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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (March 19, 2016)
VIEWPOINTS Saturday, March 19, 2016 Quick takes — Richard Bertram I love how everyone is being so supportive of your Pendleton businesses — the ones that are here day in and day out. Half of the vendors that set up for farmers market aren’t even from Pendleton! — Brooke Armstrong I too am sad that a compromise couldn’t have been reached. There are so many reasons to have farmers market on Main Street, so few to the contrary. Many sites have been tried and many more analyzed ... none stacked up. — Karen Wagner I’m a business owner on Main Street as well and we don’t mind slowing down for a couple hours we love the farmers market and eat the food every week! — Chris Garcia I get the business side, but I wish everyone involved could act like adults and sit down and talk about how to make this work for the greater good of Pendleton. A Main Street Farmers Market vibe cannot be duplicated in a park or an empty parking lot. — Niki Studer Naughton The only time I shop downtown is when I am there is during the Farmers Market. —Roz Wenst 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. Email yours to editor@eastoregonian.com. By G. Glenn Youngman M any years ago, well respected editor of the East Oregonian J.W. Forrester, wrote an insightful weekly column titled Cabbage and Kings. In one memorable column, he quoted Lewis Carroll. “The time has come,” the walrus said, “to talk of many things: of shoes and ships-and sealing wax-of cabbage and kings.” Mr. Forrester went on to eloquently espouse upon the timeliness to consider changes to local government. It seems that time has come again, to consider a review of Umatilla County’s form of government. In my opinion, Umatilla County should consider limiting the commissioner role to a part-time policy maker and hiring a full-time manager or county executive. Morrow County Court recently took that courageous step of hiring a county manager. In January 2017, the role of county judge as both policy maker and chief executive of county business will transition to policy maker. Wisely, Morrow County recognized the more complex issues facing government today warranted a change to the County Court structure of the past. Umatilla County is a home rule charter county. The voters in 1992 passed Home 5ule Charter. Certain elected of¿cial positions were allowed to ¿nish their term, to be replaced by appointed personnel. The Board of Commissioners and the sheriff were preserved in the charter. In the 1996 general election a charter amendment was on the ballot that would have made the Board of Commissioners part-time policy makers. The elected sheriff position was not part of the ballot measure. The vote failed, leaving in place three full-time commissioners who serve as policy makers Assessing, improving museums can help Pendleton prosper N Page 5A County should change its form of government Farmers market fallout It is a shame to think that a few merchants speak for the will of the people of Pendleton. Thank you Zimmermans for your courageous stand on one of the many really good things about Pendleton. East Oregonian o one or no thing is above review committee and leaders of honest observation, comment local museums and the Chamber and deliberation. For example, of Commerce. Eventually, a small a local journalist wrote about me team working with the city manager several years ago: “His presence has — including Vicky Pearce, Bonnie the consequence of making people Sager and myself — put together grind their teeth. The mention of his a concept paper and strategies for name invokes profanity from people implementation. who don’t normally cuss and unveiled Angie Ong is a staff lecturer at Tom threats from people who would Hebert the University of Washington and otherwise appear to be quite docile.” a nationally respected museum Comment It’s all true. consultant with experience working Another example: A recent through Spotlight Impact, LLC, her Pendleton resident had, as part of his effort Seattle-based consulting ¿rm that provides to get to know the area before he moved research and evaluation services and support here, visited one of our local museums. “As I to museums. It conducts workshops and entered, the volunteer seated behind the desk seminars aimed at integrating evaluation into looked up from their phone and told me that organizational philosophy and building staff the main exhibit changes from time to time. capacity and provides project planning and That was it. No enthusiasm, back to the phone assistance with grants to fund needed changes. they went.” My friend moved here anyway, In January 2015, Spotlight Impact but hasn’t recommended anyone visit that submitted a detailed “opportunity assessment” museum. for a reasonable ¿xed price of 6,000 that would include pre-visit research and However, that experience could be relived questionnaires, a 3-day site visit for two in several other local venues. Which suggests consultants and their travel expenses, followed that our museums and such aren’t real players by data analysis and reporting. in our local life and visitor-based economic The stated goal of this study was “not to development. evaluate speci¿c strengths and weaknesses of Our inventory any individual institutional partner; but rather Pendleton’s museums and related to look holistically at the opportunity at hand, institutions include the Children’s Museum identify ways in which each institution can of Eastern Oregon, Heritage Station contribute to a comprehensive strategy, and Museum, Pendleton Round-Up Hall of Fame, determine the initiative’s possibilities and net Tamastslikt Cultural Institute and Pendleton value to the community.” Underground Tours. To fund this project, PARC Resources of If Pendleton’s museums and related Bend agreed to write a proposal to the Ford institutions were supported by both the city and Chamber of Commerce, this untapped but Family Foundation’s grant program asking for 5,000. If successful, the city’s total outlay for fertile resource could easily be transformed the project would be only 1,600. into a marketable whole. Because moving But, due to growing scheduling problems, beyond occasional visitors like my friend, Spotlight Impact had to withdraw from the this new local support would help create project in July, but agreed to help if and when a more attractive Pendleton for a variety the project moved forward. The city manager of visitors, tourists, and travelers — with said that he would continue to press forward, more valuable overnight stays — while promoting institutional stability by raising con¿dent it was a worthy effort. daily attendance. And the good news is that Next steps because it’s a substantive learning process, it’s Working with local volunteers, the almost fun. Nothing negative about it. chamber and the city of Pendleton could About museum/exhibit assessments seek agreement from a majority of the above Dating back to the 1960s, museum organizations to participate in this study. In specialists have known that the practice of this way, a well-planned, positive-minded formal museum/exhibit evaluations develop visit by professional museum researchers, more user-friendly, effective exhibitions that each institution could contribute to a communicate important things about the host comprehensive civic strategy of signi¿cant organization and its purposes, history and economic and cultural value to the activities while creating a stronger base of community. And they could have fun doing it. support that results in increased visitors — the Once such civic collaboration is in hand, keys to success. the second step would be for the city to Background develop the grant proposal to the Ford Family Beginning in April 201, a speci¿c local Foundation. Completing these two steps initiative evolved from informal discussions would, at last, move this important civic with members of the transient room tax opportunity forward. and day-to-day general manager of the county. With the complexity of issues facing county government today, a case can be made to once again consider amendments to the Umatilla County Home Rule Charter. Speci¿cally, amendments to make the Board of Commissioners part-time policy makers and hiring a professional county executive who would be hired to run the day-to-day operations. Commissioners could then focus on important political and policy matters and the operations could be managed by a full-time professional similar to a city manager. Complex issues facing the county include mental health programs, increasing homelessness, road and bridge maintenance, public safety communications and water policy to mention a few. Homelessness, for example, if not addressed will become more unmanageable. County roads are vitally important to the economy. The focus was once on maintaining farm to market roads but our economy is much more diverse and road maintenance requires a comprehensive and collaborative approach working with cities and the port to maximize transportation services for diverse industrial sectors. Public safety communications are vitally important to all public safety agencies. Public safety responders and citizens depend on well-managed, collaborative program. Water is the lifeblood of the economy and the county should be acting proactively with policy and projects to maximize this essential resource. According to the Home Rule Charter, the County Board of Commissioners is required every four years to appoint a Charter Review Committee of not less than ¿ve members whose purpose is to review the Home Rule Charter and its operations. The committee may recommend amendments to the charter. Then the Board of Commissioners could place all, or part, or none on the ballot to be voted on in a general election. I respectively request the Board of Commissioners appoint a Charter Review Committee to review the Home Rule Charter. The ¿rst question the committee should consider is whether or not the commissioners should be part-time policy makers or full-time executives. The next question should be whether or not the county should hire a full-time manager to oversee the day-to-day business of the county. I served many years as a Umatilla County sheriffs deputy and also as an elected member of Umatilla County Board of Commissioners. Given my unique perspective I believe the current structure of the Board of Commissioners could be changed to better meet the needs of citizens and the county. Ŷ G. Glenn Youngman lives in Hermiston. Umatilla County should consider limiting commissioners to part-time policy makers and hiring a full time county executive. No, not Trump, not ever T he voters have spoken. boasting little boy whose desires In convincing fashion, were somehow arrested at age 12. Republican voters seem to He surrounds himself with syco- be selecting Donald Trump as their phants. “You can always tell when nominee. And in a democracy, the king is here,” Trump’s butler victory has legitimacy to it. Voters told Jason Horowitz in a recent are rarely wise but are usually Times pro¿le. He brags incessantly sensible. They understand their about his alleged prowess, like own problems. And so deference how far he can hit a golf ball. “Do David is generally paid to the candidate Brooks I hit it long? Is Trump strong?” he who wins. asks. Comment And deference is being paid. In some rare cases, political Gov. Rick Scott of Florida is urging victors do not deserve our respect. Republicans to coalesce around Trump. George Wallace won elections, but to Pundits are coming out with their “What endorse those outcomes would be a moral We Can Learn” commentaries. Those failure. And so it is with Trump. commentaries are built on a hidden respect History is a long record of men like for the outcome, that this is a rejection of a Republicanism that wasn’t working and it him temporarily rising, stretching back to biblical times. Psalm 73 describes points in some better direction. The question is: Should deference be them: “Therefore pride is their necklace; paid to this victor? Should we bow down they clothe themselves with violence. ... They scoff, and speak with malice; to the judgment of these voters? Well, some respect is in order. Trump with arrogance they threaten oppression. voters are a coalition of the dispossessed. Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and They have suffered lost jobs, lost wages, their tongues take possession of the earth. lost dreams. The American system is not Therefore their people turn to them and working for them, so naturally they are drink up waters in abundance.” And yet their success is fragile: “Surely looking for something else. Moreover, many in the media, you place them on slippery ground; you especially me, did not understand how cast them down to ruin. How suddenly they would express their alienation. We they are destroyed.” The psalmist reminds us that the proper expected Trump to ¿zzle because we were not socially intermingled with his thing to do in the face of demagogy is to supporters and did not listen carefully go the other way — to make an extra effort enough. For me, it’s a lesson that I have to to put on decency, graciousness, patience change the way I do my job if I’m going to and humility, to seek a purity of heart that is stable and everlasting. report accurately on this country. The Republicans who coalesce around And yet reality is reality. Donald Trump is epically unprepared to Trump are making a political error. They be president. He has no realistic policies, are selling their integrity for a candidate no advisers, no capacity to learn. His vast who will probably lose. About 60 percent narcissism makes him a closed fortress. He of Americans disapprove of him, and that doesn’t know what he doesn’t know and number has been steady since he began his he’s uninterested in ¿nding out. He insults campaign. Worse, there are certain standards more the of¿ce Abraham Lincoln once occupied by running for it with less preparation that important than one year’s election. Donald Trump is an affront to basic most of us would undertake to buy a sofa. Trump is perhaps the most dishonest standards of honesty, virtue and citizen- person to run for high of¿ce in our life- ship. He pollutes the atmosphere in which times. All politicians stretch the truth, but our children are raised. He has already shredded the unspoken rules of political Trump has an obliviousness to accuracy. This week, the Politico reporters civility that make conversation possible. Daniel Lippman, Darren Samuelsohn and In his savage regime, public life is just a Isaac Arnsdorf fact-checked 4.6 hours of dog-eat-dog war of all against all. As the founders would have under- Trump speeches and news conferences. They found more than ¿ve dozen untrue stood, he is a threat to the long and glorious experiment of American self-government. statements, or one every ¿ve minutes. “His remarks represent an extraordinary He is precisely the kind of scapegoating, fear-driving and mix of inaccurate claims about domestic promise-making, and foreign policy and personal and deceiving demagogue they feared. Trump’s supporters deserve respect. professional boasts that rarely measure up when checked against primary sources,” They are left out of this economy. But Trump himself? No, not Trump, not ever. they wrote. Ŷ He is a childish man running for a job David Brooks, New York Times that requires maturity. He is an insecure
