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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 13, 2017)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Thursday, July 13, 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 When principle hurts a politician Greg Smith and Greg Barreto are infrastructure, but Smith’s District 57 both representatives in the Oregon will see much more an impact of that House. They occupy neighboring than Barreto’s District 58. districts and are both Republicans. Transportation should be a major, They even share a first name. bipartisan issue for Oregonians‚ and But the similarities end there when it makes sense that both parties would it comes to their work on the massive be involved in crafting it. No matter their political affiliations, everyone Oregon transportation plan that from Portland to Paisley depends on passed the Legislature this session it and municipalities across the state — the major piece of legislation have fallen behind on funding as the to wind its way through the House gas tax earnings and Senate to the have slowed. governor’s desk for That’s even more her signature. Smith and Rep. Greg Smith in places Barreto exemplify noticeable like Pendleton and worked to pass La Grande and the transportation the different Enterprise — cities bill, and his district philosophies represented by received $32 that have million earmarked on serving your Barreto dealt with longterm for local projects — constituents when stagnation and including millions fallen behind on for pedestrian you’re in the their infrastructure improvements upkeep. in Arlington and minority party. Ask anyone in Milton-Freewater, those city or county as well as multiple offices if they could have found million-dollar projects in Hermiston reasonable projects for millions in and at the ports of Morrow and transportation dollars, and not one Umatilla. will tell you no. The need is great Rep. Greg Barreto didn’t work and the dollars locals are able to to pass the transportation bill — he raise to address the problems are not opposed it from the beginning, sufficient. Leaders in Pendleton and wasn’t involved in negotiating its La Grande are toying with the idea terms and ultimately voted against of another gas tax — something that it — and his district didn’t receive any consideration for special projects, will focus the tax burden on local despite significant and specific needs. businesses and customers, rather than bringing in dollars from across the Both men have reasons for their state. vote and exemplify the two different The tax burden of the philosophies of how to best serve transportation package will be your constituents when you’re in the spread relatively evenly across the minority party. state. Unfortunately, the benefits of You can be a hard, principled the package will not. Residents of “no” on legislation backed by the District 58 got the short end of the majority party, hoping to obstruct its stick — and will likely be asked to progress but giving up all bargaining fork over additional local taxes to chips as the bills move their way through the legislative process. That’s make up the difference that is not coming from the state. Barreto’s style. Perhaps that helped Political principles are well and in keeping what he felt were bad bills good when it comes to abortion or from moving past committees or out the Second Amendment — no one of the House. But when those bills should bend when the core of who overcome Republican objections, they are is at stake. he finds himself too far outside the But when we’re talking about discussion to have any impact on a transportation package that their crafting. will benefit and burden every Smith has the opposite take. Oregonian, politicians owe it to their He injects himself into the debate, constituents to work hard to make and sometimes works with the massive legislation as good as it can opposition party to craft legislation. be. That includes cutting costs and Often that effort brings projects or trimming excess where possible, but carves out exceptions for his district, also securing money for necessary as evidenced by the transportation projects that will improve the lives package. Taxes are going up in of the people who got them elected. Oregon to fund transportation 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 Popularity taking toll on state’s wilderness areas The Medford Mail Tribune O regonians are rightfully proud of the stunning scenic beauty of their state and are accustomed to striking out to experience it whenever they wish, backpacking into pristine wilderness areas at a moment’s notice. But some of the more popular areas are not so pristine any longer, largely the result of overuse and too many people behaving thoughtlessly while they are there. The U.S. Forest Service has responded by proposing to start requiring paid permits to hike and backpack in specific wilderness areas. For now, the program would apply to the Mount Jefferson, Mount Washington, Three Sisters, Diamond Peak and Waldo Lake wilderness areas. The Forest Service is compiling comments on the plan and will issue more details in time for a new comment period in February 2018. If adopted, the permit system likely would take effect in 2019. The reaction from outdoor enthusiasts understandably has been negative. But look at things from the Forest Service’s point of view. The number of visitors to the wilderness areas in question has soared. The Bend Bulletin reports that 46,999 people visited the Three Sisters Wilderness in 2011. Last year, 132,118 people did. And they left more than footprints. Forest Service rangers hauled 1,200 pounds of garbage out of Three Sisters in 2015-16, and buried human waste 850 times — something the visitors who produced it couldn’t be bothered to do. Better wilderness etiquette on the part of visitors would go a long way toward solving the problem, but people being people, we’re not holding our breath. And the Forest Service is proposing the paid permit system because it’s been proven to work. Permit systems already are in place for specific locations that draw large numbers of visitors. Officials say the permit requirements successfully limited crowds and damage there. Permits reportedly would range from $6 to $12. Recovering some modest administrative cost is acceptable, but fees should not be a money-maker for the Forest Service. If a permit is required for every person in a hiking party, the cost could become prohibitive. If all visitors treated the wilderness as their own backyard, permit fees wouldn’t be necessary. Since they don’t, measures like this are an unfortunate necessity. OTHER VIEWS For Trump critics, to follow is to lead P resident Trump’s performance Trump’s move. The question in at the G-20 summit in Germany Hamburg was what they would say produced a wave of commentary about it in a formal statement. The claiming the United States has Guardian reported that “tensions ran abdicated its role as world leader. particularly high between French ABC News contemplated “A and U.S. officials,” who fought over World Without U.S. Leadership.” whether the final G-20 statement CNN reported that Trump exchanged would include a mention of the U.S. “an aggressive, traditional American helping other countries “to access Byron leadership role for isolation in a club and use fossil fuels more cleanly and York of one.” The liberal activist Neera efficiently.” (It did.) Comment Tanden tweeted, “Can we just admit At the same time, Trump’s decision that the era of American global made the other countries want to leadership is over under Trump?” showcase the depth of their commitment to The talking point quickly became the Paris deal. “We take note of the decision conventional wisdom in Europe. In the UK, of the United States of America to withdraw the Independent wrote, “The G-20 proves it. from the Paris Agreement,” the G-20 leaders’ Because of Trump, the world no longer looks final declaration said. Then: “The leaders of to America for leadership.” the other G-20 members state While there were that the Paris Agreement is disagreements in Hamburg irreversible.” between Trump and the To American ears, the other 19 nations on lots of “irreversible” part sounded things, including trade, the a little strange. In the main factor in all the end-of- context of government, American-leadership talk was what does “irreversible” the president’s decision to mean? Americans, like pull out of the Paris Climate all other humans, reverse Accord. things all the time. Even the The idea is that, by not Constitution can be amended. going along with the other 19 nations — But the Paris Agreement — which former Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, President Obama imposed by executive France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, authority without seeking the approval of the Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Senate in the normal treaty process — that is Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United “irreversible”? Kingdom, and the European Union — the And even for the G-20, what does United States is no longer leading. “irreversible” mean? It certainly does not In other words: One can only lead by mean “inflexible.” The 19 leaders noted following the group. that they are “moving swiftly towards its It’s an odd formulation, reminiscent of the full implementation in accordance with old Barack Obama “leading from behind” the principle of common but differentiated jokes, but it’s the principle underlying the responsibilities and respective capabilities, in end-of-American-leadership talk. And it’s the light of different national circumstances.” not working with some of the president’s key In other words, in a non-binding agreement supporters on Capitol Hill. like Paris, individual countries can do what “I’m glad that President Trump cares more they gotta do. about electricity rates in Paris, Arkansas than That, according to the commentators, is the he does the Paris Climate Accord,” Arkansas definition of leadership. Donald Trump chose Republican Sen. Tom Cotton said in a text to take the United States on a different course, exchange Sunday. “Hollow agreements aside, which according to the same commentators is the United States will continue to lead the the abdication of leadership. world in environmental protection, while also In an alternate universe, one could exporting oil and gas abroad. In particular, imagine analysis of Trump’s European American global energy dominance will trip noting that the president is in fact help break Europe’s dependence on Russian leading — leading, for example, in the oil and gas, if only Germany would stop defense of Western values. Bob Dole, the posturing at one moment, while cozying up to former Republican presidential candidate Putin in the next.” and senator, said just that, praising Trump Indeed, it seems safe to say that as the U.S. for restoring “proud and strong American further develops its energy output, it will also leadership” and helping “restore our achieve its own voluntary emissions goals position as leader of the free world.” for 2020 and beyond. (Each country in the But Dole, and Cotton, and other Trump non-binding Paris deal got to set its own.) But supporters don’t see leadership in the same if Trump sticks with his decision, the U.S. way as the critics. For Trump’s opponents, at will not take part in the vast, billions-and- least as far as the G-20 is concerned, leading billions-of-dollars global wealth-redistribution is following, and following is leading. system that is part of the Paris Agreement. ■ It was of course well known ahead of Byron York is chief political correspondent time that the other G-20 leaders opposed for The Washington Examiner. Detractors say one can only lead by following the group. YOUR VIEWS PDC should develop idle land to reduce local tax burden Although we have a new city council/ Pendleton Development Commission, there are some carryover members. Mistakes of the past hopefully won’t be repeated. Currently, the PDC owns property north of the Umatilla River, property outside the Urban Renewal District, their area of responsibility. A trip to the Umatilla County Courthouse revealed that this property has belonged to the PDC since 2008. After sitting idle and off the tax rolls now for more than nine years, the PDC has finally declared the property excess and decided to put it up for sale. With the shortage of available housing, a small portion was deemed buildable and development seemed a way to recoup something on the city’s original investment, especially considering the length of time the property has sat idle and off the tax rolls. Now, those residents near the property want development stopped and instead want to create a nature preserve, adding to the one we basically already have running through town along the river. I would question how the PDC has the authority to make decisions on property use outside the Urban Renewal District. As stewards of publicly owned property, the council/PDC has the responsibility to return this property to the private sector for development and recoup some of those lost tax revenues. It’s surprising how much property they own that sits idle, off the tax rolls. When questioned, a common answer is “it’s only” — add up those “it’s onlys” and it soon mounts up. City, county, and school district budgets are impacted, resulting in increases in taxes and fees. 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 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.
