REGION
Saturday, January 21, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 3A
Bills seek to improve safety in Oregon prisons
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Oregon corrections officers
worried whether an inmate has
infected them with a fluid-borne
disease could get some relief under
new legislation.
State Sen. Bill Hansell, Repub-
lican from Athena, is pushing
Senate Bill 367 in the upcoming
Legislature to allow doctors to
reveal if inmates who expose
corrections staff to bodily fluids
have diseases, including HIV and
Hepatitis C. Those doctors could
then treat staff right away if there is
a possibility of infection.
Jeff Coffman is an officer at
Eastern Oregon Correctional Insti-
tution, Pendleton, and president
of the union local representing
security staff. Oregon prisons have
about 200 fights a year involving
inmates and staff, he said. Inmates
can spit toward staff and throw
their urine and feces as well. Inmate
fluids getting on staff, Coffman
said, “happens all the time.”
According to Department of
Corrections statistics, one in 200
inmates has HIV and one in three
has Hepatitis C.
But currently, neither officers
nor their doctors can find out if an
inmate has a blood-borne disease,
because of federal laws protecting
personal medical information. Staff
can take a “cocktail” of antibiotics,
which they may not need and can
make them sick for days. Or they
can seek a petition from state courts
to compel an inmate to provide a
blood sample for disease testing.
That process can take weeks.
“The longer you wait to take the
cocktail, the less likely it is to help,”
Coffman said.
Hansell’s
Senate
district
includes the Pendleton prison and
Two Rivers Correctional Institu-
tion, Umatilla. He said he met with
Coffman, fellow corrections officer
Bryan Branstetter of Pendleton and
others to hear their concerns about
safety behind prison fences.
“What this bill does is provide a
quick response between doctors,”
Hansell said. “It’s a matter of getting
the right information quickly and at
the same time not getting into what
would otherwise be private.”
Under the bill, an officer’s
doctor, for example, could find out
from the corrections department
whether or not an inmate had a
communicable disease. Armed with
that, Hansell said, the doctor would
be able to treat the officer while
not revealing the inmate’s medical
information.
Hansell said his meeting with
corrections representatives also
resulted in Senate Bill 366, which
establishes mandatory minimum
sentences of four years in state
prison for an inmate who assaults
staff.
Branstetter recalled when an
inmate assaulted him some years
ago during lunch. The investigation
revealed the attack was a gang-or-
dered hit. The inmate, Branstetter
said, received a sentence of two
years and a month for the assault.
Inmates already serving a long
sentence might consider that a
payable price for trying to take
down a corrections officer. But
adding on another four years could
make someone rethink such a move.
“We want to make sure it was
something substantial enough that
before I haul off and smack a staff
member, there are consequences for
the action,” Branstetter said.
“You do the crime, you do the
time,” Hansell said. And if serving
an extra four years for attacking
staff stops an inmate, “it will
accomplish its purpose.”
Other significant public safety
bills:
•State Rep. Greg Barreto is the
chief sponsor of House Bill 2380,
which makes it a crime to threaten
to create a mass injury event and
comes with maximum penalties of a
$125,000 fine and up to five years in
prison. The Republican from Cove
said the bill stems from the two La
Grande High School students who
plotted in April 2016 to conduct a
mass shooting at the school. He said
the bill makes it easier for police to
examine a suspect’s computer and
internet use to prevent a tragedy
and gives the law some teeth for
punishment.
•Hansell’s Senate Bill 369 would
require employees of strip clubs
to report if they have reasonable
belief sex trafficking is occurring
or minors are performing at the
premises.
•And Senate Bill 370, another
from Hansell, directs the Oregon
Department of Justice to conduct
a study on prosecuting pimps who
send sex workers outside the state.
Hansell said the sex workers bear
the risk of breaking the law, while
the person controlling them might
be operating in a Portland office and
not facing arrest or prosecution.
“What this bill is doing, is if you
illegally transport sex traffic outside
the state and you’re not with them,
you will be held accountable,” he
said.
HERMISTON
New Hispanic Advisory Committee
chair looking forward to challenge
“I want to edu-
cate the Latino
community to
be optimistic
and not have
so much fear.”
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Tammy Malgesini
Weather wreaks havoc on Highland Avenue
After a water main broke in the 900 block of West Highland Avenue in Herm-
iston, part of the street had to be dug up to make repairs. Ron Sivey, street
superintendent said, when the weather allows, a crew will restore the street.
BRIEFLY
HERMISTON
Grange postpones
Saturday breakfast
Council to consider
15 percent increase
on water, sewer rates
PENDLETON — This
weekend’s all-you-can-eat
breakfast at White Eagle
Grange has been rescheduled.
Gail Wilson said there
aren’t enough volunteers to
hold the event. The breakfast
will be Saturday, Jan. 28
from 6-10 a.m. at 43828
White Eagle Road, located
off Highway 395 between
Pendleton and Pilot Rock.
The suggested donation is
$7 for ages 8-and-older, $4
for ages 5-7 and free for
those younger. Those who
bring two nonperishable food
items will receive $1 off. The
donations will be distributed
to local food banks.
For more information,
contact Wilson at 541-310-
9655, 541-276-3778 or
gail11wilson@gmail.com.
Second lead test
shows levels below
EPA standards
PENDLETON — A
second round of testing at the
Pendleton Technology and
Trades Center, the former
West Hills Elementary
School, revealed that there
were no more water sources
above the Environmental
Protection Agency’s action
level, a Pendleton School
District press release states.
The first round of testing
revealed that two sources
were above the action level,
spurring the district to remove
one source and retest the other.
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Hermiston city council
will consider a water and
sewer rate increase during
their meeting Monday
night.
The proposed plan
would raise rates by
5 percent in March, 5
percent in October and 4.9
percent in March 2018.
The average user’s water
bill (assuming 11,220
gallons per month) would
increase $1.39 in March
2017 to $29.22 and the
average user’s sewer bill
would increase $1.18 to
$24.74 during the first
step of the increase.
According to a memo
to the city council, the
increases were calculated
“based on an analysis
of the utility system’s
operating
expenses,
debt service and capital
improvement
needs.”
Those capital improve-
ment needs include new
de-watering equipment at
the recycled water treat-
ment plant to improve
efficiency and imple-
menting “remote-read”
water meters instead of
the manual ones that
currently take two full-
time employees to gather
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On Monday the council
will consider approval of a
re-alignment of parking
spaces along the north side
of Gladys Avenue between
NE Second Street and NE
Third Street. The change,
discussed at the council’s
Jan. 9 work session, would
add four more parking
spots to the area in front of
Hermiston Public Library
by changing the parallel
parking spaces to diagonal
ones.
Also on the agenda for
Monday is a recognition of
former Hispanic Advisory
Committee chair Eddie de
la Cruz, approval of new
city committee members,
formal adoption of the
state’s newest building
codes and approval of the
December financial report.
The 7 p.m. meeting at
city hall, 180 NE Second
St., will be preceded by
a joint work session at
6 p.m. with Umatilla
County commissioners
on the progress of the
Eastern Oregon Trade and
Event Center.
———
Contact
Jade
McDowell at jmcdowell@
eastoregonian.com
or
541-564-4536.
Fighting addiction in the
community is a passion for
the Hermiston Hispanic Advi-
sory Committee’s new chair.
Jose Garcia was chosen
as the committee chair at the
end of November after former
chair Eddie de la Cruz moved
to Texas. He is also the director
of New Horizons, which
serves those struggling with
problems such as drug and
alcohol addictions, gambling,
anger management and
domestic violence. He hopes
to use his professional skills
to help the Hispanic Advisory
Committee look for ways it
can assist in addressing those
challenges.
“We do have some issues
in the community, and I think
we can work on that,” he said.
Garcia said he has enjoyed
getting to know city councilor
Manuel Gutierrez, who acts
as a council liaison to the
committee. Gutierrez also
works in human services
through Domestic Violence
Services.
“He’s got a lot of ideas,”
Garcia said. “We’ve been
having some preliminary
talks. With his expertise and
my expertise, maybe we can
do some classes, educate
some people.”
Past board chair Eddie de
la Cruz said Garcia is a “great
guy” who has been involved
in the community for a long
time, and people do not need
to worry that under Garcia’s
watch the Hispanic Advisory
Committee’s efforts will flag.
“They’ve still got a lot of
good plans. The committee is
still going strong,” he said.
Past initiatives have
included increasing voter
registration and increasing
involvement in education,
and Garcia said he also wants
to keep those things going,
including a popular effort to
partner with the Hermiston
School District to provide
Spanish translators for parent
teacher conferences.
He said he also wants to
help Hispanic children in the
community connect to more
financial aid resources for
pursuing higher education.
Garcia said parents come to
him all the time, worried their
child might be doing drugs or
upset about confirmed drug
use. He said when parents
get involved in their child’s
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his candidacy on a pledge to
help the working class.
“I want to educate the
Latino community to be opti-
mistic and not have so much
fear,” he said.
Garcia said he also
wants to help the Hispanic
Advisory Committee be
more connected to the city
council, and to make sure
the committee is helping
support “great” projects like
the new, free bus system in
town. He said he wanted to
keep fostering new leaders in
the Hispanic community and
encouraging them to be more
actively involved.
Garcia moved to Herm-
iston from Yakima in 1989
and said he really appreciated
the growing opportunities he
had working as a drug and
alcohol addiction counselor
for Umatilla County when he
first came to town.
“I really thank the county
for the product I am today,”
he said.
He said people he worked
with in that job always told
him he needed to learn to say
no, because he would say yes
no matter what new project
or meeting was added to his
plate. But he can’t help being
a go-getter willing to tackle
any problem, he said.
He has been frustrated
by the last two Hispanic
Advisory Committee meet-
ings being canceled due to
weather, but plans to take the
same go-getter approach with
the committee.
“They say you can be part
of the problem or part of the
solution,” he said. “Today I
can tell you I’m part of the
solution.”
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education, grades go up and
attendance improves, which
helps children stay away from
drugs and gangs and other
harmful behaviors.
The problem, he said, is
that many Latino parents
are working multiple jobs to
make ends meet or give their
children a less impoverished
childhood than they had.
They don’t always have the
luxury of arranging their
work schedule, as Garcia has
done while raising his three
children, so that they can drop
them off and pick them up
from school each day.
“A lot of the factories and
warehouses around here,
they’re not family-oriented,”
he said.
Parents feel powerless
over that, he said, just like he
sometimes feels powerless to
help people turn their lives
around when it takes four
months to get someone into
rehab. Garcia said he lost his
own brother to addiction a
few years ago for that very
reason.
That feeling of powerless-
ness is a reason that Garcia has
been drawn to Donald Trump
over the last year. While many
Latinos have rejected Trump
for his rhetoric about building
walls and mass round-ups of
illegal immigrants, Garcia
said he finds hope in Trump’s
message about fighting for
everyday Americans and
helping those in our own
backyard.
He said he wants to help
calm fears by reminding
Hispanic
community
members that Trump needs
Congress to approve many of
his proposals and that he ran
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