Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
OTHER VIEWS
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Publisher
Managing Editor
JENNINE PERKINSON
TIM TRAINOR
Advertising Director
Opinion Page Editor
OUR VIEW
Another scary
leak at Hanford
“It’s an example of a culture at
told KING 5. “This is probably
Hanford of ‘We don’t have problems the biggest event to ever happen
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in tank farm history. The double
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shell tanks were supposed to be
Nuclear Reservation worker Mike
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Geffre told KING 5 this week.
keeping waste away from people
Geffre was
and the environment.
reacting to news that
A current Hanford
“This is
a supposedly super
worker said, “The
safe double-walled
primary tanks weren’t
catastrophic designed to stage
underground storage
tank for highly
like this for so
... the double waste
radioactive waste
many years. There’s
has a major leak in
the question,
shell tanks were always
the space between
‘Are the outer shells
its inner and outer
supposed to be FRPSURPLVHG"¶´
walls. Geffre warned
Three of Hanford’s
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other
he saviors of all tanks double-shell
about the potential
have the same
for such an event,
design
as the one now
saviors.”
but a response was
in
the
news.
— Mike Geffre,
ridiculously slow in
Millions live
Former Hanford Nuclear
coming.
downriver
from
Reservation worker
Washington
Hanford, starting
state’s Department
with us in Umatilla
of Ecology sought to allay public
and Morrow counties. As massively
worries, saying there is no sign that
expensive as the cleanup has
sludge created during plutonium
been — around $40 billion so far,
production made it past the tank’s
with maybe $75 billion more in the
RI¿QJ²LWZLOOSDOHLQFRPSDULVRQ
outer shell into the environment. To
its credit, the state has been a more
to damages from a major toxin spill
zealous watchdog than other parties
into the air and groundwater.
Citizens must use every political
involved in Hanford oversight. But
and legal tool to impose competent
its reassurances are starting to ring
and responsive management on this
hollow.
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Culture corner
For the past four decades, The
Village Voice alternative New York
City newspaper has compiled an annual
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hundreds of critics’ critiques of the
year’s albums.
Instead of an academy picking
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Grammys, each critic is given 100 points
to assign to what they consider the year’s
top 10 releases. More than 1,000 albums
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points, while the top few on the list
garner thousands of points and wide
consesus from the critics.
It’s an interesting metric for
measuring popular art while it’s still
fresh. Big names like Bob Dylan,
Kanye West, Talking Heads and
Michael Jackson have all taken the top
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Soundsystem and Animal Collective.
As a fan of both music and critical
analysis, I am on a quest to listen to
all 440 albums on the 44 years of
top 10 lists. Thanks to the advent of
digital music I won’t have to spend
long weekends or thousands of dollars
searching record stores or Ebay for the
more mainstream offerings. There are
some lost gems that I’ve already started
scouting for.
If you’d like to join the quest,
check out the full Pazz & Jop lists at
villagevoice.com/pazznjop. I have a
handy spreadsheet of all 440 albums for
tracking which ones you own or have
listened to, and I have a few dozen CDs
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to swap for a short time with a fellow
traveler.
— Daniel Wattenburger
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.
LETTERS POLICY
The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public
issues and public policies for publication in the newspaper and on our website.
The newspaper reserves the right to withhold letters that address concerns
about individual services and products or letters that infringe on the rights of
private citizens. Submitted letters must be signed by the author and include
the city of residence and a daytime phone number. The phone number will not
be published. Unsigned letters will not be published. Send letters to Man-
aging Editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or
email editor@eastoregonian.com.
Clash of the injured titans
I
f trends hold and the parties’
to suggest that his guy, the ultimate
front-runners become the parties’
branding machine, simply needs one
nominees, November is going
more rebranding, that his problems
to be an epic election: a hobbled
pale in comparison to those of Clinton,
titan (Hillary Clinton) versus a
his likely opponent.
mortally wounded one (the real estate
Maybe. Maybe not.
developer).
As The Wall Street Journal noted
The upcoming contests only
in a recent poll, Clinton’s unpopularity
buttress the possibility that those
Charles — as measured by poll respondents
two will be the last man and woman
saying that they either have somewhat
Blow
standing.
or very negative feelings toward
Comment
As of Sunday, 7KH+XI¿QJWRQ
her — hit a “dubious new record of 56
Post’s Pollster average of polls had
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the real estate developer leading Ted Cruz by
The only problem for Republicans,
almost 30 percentage points in Connecticut,
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19 points in Pennsylvania and 20 points in
feel that way about the real estate developer,
Maryland. All three states vote on Tuesday.
leading the paper to conclude that he and Cruz
The real estate developer is leading in Rhode
“may be the only two Republicans who could
Island and Delaware as well — states that also ORVHWR+LOODU\&OLQWRQ´
vote on Tuesday — but those states don’t have
Exit polls in New York, where the real
the same volume of polling to make the results estate developer won by massive margins,
as reliable.
revealed that even among Republican voters,
That same site had Clinton leading Sen.
22 percent said that they would be scared of
Bernie Sanders by 26 points in Maryland,
his presidency and another 14 percent said
15 points in Pennsylvania and six points in
they’d be concerned about it.
Connecticut. She, too, was leading in Rhode
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Island and Delaware.
be scared of a Clinton presidency, with 25
We seem to be watching the prequel to a
percent saying they would be concerned about
foregone conclusion.
it.
Now the question is: How would these two
In fact, naturalization applications are
candidates square off in a general election?
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As The New York Times reported last week, immigrants are nervous about the potential
Paul Manafort, the real estate developer’s new presidency of the real estate developer. As The
campaign chief, seemed to suggest on a tape
New York Times reported last month:
obtained by the paper that up until now, the
“Overall, naturalization applications
real estate developer’s incendiary style was
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just an act.
over the year before, and jumped 14 percent
This is how the paper reported the contents during the six months ending in January,
of the tape:
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“Mr. Manafort acknowledged Mr. Trump’s picking up by the week, advocates say, and
deep unpopularity — his ‘negatives,’ he called they estimate applications could approach one
them — but invoked Ronald Reagan’s initial
million in 2016, about 200,000 more than the
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The article continues: “While
XQIDYRUDELOLW\LQKRZHYHUZDVQHYHUDV naturalizations generally rise during
high as that of Mr. Trump now.
presidential election years, Mr. Trump
“‘Fixing personality negatives is a lot easier SURYLGHGDQH[WUDERRVWWKLV\HDU´
WKDQ¿[LQJFKDUDFWHUQHJDWLYHV¶VDLG0U
If Clinton lacks enthusiasm among her
Manafort … ‘You can’t change somebody’s
fans, that lack is likely to be more than made
character. But you can change the way
up for by voters’ enthusiasm for anyone but
somebody presents themselves.’
the real estate developer.
“And that, Mr. Manafort said, was in the
It’s too far from November to make
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predictions about the outcome of a race. We
Will the real demagogue please stand up!
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How must all of his supporters feel — the
each party’s nominating process.
ones following him like wounded puppies
There could be a surprise in Clinton’s
because he is their rapid rabble-rouser who
emails or in the real estate developer’s taxes
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— should he ever release them. There also is a
telling you what he knew you wanted to hear.
tremendous war chest of super PAC money on
Maybe he’s been playing on your anxieties,
the sidelines waiting to get into the race, and
insecurities and anger to further his own
there’s no way to know how that will shape
ambitions. Maybe this has all been an act,
the election.
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Nothing is settled and inevitable, but at this
gullible audience who got played.
point one must say: Advantage Clinton.
Maybe you are simply backing a man who
Ŷ
has hijacked your passions and your party.
Charles M. Blow is The New York Times’s
But on the substance, Manafort seems
visual Op-Ed columist.
YOUR VIEWS
Pendleton council’s
questionable calls
I listened to the city council
object to the terms of the proposed
lease agreement with Blue Mountain
Community College, which gave
the college the right to terminate
the lease with little notice while the
city had no such right. The college
vice president explained that when
students sign a letter of intent, a
two-year program is expected, and
Councilperson McDonald personally
felt the effect of the cancellation of a
program the she was enrolled in with
very little notice.
Since the city of Pendleton paid
nothing for the property, wouldn’t
it be more prudent to deed the
property directly to the college
with the same stipulation that they
gave the Round-Up Association
with respect to property use?
There is already a city-owned lot
available in the same area as well
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city-owned land that the city has
failed to develop at and near the
airport.
I don’t think I would want to be
near city hall when the headlines on
the front page of the East Oregonian
read “Pendleton City Council evicts
Blue Mountain Community College
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Then again, I’m sure the city of
Hermiston would gladly accept the
program at the new EOTEC center
grounds in the same manner as
they continue to improve facilities
for the college rodeo program and
the campus expansion.
Water Quality Report:
The council approved a new
three-year contract to prepare and
print the new water quality report.
What they failed to report in their
post-meeting radio interview is that
the contractor is a Bend company,
and the cost has ballooned from
roughly $3,500 a year to an
open-ended estimate of $10,000 a
year, not to exceed $30,000 for the
length of the program. I believe
they explained the increase was
for marketing. The public works
representative explained that this
was a cost saving measure.
Rick Rohde
Pendleton
Rohde’s military
service important
As a close friend, I noticed that
the East Oregonian omitted an
important part of Rick Rohde’s
history: his military service.
Rick was a veteran of Vietnam
and both Desert Shield and Desert
Storm. He proudly served his
country for 24 years in both the
active duty Air Force and the Air
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career as an aircraft loadmaster
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Master Sergeant.
Bev Cary
Pendleton
Innovative Bailor
would shake up politics
This letter is in support of
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County Commissioner, Position 3.
Tom Bailor has spent considerable
time studying Umatilla County
politics and the county charter. He is
well-informed about issues currently
facing the county and, in addition,
has innovative ideas that will move
the county forward in the future.
Tom lives in Pendleton and
teaches in both Pendleton and
Hermiston. He has contacts all over
the county and will represent all
the people of Umatilla County. He
works well with people of all ages,
backgrounds, and interests. Not
only does Tom have experience
in management, having worked
as both a program manager and
project coordinator at CTUIR, but
he also has the right educational
background, with a masters degree
in organizational leadership from
Gonzaga University.
I urge voters to learn more
about Tom Bailor from the Voter’s
Pamphlet, which he took the time to
submit information to. You can also
learn about Tom from his Facebook
site.
I believe Tom Bailor will shake
up the county establishment at
the local level, but in a positive,
progressive way.
I would also like to urge the East
Oregonian to host a candidates’
forum so that all interested voters
can learn more about the candidates
for county and city elections.
Karen King
Pendleton
Fairley a professional
I support Scott Fairley for
Pendleton City Council Ward
2. I have worked with Scott on
the Oregon Solutions Housing
Team and have served with him
on the Pendleton Progress Board.
Scott takes a mindful, researched
approach to all he does. Scott
listens more than he talks and has
earned the respect of many, both
locally and across the state.
Scott is articulate and
professional. As a planning
commission chair, Scott has led
productive, professional meetings
and has genuinely encouraged
public input and discussion. Scott
is capable of having intelligent
conversations with people about
potentially contentious issues and
can be trusted to be respectful both
during and after the interaction.
Scott is smart and has Pendleton at
the heart of his work. I would be
proud to have Scott represent our
community. Scott can be trusted to
be a positive, professional, smart
voice.
Vote for Scott Fairley, then let’s
support him when he takes his seat.
Susan Bower
Pendleton
Primmer a great choice
We were so pleased when
Dale Primmer decided to run for
Pendleton City Council, Ward 3.
And so disappointed that we won’t
be able to vote for him because we
live in another ward. So the next
best thing for us is to urge all our
friends in Ward 3 to cast a vote for
Dale Primmer.
We’ve both known Dale for
many years, have worked with
him, and have known him to be
smart, a real listener, an excellent
teacher, and we have appreciated
his intellect, his moral compass,
and his sense of humor. He’s a
great choice for City Council, and
we’re looking forward to his being
a part of the ruling body of the City
of Pendleton.
Bob and MaryAlice Ridgway,
Pendleton