Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Thursday, March 30, 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
OUR VIEW
Richardson’s pursuit
of accountability
When Oregonians elected their
suggestions to reduce that waste. As
first Republican to a statewide office our legislature works to fill a $1.6
billion budget deficit this year, we
in nearly two decades, they were
would rather see them cut inefficient
looking for accountability.
practices than valuable assets like
Frustrated by the hundreds of
the Oregon State Police crime lab in
millions of dollars squandered on
Pendleton.
failed projects like Cover Oregon
Beyond looking at budgets,
and the Columbia River Crossing,
Richardson must also focus on helping
and still stinging from watching
change poor performance by state
their governor resign in disgrace,
departments. He took a much-needed
they elected Dennis Richardson as
step in that direction by pushing state
Secretary of State to provide a check
auditors to begin
on Democrats
an audit of the
running the state.
As newspaper
Secretary of State is state’s foster care
endorsements
best when pursuing program.
of Richardson
News about
last fall noted,
the
Department of
nonpartisan goals Human
Oregon’s
Services’
Secretary of State
handling of child
is an administrator, not a policy-
welfare has often been dismal,
maker. The job includes overseeing
including a recent internal review
elections, auditing state agencies,
that found in 47 percent of cases the
keeping a registry of businesses and
consultant conducting the review
maintaining the state’s archives.
disagreed with the case worker’s
assessment that the child was safe.
While Richardson’s Democratic
challenger promised to use the office Changes need to happen — soon
— and as a former foster parent
to promote partisan interests like
himself, Richardson is in a good
abortion protections, Richardson
position to help Oregon’s children
promised to focus on nonpartisan
get the protection they deserve from
issues that are actually in the
abusive and dangerous situations.
Secretary of State’s job description,
On the other hand, he spent time
like reducing waste and fraud. Those
recently meeting with members of
promises won over even Portland
Democrats like the Willamette Week President Donald Trump’s cabinet
while in Washington, D.C., for a
editorial board, which noted their
conference. While building bridges is
strong disagreements with him on
an important part of politics, the U.S.
social issues but endorsed him as a
Secretary of Energy does not have
politician “beholden to none of the
much to do with the Oregon Secretary
special interests that rule the state.”
of State’s job duties.
It is important Richardson
As the Secretary of State’s office
remember that mandate.
transitions from projects started
So far, news coming out of his
by Richardson’s predecessors into
office is in line with promises he
projects that Richardson himself has
made. An audit his office released
initiated, he should prioritize actions
earlier this month, for example,
that will hold state leaders and
found that 69 percent of Oregon
departments accountable, spotlight
Department of Transportation
ways to reduce waste and maintain
construction projects from 2011 to
confidence in the integrity of our
2015 exceeded their bid amounts.
electoral process.
The report suggests the department
All the audits in the world will
could save significant money by
only go so far, however, if Democrats
tracking “unbalanced” line items, a
in power dismiss the findings as
strategy the audit found contractors
merely the work of a member of the
often use to more than double the
price on materials they think ODOT opposition party and don’t implement
the suggestions. Richardson was
underestimated the need for.
elected for a reason. Both he and the
That’s one of the most valuable
services Richardson’s office can and state leaders he is expected to hold
accountable would do well to keep
should provide for our state — data
that in mind going forward.
on wasteful spending paired with
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
Whatever Trump does next,
it has to be about jobs, wages
W
hat will President Trump
the economy is getting better, while
do after the Obamacare
20 percent said it is getting worse and
debacle? For 48 hours,
44 percent said it is the same. If one
some Hill Republicans — and Trump
takes those “same” answers as “it’s
himself — spoke as if the president
still bad,” that’s 64 percent who are
and the GOP could smoothly,
dissatisfied with the way things are
seamlessly and swiftly pivot to tax
going.
reform. Then, Monday night, came an
That is why Trump won last
Axios report that Trump might choose
November.
Yes, other issues —
Byron
to pursue an infrastructure bill — the
immigration, terrorism, Clinton fatigue
York
only measure with even a hope of
— played a role, but the most basic
Comment
some Democratic support — at the
reason Trump is president is because
same time as tax reform.
a lot of voters believed a change was
Whatever the final decision, Trump and
needed to improve the economy.
Hill Republicans are in danger of failing again
To give perhaps an extreme example:
if they do not direct their every action toward
This week the South Bend (Indiana) Tribune
the creation of jobs and an increase in wages.
reported that a local restaurant owner, an
That’s why Trump won the presidency, and it
illegal immigrant from Mexico who has been
is what voters expect of him.
in the United States for nearly 20 years and
“Trump and Republicans have two big
has no criminal record, might be deported.
numbers that are the measurements of
His wife, a naturalized U.S. citizen, voted
success,” says a GOP pollster and strategist
for Trump and is now stunned at what
involved with the efforts on Capitol Hill. “One has happened, having believed only “bad
is how many jobs are created. Two is how
hombres” would be deported under the Trump
much wages go up. He has to have both of
administration. When the Tribune asked why
them.”
she supported Trump, she answered, “I did it
Democrats often point to the number of
for the economy. We needed a change.”
jobs created in the eight years after Barack
The new president took some early actions
Obama took office amid an economic
to address those concerns — the Carrier deal,
meltdown. Unemployment, which hit 10
executive orders killing the Trans-Pacific
percent in October 2009, is now 4.7 percent.
Partnership and cutting federal regulations on
But median household income is less than it
business. But the first big legislative item Trump
was 10 years ago. People who are working
pursued was to repeal and replace Obamacare.
don’t feel they have much chance of a raise or
One problem mostly unremarked at the
of finding a better-paying job. That is why it
time was that Trump didn’t even try to sell
is important for Trump not only to help create
Obamacare replacement as a measure to
jobs but also raise wages.
increase jobs and wages. In his March 20
In its most recent poll — the one that found speech in Louisville, for example, Trump not
Trump’s job approval rating at 37 percent —
only did not frame Obamacare as a jobs and
Quinnipiac asked 1,056 registered voters this
wages issue, he didn’t even try very hard to
question: “Do you think the nation’s economy portray it as a cost-of-living issue, offering
is getting better, getting worse, or staying
only a few sentences on rising premiums
about the same?”
and not once uttering the word “deductible.”
Forty percent said the economy is
Obamacare repeal and replacement, as Trump
improving — not a terrible number, especially presented it, was just something that had to be
when just 16 percent said the economy is
done before moving on to the fun stuff, which
getting worse. Perhaps the more alarming
was tax reform.
figure is that 39 percent said they believe the
Now Trump is in fact moving on, to
economy is staying about the same.
tax reform, or maybe to tax reform and
“Since (the economy) is bad now, saying
infrastructure. Both are more obviously jobs
things are the same is pessimistic,” notes the
and wages issues than Obamacare. If he
GOP pollster. In other words, when voters say wants to succeed, that’s how Trump must
the economy is the same, they often mean it’s
shape and sell the legislation — and his entire
still bad.
presidency.
Men tend to say the economy is doing a
■
little better — 50 percent told Quinnipiac it is
Byron York is chief political correspondent
improving. But just 32 percent of women said for The Washington Examiner.
YOUR VIEWS
Drug court closed reluctantly
due to budget cuts
The Umatilla County Local Public
Safety Coordinating Council (LPSCC) is
the entity responsible for making decisions
about the viability of Umatilla County Drug
Court. LPSCC implemented drug court
10 years ago, and is solely responsible for
the decision to end the current intensive
drug court model, which directs those on
formal probation with severe drug addiction
to an extensive treatment and supervision
program where the court and drug court team
regularly assess and determine approaches to
individual drug abuse.
The decision to end the current drug
court model in Umatilla County was made
by LPSCC with regret and reluctance upon
release of the governor’s proposed budget,
which cuts funding to public safety as
well as many other county services, and
subsequently creates a $516,000 deficit in
the budget of the current drug court program.
That $516,000 budget deficit was the only
reason for LPSCC’s decision.
The LPSCC discussion was arduous, with
no member in favor of cutting drug court and
walking away from the effort or the clients.
The action of LPSCC was to cease drug
court operations under the current model
with specific instruction to LPSCC’s Justice
Reinvestment Subcommittee to research
and evaluate alternative methods to provide
drug court under a less costly model. That
subcommittee meets in April and already has
made efforts to find supportive funding for
the drug court program in a modified format.
Finally, the action taken by LPSCC
to cease drug court included provision to
transition the current clients of drug court to
enable them continued access to the services
they receive through drug court, albeit not
under the auspices of the court, but services
nonetheless.
LPSCC meets the second Tuesday of each
month at the Umatilla County Courthouse.
The public is welcome to attend.
Susan McHenry, chair
Umatilla County LPSCC
Pendleton
Don’t forget who supported
ACA repeal
The failed effort to “repeal and replace”
the Affordable Care Act would have taken
away health care coverage from 24 million
Americans if the bill had passed. The bill
failed because 100 percent of Democratic
congressional representatives were opposed
to these devastating outcomes, while small
minorities of Republican congressional
representatives either thought the outcomes
were a little too onerous or thought these
outcomes would not be hurtful enough.
Keep in mind, however, that the vast
majority of Republican congressional
representatives, including our own
Representative Greg Walden, one of the
chief architects of this harmful bill, believed
that taking away healthcare coverage from
24 million Americans was the right thing to
do. Keep these facts in mind the next time
you vote.
Chris Pilotti
Hermiston
New schools lead to growth
As lead county commissioner for
economic development matters in Umatilla
County, let me add some perspective to the
discussion regarding the 2017 Hermiston
School Bond Measure.
Schools are an important consideration
for new companies in their consideration
of siting in our communities. Potential
employers are concerned because schools
affect quality of life for families of workers
they will employ. Aging facilities with
overcrowded classrooms are a negative in
the siting process.
No one likes paying higher taxes. My
efforts in economic development are to help
bring economic growth to our communities
to help “flatten” tax increases. Businesses
pay property taxes on their business
property; their employees live in homes
that generate property taxes; both produce
“spin-off” prosperity to a community.
Growth means more taxpayers to help
absorb the cost of services provided by taxes
including schools.
I support growth; I support the 2017
Hermiston School Bond.
Bill Elfering
Hermiston
Forward or reverse?
The city of Pendleton and property
owners have spent a considerable amount of
money in an attempt to improve the looks
and atmosphere of our downtown area by
removing overhead power lines and gas
meters, replacing sidewalks and installing
turn-of-the-century lighting with banner
stanchions attached for advertising. Unfor-
tunately, though the historic district encom-
passes more than just Main Street, the effort
seems to have stopped there. The failure
of the tree program by selecting unsuitable
varieties and improper installation, which in
turn ruined those new sidewalks, didn’t help.
Now, a member of the Downtown
Business Association has proposed substi-
tuting a surface-mounted irrigation system
to water new trees and flower baskets as a
replacement for those unsightly overhead
electric lines and gas meters in an effort to
lure shoppers to the downtown area. The
stumbling block appears to be funding, and
that’s where you taxpayers come in.
At a recent event, a prominent member
of the Downtown Business Association
was rumored to have approached a member
of our city council requesting tax money
for the project. Perhaps a better solution
would be to replace the broken or missing
banner stanchions and thus provide a venue
for advertising events other than just the
Round-Up. Colorful banners would spruce
things up, advertise events, and wouldn’t
even require any city water, plumbing or
electricity.
If you’ve been to Athena since their
downtown street was replaced, you would
also notice antique-looking purpose-built
poles were installed to display cross-
street banners, and they’ve removed
sidewalk-damaging trees. Locally we still tie
cross-street banners to trees, building hooks,
or whatever is handy. I do have to hand it to
the city for keeping most of those nice street
lights working this winter despite the harsh
conditions. That’s a welcome change.
The city manager stated in a recent news
release that since the Convention Center is
now operating in the black, we can afford
to hire a full-time manager. I sent an inquiry
to one of my city council representatives
asking if this means taxpayer funding is
no longer needed to support the center. I
received no reply. Interesting — I guess this
means another boost in our unfunded PERS
liability.
Rick Rohde
Pendleton
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 newspa-
per reserves the right to withhold letters that address concerns about individual ser-
vices 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.