FRIDAY, MAY 26, 2017
4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
Local / Politics
Huntington Chamber Ferrioli criticizes
sits on Boise panel
Gov. Brown
BY EILEEN DRIVER
Eileen@TheBakerCountyPress.com
The Huntington Cham-
ber of Commerce was
asked to provide a panelist
for the Boise City Club Fo-
rum entitled “The Business
of Cannabis.”
The topic was raised
to start discussions on
the subject as four states
bordering Idaho now have
legal marijuana businesses,
they include Oregon,
Washington, Montana and
Nevada.
As Huntington is the
closest town to have legal
marijuana businesses
the Chamber was asked
to send a representative
to add to the discussion
on Cannabis—medical
miracle or gateway drug?
Will it create crime or
promote prosperity? Or
something in between?
The discussion was held
Wednesday, May 17th
from 11:45 - 1:15 p.m. in
the Second floor Ballroom
of the Grove Hotel in
Boise and was broadcast
live on Boise State Public
Radio.
The forum was moderat-
ed by Kevin Richert, Boise
City Club member and
each panelist was asked to
give a three to five minute
introduction before taking
questions from the audi-
ence.
The three panelists were:
• Shellie Nash, Hunting-
ton Chamber of Com-
merce, who was asked to
speak about how after the
legalization of cannabis in
Oregon, the small town of
Huntington with a popu-
lation of fewer than 500
residents went through
their decision making pro-
cess. About how the sale
of cannabis has brought a
change to her community.
She was asked to walk
them through Huntington’s
decision making pro-
cess and the benefits and
concerns that her town is
facing.
• Captain Bill Gardiner
of the Idaho State Police
provided a law enforce-
ment perspective. He was
asked to talk about the im-
pacts on the ISP and other
law enforcement agencies
— as a state surrounded by
various forms of cannabis
legalization, from recre-
ational to medicinal.
• Wayne Hoffman of the
Idaho Freedom Foundation
was asked to speak about
the need for Idaho citizens
to have a public conversa-
tion on the issues sur-
rounding cannabis. What
are the benefits and what
are the drawbacks? How
can there be civil discourse
when we refuse to even
talk about these important
issues?
The first audience ques-
tion that was asked was,
“Why isn’t there more
science on medical mari-
juana?”
Shellie Nash: The FDA
has blocked research, even
though marijuana has no
side effects, they don’t
want to lose the prescrip-
tion drug money.
Wayne Hoffman: Pre-
scription anti depressant
have a side effects that can
suicidal thought, the last
thing you want them to
have. Miss Nash is correct
the FDA is an agency that
is lobbied and the drug
companies do not want
it to be legalized across
the board and hinder their
profits.
Captain Gardiner: I don’t
believe there has been
enough research on the
subject to make a deter-
mination on whether it is
a gateway drug or not. We
need much more research.
Question 2, What part of
this gives you pause?
Shellie Nash: Hunting-
ton is leading the way
in Eastern Oregon and
showing other towns how
it works. My suggestion
would be to make sure you
are prepared for what’s to
come. Especially when
confronting Land Use
Laws and what you want
to happen in each different
zone.
Wayne Hoffman: I’m
afraid Idaho will not
decriminalize it. It’s not
moral to charge people for
a crime when they are just
trying to alleviate their
pain.
Captain Gardiner: Very
concerned by the marijua-
na getting into the hands of
the children. Sees mari-
juana as being involved
in nearly every crime in
Idaho.
Question 3 Do the posi-
tives outweigh the nega-
tives?
Shellie Nash: Alcohol
has been proven to be
worse than marijuana yet
people still drink. People
should be informed and
have the right to chose
what they put in their
bodies.
Wayne Hoffman: There
are dangers everywhere in
daily life, especially in the
current medical prescrip-
tion drugs with there side
effects which marijuana
doesn’t have.
Captain Gardiner: A
study in Colorado shows
an increase in marijuana
use in 13-21 year olds.
These are the ones we need
to protect. Also afraid there
will be a black market
increase.
Question 4 How does
this affect the workplace?
Shellie Nash: Respon-
sible people know you
don’t go to work intoxi-
cated, whatever form that
takes. They should not be
penalized for what they do
in their off time.
Wayne Hoffman: More
than half the marijuana
products out there do not
get you high, yet still test
positive for consumption.
People going to work
with a hangover are more
dangerous than marijuana
users.
Captain Gardiner: We
need more time and testing
to see how it will work out.
There are just no reliable
tests yet that will tell us
whether or not people are
under the influence.
Question 5 Is it a cul-
tural change or just a law
change?
Shellie Nash: It’s been
around since George
Washington’s time at least,
but now people are much
more open about it and
don’t have to hide.
Wayne Hoffman: Every-
one now knows someone
who has been affected by
marijuana in a positive
way and the current laws
in Idaho only affect people
negatively. People in their
seventies and eighties are
using it now.
Captain Gardiner: I get
asked by people all the
time, “It’s legal now isn’t
it?” and I have to tell them
not in Idaho, which really
seems to surprise them.
Question 6 Do you see
Idaho changing in the next
5 years?
Wayne Hoffman: I hope
so at least the Lesislators
seem to be starting to get
it.
Captain Gardiner: I hope
not we need much more re-
search before we can make
an informed decision.
Shellie Nash: I hope
they will at least change
their minds on medical
marijuana, however if they
don’t Huntington will be
happy to continue to enjoy
their company and their
spending their money here.
City Club thanked their
annual sponsors, includ-
ing Northwest Nazarene
University, Red Sky , and
Idaho Humanities Council.
This Forum Series as
sponsored by the contri-
butions made by Micron,
Perkins Coie, and Echelon
Group.
They were pleased to
welcome university stu-
dents to attend our events
thanks to their Univer-
sity partners Boise State
University and University
of Idaho.
Their media partners
include Idaho Public Tele-
vision, Peppershock Media
and Boise State Public
Radio.
Lawmakers call for review of Hanford
Following this month’s
tunnel collapse at the
Hanford Nuclear Reserva-
tion in Washington State,
a bipartisan group of
Pacific Northwest lawmak-
ers today called for a U.S.
Government Accountabil-
ity Office (GAO) review of
the nuclear waste cleanup
and environmental reme-
diation work at Hanford.
In their letter, Sen. Ron
Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep.
Greg Walden, R-Ore.,
along with Sens. Maria
Cantwell, D-Wash., Patty
Murray, D-Wash., and
Reps. Frank Pallone,
D-N.J., Dan Newhouse,
R-Wash., and Cathy Mc-
Morris Rodgers, R-Wash.,
asked the GAO to investi-
gate the work Department
of Energy still needs to
complete to ensure the
safety of workers at Han-
ford and the public.
“We were alarmed by
the recent tunnel collapse
at the Hanford site, and
are concerned that future
events could put the safety
of workers, the public, and
environment at risk,” the
members wrote in their
request to GAO.
“This event was another
harsh reminder of the ra-
dioactive and toxic hazards
that remain at the Hanford
site, as well as the impor-
tance of ensuring the site
has the resources necessary
to expeditiously achieve its
cleanup mission.”
The underground tun-
nel, located adjacent to
the now-closed PUREX
processing plant, was
used to store railroad cars
loaded with radioactively
contaminated equipment
removed from the plant
during its operation to
produce plutonium for
the U.S. nuclear weapons
program. The collapse was
first reported by workers at
the site on May 9.
Oregon taxpayers were
forced, likely without their
knowledge or consent,
to shell out $278 million
dollars for the Democrat-
controlled administration
to lavish upon politically
well-connected firms and
vendors big-ticket PR
contracts.
To put this level of
spending in perspective,
the cost of the Brown
administration's PR appa-
ratus could almost entirely
fund Measure 98 Career
Technical Education. That
amount could fund Mea-
sure 99 Outdoor School
and keep the Junction City
mental health facility open,
as well as one ward at the
Salem mental health facil-
ity and maintain dental and
addiction services under
the Oregon health plan,
and there would still be
$56 million left over. The
cost of Brown adminis-
tration propaganda also
exceeds by $13 million the
amount of money needed
to fully-fund the Obam-
acare Medicaid expansion.
Senate Republican
Leader Ted Ferrioli was
disturbed when he read
a Forbes piece penned
by Adam Andrzejewski,
founder of OpenTheBooks,
a database of 3.5 billion
government salaries, pen-
sions and expenditures
from the federal, state
and local levels across
America.
Ferrioli applauded An-
drzejewski for his investi-
gative work.
"Oregonians ought to
question what is going on
here. Wouldn't it be inter-
esting to figure out how
much money these firms
donated to politicians and
power-brokers," said Fer-
rioli. "Is Oregon's govern-
ment using state agency
spending to influence the
electorate? We need a
deep state investigation
to connect these dots that
OpenThe Books founder
Adam Andrzejewski has
thankfully revealed."
One of these taxpayer-
funded projects was
orchestrated by the Oregon
Health Authority (OHA),
which is on blast for hold-
ing hostage our veterans
and their families and col-
lecting ransom payments
from providers, and the
increasingly unpopular De-
partment of Environmental
Quality (DEQ).
OHA and DEQ targeted
a private manufacturer for
"special attention" even
though the company is in
full compliance with all
state and federal regula-
tions. These two agencies
employed 18 public affairs
officers and squandered
another $10.9 million
with communications and
public relations vendors to
supplement their internal
efforts.
In another area of state
government, Andrzejew-
ski revealed the Oregon
Tourism Commission
"Travel Oregon" is funded
by a $35.6 million lodg-
ing tax, but is one of the
least transparent govern-
ment entities. There is no
transparency of employee
salaries, vendor spending
or even agency contracts.
Andrzejewski began audit-
ing the travel commission
and found 43 staffers at an
operational cost exceed-
ing $5 million per year.
Despite the staff, Travel
Oregon spent most of the
$17.21 million in "Global
Marketing" with outside
firms, he says.
What's more is that
Travel Oregon's princi-
pal advertising agency is
Wieden+Kennedy - a firm
reaping up to $22.87 mil-
lion in scheduled payout,
which is a dramatic infla-
tion from an original $7.15
million contract. That
original contract contained
a provision allowing for a
single two-year contract
extension. Today, the
contract value is $22.87
million and runs through
2019 - a three-fold $15.62
million increase, according
to Andrzejewski. Records
provided by Travel Oregon
show two contract exten-
sions, rather than one.
Andrzejewski said Travel
Oregon "is acting like they
have a lot to hide." He
explained when provid-
ing the Wieden+Kennedy
contracts, the agency
stunningly redacted critical
information: the monthly
and annual retainer fees,
total amount of 'retainer
service hours,' hourly fees
in excess of retainer servic-
es, 'media and production'
costs, and 'other media
campaign' costs from the
contract.
For even more alarming
details you can read An-
drzejewski's Forbes piece
and visit OpenTheBooks.
Marker will honor black
paratrooper unit
On Saturday, June 3, 2017,
at 11:00 a.m., the Oregon
Historical Marker Program
will commemorate the
555th Parachute Infantry
Battalion (also known as
the Triple Nickles), an elite
all-Black paratrooper unit
deployed to Oregon near
the end of WWII. A new
historical marker honoring
the Triple Nickles will be
unveiled at the Siskiyou
Smokejumper Base Mu-
seum located at the Illinois
Valley Valley Airport in
Cave Junction.
The Triple Nickles
jumped their way into
Oregon history in 1945
during a secret mission
known as "Operation Fire-
fly." Their charge was to
parachute near forest fires
in the Pacific Northwest
caused by Japanese Bal-
loon bombs, and disarm
and destroy any remaining
explosive devices.
The men of the 555th
withstood many obstacles
in their service to the US,
including racism, lack of
smoke jumping equipment,
and a fatality in their unit
during an Oregon jump---
— Contact Us —
Private First Class Marvin
L. Brown. The new marker
also honors Brown's sac-
rifice.
Keynote speakers at
the dedication include the
Secretary of the Oregon
Black Pioneers Gwen Carr,
Professor Robert Bartlett
of Eastern Washington
University, Joe Murchison
of the 555th Association,
Ed Washington of the
Oregon Travel information
Council, and Roger Brandt
of the Illinois Valley
Community Development
Organization.
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