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East Oregonian
DEBATE: Thomason proposed
passing a general sales tax
Continued from 1A
secretary of state, Brown was
next in the line of succession
when Kitzhaber resigned in
February 2015 amid an inlu-
ence-peddling scandal.
The debate was hosted
by League of Women Voters
Oregon and Oregon Public
Broadcasting, and moderated
by Think Out Loud host
David Miller.
Thomason
provided
a departure from largely
partisan talking points by
Brown and Pierce.
While Brown supports a
$3 billion corporate sales tax
measure on the November
ballot to help fund expansion
of the Oregon Health Plan,
Pierce said state government
could come up with the
money for the expansion
simply with more eficient
operations.
Meanwhile, Thomason
proposed ditching the corpo-
rate tax in favor of passing a
general sales tax, with corre-
sponding reductions in other
kinds of taxes, to help pay for
health care and other services.
Voters have rejected a sales
tax 10 times.
Asked why voters would
approve a sales tax on an 11th
try, Thomason responded:
“Because I am asking them.”
On affordable housing,
Pierce proposed reforming
land-use laws to give counties
more control over the cost
of land and growth of urban
growth boundaries. He said
local governments also should
to relax design standards and
fees for affordable house.
“Otherwise, we won’t
have
affordably-built
housing,” Pierce said.
Brown said expanding
urban growth boundaries
wouldn’t solve the problem.
She cited a $70 million
package passed earlier this
year that dedicated money to
building affordable housing
and giving assistance to
homeowners to avoid foreclo-
sure. Lawmakers also lifted
a ban on local jurisdictions
requiring affordable units in
exchange for certain perks
such as tax exemptions.
Brown
promised
to
ight for more funding for
affordable units and to outlaw
no-cause evictions in the
2017 legislative session.
Thomason said the $70
million housing package
would inance less than 1,000
units. Thousands of more are
needed to address the housing
shortage.
He proposed subsidizing
$20 per square foot on the irst
500 square feet of construc-
tion on affordable housing
with guarantee of rents at
$600 to $800 for units.
“We can build our way out
of this,” while stimulating job
growth, he said.
Moving on to the state’s
low graduation rate, Miller
noted that Oregon ranks 32nd
in the nation for per-pupil
funding levels, according to
Governing magazine.
“Setting money aside for
the time being, what else
do you think is wrong with
Oregon education?” Miller
asked.
Thomason
suggested
giving all high school soph-
omores the GED test to give
them “a sense of accomplish-
ment” and the ability to access
jobs and higher education if
they leave school without a
graduation diploma.
Pierce said he would
push for more teacher and
leadership training and give
students tracks to pursue in
high school, including voca-
tional training and university.
Brown
touted
the
Legislature’s investment in
early education and STEM
(science, technical, engi-
neering and math) education
and said her new graduation
guru Colt Gill — a new
position she created – would
be coming up with more
concrete plans for addressing
the problem.
Friday, October 7, 2016
ABUSE: Important not to victim-blame
Continued from 1A
leeing an abusive situation,
temporary restraining orders,
support groups, one-on-one
counseling and classes on
everything from life skills to
understanding why victims
stay with their abusers.
Cummings said there is
hope and help available for
anyone who needs it.
“Usually victims have
feelings of guilt,” he said.
“They think they must have
done something to deserve
this. But no, you haven’t.
Please hear me. You haven’t
done anything to deserve
this. Someone else’s abusive
behaviors are not your fault.”
His words were followed
by a minute of silence for
those who did not receive
help in time to save their
lives.
Sharon Neuvirth of
Domestic Violence Services
said the agency provides
help not only to victims, but
“You haven’t done anything to
deserve this. Someone else’s abusive
behaviors are not your fault.”
— Terry Cummings, Hermiston police and ire chaplain
also to those who are worried
about a friend or family
member and don’t know how
to help them.
“We actually get those
calls quite often,” she said.
Neuvirth said abusers
keep control of their victims
in part by cutting them off
from their friendships and
family relationships, so the
most important piece of a
survivor’s recovery is having
loved ones ready to reconnect
with them.
“They will need that
support system,” she said.
She said it is also
extremely important not to
victim-blame when someone
is hit, raped, stalked or other-
wise abused.
“People tend to focus on,
why were they wearing that
little black dress or why did
they go drinking at a bar,”
she said. “These are normal
things that people do.”
The fault, then, lies with
the abuser or rapist who
chose to commit a crime
against someone else.
Neuvirth said the purpose
of the events being held
around the county this week
is to remember those who
died at the hands of an abuser,
but also to send a message of
hope.
For those who would like
to help Domestic Violence
Services, their annual Soup
Bowl Supper fundraiser will
be Oct. 28 at the Pendleton
Convention Center. Doors
open at 5:30 p.m., dinner
is at 6 p.m. and the silent
auction ends at 7:30 p.m.
Admission is $25 per person
and reservations can be made
by calling 541-276-3322.
The agency is also
running its annual training
for crisis hotline volunteers
with a range of classes Oct.
31 through Nov. 18 in Pend-
leton. For a list of classes visit
www.domesticviolenceser-
vices-or.org.
As for those who need
help themselves, Cummings
urged everyone on Thursday
night to seek it as soon as
possible.
“If you’re a victim, call,”
he said. “If you are a friend of
a victim, call.”
The Domestic Violence
Services 24-hour crisis line is
1-800-833-1161.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
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TRIAL: Prosecutors allege
the conspiracy began two
months before the occupation
Continued from 1A
receiving a $530,000 U.S.
Small Business Administra-
tion loan, a move to show
Bundy isn’t opposed to the
federal government when it
can help him proit.
Bundy said he supports
the federal government, but
not its management of land
within states.
Bundy has said he came
to Oregon’s high desert to
help locals deal with an over-
reaching federal government
that has abused people’s
land rights for decades. The
immediate issue was the
case of Dwight and Steven
Hammond, two ranchers
who Bundy felt were unjustly
returning to prison on arson
convictions.
Earlier Thursday, Bundy
was questioned by his
own attorney and lawyers
representing the other six
people charged in the alleged
conspiracy. One was his
brother and co-defendant
Ryan Bundy, who’s acting as
his own lawyer.
“How
you
doing,
brother?” Ammon asked
Ryan at the start of the testi-
mony.
The pair discussed their
relationship, from childhood
to the start of the occupation.
Ammon testiied that the
pair spoke by phone in the
run up to the occupation, but
never discussed the refuge or
impeding federal workers.
Ryan Bundy did not arrive
in southeast Oregon until the
morning of the occupation,
his brother said.
“I know you were not very
prepared, didn’t have much
of a jacket,” said Ammon
Bundy, showing his brother
had planned to attend a rally
in support of the Hammonds
but did not intend an extended
stay.
Co-defendant
Shawna
Cox, also acting her own
lawyer, briely questioned
Bundy. Lawyers for the other
four defendants — Kenneth
Medenbach, Jeff Banta, Neil
Wampler and David Fry —
asked questions designed
to show they had only brief
interactions with Bundy and
were not involved in key
decisions.
Medenbach’s
lawyer,
Matthew Schindler, asked
Bundy how a federal
employee was supposed to
work when Bundy was using
her ofice and sitting in her
chair.
“I didn’t really think of it,”
Bundy said.
Answering
questions
from his own lawyer, Bundy
repeated statements from
earlier in the week that
the group planned to take
ownership of the refuge by
means of adverse possession,
which is a way to gain title
to land by occupying it for a
period of time. The defense
displayed videos that showed
Bundy lecturing on the topic
at the refuge.
Bundy testiied he did not
visit the refuge before the
occupation and had to use
GPS to ind it.
The prosecutor returned
to that statement during his
cross-examination, asking
Bundy if he really needed
GPS to ind a place in which
he intended to stay until
2036. Bundy responded that
he expected the government
to try to evict him — not
arrest him — and the land
dispute would be settled in
civil court.
Prosecutors allege the
conspiracy began two months
before the occupation, when
Bundy and another activist
arrived in Harney County
and gave Sheriff Dave Ward
an ultimatum — protect the
Hammonds from returning to
federal prison or face extreme
civil unrest.
Knight reminded Bundy
that he told Ward during
a Nov. 19 meeting that he
wasn’t blufing.
Bundy said he couldn’t
remember a conversation that
happened 11 months ago.
“Didn’t we listen to a
recording of it two days
ago?” Knight asked.
“Yeah, bits and pieces,”
Bundy said.
Early Thursday, Bundy
testiied that he moved freely
during the occupation, giving
law enforcement plenty of
chances to arrest him and end
the occupation early. He said
he traveled to nearby Burns
for a haircut and Chinese
food, and made three trips to
see his wife and six kids in
Emmett, Idaho.
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