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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (April 20, 2016)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Wednesday, April 20, 2016 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 For Donald Trump, Supreme Court to decide strong-arm case two outrage-free weeks H The problem with the American according to the Corps, its regulatory state is that the regulators jurisdictional determination was have established rules designed QRWD¿QDOJRYHUQPHQWDFWLRQXQGHU to force the compliance of the the Administrative Procedures regulated and to deprive them of Act because it neither compelled due process in an impartial court. Hawkes to do anything, nor A case heard last month by the restricted its actions. In short, the U.S. Supreme Court hopefully will company had “adequate remedies” build on earlier available that preclude litigation. decisions that make it easier for property The Corps It’s a cheap bit is twisting the owners to challenge of extortion, not language to agency decisions in federal court. compliance unlike how the force without judicial In Hawkes Chicago mob review. It knows Co. Inc. v. Corps of Engineers, with such a sells protection. that determination any the question of reasonable property judicial review owner will either rests on whether a determination by the U.S. Army give up entirely or go through the time and expense of the permitting Corps of Engineers that it has jurisdiction over property under the process. It would be extremely foolish to go forward without a &OHDQ:DWHU$FWLVD¿QDODJHQF\ permit and risk criminal prosecution action subject to challenge, or merely an opinion a property owner DQGWKHUXLQRXV¿QDQFLDOSHQDOWLHV can consider and disregard, albeit at attached to a possible guilty verdict. It’s a cheap bit of extortion, not future peril. unlike how the Chicago mob sells Hawkes Co. planned to mine protection. peat moss on wetland property The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of it owned in Minnesota. After Appeals agreed, in only slightly less numerous meetings with the LQÀDPPDWRU\WRQHV company and visits to the site, the “The Corps’ assertion that the Corps concluded that there was a Revised J.D. is merely advisory VLJQL¿FDQWQH[XVEHWZHHQWKHVLWH and has no more effect than an and the Red River of the North, ZDWHUVRIWKH86DVGH¿QHGE\WKH environmental consultant’s opinion Clean Water Act, some 120 miles ignores reality,” it wrote. away. By not allowing immediate It made a jurisdictional judicial review, it wrote, the Corps determination that a permit would achieves the result it desires without be required before the company testing its assertion of jurisdiction. In unanimously deciding a could move forward. similar case, the Supreme Court According to the Corps, this left was more direct. Hawkes with only three options. It could abandon the project. “[T]here is no reason to think that the Clean Water Act was It could perform the necessary uniquely designed to enable the environmental impact studies, which take several years and cost strong-arming of regulated parties into ‘voluntary compliance’ hundreds of thousands of dollars, and apply for a permit. It could without the opportunity for judicial ignore the determination and review....” We think the court will side with proceed with the project and defend plaintiffs. The Corps’ assertion itself if prosecuted. is clearly a distinction without a What it could not do is contest difference. the determination in court because, 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. ave you noticed something blowback was intense. In the days different about the Trump before the April 5 Wisconsin primary, campaign? It’s been more Trump’s rivals -- not just the Cruz than two weeks since the last really campaign but Wisconsin’s formidable outrageous thing the Republican front- conservative talk-radio lineup — used runner has said or done. In the old days it over and over against Trump. — say, a month ago — Trump would But Trump was about to make have set off multiple hair-burning things even worse. During a March controversies in the same period. But 30 interview with MSNBC’s Chris Byron now — nothing. Matthews, Trump said that, were York It’s not an accident. When it comes abortion to be banned, there should Comment to outrageousness, Donald Trump be “some form of punishment” for has dialed it back, on purpose. And women who have abortions. Angering indications from Trump world are that the new both pro-lifers and pro-choicers, Trump then pattern will continue. (An obvious warning: LVVXHGPXOWLSOHFODUL¿FDWLRQVRIKLVSRVLWLRQ It might not; by the time this article appears, The controversy dragged on for days. it’s always possible Trump could do or say Add to that Trump’s attack on Gov. Scott something so shocking that Walker, and the Trump the campaign is rocked for campaign was done in days.) Wisconsin; Cruz beat Trump Why the change? Ask 48 percent to 35 percent. people knowledgeable about The newly energized the campaign, and they’ll #NeverTrump forces saw say the addition of new the state as a turning point staff has had a quick effect. that gave them a real shot at Pushed by his children, keeping Trump short of the Trump has expanded his 1,237 delegates he needs to super-tight circle of advisers win the GOP nomination. with the addition of Paul And then something Manafort, and now others, changed. On March 29, too. The sense is that Trump as things were falling actually can listen, both to advice on what to apart in Wisconsin, Trump announced the say and not to say. The message has evolved; hiring of Manafort, the veteran Republican he is a better candidate than the man who operative. Manafort ostensibly joined to serve messed up right and left just a few weeks ago. as Trump’s convention manager, but his role With his latest crusade against “voterless quickly expanded, in part at the expense of victory,” Trump is scoring points again, not campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, so much against Ted Cruz directly, but against who at the time was facing possible criminal the Republican establishment — always prosecution for a March 8 incident in which he Trump’s most comfortable target. For Trump, grabbed a female reporter’s arm after a press Cruz’s vulnerability is not that he is part of conference in Florida. (Authorities in Florida the establishment, but that he has gotten in announced on Thursday that the matter would bed with the establishment as the only way to be dropped.) ZLQ6RWKHEHOLHILVWKDW7UXPS¶V¿JKWDJDLQVW It took Manafort a few days to get up to the Republican National Committee and speed. But since his arrival, Trump has been insider campaign rules pays off everywhere remarkably outrage-free. He’s still giving the — especially if Trump is not making critical same basic performance in his rallies, but unforced errors at the same time. he has been a little more discriminating in To see the changes in the Trump campaign, his press appearances — two straight weeks look at the four-week period between March without appearing on a Sunday chat show — 22, when Trump began to blow up his own and has stayed away from doing obviously campaign, and now. On the night of March 22, dumb things, like attacking his opponent’s Trump saw a low-budget, anti-Trump Super wife. The campaign hopes the bad period is PAC ad featuring a photo of his wife. He went over. straight to Twitter. “Lyin’ Ted Cruz just used Now the question is whether Trump has a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his the discipline to stay on a relatively error-free ad,” Trump tweeted. “Be careful, Lyin’ Ted, or course. He had some very good luck when I will spill the beans on your wife!” the GOP primary schedule took him from his Not content to stop there, Trump made disastrous performance in Wisconsin to his WKLQJVLQ¿QLWHO\ZRUVHWKHQH[WQLJKW0DUFK best state of all, New York, and then to other 23, when he retweeted a meme from one of friendly northeastern states. his followers that featured a glamour shot of But Trump will need more than luck to 0UV7UXPSQH[WWRDQXQÀDWWHULQJSKRWRRI suppress the impulses that have gotten him Mrs. Cruz. into trouble in the past. He’ll need to be a It’s a simple rule of politics that you don’t better candidate. attack your opponent’s wife — or husband, Ŷ for that matter, unless his name is Bill Clinton. Byron York is chief political correspondent Trump had trampled all over the rule, and the for The Washington Examiner. Changes have come to Trump’s campaign since the addition of a new campaign manager. YOUR VIEWS Scott Fairley the choice in Pendleton’s Ward 2 We are very fortunate to have Scott Fairley run for city council, Ward 2. He is a native of Pendleton and understands well the issues facing our community. He also has the right experience for the position. He has demonstrated he has sound judgment in all matters. He will be excellent in representing all of us. I urge you to support and vote for Scott Fairley for City Council, Ward 2. Bob Reese Pendleton Lack of transparency costs city of Pendleton This letter is in response to the headline “City council debates on how to communicate.” Following their standard operating procedure, the city council hired a consultant to tell them that the members of the city council, the city manager, and the mayor will no longer be able to respond to inquiries about issues or write editorials to the East Oregonian defending their performance. Councilor Tom Young thinks that it’s inappropriate to contact DQHOHFWHGRI¿FLDOWRWDONWRWKHP about an issue that he or she may be concerned about. He believes WKDWHOHFWHGRI¿FLDOVVKRXOGKDYH a buffer like Josh Earnest, who simply disseminates information as Obama’s press secretary. Communication is a two-way process involving the electorate and the voters’ elected representatives. In many cases, there is a chasm between the two when the elected representatives pursue their own personal interests rather than the will of the people. Evan McKenzie was, and Chuck Wood is, of the opinion that the parking of bicycles is the city’s top priority. There are several pages dedicated to requirements for bicycle parking for businesses in the city’s 110-page universal plan. Another area of contention is the city giving away the farm in order to encourage outside developers to build unaffordable housing when there are local developers who hire locally and know what the market can bear for rental housing. ,¶PFHUWDLQWKDW,FRXOG¿QG a quote in the EO from one of the politicians stating that 2016 is going to be the year of transparency. When transparency is used to describe a political situation, it means holding public RI¿FLDOVDFFRXQWDEOH It is obvious that the city council wants autonomy and disdains accountability. The transparency of the local government will now become opaque. Jerry Cronin Florence Milton-Freewater schools levy support My wife and I would like to express our strong support for the upcoming Milton-Freewater Schools bond proposal and to urge all residents to vote yes on May 17. Over the course of each of our careers, we have been blessed to meet extraordinary families and witness thousands of students grow into impressive and successful young adults. It is our hope that these same young people will choose to return to Milton-Freewater to raise their own children when the time comes, as we did as lifelong residents and Mac-Hi graduates. When we got married and decided to start a family, we chose this community as our home without hesitation. We have owned four homes in Milton-Freewater as well as our farm over the years, DQGHDFKWLPHZHKDYHEHQH¿WHG from increased property values leading us to the home we love today. Do we like to pay higher taxes? No one does. However, we had two children and they were raised in the Milton-Freewater district from kindergarten through graduation from Mac-Hi. They all received a wonderful education and they are very productive citizens today. When they were little kids in school, I am sure that a lot of senior citizens voted to support our children’s education by taxing themselves, when they probably could not afford it either. Well, now it’s our turn ... and we will surely support this bond by voting “yes.” Let’s leave a legacy just as our parents did. For new families to choose our great community over neighboring cities, it is imperative that we pass this bond. Not only are our school buildings in need of updates to stay current with surrounding districts, but a failed attempt has WKHSRWHQWLDOWRQHJDWLYHO\GH¿QH this great community. The district is working diligently to continue a rich history of educating outstanding young people. Prospective families, like the families that bought our three previous homes, need to know that the school system has our support in this endeavor. Vote yes for the bond proposal to better our schools and assure our community a bright future. Lewis Key Mayor, Milton-Freewater
