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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 29, 2016)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Saturday, October 29, 2016 Founded October 16, 1875 KATHRYN B. BROWN Publisher DANIEL WATTENBURGER Managing Editor TIM TRAINOR Opinion Page Editor MARISSA WILLIAMS Regional Advertising Director MARCY ROSENBERG Circulation Manager JANNA HEIMGARTNER Business Office Manager MIKE JENSEN Production Manager EO MEDIA GROUP East Oregonian • The Daily Astorian • Capital Press • Hermiston Herald Blue Mountain Eagle • Wallowa County Chieftain • Chinook Observer • Coast River Business Journal Oregon Coast Today • Coast Weekend • Seaside Signal • Cannon Beach Gazette Eastern Oregon Real Estate Guide • Eastern Oregon Marketplace • Coast Marketplace OnlyAg.com • FarmSeller.com • Seaside-Sun.com • NorthwestOpinions.com • DiscoverOurCoast.com OUR VIEW Rowan for re-election Two men are running for Umatilla and would hopefully have earned their County sheriff: Incumbent Terry trust in his first term. Rowan and challenger Ryan Lehnert. That troubled relationship led Rowan is finishing his first term, to bumps when folding multiple and served as undersheriff for more city departments into the county than a decade before that. Lehnert dispatch system, but that complicated is a corporal with work is done and law the Pendleton Police enforcement response Department and began times will improve his law enforcement because of it. career with the sheriff’s Response time is the office. other big black mark The sheriff’s on Rowan’s reputation. job can make for a While many have come strange election — forward to vouch for it’s a nonpartisan, his character, others supervisory law have complained he lets enforcement role, too many things slide. and while the budget Calls from citizens go is managed by the unreturned, requests office, the purse for comment go Rowan strings are controlled unanswered. Rowan by the county has been far more commissioners. in his year of His management visible The sheriff must campaigning than competently in the previous three ability may manage five of holding electing best be divisions — patrol, office. civil, parole, jail We hope that, reflected in the if re-elected, and dispatch — and endorsements he continues to is ultimately responsible for be available for from his staff their successes and informal chats with failures. and the county constituents and that his Rowan’s commissioners. demands office prioritize campaign has customer service. It’s detailed a list of his the direction most of accomplishments the county government has gone in from his first four years in charge. recent years, and the sheriff’s office It ranges from the big (doubled the patrol force from 7 to 14 deputies) to must follow. Both men turned over their the small (participated in the “Little personnel files to the East Sheriff for a Day” program) to the Oregonian, which surely was more vague (Continue to be RESOLUTE difficult for Lehnert. It revealed a in protecting every citizen’s previous promotion to a leadership Constitutional Rights). position within the Pendleton Police Among the most praiseworthy Department didn’t go well, and he is Rowan’s work to hold more was quickly demoted back to an inmates in the county jail until they officer. It also showed in the years can stand before a judge. It keeps since he has gained back the trust offenders accountable to know they of his supervisors and is a highly won’t be back home before the ink is dry on their police report. It was a regarded leader on the force. His passion for collaborating definite problem, and Rowan found with other agencies on mental health a definite solution. issues is inspiring, and he clearly As for the increased patrol presence, Rowan has benefited from speaks from a personal knowledge of the challenge which we consider to three county commissioners who be one of the most pressing for law moved money from elsewhere to enforcement. bolster his office. Though a good We believe Lehnert is a leader, manager does effectively make his proven by his time both here in case to those who write the checks. Umatilla County and in the U.S. His management ability may best Army. He has the opportunity to one be reflected in the endorsements day be an excellent sheriff, but more from his staff — both the union administration experience will only employees and administrative staff make him better. It takes a lot of guts — and the county commissioners. to run against an incumbent, and we On the other hand, local law admire that. enforcement leaders have put their But for now, because of his steady support behind Lehnert, which doesn’t hand and support of the county, speak well for Rowan’s relationship we recommend re-electing Terry with law enforcement colleagues. Rowan while demanding continued While he’s the only law enforcement improvement from the county boss elected by voters, it’s critical he sheriff’s office. work closely with the other agencies 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 Getting over the ‘taboo’ in a gun rights conversation L ast year, several residents of The councilman was encouraged Missoula, Montana, asked Bryan by the support, but he also listened von Lossberg, a first-term city to his opponents. He worked with councilman, to introduce an ordinance Councilwoman Marilyn Marler, a requiring background checks on most co-sponsor and fellow gun owner, to gun sales and transfers within the city revise the original ordinance. They limits. Von Lossberg immediately felt agreed to include language exempting nervous. concealed-carry permit holders, because The councilman, who keeps a rifle Gabriel they already go through a background in his home and enjoys Montana’s Furshong check. The change earned praise from long hunting seasons, knows that gun some skeptics, and the gap between Comment rights are fiercely defended supporters and opponents in the state, which ranks began to shrink. sixth in gun ownership “Most dialogue on this nation-wide. “The topic is topic gets boiled down to so taboo in Montana,” he where you’re pro-Second says, even though Missoula Amendment or you aren’t,” is a university town with von Lossberg says. “Over a reputation for being the course of the year, our the state’s most liberal community wrestled with that community. dichotomy, and we realized “It was surprising to me that it’s just not reality.” to have conversation after Eventually, the council conversation where I would was rewarded for pushing hear a variant of, ‘Ya know, I the difficult topic into the support what you’re trying to open. This Sept. 26, a second — Bryan von Lossberg, do here, but I’m not so sure hearing was held, nearly one Missoula city councilor I’d been willing to stand up year after the first. Another and express support for it.’” large crowd turned out and Despite his misgivings, von Lossberg the ordinance passed on an 8-4 vote, making couldn’t stop thinking about the data he’d Missoula the first city in the Northern Rockies received from local members of Moms Demand to require background checks on gun sales and Action, comparing states that have passed gun transfers. safety measures to those that have not. Now, the question is whether the ordinance In the eight states that require background will survive legal challenges. Opponents, checks on all gun transfers, there were 38 including the Montana Shooting Sports percent fewer deaths of women shot by intimate Association, claim it violates both state law partners, as well as lower rates of gun suicides and the Second Amendment. But volunteers and aggravated assaults with firearms. By with Moms Demand Action are confident contrast, Montana ranks fifth in gun deaths per in the city attorney’s opinion, which states capita and received an “F” from the Law Center that a “local government unit … has power to Prevent Gun Violence in 2015. To make to prevent and suppress … the possession of matters worse, seven of the 11 Western states firearms by convicted felons, adjudicated mental also earned failing grades, including all four of incompetents, illegal aliens and minors.” Montana’s neighbors. Volunteers are now considering how These figures led von Lossberg to another to export the ordinance to other Western important number: His daughter had recently communities. In von Lossberg’s view, the turned 4 years old. linchpin of that effort will be civil dialogue, “Hunting and guns are really important parts similar, he says, to what we strive for within our of Montana culture, and I want my daughter families. to pursue hunting, but I also want to set a good “My wife and I are raising a little girl,” he example for her on gun transactions,” he says. explains, “and every moment we’re together “The research shows when communities use seems like an opportunity for a teachable this tool, it benefits the community. I want her to moment – talking about our feelings, our fears, follow that example.” our hopes.” He’s convinced that this simple Von Lossberg introduced an ordinance a recipe for open communication is part of the year ago this September. A month later, over answer for communities hoping to curb gun 300 people attended a hearing on the measure. violence. Testimony lasted five hours and was interrupted “It’s hard to have courage about something several times by disruptive behavior, including when you can’t even talk about it within your one speaker who passionately accused council community,” he says. “Regardless of your members of treason. And yet the majority of position or passion, it’s critical to hear all the speakers supported the measure. It was as if a voices that are touched by this issue.” “pressure valve” had been opened, according ■ to von Lossberg. “The number of people who Gabriel Furshong is a contributor to Writers want this topic discussed and addressed – it was on the Range, the opinion service of High overwhelming.” Country News. He writes in Missoula, Montana. “It’s hard to have courage about something when you can’t even talk about it within your community.” OTHER VIEWS Death penalty deserves honest discussion, not just delays The Bend Bulletin, Oct. 23 or almost five years now, Oregon’s death penalty has been on hold. Gov. Kate Brown announced recently that will continue until at least the end of the year. If she is re-elected, it will continue through her term until 2018. It would be better if the governor led Orego- nians beyond the waiting game. We need to have an honest discussion about the death penalty and whether it continues to be the punishment a majority of voters favor for those who commit the most heinous crimes in this state. Oregon’s death penalty was adopted in 1864, rescinded in 1914, adopted again in 1920, F rescinded in 1964, adopted in 1978, declared unconstitutional in 1981 and reinstated in 1984. With the exception of the 1981 court ruling, it was voters who decided to make the changes. When then-Gov. John Kitzhaber put a moratorium on executions in 2011, he did so in part because he believed the penalty to be morally wrong. But he did more than simply slap a moratorium in place. Kitzhaber called for a “long overdue debate” among the state’s residents and lawmakers about the death penalty. That hasn’t happened. It should. Brown should see that it does. There should be a vote of the people to decide what happens with the death penalty in Oregon. 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. Send letters to Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com.
