Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, April 21, 2021
As mask mandates end, Oregon
bucks trend with permanent rule
SARA CLINE
Associated Press/Report
for America
PORTLAND, Ore.
(AP) — As states around
the country lift COVID-19
restrictions, Oregon is poised
to go the opposite direction
— and many residents are
fuming about it.
A top health official
is considering indefinitely
extending rules requiring
masks and social distancing in
all businesses in the state.
The proposal would
keep the rules in place until
they are “no longer necessary
to address the effects of the
pandemic in the workplace.”
Michael Wood,
administrator of the state’s
department of Occupational
Safety and health, said the
move is necessary to address
a technicality in state law that
requires a “permanent” rule to
keep current restrictions from
expiring.
“We are not out of the
woods yet,” he said.
But the idea has
prompted a flood of angry
responses, with everyone from
parents to teachers to business
owners and employees crying
government overreach.
Wood’s agency received
a record number of public
comments, mostly critical, and
nearly 60,000 residents signed
a petition against the proposal.
Opponents also are
upset government officials
won’t say how low Oregon’s
COVID-19 case numbers
must go, or how many people
would have to be vaccinated,
to get the requirements lifted
in a state that’s already had
some of the nation’s strictest
safety measures.
“When will masks be
unnecessary? What scientific
studies do these mandates rely
on, particularly now that the
vaccine is days away from
being available to everyone?”
said state Sen. kim Thatcher, a
Republican from keizer, near
the state’s capital. “Businesses
have had to play ‘mask cop’
for the better part of a year
now. They deserve some
certainty on when they will
no longer be threatened with
fines.”
Wood said he is
reviewing all the feedback
to see if changes are needed
before he makes a final
decision by May 4, when the
current rules lapse.
Oregon, a blue state,
has been among those with
the country’s most stringent
COVID-19 restrictions and
now stands in contrast with
much of the rest of the nation
as vaccines become more
widely available.
At least six states —
Alabama, Iowa, Mississippi,
Montana, North Dakota and
Texas — have lifted mask
mandates, and some never
implemented them. In Texas,
businesses reopened at 100%
capacity last month.
In January, Virginia
became the first in the nation
to enact permanent COVID-19
workplace safety and health
rules.
“While the end of this
pandemic is finally in sight,
the virus is still spreading
— and now is not the time
to let up on preventative
measures,” Democratic Gov.
Ralph Northam said following
the announcement.
Besides mask and
distancing requirements,
Oregon’s proposal includes
more arcane workplace rules
regarding air flow, ventilation,
employee notification in case
of an outbreak, and sanitation
protocols.
It dovetails with
separate actions issued by
Democratic Gov. kate Brown,
using a state of emergency
declaration, requiring masks
in public statewide — and
even outside when 6 feet
(1.83 meters) of distance
can’t be maintained — and
providing strict, county-by-
county thresholds for business
closures or reductions in
capacity when case numbers
rise above certain levels.
More than a third
of Oregon’s counties are
currently limited to indoor
social gatherings of six people,
and the maximum occupancy
for indoor dining, indoor
entertainment and gyms is
25% capacity or 50 people,
whichever is less. And many
schools are just now reopening
after a year of online learning.
The workplace rule is
“driven by the pandemic, and
it will be repealed,” Wood
said.
“But, it might not need
to go away at exactly the same
time the State of Emergency
is lifted,” he said, referring to
Brown’s executive orders.
Amid pandemic
frustration and deprivation,
the issue has gained a lot
of attention. A petition on
change.org opposing the
rule gained nearly 60,000
signatures and spread on
social media, drawing even
more interest to the proposal.
More than 5,000 public
comments were sent to the
agency, smashing its previous
record of 1,100.
“The majority of
comments were simply
hostile to the entire notion
of COVID-19 restrictions,”
Wood said. “The vast majority
of comments were in the
context of, ‘You never needed
to do anything.’”
Justin Spaulding, a
doctor at the Cataract & Laser
Institute of Southern Oregon,
is among those who raised
concerns about the proposal in
public comments.
“I do not understand
these new guidelines for
business. If we put these into
effect we will only continue
to blunt the recent drop in
business,” he wrote. “We have
a large subset of patients that
are unwilling (or) hostile with
the current guidelines, and
making them permanent will
only make it worse.”
For Thatcher, the GOP
state lawmaker, the most
concerning part is “OShA’s
lack of clarity” on when the
rules will be lifted.
Officials said they have
every intent to repeal the
rule, and that decision will
be made based on a complex
mix of factors, including case
counts, vaccination rates, case
severity and advice from the
Oregon health Authority.
“It will be a complicated
assessment when we do it, and
I would say it is impossibly
complicated to do in advance,”
Wood said.
—
Cline is a corps member
for The Associated Press/
Report for America Statehouse
News Initiative. Report
for America is a nonprofit
national service program
that places journalists in
local newsrooms to report on
undercovered issues.
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Page A-3
PUBLIC NOTICE
FORM LB-1
NOTICE OF BUDGET HEARING
A public meeting of the Illinois Valley Rural Fire Protection District will be held on May 10, 2021 at 3:00 pm at 681 Caves hwy., Cave Junction, Oregon. The
purpose of this meeting is to discuss the budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2021 as approved by the Illinois Valley Rural Fire Protection District Budget Committee. A summary of
the budget is presented below. A copy of the budget may be inspected or obtained at the Illinois Valley Fire District Administration building located at 681 Caves hwy., Cave Junction
Oregon, between the hours of 9:00 a.m and 4:00 p.m Mon-Thur. this budget is for an annual budget period. This budget was prepared on a basis of accounting that is the same as the
preceding year.
Contact: Jamie Paul - Executive Administrator
Telephone: 541-592-3159
Email: jamiepaul@ivfire.com
FINANCIAL SUMMARY - RESOURCES
Actual Amount
TOTAL OF ALL FUNDS
Adopted Budget
2019 - 2020
Beginning Fund Balance/Net Working Capital
Fees, Licenses, Permits, Fines, Assessments & Other Service Charges
Federal, State and all Other Grants, Gifts, Allocations and Donations
Revenue from Bonds and Other Debt
Interfund Transfers / Internal Service Reimbursements
All Other Resources Except Current Year Property Taxes
Current Year Property Taxes Estimated to be Received
Total Resources
Approved Budget
365,000
30,000
This Year 2020 - 2021
365,000
35,000
Next Year 2021 - 2022
700,000
41,500
13,218
1,480,029
1,888,247
14,034
1,541,310
1,955,344
13,706
1,808,888
2,564,094
1,283,151
526,231
30,000
61,674
5,000
20,000
1,528,247
556,165
37,000
60,234
5,000
40,000
29,288
1,955,344
337,448
2,564,094
FINANCIAL SUMMARY - REQUIREMENTS BY OBJECT CLASSIFICATION
Personnel Services
1,158,424
Materials and Services
478,100
30,000
Capital Outlay
Debt Service
102,850
5,000
Interfund Transfers
Contingencies
30,000
Special Payments
Unappropriated Ending Balance and Reserved for Future Expenditure
83,873
Total Requirements
1,888,247
FINANCIAL SUMMARY - REQUIREMENTS AND FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT EMPLOYEES (FTE) BY ORGANIZATIONAL UNIT OR PROGRAM *
Name of Organizational Unit or Program
FTE for that unit or program
Fire Protection
FTE
1,888,247
1,955,344
2,564,094
1,888,247
1,955,344
2,564,094
Total Requirements
Total FTE
11
11
11
STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN ACTIVITIES and SOURCES OF FINANCING *
PROPERTY TAX LEVIES
Rate or Amount Imposed
2019 - 2020
1.8701/$1,000 of assessed
0.50/$1,000 of assessed
195,650
Permanent Rate Levy (rate limit 1,8701 per $1,000)
Local Option Levy
Levy For General Obligation Bonds
Rate or Amount Imposed
This Year 2020 - 2021
1.8701/$1,000 of assessed
0.50/$1,000 of assessed
147,726
STATEMENT OF INDEBTEDNESS
Estimated Debt Outstanding
on July 1.
General Obligation Bonds
$355,300
Other Borrowings: Admin Bldg.
$425,176
$40,768
Other Borrowings: Rescue Engine
Total
$821,244
* If more space is needed to complete any section of this form, insert lines (rows) on this sheet. You may delete blank lines.
LONG TERM DEBT
Rate or Amount Approved
Next Year 2021 - 2022
1.8701/$1,000 of assessed
0.50/$1,000 of assessed
147,847
Estimated Debt Authorized, But
Not Incurred on July 1
150-504-073-2 (Rev. 02-14)
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