Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Saturday, April 29, 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
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OUR VIEW
Election roundup
In your mailbox, stuffed in
Hermiston School District bond
between the bills, you should have
We support the district’s $104-
noticed your elections ballot.
million bond that would be another
It arrived this week for most
step toward a restructuring of a
Umatilla County residents, many of
high-performing but over-filled
whom will have important issues to
school district.
decide on or before Election Day,
Here’s what the bond would do:
May 16.
Build a new elementary school off
That’s definitely the case if you
Theater Lane, replace Rocky Heights
live in the city of Pendleton, or in the Elementary, replace Highland Hills
Hermiston School District.
Elementary, renovate Sandstone
And all residents of Umatilla
Middle School and expand
and Morrow County will vote
Hermiston High School and complete
on a data district election that is
district-wide maintenance projects.
relatively surprising for its
The district’s need is so
two contested races and the
great that if the bond doesn’t
importance of the outcome of
in its current form, look
Vote. pass
those races.
for another to be floated in
We certainly don’t want
November or soon after.
to be the only voice you listen to
There are just too many students in
when filling out your ballot, but our
the district and not enough places
editorial board has the opportunity
to educate them. In our mind, it’s
to sit down for long meetings with
cheaper, faster and better for the
interested parties on all sides of
community to get it started now,
election questions. We get to the
and have right-sized schools (and
ask the tough questions, hear the
the right amount of them) for 21st
responses, and then formulate
century Hermiston.
opinions based on what is best for
Pendleton Fire bond
our communities.
Pendleton is dealing with different
With that in mind, we sum up our
stresses than in nearby Hermiston.
election endorsements, and remind
The city is trying to care for
you to vote:
an aging population and aging
Umatilla Morrow Radio & Data infrastructure, and one way to protect
District
those resources is with an investment
In Seat 1, we support challenger
in firefighters and paramedics.
Loren Dieter to replace incumbent
The $9.93 million bond floated by
Mike Roxbury.
the city would be used to purchase
Roxbury is a Umatilla city
land at the former St. Anthony
councilor and the former chief of
Hospital site to build a new fire
the Umatilla Rural Fire Protection
station, purchase a new fire engine,
District, but there are enough
oxygen tanks, fire gear and more.
questions about his recent actions
No one can argue that the current
— a late-night Corvette crash after
fire hall is adequate — it’s maxed out
an early retirement from the fire
on space, has a failing roof, has no
district — to look elsewhere. Dieter, room for female firefighters, and puts
a lieutenant in the Boardman Police
city employees who must work and
Department, is the safer choice.
sleep there at risk.
We also support challenger
You can argue about the specifics
Rick Stokoe in his bid to replace
of this plan (where and how big) and
incumbent Kathy Lieuallen in
if a city with so many needs should
Seat 2. Stokoe is chief of police
use up their chance to go to cash-
in Boardman, while Lieuallen
strapped taxpayers with this.
is the Umatilla County Sheriff’s
We support this measure for a few
Office communications manager.
reasons. The first is that the current
Lieuallen’s questionable leadership
fire station is no longer an option for
is one reason for lingering problems
the city — we must build something.
at the recently-expanded emergency
The second is that the larger price
dispatch center run by the sheriff’s
tag allows the district to purchase
office. Having more voices from
new equipment that would be a
outside that office on the data district steady drain on already tight city of
is an important way to push for
Pendleton budget. This bond may be
change and active problem-solving.
the only chance to outfit those crews
These challengers have taken their for the first time in a long time, and
campaigns more seriously than the
purchase a new engine and have the
incumbents (who didn’t return calls
space to park it. Overall, we think
to the East Oregonian), and we think since these crews spend their careers
they will take the job more seriously, working for us, then we should spend
too.
a few bucks to care for them.
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
White House of grifters
T
hey dress nice and probably
and carpenters, and defrauded
smell good, and most of them
thousands of people at a phony
don’t even muss the furniture.
“university.”
Wealth gives them the patina of
Trump makes money every time
respectability — the American reflex
a foreign diplomat or favor-seeking
of deference to the rich. But make
industrialist stays at one of his hotels
no mistake: The Trump family and
or becomes a tenant in one of his
assorted cronies are using the highest
buildings. On top of that, influence
office in the land to stuff their pockets.
Timothy peddlers pay him through his
The presidential sleaze involves
campaign. In the first three months
Egan
everything from using public money to
of the Trump presidency, his 2020
Comment
promote and enrich Trump properties
campaign spent almost $500,000
to pay-to-play schemes that allow
on hotels, golf clubs and restaurants
companies to buy influence at many levels.
owned by the Trump family.
At its core is a nepotistic operation that puts
Trump, certainly, knows where it’s all
family interests ahead of country.
going. After promising not to talk business
Donald Trump’s presidency may look like
with his father, Eric Trump admitted that he
a theater of incompetency: armada going in
will discuss “the bottom line, profitability
the wrong direction, forgetting what country
reports and stuff like that” with Dad.
he bombed but remembering what he had for
He also said, “Nepotism is kind of a
dessert, major promises broken with a shrug.
factor of life.” Well, yes — in kleptocracies,
But one thing Trump has accomplished
dictatorships and monarchies. For years,
in his first 100 days is ensuring that his
the United States has worked to eliminate
family can use the vast reach of the federal
nepotism in backwater regimes. Now it’s the
government for private gain. By God, they
role model for inbred charlatans.
seen their opportunities and they took ‘em.
It’s bad enough that taxpayers funnel
So, Ivanka Trump gets lucrative Chinese
money to the Trumps when the president
trademarks for her clothing line on the same
brings his entourage to his for-profit club in
day she dines with the Chinese president.
Florida, Mar-a-Lago. But what about that
Would this deal have happened if her father
Mar-a-Lago marketing piece that you and I
wasn’t in the midst of breaking a promise to
paid for on an official government website?
hold China as a currency manipulator? Why
The same administration that wants to
did Trump’s travel ban not include Muslim-
zero-out public money for the arts used public
majority countries where the family has
money to inform people of Trump’s exquisite
extensive business ties? And why did Trump
taste in private property. The post has since
congratulate a Turkish tyrant for consolidating been taken down.
his dictatorial powers?
This week Trump proposed a huge tax
The last question, at least, Trump has
cut for himself and the businesses he and
answered. “I have a little conflict of interest
his family own. He would have saved $31
because I have a major, major building in
million, in the one year for which we have his
Istanbul,” he said in 2015. Conflict of interest
tax return, under his plan. At the same time,
is the quaint term for this kind of thing. Call
he wants to take away college scholarships for
it what it is: corruption. And some of it may
the poor and gut funding for cancer research.
involve impeachable offenses.
His associates take their cue from the top.
Because the Trump White House is a
Michael Flynn, the man who led the lock-
business with the shades closed — the visitor
her-up chants against Hillary Clinton, possibly
logs no longer available to the public, the
broke the law by failing to disclose the big
tax returns a dark secret — we cannot know
sums he got from foreign governments. And
how extensively the Trump clan is making
Kellyanne Conway violated the rule against
foreign policy to help its holdings. The family public officials’ promoting private businesses
has extensive entanglements in China, the
when she plugged Ivanka’s product line.
Philippines and Turkey, to name just a few
A lot of this will be resolved in lawsuits,
“conflicts.”
and perhaps impeachment. Meanwhile, Trump
And Jared Kushner, who has a far-reaching continues to debase the office. He spent four
diplomatic portfolio, is also a beneficiary of
hours at the White House with Sarah Palin
many businesses backed by unnamed foreign
and Ted Nugent, the no-talent musician who
partners, as my colleague Jesse Drucker
called President Barack Obama a “subhuman
reported this week.
mongrel.” The guests posed, in thug mode,
It’s clear now that the reason Trump — in
before a portrait of Hillary Clinton — a fitting
defiance of all ethical standards for the office
image for a host who has turned the home
— has refused to divest his business interests
of Lincoln and Roosevelt into a House of
is that the levers of executive power directly
Grifters.
help Trump Inc.
■
Turning management over to his sons is a
Timothy Egan, a New York Times
farce, one you would expect from a man who
Contributing Op-Ed Writer, covers the
ran a casino into bankruptcy, stiffed plumbers
environment, the American West and politics.
YOUR VIEWS
Taxpayers decide the
quality of their fire,
EMS response
A mere two years of residency
in the city of Pendleton has given
me sufficient time to observe
and understand the core values
this community holds dear.
Perched at the very top, I believe,
is compassion. As a firefighter/
paramedic I am blessed to have
a much different vantage point
from the average citizen; seldom
do most people get to witness
the compassion that folks in our
community exert during difficult
times. Everyone steps up to the
plate in emergency situations:
be it family, friends, neighbors,
the young lady who is late for
work because she stopped to
help someone in distress — your
caring and compassionate nature
do not go unnoticed. We want the
best for our loved ones and every
individual in this community, but
in order to receive the proper help
in an emergency we must make
public safety a priority.
Let me pose a question to you:
Do your firefighters have the
proper equipment to save your
life or protect your property from
irreversible damages? If passed,
the upcoming fire station bond
measure will provide more than
just a structure that actually meets
building codes and passes a Fire
Marshal inspection. An additional
result of your “yes” vote is the long
overdue critically needed upgrade
of heart monitor/defibrillators,
jaws of life, and air packs that
allow firefighters to breathe while
inside a house fire searching for
a family member or pet. Sadly,
we will never be able to prevent
every emergency, however in this
May election we have a unique
opportunity to provide your local
firefighters with crucial life saving
equipment — on top of building
a fire station that is not constantly
off-gassing carcinogens, for your
firefighters to breathe clean air
while on duty.
Remember to vote yes for the
fire station bond, your vote will
help to provide improved fire
and ambulance services to the
community for generations to
come.
Pete Nichols
Pendleton
Keep our firefighters
safe, support fire bond
“These firefighters and EMT’s
would give their lives saving you.”
And then Fire Chief Mike Ciraulo
paused, and said it again. “These
firefighters and EMT’s would give
their lives to save you.” And I
know it’s true.
And because I know it’s true, I
want these firefighters and EMT’s
SAFE. I want them to have a
place where they aren’t exposed
to carcinogens, where they have a
place to safely sleep, where there’s
room for them to expand with
volunteers, where they can train to
learn how to save me, and where
they can get to me without having
to fight traffic just to get out onto
the street.
And because I want them
to be there for me when I need
them (and in good health!), I am
supporting the Bond to Pass the
New Fire Station, and because they
may someday be coming to your
door or to the door of someone
you love, I urge you to support this
bond in the May election as well.
MaryAlice Ridgway
Pendleton
Pendleton doesn’t need
luxury fire station
Why does Pendleton need a $10
million firehouse? Short answer,
“ It don’t.” When economic times
are at their worst our town’s
leadership fails us every time.
A report done on response time
says, if built at old St. Anthony’s,
we will lose 23 seconds of
response time. That very report
also indicates them saying old
St. Anthony’s is a bad choice as
a build site because of that very
reason.
In a time where storefronts are
empty and every other building
is being torn down they say let’s
build a $10 million firehouse. For
a town this size we don’t need a
$10 million fire station, again on
the backs of taxpayers. A modest
fire station built at the old cinema
is the only way a new fire station
could be justified in Pendleton’s
economic condition. There are
plenty of places for fire training
and plenty of places to build that
won’t take 23 seconds off response
time and $10 million. Then you
have the extra development
charges for this particular site,
spare no expense because the
residents of Pendleton are footing
the bill. This says it all.
Their plan to build a two-story
fire station on six acres is
ridiculous for what Pendleton
needs. Read the Mackenzie report;
it was designed to persuade and
not enlighten. If you don’t want
to read the whole ridiculous thing
then just skip down to where they
grade each of the sites. They give
the old St. Anthony site the highest
grade for building. You will find
that the report is deceiving. The
most important things a fire station
needs is good response time, and
it’s graded the lowest for all sites.
Of course, all the silly things got
a high score making the old St.
Anthony site seem like the obvious
choice. You will soon see that this
site was picked for luxury and not
for the city’s best interest. As a
matter of fact, it is highly plausibly
a dangerous place to build.
Twenty-three seconds of burn time
has serious implications and is a
reckless decision.
Vote no this May on this absurd
fire station plan and let our leaders
learn a little self-discipline with
our money and pick a more modest
and comprehensive designed fire
station at a location that better fits
Pendleton’s needs.
Chris Hallos
Pendleton
Oregon shouldn’t be
a sanctuary state
My hat is off to David Burns,
who wrote the article on sanctuary
cities (April 27, EO). For all the
problems Oregon has, it doesn’t
need to be protecting illegals that
sneak across our borders.
We have a governor who
sticks up her nose at the federal
government, which in my opinion
is un-American. Oh, but she thinks
the feds should send grant money,
etc, to her, which is pretty much a
double-edged sword.
Hopefully we can elect
politicians who have more respect
for the job (but I’m not holding my
breath).
Jim Tiede
Hermiston