in other words
march1
2018
3
Salem Report
of a qualifying misdemeanor involving
a co-habiting partner or child, but it did
not apply to those in intimate relation-
ships who do not live together. This bill
was amended in the House Judiciary
Committee to require a court appear-
ance before someone can be relieved of
their guns. The bill passed 37-23, and I
did support the bill.
Finally, we received the quar-
terly economic forecast and it appears
that Oregon’s economy is largely hold-
ing steady. Nevertheless, the long-term
impact of the federal tax plan is add-
ing uncertainty to our budget numbers,
and as a state that is largely dependent
on income tax revenue for education,
health care, and public safety, we are
particularly vulnerable. I know that
our budgeting committees are work-
ing on different scenarios to try and
neutralize the negative impacts of the
Trump administration’s tax proposals.
I will keep you posted as information
becomes available.
new form will allow food and water to be
withdrawn from Alzheimer’s patients.
It is important to know that cur-
rent law (ORS 127.642), and HB 4135,
require comfort care including food and
water if appropriate, even if a person’s
directive indicates that they do not want
extraordinary measures. When a person
can no longer speak for themselves, a
properly executed advance directive en-
sures that the patient’s wishes will be fol-
lowed, including the assignment of those
decisions to a trusted representative. For
these reasons, I supported the bill.
The other bill that drew a lot of
attention was HB 4145, which expands
the prohibition on possession of fire-
arms or ammunition to include certain
persons in domestic violence situations.
Additionally, the measure requires the
Oregon State Police to enter qualifying
convictions into the appropriate state and
national databases so that it will be avail-
able to law enforcement entities. Current
law already applies to a person subject to
a court order or who has been convicted
By Representative Brad Witt
Every session,
there are issues under
consideration that raise
the public’s awareness
and cause us to receive
hundreds of calls and
emails. Two such measures came under
consideration recently, and I thought I
would take some time to explain the bills
and my votes on those bills.
First, HB 4135 deals with Ad-
vance Directives, those instructions that
deal with end-of-life decisions. Oregon
has had these directives since 1993, but
the form has not been updated for 25
years. The bill has been worked on by a
wide range of interested parties, includ-
ing the Alzheimer’s Association, AARP,
Disability Rights Oregon, the Oregon
Health Care Association, and the AMA,
to name a few. The form will be revised
by a committee consisting of the Long-
Term Care Ombudsman and 12 members
appointed by the Governor. Many of our
callers were especially concerned that the
Columbia Humane Society Surviving
in bringing Canaan dogs, a unique breed
from Israel, to Oregon.
Lisa Beggio is a long-time vol-
unteer and employee at CHS and is cur-
rently serving as the Executive Director.
For her, the new policy and drop in fund-
ing from the County has created a big
change in how she operates her facility.
“For the past four years the Hu-
mane Society has occupied the entire
building, so we were able to develop a
program that was able to have a pretty
stringent intake and evaluation process
for all the animals we were housing,” ex-
plains Beggio. “With the County mov-
ing back into the building we’ve lost the
use of 14 of the kennels here in the facil-
ity so that eliminates our ability to take
in and hold animals. So it’s changed our
process quite a bit.”
In addition to losing the use of
14 kennels, the loss of funding CHS was
receiving from the County necessitated a
reduction in staff; CHS had to cut three
staff positions as a result of the changes.
That, in turn, has led to a reduction in
days the facility is open; the facility is
now only open to the public on Tues-
days, Saturdays, and Sundays, and by
appointment only on other days, depend-
ing on staff availability.
While the program is transi-
tioning to management by the County,
Beggio says citizens trying to reclaim
impounded pets will need to be patient.
“For the past four years that we held the
contract, we bent over backwards and
taught the citizens here that they had ac-
cess to Animal Control services pretty
much 24/7,” says Beggio. “They could
drop off a stray, pick up a dog, get their
dog medication that was in impound.
Now we have to go back and teach peo-
ple that they have some service Monday
through Friday between 9:00 am and
5:00 pm.”
According to the Columbia
County Sheriff’s Office webpage, just
updated on February 23 to reflect the
change in policy, “County Shelter op-
erations are now separate from the Co-
lumbia Humane Society, though located
at the same address. The County Shelter
office is located on the East side of the
building and clearly marked. The County
Shelter is available by appointment. To
view any dog held by the County, make
arrangements with the Sheriff’s Office at
901 Port Avenue, St. Helens, or calling
(503) 366-4611. The Sheriff’s Dog Con-
trol Officer uses social media and email
to connect with dog owners. You can go
to the Animal Control Facebook page
at: https://www.facebook.com/Columbi-
aCountyAnimalControl to find any dogs
currently held at the Shelter.”
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continued from front page
Meanwhile, Beggio, her reduced
staff, and a large group of dedicated vol-
unteers, continue working to help the
animals to the best of their ability. With
just three staff members, two full-time
and one part-time, CHS depends a lot
on volunteers. “We have a great group
of about 45 regular and dedicated vol-
unteers,” says Beggio. “They did about
4,000 hours last year.”
Beggio says she and her staff
and their volunteers spend a lot of time
and energy working to socialize dogs
and correct poor behavior in an attempt
to make the dogs more adoptable and
also ensure they will quickly adapt to
their new home situation. “We run a
lot of play groups and do other enrich-
ment and behavior modification work
with the dogs that are here,” says Beg-
gio.
Beggio says CHS has a strict
protocol for accepting dogs into their
facility to be adopted out; all dogs have
to be spayed or neutered, microchipped,
and have all vaccines. Those services
require funding, which CHS no longer
receives from the County. When the
County has animals in their kennels that
have not been claimed, they planned to
turn those over to CHS, but Beggio says
someone has to pay for those animals to
receive all the required services.
Vernonia’s Voice is published
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of each month.
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Vernonia, OR 97064
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Beggio says the number of
animals brought in by Animal Control
is down, while the number of animals
being found and reunited with owners
through social media is up. “People
just aren’t bringing the animals in,”
says Beggio. “The public is doing the
County’s job for them. And if those
dogs aren’t being brought in here, then
they also may not be getting licensed or
getting their rabies vaccinations.” She
says she wishes the public would start to
ask the County some of the harder ques-
tions. “What is the real cost for Animal
Control to run the program? What part
of their jobs aren’t patrol deputies doing
when they’re over here cleaning ken-
nels?” asks Beggio.
Beggio has been working at
CHS for 22 years, first as a volunteer
continued on page 13
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DJ Donny for St. Patrick’s Day
9:00 pm Saturday, March 17
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Sun, March 18
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Sun - Thurs 11 AM - Midnight •
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Texas Hold ‘em
Taco Tuesday
Sun, April 15
from opening until 9pm
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Sat, Apr. 21
every Thursday 6pm-close
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503-429-5841