VIEWPOINTS
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Quick takes
Kitzhaber/Hayes fallout
It is astounding or maybe just excruciat-
ingly arrogant that so many of these plans
and strategies were written down and re-
leased to cyberspace.
— Anne Morte
It is very sad that after doing so much
good and working for the people that he be-
came so stupid and lost his career because
of this idiot money grubbing dishonest
woman.
— Patrice Graham
Hayes wrote that she intended to “explore
opportunities for income from non-policy,
non-Oregon, non-time-consuming work.”
Bwahahaha “non-time-consuming work”
means get paid for doing nothing because I
sleep with the governor.
—Valerie Calley
Brown has ties to east side
So?
— Marvin Williams
Unfortunately her positions seem to be
to the left of Kitzhaber. I hope she is a gov-
ernor for all of Oregon, not just the valley.
Time will tell.
— Mike Navratil
Seeing and living the (Eastern Oregon)
lifestyle we have here are two separate things.
Let’s see what she actually does for us.
— Shasta Baney
More power to her.
— Dave Lazinka
One of the great lessons of the Twitter age is
that much can be summed up in just a few words.
Here are some of this week’s takes. Tweet yours
@Tim_Trainor or email editor@eastoregonian.
com, and keep them to 140 characters.
I feel this is one of those times when we
fail to see and appreciate “greatness in our
midst.” Because of this I would like to share
the following history.
,¿UVWPHW³0U5HTXD´LQ,ZDV
required to:
• Show up on time or get locked out.
• Be prepared to work hard.
• Produce excellence in all of my efforts.
No, I was not out
for football. Mr. Requa
was my Algebra I and II
teacher in a classroom
where you could hear a pin
drop. The expectation was
“You’re here to learn; get it
done.” And we did.
I knew of “Coach
Requa” when I attended
Pendleton High School
(‘62-’65) and then taught
in the Pendleton School
'LVWULFWIURP¶
Living in Pendleton at
that time automatically
made you part of Oregon’s
most successful football
program. Watching excellence in motion on
Friday nights added an exciting dimension
to living in a rural town. His passion for
football, camaraderie with the PHS staff and
leadership formula of dedication, hard work
and “outside the box” thinking:
• Lead other PHS coaches to greatness
in their respective athletic programs and
the building of their much-needed facilities
ZLWKSULYDWH¿QDQFLDODQGFRPPXQLW\
labor donations: 1) Bob White: present-
day baseball facility; 2) Rollin Schimmel:
present-day wrestling building; and 3) Mark
Christensen and Rollin Schimmel (activities
director): present day track and tiered
spectators facility.
• Challenged other coaches around
Oregon to improve their programs since they
NQHZWKH\ZRXOGPHHWKLPRQWKH¿HOGRI
battle as part of the IMC or in the playoffs.
(Read contributions to articles in the East
Oregonian written when Coach Requa
passed away.)
• Encouraged the educational community:
1) recruiting new and talented educators who
Page 5A
Hermiston charter carefully crafted
H
ermiston city council’s
to an appointed position. There is at
proposal for a new charter
least a segment of our community that
has been well covered by
has caught hold of this issue. I want to
the local news media. I would
offer my perspective on the reason for
like to offer my thoughts and
proposing this change.
perspective to this issue.
At the outset, it is important we
The city council recognized
are all clear that this discussion was
that the city charter had been in
not about the current judge or about
place for almost 60 years. They
David controlling the rulings that come from
found many provisions needed
Drotzmann the court or taking away anyone’s
WREHUHPRYHGRUPRGL¿HGDV
right to vote.
Comment
they no longer served the
Rather, the proposal is an
needs of our community
attempt to align Hermiston with
and/or were contradictory
the overwhelming majority
to state and federal law.
of other cities in Oregon
Just by way of example,
(according to data compiled
our current charter requires
by the League of Oregon
that any person who seeks
Cities, about four of Oregon’s
to run for council must be a
133 municipal court judges
“freeholder upon property
are elected) and provide a
located within the city of
mechanism for the council and
Hermiston,” which is no
city manager to control the
longer a valid requirement
administrative affairs of the
under state and federal law.
court such as budgeting and
The council took on the
personnel.
project of a thorough review
The proposed change
of this important document
DOVRUHÀHFWVDGHVLUHWRPDNH
to update the language and
sure the community has an
to provide a document that
opportunity to fully discuss the
will last many years into
TXDOL¿FDWLRQVRIWKHPXQLFLSDO
the future. Our charter is
court judge. At this point,
our city’s constitution and
election turnout percentages
it shouldn’t need frequent
are not very high for municipal
adjustments in order to
elections held off-cycle of
function properly.
statewide and national elections. Selecting
Because of the council’s recognition of
a judge with an appointment process will
this project’s importance, the city hired the
allow a more thorough and deliberate
ODZ¿UPRI%HHU\(OVQHUDQG+DPPRQG
GLVFXVVLRQRIWKHTXDOL¿FDWLRQVVNLOOVDQG
to guide them through an updated charter
abilities of those interested in the job.
that is more concise, easier to use and
Having a thorough and transparent hiring
understand and is consistent with state and
process will allow the community, through
federal law.
WKHFRXQFLOWRVHOHFWWKHPRVWTXDOL¿HG
One particular issue in the draft charter
candidate.
has risen to the forefront of discussion.
In reality, the position of municipal
As readers are likely well aware,
court judge is that of a department head
the council has discussed changing the
of a very specialized department of the
municipal judge from an elected position
city. It is not typically a political position
Our charter
is our city’s
constitution
and it
shouldn’t
need
frequent
adjustments
in order
to function
properly.
Requa: the man
By Karen Schimmel
East Oregonian
wanted to be part of a successful program;
2) music, journalism, and all classroom
academics were encouraged to excel. The
efforts of these educators produced an
educational climate that to this day is one of
Oregon’s greatest school systems. (Please
open PHS yearbooks and look at all of these
programs and their awards.)
• Brought the people of Pendleton
WRJHWKHULQVXSSRUWRI¿QDQFLDOO\EDFNLQJ
the schools. I was president of Pendleton
Association of Teachers,
a job you prepare for by
learning the management
system of a schools.
Budgets and building new
facilities are voted in or
vetoed by the people of
this community. Successful
sports arenas and the
dedicated educators of
Pendleton set the bar very
high making passage
of these much-needed
¿QDQFHVKDSSHQ
Today, Pendleton is
lead by intelligent, talented
people who played in
Requa’s program.
,¿UVWPHW'RQ5HTXDRU³5HT´ZKHQ
I became the wife of an assistant football
FRDFK¶,ZDONHGLQWRWKHH\HRIWKH
storm. Space and time do not allow me to
share all we lived and learned from “Req.”
The single most important lesson: The
GHPDQGVRIDQ\VXFFHVVIXOSURJUDPDUH
UHTXLULQJWUHPHQGRXVVDFUL¿FHVRIHYHU\RQH
most of all its leader. (Family vacation is not
part of your vocabulary.)
I applaud the city council for their
decision. Pendleton was extremely fortunate
to have Don Requa bring his intelligence,
passion, leadership and work ethic to our
FLW\+LV\HDUVRIGHGLFDWLRQDQGLQÀXHQFH
reach far beyond the walls and playing
¿HOGVRI3+6LQWRWKHYHU\KHDUWRIWKLV
community, around the state of Oregon, and
our nation. Main Street is an appropriate
place to share his history, contributions and
success with all who live here and visit.
Ŷ
Karen Schimmel, of Pendleton, was a
student, coworker and friend of Pendleton
High School football coach Don Requa.
The demands of
any successful
program are
24/7, requiring
tremendous
sacrifices of
everyone, most
of all its leader.
and it shouldn’t be treated as one. Having
an appointed judge relieves the judge of
the need to worry about re-election and
the need to seek votes from those that
he or she must rule in favor of or against
on a daily basis. Taking the politics out
of the process will hopefully create the
perception, if not reality, of a more neutral
tribunal.
An elected judge can also cause a lot of
problems from a management perspective.
Elected judges can get cities into trouble
through mismanagement of city funds and
not following applicable labor laws.
Because removal of an elected judge
relies almost entirely on the recall process,
there is very little ability to control an
elected judge who creates liability for a
city by violating these laws. It is widely
acknowledged in cities across Oregon that
DQHOHFWHGMXGJHLVPXFKPRUHGLI¿FXOWWR
discipline.
Finally, it is the mayor and council’s
most important task to oversee the funds of
the city. For them and the city manager to
keep a separately elected department head
within established budgetary requirements
FDQEHDGLI¿FXOWMRE
The issue of an elected or appointed
judge should not take away from the need
for a new and modern charter for the city.
To that end, the council has proposed two
separate ballot measures. One will be for
the community to decide if they approve
of the changes to the charter as suggested
with our current elected judge position.
The second measure, if the community
agrees with the council, is an immediate
amendment to appoint the judge. By having
two separate measures, the voters can
decide the issue of an elected or appointed
municipal court judge on its own merits,
separate and apart from the adoption of a
new charter.
Ŷ
David Drotzmann is the mayor of
Hermiston.
Crude tactics worked
against the sage grouse
By JIMMY TOBIAS
Writers on the Range
F
or years now, the oil and gas industry
has been stirring up trouble for
sage grouse. The possibility that
the prairie-dwelling birds might receive
Endangered Species Act protection gives
oil executives high-grade anxiety. It would
threaten jobs, they say. It would ruin the
HFRQRP\,WZRXOGUHGXFHSUR¿WV
All the noise the industry has made
¿QDOO\SDLGRII/DVW'HF3UHVLGHQW
Obama signed a $1.1 trillion spending
bill that was chock-full of unfortunate
compromises, including a rider introduced
by Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev. The rider
effectively bars the
Interior Department
from listing either the
greater sage grouse or its
Gunnison cousins under
the Endangered Species
Act during the current
¿VFDO\HDU
Oil and gas interests
are delighted, of course,
having worked hard to
make this happen. For
at least three years, the
industry has waged a
sophisticated lobbying
campaign aimed at
preventing federal
protection of the birds.
In ads and reports and
TV spots, Big Oil tried
to frame the sage grouse
issue as an economic
UDWKHUWKDQDVFLHQWL¿FPDWWHUZKLOH
portraying supporters of an endangered
species listing as unsavory agitators.
And in the months before the recent
rider’s passage, the tone of this campaign
LQWHQVL¿HG
From August to October 2014, for
example, the Western Energy Alliance — a
consortium of major oil companies such
as Halliburton and Anadarko — ran online
and radio ads meant to undermine the
trustworthiness of environmental groups
working on the sage grouse issue. With
creepy tunes blaring in the background,
one video reported that “environmental
activists, teamed with powerful out-of-
state lawyers, are using bad science and
the courts to stop responsible energy
development. ...”
The ad failed to mention that the
energy alliance has long relied on the
courts to get its way, suing the Bureau of
Land Management in 2010, to open up
backlogged oil and gas leases.
Another video, featuring bucolic shots
of horseback riders and mountain bikers,
claimed that a federal listing would
threaten “our rural Western way of life.”
These scare-tactic ads ran in six states.
The Western Energy Alliance has
also tried to discredit scientists working
with federal agencies, claiming on its
website and in published reports that
³GLVSURSRUWLRQDWHLQÀXHQFHIURPDVPDOO
group of activist scientists” has tainted
government studies of sage grouse. In a
commissioned report, it went so far as to
publish and then criticize the emails of
Pat Diebert, a federal employee whose
¿QGLQJVGLVSOHDVHGWKHLQGXVWU\
Supporters of this anti-grouse agenda
included many other industry groups
and a herd of congressmen and senators.
In June, Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., and
then-Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., now a
senator, introduced a bill meant to prevent
the sage grouse from being listed under
the Endangered Species Act for 10 years.
According to a Center for Responsive
Politics database, Big Oil donated more
than $600,000 to Gardner during the 2014
campaign season alone. Enzi, for his part,
has taken in more than $500,000 in oil-
industry campaign dollars throughout his
congressional career.
Perhaps the best insight into the
industry’s strategy of
tarnishing supporters
of a sage grouse listing
came during the Western
Energy Alliance’s annual
meeting in Colorado
Springs last summer.
The meeting featured
presentations such as
“Big Green Radicals:
Exposing Environmental
Groups,” with Richard
Berman, a Washington
political consultant,
serving as keynote
speaker. Berman told
the oil representatives
that they must wage
an “endless war” with
environmental groups.
The industry will win,
he added, only by
taking away “the moral authority” of its
opponents and “reframing the debate”
on its own terms. According to The New
York Times, he told the industry that the
challenge was either to “win ugly or lose
pretty.”
Oil and gas interests continue to insist
that they, too, want to protect grouse.
An alliance report notes that the industry
“implements, on average, 6.5 restrictive
measures per project to protect the Greater
Sage-Grouse.” But some question the
HI¿FDF\QRWWRPHQWLRQWKHVLQFHULW\RI
these efforts. The report “does not address
whether these measures are (or) have been
adequate to protect the species,” says Mark
Salvo, a Defenders of Wildlife staffer.
There is a sad irony to all of this. The
oil and gas sector, desperate to keep sage
grouse off the endangered species list, has
done more than any group to impede the
state-based conservation efforts that are the
best chance there is to avert a listing. By
undermining federal law, by politicizing
VFLHQWL¿FIDFWVE\XVLQJVFDUHDQGVPHDU
tactics, and pushing its weight around
Congress, it has poisoned the debate. All
the while, grouse populations continue to
decline.
In the end, this is about more than birds.
Big Oil wants unfettered access to the
public lands, and it is determined to win
ugly.
Ŷ
Jimmy Tobias is a contributor to
Writers on the Range, a column service of
High Country News (hcn.org). A freelance
journalist and former trail worker with the
Forest Service, he lives in California.
Oil and gas
interests are
delighted,
having worked
hard to bar
the greater
sage grouse
from being
listed under the
Endangered
Species Act.
Be heard! Comment online at eastoregonian.com