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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 10, 2017)
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2017 4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS Opinion / Politics Qualifications to file for Walden votes to County Commissioner enhance hydropower Submitted by Baker County Clerk Cindy Carpenter This next year, 2018, is a busy election year. The Primary and General election will have several County office positions open. This information given is to encourage and inform the public to look into possibly running for an office or to help you to research the candidates that will be running. There are two commissioner positions that will be voted on in 2018. Commissioner position #2 is currently held by Mark Bennett. This posi- tion is part –time. Commissioner #3 is cur- rently held by Bill Harvey. This is the only full-time position of the three Com- missioners. Each Commissioner is on Boards and involved with Special Interest Items. A flyer showing the involve- ment of each Commis- sioner for 2017 is attached. Part-time positions will attend the regular Wednes- day Commission Sessions and any joint sessions or related boards or commit- tee hearings. Commissioner #3 – full time position- is also involved in all the above responsibilities but also works full time in the Court House. To get an idea of the scheduling go to Bakercounty.org and browse the County calen- dar that shows scheduled meetings. The public is always welcome to attend these scheduled meetings and this would definitely be an interesting time to learn of all that is going on in our County. Filing Information: Baker County Commis- sioner Position #2 and #3 – File by fee ($50.00) or signature petition pending approval for circulation from the County Clerk’s Office (90 signatures). Must be at least 18 years old and be a resident of the county one year prior to election (ORS 204.016). The term is 4 years. COUNTY COMMISSIONER INTRODUCTION This classification directs and coordinates as a mem- ber of the County Court the business of the County government as prescribed by Oregon Revised Stat- utes; does related work as required. The three Com- missioners need to work together to communicate for effective rulings and decisions to be made. EXAMPLES OF PRINCI- PAL DUTIES (Duties assigned to this classification include, but are not limited to, the fol- lowing examples. Any one position may not perform all listed duties.) 1. Participates in the development, enactment, interpreter, and monitor- ing of County policies, ordinances and procedures; assists in the coordination of County Court responsi- bilities. 2. Acts as a member of the County Budget Committee; estimates and determines amount of rev- enue required; review rates necessary for appropriation of funds; supervises all County financing. 3. Holds public hearings on land use matters; adopts ordinances on zoning and planning,; hears appeals of such matters and renders decisions. 4. Appoints and em- ploys department heads; confers with department heads on matters of policy or on difficult or unusual problems; participates in filling vacancies in elective positions when required under ORS. 5. Authorizes purchase of land, land exchanges, land leases, and timber sales, directs purchase of equip- ment and contracts for buildings and/or repairs. 6. Authorizes all county purchases, payrolls, con- tracts, deeds, leases and acquisitions whether real or personal property with the exception of certain business transactions con- ducted by departments of county government pursu- ant to state law. 7. Authorizes the filling of vacant positions and approves or disapproves salary adjustments; ap- proves collective bargain- ing agreements; adopts and revises the county person- nel rules and the classifica- tion and pay plans. 8. Appoints members to county boards, committees and commissions. 9. Supervises all county property; provides for the construction, repair and usage of county buildings; awards all bids. 10. Establishes, vacates or alters county roads within the county. 11. Directs expenditure of funds for promotion of county resources including recreational and industrial development. 12. Meets with officials from cities within the county, adjoining counties, state and federal govern- ment officials in matters of coordination, cooperation and matters of policy at various levels of govern- ment and for the purpose of agreements relating to land and water uses, cooperative projects, and matters of mutual interest; meets with various boards and organizations in mat- ters of local interest; meets with members of the public to explain county functions and answer questions. KNOWLEDGE, SKILL AND ABILITY RE- QUIRED OF THIS POSI- TION Thorough knowledge of county government organization, powers and functions and relationships with other governmental jurisdictions; thorough knowledge of the princi- ples and practices of public administration, particularly as applied to the manage- Letter to the Editor Policy: The Baker County Press reserves the right not to pub- lish letters containing factual falsehoods or incoherent narrative. Letters promoting or detracting from specific for-profit business- es will not be published. Word limit is 375 words per letter. Letters are limited to one every other week per author. Letters should be submitted to Editor@TheBakerCounty- Press.com. Advertising and Opinion Page Dis- claimer: Opinions submitted as Guest ment of diversified county governmental services; thorough knowledge of the principles and practices of public budgeting, finance, reporting and personnel management; considerable ability and skill in estab- lishing and maintaining cooperative and harmoni- ous working relationships with county administrative officials and employees, representatives of business and government organiza- tions and the general pub- lic; ability to appraise the quality of varied municipal services through inspection and review of work reports and to develop and effec- tively initiate improvement in management methods; ability to speak effectively before varied groups. QUALIFICATIONS Elected position. Must possess the requirements of the position of County Commissioner as set forth in ORS 204.016. SUPERVISORY CON- TROLS OVER THIS POSITION Works with the respon- sibility directly to the electorate. PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRON- MENT Work is primarily performed in an office environment with physical demands of bending, hear- ing and speaking conver- sations, kneeling, lifting up to 50 pounds, pulling, pushing, reaching, sitting, standing and walking. A considerable amount of driving is required. Other Projects That Could Be Reviewed The Boardman to Hemingway is a transmis- sion line project proposed by Idaho Power to con- struct, operate and main- tain a new electric trans- mission line. Research can be done online at www. boardmantohemingway. com. This project first comes up in County com- missioner records in 2009. All records from Com- missioner Meetings are recorded and available for public use to research. The Governor’s Sage Grouse Association of Oregon Counties is rep- resented by Mark Bennett for Baker County. Do not hesitate to ask him your questions and his observa- tion on the progress of the Sage Grouse Initiative. Research www.westgov. org/news/western-gove- nors-species-conservation- and-endangered-species- act-initiativ will give you some background. BLM Resource Manage- ment Plan has been a dis- cussion in Baker County for some time. The subject has been covered in the newspaper and in Commis- sion Sessions. These are good resources to obtain information to research for possibly running for office or even to see if you agree with the position your commissioner is taking on the subject. Opinions or Letters to the Editor express the opinions of their authors, and have not been authored by and are not necessarily the opinions of The Baker County Press, any of our staff, management, independent contractors or affiliates. Advertisements placed by political groups, candidates, businesses, etc., are printed as a paid service, which does not constitute an endorsement of or fulfillment obligation by this newspaper for the products or services advertised. Continuing his efforts to promote renewable hydropower production in Oregon and through- out the Northwest, Rep. Greg Walden (R-Hood River) voted to pass the Hydropower Policy Modernization Act (H.R. 3043) through the House of Representatives on a strong bipartisan vote. The Hydropower Pol- icy Modernization Act originated in the Energy and Commerce Commit- tee—where Walden serves as Chairman—and would modernize and streamline the licensing process for hydropower projects. “Hydropower plays an enormously important role in electricity generation across the country and es- pecially in my home state of Oregon,” said Walden. “Hydropower generates 43% of electricity in my state. It is dependable; it is baseload; it is carbon free; it is renewable; and it is very important to our region. Nationally, hydro- power is the largest source of renewable electricity generation and a recent Department of Energy report found that U.S. hydropower could grow by almost 50 percent by the year 2050. However, as my colleagues from the Pacific Northwest and across the country know, we are not taking full advantage of this valuable resource.” Walden said the leg- islation will enhance Oregon’s ability to utilize hydropower. Specifically, the Hydropower Policy Modernization Act would modernize the permitting process for hydropower projects by: Clarifying that hydro- power is renewable under federal law, Improving administrative efficiency, accountability, and transparency, Requiring timely decision making, and; Reducing duplicative oversight from the mul- tiple federal agencies that review hydro applications by designating the Federal Energy Regulatory Com- mission as the lead agency. The current licensing pro- cess of new hydropower facilities and relicensing of existing facilities is often costly and time consum- ing. Walden said that the Hydropower Policy Modernization Act will im- prove hydropower licens- ing, which will ultimately benefit ratepayers and consumers. “As these entities go to relicense, sometimes it costs tens of millions of dollars just to get a renewal of a government permit to continue doing what you’ve been doing. And it can take seven-to- ten years to work through the process,” said Walden. “By the way, guess who pays for all of those costs? The ratepayers, the people paying their electricity bill end up paying for all of this out of control review and regulation.” The Hydropower Policy Modernization Act passed the House on a bipartisan vote, and now awaits ac- tion in the Senate. Wyden, Merkley want weed program funded U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today urged federal officials to provide full funding for a successful 40-year pro- gram that conserves and restores healthy landscapes and waterways threatened by invasive weeds. The Oregon senators’ letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke notes that full funding in 2018 for the decades-old Strategic Integrated Noxious Weed Management partner- ship between the Bureau of Land Management and Oregon Department of Agriculture would be $290,000. Yet the current agreement calls for just $70,000— less than one-quarter full funding for assistance with weed control on federal lands, including education and outreach, prevention, physical and mechani- cal treatments, biological agents, herbicides, cultural methods including targeted grazing, and replanting. “Failure to continue a fully-funded agreement puts ranchers’ grazing al- lotments in jeopardy, could affect critical invasive plant work on federal lands in Oregon and protects adjoining private lands and our agricultural economy,” the senators wrote. Wyden focused on LGBTQ people in Azerbaijan A bipartisan group of senators today called on Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to investigate news reports that authori- ties have conducted raids and detained people in Azerbaijan because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. In a letter to Tillerson, the senators, led by Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Pat Toomey, R-Penn., called for the investiga- tion following recent news reports of raids conducted in September in Azerbai- jan’s capital, Baku, when authorities detained more than 50 gay and transgen- der people. “We write to share our concerns about press reports that Azerbaijani authorities have detained — Contact Us — dozens of gay and trans- gender persons simply because they are gay or transgender,” the senators wrote. “We urge you to investigate these reports and, if they are credible, to publicly condemn these ac- tions in the strongest terms and to push for perpetra- tors to be held account- able.” YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS The Baker County Press President Donald Trump PO Box 567 Baker City, Ore. 97814 202.456.2461 fax Open Monday-Thursday for calls 9 AM - 4 PM Open 24/7 for emails 202.456.1414 Whitehouse.gov/contact US Sen. Jeff Merkley 503.326.3386 503.326.2900 fax Merkley.Senate.gov Phone: 541.519.0572 TheBakerCountyPress.com US Sen. Ron Wyden 541.962.7691 Wyden.Senate.gov Kerry McQuisten, Publisher Editor@TheBakerCountyPress.com US Rep. Greg Walden Wendee Morrissey, Advertising and Sales Wendee@TheBakerCountyPress.com 541.624.2402 fax David Conn, Advertising and Sales David@TheBakerCountyPress.com Published weekly every Friday. Subscription rates per year are $29.95 all areas, e-mail delivery. $39.95 print issue, home delivery, Baker City city limits only. $49.95 print issue, mail delivery, outside Baker City city limits only. Payment in advance. A division of Black Lyon Publishing, LLC 541.624.2400 Walden.House.gov Oregon Gov. Kate Brown 503.378.3111 Governor.Oregon.gov State Rep. Cliff Bentz 503.986.1460 State Sen. Ted Ferrioli 541.490.6528 Baker County Commissioners Bill Harvey; Mark Bennett; Bruce Nichols 541.523.8200 Copyright © 2014 -2017 541.523.8201