Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Wednesday, October 28, 2015 Founded October 16, 1875 KATHRYN B. BROWN DANIEL WATTENBURGER Publisher Managing Editor JENNINE PERKINSON TIM TRAINOR Advertising Director Opinion Page Editor OUR VIEW OTHER VIEWS Daniel Owen/The Gazette via AP Pallbearers carry the casket of Air Force Major Phyllis Pelky as they leave the Air Force Academy’s Cadet Protestant Chapel, Oct. 26 in Colorado Springs, Colo. Pelky was one of five people killed in the Oct. 11 crash of a British helicopter in Kabul, Afghanistan. America soldiers on LQ$IJKDQLVWDQ $IJKDQLVWDQLVWKHORQJHVWZDULQ $PHULFDQKLVWRU\ Earlier this month, President %DUDFN2EDPDPDGHFOHDULW wouldn’t be ending under his watch. Obama — who originally FDPSDLJQHGWRHQG*HRUJH:%XVK¶V ZDUVLQ,UDTDQG$IJKDQLVWDQ²KDV RQO\EHHQDEOHHQGRQHRIWKHP+H may have chosen the wrong one, too, as the Middle East devolves into chaos and civil war and ISIS grabs territory, beheads civilians DQGGHVWUR\VDQWLTXLWLHV$VWURQJHU $PHULFDQSUHVHQFHPD\KDYHKHOSHG but would have come at a grave cost. %DFNLQ2EDPDFRQ¿GHQWO\ declared the end of the U.S. combat PLVVLRQLQ$IJKDQLVWDQ7KHSUHVLGHQW said we would draw down to 1,000 WURRSVRQWKHJURXQGLQ$IJKDQLVWDQ by the dawn of 2016. Yet he has had to backtrack on that plan, and now says the U.S. plans to leave about 10,000 troops in the country for at least another year. The decision was obviously not an HDV\RQH%XWLWGRHVLOOXPLQDWHWKH IDFWWKDWWKHVLWXDWLRQLQ$IJKDQLVWDQ has devolved — not improved — in WKHODVW¿YH\HDUV2EDPD¶VUHDVRQLQJ is that more troops in the country help dissuade Islamic terrorists, LQFOXGLQJWKHYLFLRXVDQGH[SDQGLQJ ,VODPLF6WDWHIURP¿OOLQJDSROLWLFDO and security vacuum. In some of $IJKDQLVWDQ¶VPRUHUXUDOSURYLQFHV UXOHRIODZLVQHDUO\QRQH[LVWHQWDQG government oversight is nil. +RZHYHUQRWKLQJFKDQJHVZLWK Obama’s recent revelation that troops will stay longer. The status quo will UHPDLQIRUDQRWKHU\HDU%LOOLRQV RI$PHULFDQWD[SD\HUGROODUVZLOO continue to leech away into foreign VRLODQG$PHULFDQOLYHVZLOOEHORVW :KLOH$PHULFDQVKDYHEHHQ occupied elsewhere — the neverending swamp of Washington, SUHVLGHQWLDOHOHFWLRQV6XSHU%RZOV DQG.DUGDVKLDQV²$PHULFDQV KDYHEHHQ¿JKWLQJDQGG\LQJLQ $IJKDQLVWDQ:HRZHWKHPDVZHOO DV$PHULFDQWD[SD\HUVDQG$IJKDQ citizens, a clear plan for returning the country to sovereignty and leaving it safer and more secure than we found it. The obstacles remain immense. Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board of Publisher Kathryn Brown, Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, and Opinion Page Editor Tim Trainor. Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of the East Oregonian. OTHER VIEWS Is Oregon’s economy losing momentum? and professional and business services, ZKLFKORVWMREV Sectors with job gains included s it a monthly blip — or a sign that government (including public education), Oregon’s economic recovery is ZKLFKDGGHGMREV+HDOWKFDUH starting to lose whatever momentum and social assistance, a sector which has it’s built up over the past years? enjoyed steady growth, added roughly Last week’s statewide employment 800 jobs. report was troubling, but let’s hope it’s It’s troubling to see such broad- just a temporary aberration. based job losses in the private sector, +HUHZDVWKHNH\WDNHDZD\IURP especially since growth there was one the report by the Oregon Employment of the hallmarks of the state’s economic Department: Oregon’s payroll UHFRYHU\$QGLWVWLOOVHHPVDVLIWKH HPSOR\PHQWGURSSHGE\MREVLQ 6HSWHPEHUIROORZLQJDJDLQRIMREV recovery took its sweet time to generate new jobs.) LQ$XJXVW 7KHGURSZDVVRXQH[SHFWHGWKDWLW¶V 7KLVPDUNHGWKH¿UVWGHFOLQHLQWKUHH not out of the question that it represents \HDUV7R¿QGWKHODVWWLPHWKHVWDWH¶V nothing more than a blip, a brief detour. economy shed any jobs, you have to go In fact, a senior state economist told The all the way back to September 2012. Oregonian that despite the job numbers, Now, let’s keep this in perspective: DQRWKHUHFRQRPLFPHDVXUH²WD[ Over the last 12 months, Oregon’s collections from paychecks — continues economy has added about 49,500 jobs. $QGWKHVWDWH¶VXQHPSOR\PHQWUDWHVWD\HG to increase, a sign of stability in the job UHODWLYHO\ÀDWLQ6HSWHPEHUDWSHUFHQW PDUNHW$QGLW¶VQRWDWDOOXVXDOIRUWKHVH monthly job numbers to be revised as DVRSSRVHGWRSHUFHQWLQ$XJXVW DGGLWLRQDOGDWDÀRZVLQ %XWWKHVL]HRIWKHMREORVVLQ 2QHVLJQWRZDWFKLQQH[WPRQWK¶V September was enough to catch the eye of state economists, who noted that losing report will be the number of jobs in the retail sector, which should start to more than 5,000 jobs in a single month increase as merchants begin hiring to has been a rare occurrence over the last PDNHVXUHWKH\KDYHDGHTXDWHVWDI¿QJIRU VL[\HDUV the holiday shopping season.) If you dig a little deeper in the %XWRYHUDOO6HSWHPEHU¶VUHSRUW report, other troubling signs emerge: should serve as yet another sobering The economic sectors that absorbed the reminder that the state’s economic biggest job losses included construction, recovery — which never really has felt which lost 1,800 jobs. &RQVWUXFWLRQZDVRQHRIWKHHFRQRPLF robust — could be slowing down. We hope that’s not the case. sectors that was hardest-hit during the %XWOHJLVODWRUVDQGRWKHUVWDWHRI¿FLDOV recession, and one of the bright spots of the state’s recovery has been watching the charged with building and maintaining the state’s budget need to remember that hope rebound there. LVQRWVXI¿FLHQWWREDODQFHWKHERRNV² Other sectors that suffered job losses and that they need to move with care when in September included retail trade, ZKLFKVKHGVRPHMREVOHLVXUHDQG taking any action that could throw another KRVSLWDOLW\ZKLFKORVWDQRWKHUMREV hurdle into the path of economic recovery. The (Corvallis) Gazette-Times I Marijuana can help Pendleton L Our city planners have severely ast week’s article titled “Plute’s limited the number of dispensaries path out of the pot-hole” brings that can be located within city limits. out the debate between council The county has banned sales within members of whether to opt in or their purview. Pendleton will have the out of marijuana sales in the city of ability to capitalize on this and bring a Pendleton. considerable amount of revenue into Marijuana is legal in the state of WKHFLW\FRIIHUVLIWKHFLWL]HQVHQDFWD Oregon. The percentage of people SHUFHQWWD[RQLWVVDOH in Oregon who have smoked pot is Al 7KLVSHUFHQWWD[FDQEHRQWKH DSSUR[LPDWHO\SHUFHQW,WKLQNLW¶V Plute gross sales within the city for sale and fair to say there are a lot of people who Comment JURZWK,¶PXVLQJ¿JXUHVIRUVDOHV know something about it and that’s only. I believe there will be at least probably why the law passed. The $1.5 million in sales for the election settled that. ¿UVW\HDU+RZGLG,DUULYH The debate now is whether at that? If there are 625 one to receive income from the ounce sales per month at a sales and growth of marijuana price of $200 per ounce, that in Pendleton. Marijuana sales would equal the yearly sales take place in this town every ¿JXUH7KDWZLOOHTXDWHWR day whether the mayor and $45,000 per year revenue for council likes it or not. the city not counting the state There is money to be made on the sales if our city opts in. contribution. Do you believe &RXQFLORU&KXFN:RRGJDYH there will be 21 sales per day? the council his best estimate I do and more. There will be of income from sales, based people from town and out of on information supplied to the town. The people who come /HDJXHRI2UHJRQ&LWLHV,W in from other towns will is my opinion that the league purchase food to eat, gas up was very conservative in their their cars and shop in town estimates. while they are here. So we’re talking ancillary My projections are also an opinion, but revenue for businesses. EDVHGRQ&RORUDGR¶V¿JXUHVDQGWKH¿UVW 7KHDPRXQWRIWD[UHYHQXHOLNHO\ZLOOQRW week’s sales in Oregon of $11 million touted come even close to the amount collected on in the East Oregonian2UHJRQ¿UVWZHHNVDOHV WKHIXHOWD[6R,ZRXOGHQFRXUDJH\RXQRW KDGQRWWDNHQSODFHZKHQ&RXQFLORU:RRG to depend on this strictly for the streets or gave his estimate. Somewhere in between may anything else for that matter. be the answer. 7KLVLVQRWDVXEVWLWXWHIRUWKHIXHOWD[,WLV If Pendleton opts in, our city will have DQH[WUDVRXUFHRIUHYHQXHWRKHOSWKHFLW\WDNH almost 100 percent product market share in care of what we have. (DVWHUQ2UHJRQ+RZPDQ\EXVLQHVVHVLQWKLV Ŷ town would like to have that business? Al Plute is a Pendleton city councilor. Marijuana sales take place in this town every day whether the mayor and council likes it or not. YOUR VIEWS RXUJUHDW¿UH¿JKWHUVDQG(07VZLOO respond. Larry O’Rouke, who I respect for his The streets in Pendleton are a mess. I drive many years of community activities, is wrong. +HZDVZRUULHGWKDWRXWRIWRZQEXVLQHVV on them daily and cringe at the bumps and RZQHUVPLJKWLQÀXHQFH\RXUYRWH$ORWRI crunches. Since I do not live in the city limits our business owners live out of town and they I am unable to vote in the election but I want WRVXSSRUWWKHQLFNOHVSURMHFWWR¿[WKHVWUHHWV certainly have a right to try to protect their livelihood. My family and I will continue to buy all our 7KLVLVWKH8QLWHG6WDWHVRI$PHULFDIUHH JDVLQ3HQGOHWRQDQGSXWRXUQLFNHOVLQWKH³¿[ VSHHFKLVSURWHFWHG+RZPDQ\HPSOR\HHV the streets” account. Arlene Malcom does Mr. O’Rourke want the eight service Pendleton stations to lay off? %RWKRIWKHVHUHVLGHQWVQHHGWRDWWHQGDIHZ council meetings, maybe they would learn Punishing Pendleton council something. ZRQ¶W¿[WKHFLW\¶VVWUHHWV ,KDYHWRDGGVLQFHDQRWKHUSROLFHRI¿FHU ZDVNLOOHGLQ1HZ