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OPINION
East Oregonian
Saturday, January 7, 2017
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
The carrot
or the stick?
OUR VIEW
It’s the age old question: What
what it can to save it.
So it tried the carrot approach.
is the most effective way to get
someone to do something they don’t Officials asked the Quezadas to
come up a rehabilitation plan,
seem all that interesting in doing?
promised to be an advocate and
Some of the world’s most
pointed them toward possible grant
accomplished CEOs have debated
dollars that could help pay for major
it, as have generals and coaches,
renovation. When
princes and kings,
that was ignored,
moms and dads.
Daily fines for the city asked the
Each has their own
if they
view on whether a
the owners of Quezadas
needed help creating
carrot held in front
of the horse gets
the old city hall the plan and offered
services.
you to the finish line
cannot inhibit their
When that too
faster than a stick
whipped across its
work at the site. went nowhere, and
no action toward
behind.
buttoning up the
Pendleton city
council had its opportunity last week building seemed imminent, the city
started to consider the stick.
to choose between the two, and
We agree with the council’s
councilors were certainly split in
decision to get serious and enforce
their partiality.
Yet a slim majority went with the work at the site.
If a fine is the only way to do that,
stick, and took stern action against
then so be it. Something had to be
owners of the old city hall building,
done and the options were few. The
in the form of daily fine of up to
precedent must be set.
$500.
But we hope the fines are not
Thwack indeed. But will it work?
levied as punishment, and that they
The historic building in question
do not work against the longterm
was damaged in a fatal, tragic fire
goal of getting the building back up
back in 2015. It was uninsured,
to snuff. If the fine is so exorbitant
which left its future in doubt. The
that it inhibits work at the site, what
Quezada family that owned it
good is that?
understandably needed time to deal
Old city hall is a long way from
with the death of a family member
being solidly protected from the
before addressing the future of the
elements and no longer being a
building.
danger to downtown neighbors.
Serious damage was done in the
Perhaps if the family really is serious
fire and explosion, but it has always
been salvageable — but less so with and does the requisite job, their fines
can be forgiven. Those dollars will
each passing day. The calendar now
reads 2017 and the building is going be desperately needed for bringing a
giant, empty, damaged building up
through its second winter without a
to standard and once again making
roof.
it a functioning part of downtown
The city knows the old city hall,
Pendleton.
located just a block off Main Street,
Carrots and sticks can both be
is a real asset to the downtown
deployed to help get there.
historic core and that it should do
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
Improving health care
outcomes in Oregon
The (Eugene) Register-Guard
O
regon got both some good news
and a pat on the back when the
federal government recently
announced the state is one of a handful
chosen for a pilot program to provide
better behavioral health care in areas that
are currently under-served.
The two-year Certified Community
Behavioral Health Clinic project is part
of a bigger effort to
coordinate behavioral
health care with other
health care. It aims
to improve access to
high-quality care for
people with mental
health and substance
abuse issues in both
rural and urban areas
through community
clinics — and make
this part of their overall
health care.
Lane County is one
of 14 counties in Oregon that will take
part in the pilot project, with a certified
clinic operated by PeaceHealth.
One of the reasons Oregon was one
of only eight states chosen, according
to the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, is that the state and
its community clinics have done “an
incredible job in paving the way for the
demonstration program.”
A program such as this is badly
needed, not just in Oregon but across the
country.
Health care professionals are well
aware that physical health cannot
be divorced from mental health and
substance abuse issues. It’s difficult, or
sometimes impossible, to adequately
treat physical health problems while
ignoring the fact that the person also
has substance abuse or mental health
problems that can affect or impair
treatment of the physical ones.
The Oregon clinic will serve adults
with serious mental illnesses, children
with serious emotional disturbances,
and those with long-term and serious
substance use disorders, as well as others
with mental illness and substance use
disorders.
The mental health care provided
by the community clinics in the pilot
project will include a
broad range of services,
including recovery
support, that should
contribute to long-term
solutions.
This kind of
coordinated approach
has long been needed,
and Oregon is fortunate
to be one of eight states
chosen from the 24 that
began the process in
2015. Of the original
24 states that started
the process, 19 submitted applications
to participate in the demonstration
program; eight were chosen.
These final eight will provide data
to Health and Human Services, which
will evaluate the effectiveness of the
pilot projects in late 2017. As part of
the project, Oregon’s clinics will be
reimbursed at a fixed daily rate for all
services provided to Oregon Health Plan
beneficiaries.
Health care professionals know that
you need to treat the whole person and
not just one symptom or ailment. But
government has been slow to catch up.
This pilot program, in addition to
providing an immediate benefit to
Oregon in the form of improved health
care, helps pave the way for improved
health care nationwide. Oregon is
fortunate to be among the leaders.
A coordinated
approach has
been long
needed, and
Oregon is
fortunate to be
involved.
OTHER VIEWS
Erasing Obama
F
or a soon-to-be nowhere man,
agenda in nearly a hundred years, is to
he’s everywhere. Sensing “time’s
act as if Obama never existed — the
winged chariot hurrying near,”
George Bailey of presidents. It won’t
as the poet had it, President Barack
take long for Bedford Falls to become
Obama is using every hour left in
Pottersville.
his presidency to ensure that Donald
Trump will cut taxes on the rich,
Trump will not erase it all.
and for those born on third base,
It’s one part vanity project. What
eliminate an estate tax that was one
president doesn’t want to put a dent
Timothy of Teddy Roosevelt’s solutions to
in history? One man freed 4 million
inequality. He may try to defund
Egan
slaves. Another created national parks
Planned Parenthood — for many
Comment
and forests that left every American a
poor women, the only chance to catch
rich inheritance of public land. A third
cancer early. He may deport Dreamers,
crushed the Nazis — from a wheelchair, while more than 740,000 young people who have
dying.
been allowed to obtain temporary work
And Obama? He bequeaths the incoming
permits and avoid being thrown out of the
president “the longest economic expansion
country under Obama.
and monthly job creation in history,” as my
On his first day in office, Trump will
colleague Andrew Ross Sorkin noted. Trump,
“repeal every single Obama executive order.”
the pumpkin-haired rooster
That’s the promise of Vice
taking credit for the dawn, has
President-elect Mike Pence.
already tried to seize a bit of
Obama issued just under 270
that achievement as his own.
executive orders, well below the
Thanks, Obama. But he’s also
number proclaimed by Ronald
likely to screw it up, perhaps by
Reagan, Dwight Eisenhower,
a trade war, or a budget-busting
Harry Truman, Franklin
tax cut.
Roosevelt and even that
Already, Trump has flirted
conservative paragon, Silent
with treason, flouted conflict-
Cal Coolidge.
of-interest rules, bullied dissidents and blown
A significant Obama order protected gays
off the advice of seasoned public servants.
in the government contracting system from
He has yet to hold a news conference since
discrimination. Another prohibited federal
winning the election. And did another day just employees from texting while driving. There
pass without a word of the promise to “reveal
were sanctions against criminals, mobsters
things that other people don’t know” about
and other international monsters, and upgrades
Russian interference with our election? Maybe in pay for federal employees who earned less
he’s waiting for more whispers in his ear from than their private sector counterparts.
the Kremlin.
And get this: Repealing “every single
In advance of his farewell address next
Obama executive order” would require Trump
week, the president has tried to Trump-proof
to dump four edicts that allowed federal
a climate pact that commits the world’s
workers to leave early on Christmas Eve. The
second-leading producer of earth-warming
War on Christmas heavy breathers at Fox
pollutants — the United States — to making
News, who recently declared said conflict
this little orb of ours a less perilous place for
dead and won for St. Nick’s side, will surely
Sasha’s and Malia’s and Ivanka’s kids. Trump be outraged. Not.
has promised to go rogue on the planet, as
Obama leaves office with his highest
quickly as he can.
job approval ratings in four years. Most
Until Day 1, Trump is just a 70-year-old
Americans like him and his policies. Trump
man with a twitchy Twitter account. But on
will enter office with the lowest transition
Jan. 20, he becomes what Grover Norquist
approval ratings of any president-elect in
wished for in a pliantly conservative president: nearly a quarter-century. About half of all
“A Republican with enough working digits to
Americans don’t like him, and of course, he
handle a pen.”
got nearly 3 million fewer votes than Hillary
With that pen, the new president can take
Clinton.
health care from 20 million Americans, free
Most of the Trump agenda — building a
Wall Street to once again wildly speculate
wall, cutting taxes on the rich, ramping up oil
and smash things up for the rest of us, and
and gas drilling at the expense of alternative
require schools to let people carry guns into
fuels, taking away people’s health care — is
classrooms — all campaign promises.
opposed by clear majorities. Trump will erase
Make America Sick Again is the slogan
Obama’s policy legacy at his peril.
floated by Sen. Chuck Schumer, who is much
What he cannot do is erase the mark of the
better at messaging a negative than Obama
man — a measured and rational president, a
ever was at messaging a positive. The people
committed father and husband, who is leaving
who stand to lose most are Trump supporters.
his country much better off, and the office
The Affordable Care Act has saved countless
without a trace of personal scandal.
lives in red states, and slowed medical costs.
■
So why toss it, without a plan to replace it? To
Timothy Egan worked for 18 years as a
spite the guy on the way out.
writer for The New York Times, first as the
The intent of Republicans, poised to push
Pacific Northwest correspondent, then as a
through the most far-reaching conservative
national enterprise reporter.
Already,
Trump has
flirted with
treason.
YOUR VIEWS
Do-Not-Call list fines could
fill state budget shortfall
You know, if a mere private citizen ignored
or directly, intentionally violated federal laws,
there would be serious consequences, the
kind of thing that keeps us on the straight and
narrow.
However, there are two laws that are
routinely violated without consequence,
violated by Corporate America.
The first is the Commercial Audio Limit
Mitigation act (CALM) that is supposed to
require that the audio levels on commercials
on television broadcasts be near the level of
the programming. This went into effect two
years ago and there was a short time where
it held up. But that didn’t last, and with
an increase in the ratio of commercials to
entertainment, more annoying.
The second that comes to mind is the
Do-Not-Call list. Yesterday there were 12 calls
to our listed, registered land line. These are
who called:
315-966-9777: called today and 11 times
yesterday, Caller ID said “Out of Area”;
720-452-9940: Caller ID said “Electorate
info”; 407-481-9814: Caller ID said “Out of
Area.”
The Federal rules allow one to report this
kind of behavior on their website, and they
can levy a fine. The website requires a lot of
data input and is cumbersome, not allowing
multiple entries on each instance. Once
reported, it seems no action is taken.
Given the defeat of Measure 97 with the
budgetary shortfall, I wonder if the state could
make it easier to report a violation of the
Do-Not-Call registry and levy their own fine,
add to the bottom line, and fill in the shortfall.
Thomas L. Farney, M.D.
Hermiston
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 managing editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801
or email editor@eastoregonian.com.