Alliance
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