FRIDAY, AUGUST 25, 2017
4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
Opinion / Local
— Letters to the Editor —
Nilsson should resign
To the Editor:
First let me state quite clearly that my
comments refl ect my opinion and not nec-
essarily that of any agency, entity, or orga-
nization to which I belong or am affi liated
with. I have read the letter (August 18th
issue) from reader Kevin Luckini regard-
ing Baker City Council member Adam
Nilsson and I agree with Mr. Luckini.
Mr. Nilsson either needs to resign from
the city council immediately or a recall
effort must be initiated. I understand that
under our system of law Mr. Nilsson is
presumed innocent until proven guilty in
a court of law. I am rather confi dent that
day will come.
My call for Nilsson’s resignation or
recall is based upon his social media posts
as well as his post arrest public comments,
not his alleged criminal behavior. Neither
represent the perspective or attitude of one
who holds public offi ce. Clearly Nilsson
believes he is exempt from the laws which
apply to others and that he is above the
requirement of accountability that is his
not just because he is a citizen but particu-
larly because he is an elected offi cial. The
alleged criminal behavior aside, are his
social media postings and comments fol-
lowing his arrest consistent with the Oath
of Offi ce he took when sworn in as a City
Council member? More important, are
those postings and comments consistent
with the expectations which the citizens
he represents have every right to hold? In
both cases I think not.
Do the right and honorable thing Mr.
Nilsson and resign from the City Council
immediately. If not, expect to be recalled.
Jerry Boyd
Baker City
B2H line needs stopped
To the Editor:
I attended the meeting held by Baker
County Commissioners last week. I appre-
ciated the way our county commissioners
are standing up for the citizens regarding
the proposed Boardman to Hemingway
transmission line.
They have made it clear that they do not
support the building of the transmission
line and have passed a resolution stat-
ing that if Idaho Power uses the power
of eminent domain to force landowners
to allow the line, the county will sign on
as “Friends of the Court” in support of
landowners who take legal action against
Idaho Power. They have also stated that
they will help any landowner who wants
them to help with negotiating with Idaho
Power to get fair payment if the line goes
through their land.
It was encouraging to fi nd that the
transmission line is not a “Done Deal” and
there are people working to stop the line
from being built. I was surprised to hear
that Bonneville Power has not agreed to
pay part of the costs of building the line.
They only committed to contribute to the
assessment.
I am concerned to hear that Idaho
Power is already trying to get landowners
to agree to payments for the line going
through their land. There are laws regard-
ing the amount that owners of farm and
forest lands should be paid that make it
wise for people to either hire an attorney
or work with the county if a decision is
made to allow the transmission line to be
built. There are attorneys who are special-
izing in helping people get reasonable
compensation.
Please be aware that if you do not com-
ment once the Oregon Department of
Energy publishes their “Draft Proposed
Order” you will give up your rights to
fi ght against the line. I encourage citizens
to become informed and involved in fi ght-
ing the Boardman to Hemingway trans-
mission line. Our citizens, wildlife, and
resources will be negatively impacted if
this for profi t company is allowed to build
this transmission line at our expense.
Jo Marlette
Baker City
Grant awarded for dog park
PetSafe® announced to-
day that 25 cities across the
country will receive funds
for new off-leash dog park
construction and existing
park maintenance and up-
grades as grant recipients
of its 2017 PetSafe® Bark
for Your Park™ campaign.
Since the launch of its
nationwide Bark for Your
Park program in 2011, Pet-
Safe has been working to
create more off-leash dog
parks around the country
that bring like-minded
members of the commu-
nity together and provide
a place for dogs to receive
exercise and socialization.
“The goal of Bark for
Your Park has always been
to help communities be-
come better places to live
for people and their pets,”
said Willie Wallace, CEO
of Radio Systems® Cor-
poration, parent company
of PetSafe. “Finding a
pet-friendly community is
more important than ever.
Dog parks are the second
must-have amenity people
search for when looking
for a new city to call home.
Plus, proper exercise and
socialization reduces be-
havior issues, which keeps
dogs out of local shelters
and rescues.”
To be considered for a
grant, communities were
asked to provide documen-
tation about the park and
authorization from civic
leaders. PetSafe received a
total of 215 applications in
2017, surpassing all other
years of the program.
After a review of all
applications by an internal
committee, PetSafe has
selected25 communities
across the country as 2017
grant recipients. The fol-
lowing cities will receive
funding for dog park proj-
ects or commercial-grade
dog park equipment from
UltraSite™, a PlayCore
Company:
New Park Awards
• Honolulu, HI
• Kansas City, KS
• Allentown, PA
• Baker City, OR
• Big Stone Gap, VA
Park Maintenance
Awards
• Birmingham, AL
• Normal, OK
• Paducah, KY
• Bowie, MD
• Moab, UT
• Florence, AZ
• Colorado Springs, CO
• Truth & Consequences,
NM
• Brookhaven, NY
• University Place, WA
Park Upgrade Awards
• Columbia, MO
• Beatrice, NE
• Eastlake, OH
• Orange, CA
• Encinitas, CA
• Jacksonville, FL
• Shorewood, IL
• Bayonne, NJ
• Huntington, WV
• Columbus, IN
With the addition of 14
states added to the pro-
gram with this year’s grant
recipients, PetSafe has
helped fund 64 off-leash
dog parks in 40 states since
2011.
The application period
for the 2018 Bark for Your
Park grant-giving program
will open again in the
spring of 2018. Communi-
ties can learn more about
the program and sign up to
receive email notifi cations
with important program
announcements and dead-
line reminders at
www.petsafe.com/barkfo-
ryourpark.
PetSafe® is an industry
leader in the development
of innovative pet behav-
ioral, containment and
lifestyle product solutions.
PetSafe is owned by Radio
Systems® Corporation and
headquartered in
Knoxville, Tenn. For more
information, please visit
www.petsafe.com or con-
nect with us on Facebook
and Twitter.
5J awards summer staff
CONTINUED FROM
PAGE 1
Mosier explained that
they are independent
from the School District
and raise funds locally to
support projects in the 5J
School District classrooms.
They raised funds
through a fundraiser last
spring and now have funds
to give to teachers through
grants to be used within
their classrooms.
For their updates, they
have had a lot of changes.
Irvine will be leaving the
BVEF as the treasurer, and
that is a position they need
to fi ll.
They have another
vacancy on the Board they
will need to fi ll.
They had voted on three
members to join them and
their bylaws explain that
the foundation will appoint
members and they will
bring them to the School
Board.
Mosier explained that
applications for their
grants are due on Septem-
ber 1st and the Board will
decide on the applications
September 14th and hope
to announce their decisions
by October 1st.
They will send out
emails to principals who
will send it to teachers to
fi ll out.
Superintendent Mark
Witty was attending the
OASE Executive Board
Retreat August 17th and
18th. In his written board
report, he explained that
they were determining the
priorities for the Confed-
eration of School Admin-
istrators for the 2017-18
school year.
He gave an update on
the Long Range Facil-
ity Planning Commit-
tee’s objectives in the
next few months, stating.
He explained that their
“staff Site Team, two to
fi ve members from each
educational facility, will
meet August 29 to review
data gathered from all staff
as to the areas of concern
within their location. We
will review the compila-
tion of data and discuss
the key aspects that will be
presented to the LRFPC on
September 5.”
Witty also explained in
his written report that they
anticipate three to fi ve
more meetings with the
LRFPC prior to reporting
recommendations from the
LRFPC to the Board of
Directors.
Witty discussed “Our
Human Resource depart-
ment is processing mul-
tiple new hires for Baker
Technical Institute, Baker
Charter Schools and Baker
K-12 School District to as-
sure that all State, Teacher
Standards and Practices
Commission (TSPC) and
board policies regulations
are followed and imple-
mented correctly.”
Witty attended a meet-
ing with Salam Noor in
Malheur County on August
10. He reported, “SBAC
will be shortened for the
2017-18 school year in
grades 3-8.
“This current year ODE
will be determining which
standardized test will be
utilized in the 2018-19
school year for 11th grad-
ers. It is likely that either
the ACT or SAT will be
chosen. Measure 98 dollars
will be available this year
without a detailed plan
— Contact Us —
submitted to the Oregon
Department of Education.
This spring we will be
required to produce a four-
year plan that focuses on
establishing or expanding
college-level coursework,
establishing or expand-
ing Career and Technical
offerings, and developing
programs that increase
graduation rates for all
students.”
Witty also explained that
they are currently plan-
ning for Friday Academy
for students K-12 and they
have hired Angela Lattin
as the Academy Facilita-
tor, who will work with
district staff in organizing
programing for 100 to 140
K-6 students.
Palmer explained that
there are 19 to 20 fi rst and
second year teachers in the
district now.
She has asked retired
teachers to return to work
with and support the fi rst
and second year teachers.
She also had her annual
substitute teacher training
that week and will have
four more in the next three
weeks.
She explained that bus
drivers also receive annual
training.
Palmer announced that
Dr. Julie Esparza-Brown,
an Associate Professor
in the Special Education
Department at Portland
State University, will be
coming to Baker to give a
presentation on September
6th and 7th.
Her presentation will be
about applying equitable
identifi cation processes
and program consider-
ations for English Lan-
guage Development (ELD)
students
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