FRIDAY, JULY 14, 2017
4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
Politics / Local
Merkley holds town hall Controversial gun grab
bill passes in Oregon
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PAGE 1
Merkley said recent
health care talks involved
the health care bill known
as “Trumpcare.”
He said, “Then a group
of 13 senators meeting se-
cretly developed a Senate
version of that.”
He said the two bills
wound up being very simi-
lar anyway, but condemned
any meetings he felt were
being held without the
knowledge of constituents.
The group of 13 did
indeed meet over months
to draft legislation, but not
so much in secret as their
activities were reported by
most major news sources
across the U.S.
Merkley said according
to its Congressional Bud-
get Office (CBO) score,
the new bill wasn’t much
different from the original.
He claimed, however,
that the Senate bill would
produce $33 billion in tax
breaks for only 400 “rich”
Americans who didn’t
need breaks, in his opinion.
That tax money, he said,
could be given to 700,000
poorer Americans to fund
their health care.
The bill, he said, “would
vastly reduce health care
to give a tax break to the
richest Americans.”
He stated that Republi-
cans who supported this
bill have cancelled town-
halls so as to hide their
support from the public.
Merkley then criticized
partisanship divisiveness.
Merkley went on to give
the statistics that in rural
Oregon, one out of every
three people are now on
the Oregon Health Plan.
65% of citizens across the
country are enrolled in the
equivalent.
Merkley quickly refer-
enced ongoing “Russia and
North Korea issues” before
moving on to question and
answer time.
Craig Martell wanted to
know what Merkely would
do about “gimmicks and
loopholes for the rich.”
Merkley said he had seen
a one-page tax reform plan
from the Trump admin-
istration that suggested
repealing the estate tax, but
said the sheet gave no “real
details.”
“We don’t have a plan,”
he said.
Art Sappington of the Vir-
tue Mine asked specifically
what would happen now
that Oregon Governor Kate
Brown has legislation in
place regarding the Oregon
Department of Environ-
mental Quality’s policies,
which conflicted directly
with certain federal laws.
Merkley put Sappington
in touch with his staff at
the meeting for research,
as no one in the room had
heard of that exact issue
prior.
One lady wanted to know
what Merkley would do to
stop lobbying and spend-
ing, and to limit the group
Citizens United. Citizens
United is a conservative
group that supports Presi-
dent Trump tax-reduction
agenda.
Merkley said he felt such
groups, had been instru-
mental in helping legisla-
tors like Mitch McConnell
“steal” the Supreme Court
seat vacated after Judge
Scalia’s death.
Maureen McMahon of
Halfway wanted to know
what Merkley could do to
help Oregonians take the
mindset of the state’s two
Democrat senators and
help “influence” more con-
servative senators outside
the state to legislate/think
their same way.
Merkley pointed to social
media and contacting the
offices of those elected
officials.
Linda Bergeron of
Halfway asked what he
was doing about nepotism
in D.C.
Merkley said there
was “no law against”
nepotism, then brought up
“emoluments,”—a term
not often heard prior to this
year.
Merkley explained that
emoluments are essen-
tially anything of value
(kickbacks) from a foreign
government or entity that a
sitting president is not al-
lowed to take. For example
when President Grant
received medals made of
precious metal, he asked
permission of Congress to
accept them.
He inferred that book-
ings on Trump’s properties
constituted emoluments,
and could be grounds for
impeachment. He said
there was no precedent for
such an impeachment as he
believed it had never been
an issue before, and said
Trump had been urged to
divest of his holdings, or
at least create a blind trust,
but had refused.
Other questions involved
reducing fuel load on pub-
lic lands, environmental
protection, etc.
Marshall McComb of the
Baker County Democrats
voiced frustration with
what he views as the “in-
equality of wealth” in the
country, and said that 42%
of Baker County residents
“can’t make ends meet.”
McComb cited stagnant
wages and automation as
culprits, as well as the top
1% of wealthy Americans
keeping too much of their
money.
Merkley recalled a trip
to a dairy and how the au-
tomation process worked,
stating it had changed that
industry so that people
were rarely involved with
the cattle.
As most politicians,
Republican or Democrat,
tend to set a tight sched-
ule during their townhall
travels, the hour quickly
ran out before questions
did. Merkley attempted
a speed round to address
the desires of numerous
remaining people to ask
questions.
During that round, Kim
Lethlean invited Merkley
to the Virtue Mine to show
him how to use substances
like apple cider vinegar to
replace chemical acids dur-
ing mining, so he knew it
could be “done right.”
Another lady told Merk-
ley the story of her own
personal disability.
Steve Culley, a “grand-
parent parent,” brought
to Merkley’s attention the
methamphetamine epi-
demic in Oregon and how
families are devastated.
In all, the meeting lasted
just over an hour.
Walden’s field rep visits
County Commissioners
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
The Baker County
Board of Commissioners
held a work session on
Wednesday, July 12, 2017,
9 a.m., in the Commission
Chambers of the Baker
County Courthouse, which
included discussions with
Baker County Planning Di-
rector Holly Kerns, about
clarifying and updating the
County’s nuisance property
ordinance, and Congress-
man Greg Walden’s new
Field Representative
Tucker Billman, about
economic and other issues
in the County.
Present from the Board
were Chair Bill Harvey,
Commissioners Mark Ben-
nett and Bruce Nichols,
and Executive Assistant
Heidi Martin.
Harvey opened the
session, and Kerns ex-
plained the issues with the
County’s 2006 nuisance
property ordinance, which
she said has been written
complaint-driven, but with
little opportunity for en-
forcement, when complaint
letters didn’t result in com-
pliance with the ordinance,
something the Planning
Department recognized in
2013, upon reviewing the
process.
She mentioned an email
sent to the Planning De-
partment, dated July 11,
2017, from County legal
counsel Drew Martin,
which addresses issues
with the ordinance.
In it, he explained that
there are several issues,
one being whether the
County may be liable if a
hazardous property catches
fire and damages a neigh-
boring property. He said
that the County’s liability
would generally be limited
by the doctrine of “discre-
tionary immunity,” but that
the risk would increase if
the County determines that
a property is a dangerous
hazard, and the County
fails to act.
Martin also recom-
mended, in regard to
existing nuisance proper-
ties, to hold off on pro-
ceeding under the current
ordinance, because he said
that the ordinance contains
some inconsistencies and
ambiguities that require
clarification, and the en-
forcement procedure needs
to include a more clearly
defined right to a hearing
and hearing process.
Martin also recom-
mended spending the time
and resources to develop a
refined process, including
County staff familiariza-
tion with the process and
basic legal rights, if the
County anticipates numer-
ous nuisance abatement ac-
tions. If the County antici-
pates infrequent actions, he
said it may be simpler to
just use the Circuit Court
and existing civil proce-
dures and remedies.
The Board discussed
the associated issues, and
agreed there needs to be
a more refined process, in
order to protect property
owners, to limit County li-
ability, and to put adequate
tools in place to ensure
there is a resolution in each
specific case, when written
complaints are filed.
SEE COUNTY PAGE 7
Salem, Ore. - Amid
bipartisan opposition,
House Democrats today
advanced legislation that
establishes a constitution-
ally tenuous legal process
for allowing courts to
compel an individual to
surrender their firearms.
House Republicans argued
that SB 719 infringes on
constitutionally protected
self-defense rights, could
put law enforcement of-
ficers in harm’s way by
requiring them to remove
firearms from individuals
even if they have not been
convicted of a crime, and
ultimately fails to address
the root causes of violence
in Oregon communities.
“I do not begrudge the
sponsors of this bill nor the
spirit in which this legisla-
tion was brought forward,
but there are several pieces
of this bill that should give
us pause,” said Representa-
tive Bill Post (R-Keizer).
“SB 719 sets up a consti-
tutionally tenuous process
for stripping Oregonians
of their rights and puts the
burden of enforcement on
the backs of our already
strained law enforce-
ment community. If we
want to reduce violence
in our communities, we
need to get serious about
investing in mental health
programs and ensuring that
Oregonians have access to
the care they desperately
need.”
SB 719 creates what
sponsors of the legislation
have dubbed an Extreme
Risk Protection Order
(ERPO) The process for
obtaining an ERPO as out-
lined by the bill allows an
individual who either lives
with, or is in an intimate
relationship with, a person
who they believe may be
at risk of harming them-
selves or others to seek
a court order to have the
potentially at risk person’s
firearms and any items that
could qualify as dangerous
weapons removed from
them. An ERPO can be
requested by an indi-
vidual in secret and does
not provide an opportunity
for an individual to contest
the order until after it has
already been issued. Courts
may consider an overly
broad list of factors when
determining whether to
issue an ERPO, including
convictions for nonvio-
lent crimes and subjective
statements.
“The proponents of SB
719 have sought to protect
Oregonians from domestic-
and self-inflicted violence
—a goal we all share,”
said Representative David
Brock Smith (R-Port
Orford). “But the process
established under this bill
has some significant flaws
that could allow for abuse
of the system and result
in innocent Oregonians
having their rights compro-
mised without just cause.
We have an obligation to
preserve and protect the
freedoms guaranteed by
our constitution, including
the right to bear arms, and
I believe this bill runs the
risk of coming into conflict
with that obligation.”
In opposing the bill,
Republicans argued that
the best way to reduce
violence in Oregon com-
munities would be to
invest in mental health
services. They cited a
study showing Oregon
ranking as the worst in the
U.S. for mental health, and
called for policymakers to
prioritize investments in
mental health education
and services.
Lawmakers have done
little to expand mental
health treatment this
session, including fail-
ing to advance SB 1054,
which would have led to
expanded care options for
veterans.
SB 719 passed the House
on a 31-28 vote, with sev-
eral Democrats joining Re-
publicans in opposition to
the bill. The bill now heads
to Governor Brown’s desk,
where it is expected to be
signed into law.
City Council
CONTINUED FROM
PAGE 3
City Manager/Director
Comments
City Manager Warner
advised Council the Baker
5J School Board would be
holding a meeting in Coun-
cil Chambers utilizing the
recording system.
They have agreed that
they would like to start
recording and broadcast-
ing their meetings so they
would like an opportunity
to “try it out.”
Warner suggested if all
went well that the City
might consider selling
the current system to the
District allowing them
(the City) to purchase new,
updated equipment.
Warner also advised
that he has attended Jeff
Merkley’s town hall meet-
ing the previous Saturday
and felt the meeting held
was somewhat productive
in that Baker City citizens
were able to voice their
concerns about things that
were important to them
such as the City watershed
and healthcare.
Council Comments
A question from outside
of Council was directed
to Councilor Andersen
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Andersen stated that he
felt that was an item that
should be discussed at
length during a future
Council meeting by all
Councilors.
He acknowledged a
response that had been
received concerning a re-
cently drafted City Council
letter to the Forest Service
about the City watershed
but was reluctant to engage
in any discussion at the
time.
With nothing further, the
meeting was adjourned.
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