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OPINION
East Oregonian
Saturday, August 12, 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
Where does EOTEC
go from here?
For most people, the first Umatilla
County Fair at the new EOTEC
fairgrounds was a resounding success.
For many behind the scenes, it was a
complete miracle.
The fair and Farm-City Pro Rodeo
went off with only a few hitches and
most attendees appreciated the new,
more spacious facilities. This is all the
more impressive when you remember
the stressful moments that peppered the
last few years, which became heightened
when the calendar flipped to 2017 and
construction was still significantly
behind schedule.
At that time, the fair was without
a manager, EOTEC was without a
general manager and the EOTEC board
had reached out to the community for
millions in private donations to get the
first phase of construction finished on
time. They also asked for additional
checks from the city of Hermiston and
Umatilla County.
Local crews — both professional and
volunteer — deserve a ton of credit for
the work they did to get the fairgrounds
ready. That work ranged from heavy
industrial construction to last-minute
tidying up of the grounds. Those who
donated financially to the effort deserve
credit too — the facilities could not
have been built on time without that
additional funding.
So kudos for a successful first act.
But the ultimate success of EOTEC
will hinge on how long it can remain
successful outside of fair week, and how
it can avoid annual asks for cash from
its co-owners, the city of Hermiston and
Umatilla County.
From this day forward, the facilities
will begin to age. Before the calendar
flips too many more times, maintenance
will become an issue, and there is
no mechanism in place to fund that
necessary work. Volunteers must remain
engaged, just as they did for generations
at the old grounds.
We’re glad Nate Rivera is taking on
the position of interim EOTEC director.
His tested leadership will certainly be
good for the organizational planning and
structure at this crucial phase. Because
this multi-million dollar enterprise still
needs to develop both a budget and
business plan.
But Rivera has another full-time
job, and board chair Byron Smith does,
too — Hermiston city manager. That
Smith spent almost half his time this
year working on EOTEC issues should
show how complex this project was, and
how many important decisions had to be
made late in the game.
Millions of dollars and thousands
of volunteer hours were not spent for a
one-off show. The vision for this project
was much larger than simply moving
the fair up the hill. Now that we have a
real-life glimpse of what that vision is,
it’s up to the stakeholders to leverage the
initial effort and fulfill the promise of a
sustainable and solvent event venue.
As well as things have gone at the
fair this week, we must remember that
is the tip of the iceberg. The fairgrounds
can no longer exist as an annual passion
project. The county and city now co-own
a trade and event center built on its
residents’ donation of both sweat and
dollars. They must make good on that
investment with a sound plan that allows
it to flourish.
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
A curmudgeon’s take
on the solar eclipse
H
ave you purchased your
upset those primitives who think
$500 bottle of Solar Red
the sun is being devoured by a
Wine?
giant armadillo, instead of “the
It’s one of countless products
Electoral College and stuff.”
created to cash in on the total
Aren’t you glad we Americans
solar eclipse that will cut a
don’t have those superstitions?
swath 60 to 70 miles wide from
(“Looking forward to the
Oregon to South Carolina on
festival, but couldn’t it be
August 21.
rescheduled? My horoscope says
Danny
Savvy shoppers can also
the 21st is a bad day for me.”)
Tyree
Forgive me if I’m “once
obtain solar eclipse playing
Comment
burned, twice shy” about all
cards, solar eclipse neckties,
the hullabaloo. I spent most of
solar eclipse dresses, glow-in-
my youth awaiting the glorious 1986
the-dark cakes and Darkest Hour black
visit of Halley’s Comet. Where I lived,
cherry soda. Festivals and tours? Oh,
it wound up being a tiny smudge in the
yeah! Discovery Channel may even
sky. It wasn’t politically correct; but
throw together a last-minute “Things
The Moon Blocks Your View Of Week,” believe me, I did some “heavenly body”
shaming. 31 years ago, the comet that
complete with Michael Phelps racing a
had heralded the birth of kings and the
simulated Buzz Aldrin.
fall of empires was more like the “your
My son Gideon’s school is busing
students to Nashville to get a better view turn signal is still on” warning.
Granted, I’m looking forward to
of the eclipse. I hope the Music City
seeing videos of the confusion and
crowd obeys safety warnings and does
anxiety experienced by pets and wildlife
not generate new stereotypes of the city.
when the sun is blotted out in the middle
(“I’m a-pickin’.” “And I’m a-grinnin’.”
of the day. As a recently translated
“And I’m a-gettin’ my retinas burned
Hebrew scroll reveals, “God don’t need
beyond repair!”)
no laser pointer.”
Yes, NASA and a legion of
I try not to be swayed by a NASA
optometrists are cautioning amateur
spokesman who assures us, “This eclipse
astronomers not to view the eclipse
will be an unforgettable, transcendent
without certified eye protection.
event — the sort of experience you’ll
Unfortunately, no one has run an
cherish regaling your grandchildren with
algorithm to determine how many
someday. Unless you die prematurely
nitwits will flip a car while texting their
or suffer memory loss due to dementia
destination, fall off a cliff while taking a
or become infertile because of constant
selfie or receive ricochet wounds while
use of a laptop computer or get turned
shooting the roof out of a Porta Potty so
down by the adoption agency for
as not to miss a second of the eclipse.
Heartwarming essays predict this rare something you posted on Facebook in
celestial event will bring people together. ‘02. Oh, let’s just forget your theoretical
Well, maybe. (“Isn’t it amazing how
grandchildren! Pop open that $500 bottle
God set this up like clockwork?” “God?
of Solar Red Wine and enjoy what time
This is just the way quantum physics
you have left, you poor doomed losers.
has ordered the universe since the Big
■
Bang.” “Star Trek could work wonders
Danny welcomes email responses at
with a solar eclipse storyline.” “But Star tyreetyrades@aol.com and visits to his
Wars could do it better.” “Tastes great.”
Facebook fan page “Tyree’s Tyrades.”
“Less filling.” Etcetera.)
Danny’s weekly column is distributed
Luckily, the total eclipse will be
exclusively by Cagle Cartoons Inc.
confined to the United States and won’t
newspaper syndicate.
LETTERS POLICY
The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public
issues and public policies for publication. 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. Send letters to 211 S.E.
Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com.
OTHER VIEWS
A West Coast plea to
an unstable president
ou may very well hate us.
huff-and-puffing could easily escalate
After all, you were rejected by
into the slaughter of millions of people.
a margin of nearly 5 million
Seoul, with a metro population of 26
votes in the three states on the West
million, is as close to its enemy in the
Coast mainland, where more than 1 in
north as Washington is to Baltimore.
7 Americans live. We are the reason
When President Barack Obama
you lost the national popular vote by
kidded you at the White House
such a historic margin. Since you’ve
Correspondents’ dinner in 2011 for
been president, you’ve never set foot
Timothy having to make a decision after your
in our time zone.
steakhouse team failed to impress, he
Egan
said: “You fired Gary Busey. And these
But now our very existence is in
Comment
are the kind of decisions that would
your hands. Look at a map, that circle
keep me up at night. Well handled, sir.”
from North Korea outward. There’s
At the time, Obama had just authorized the
Guam, a U.S. territory, threatened this week
with a pre-emptive strike, at 2,100 miles. Then raid, after dutiful and reasoned deliberation,
to take out Osama bin Laden. At that same
comes Alaska, which is closer to the nuclear-
dinner, he ended on a
armed hermit nation, at just
serious note, asking
over 3,000 miles, than it is
everyone to “remember our
to Washington, D.C.
neighbors in Alabama,”
Farther out, Seattle;
recently devastated by
Portland, Oregon; San
storms.
Francisco and Los Angeles
That would be the
may all be within range of
Alabama where Obama
missiles that North Korea
got barely 39 percent of the
tested last month. It looks
vote in 2008 — about the
as if the North could fit a
same percent you received
nuclear bomb the size of a
in Washington and Oregon.
garbage can to one of those
Once the election is over,
missiles, though whether it
as he and nearly every occupant of the White
could survive re-entry is another matter.
House has learned, you are the president of all
Are we scared? Unnerved? Well, yes, a
the people.
little. I’ll let Leon Panetta, the wisest of West
Your default mode is to threaten and sue
Coasters and former secretary of defense,
and demean and lie — as you’ve done your
speak for us:
entire career. You even sue comedians, as you
“You’ve got two bullies chiding each
did Bill Maher after he compared you to an
other with outrageous comments,” he told
orangutan’s spawn. And this week, your first
Politico this week. He worried that the
major statement after threatening nuclear war
bully in Bedminster may feel that the bully
was to lie about how you had upgraded our
in Pyongyang is “attacking his manhood,”
nuclear arsenal.
an age-old trigger for war. The similarities
We West Coasters can’t go our separate
between the two of you are unavoidable:
way on nukes, as we’re doing on climate
the preening, the insecurity, the pathological
narcissism, the chronic lying, the bad haircuts. change, vowing to adhere to the Paris accord
even as you turn your back on the rest of
Of course, you never had your uncle
the world. We don’t have a shield. We don’t
executed or ordered the assassination of a
control the nuclear code.
half-brother, as Kim Jong Un did. But we
Sanctions, like those just approved by the
sometimes can’t tell the statements between
United Nations, are a good deterrence. You
the two of you apart. Was it Kim or your
need to work with China. It will take more
magnificence who said you would turn the
than “the most beautiful piece of chocolate
other’s capital city into a “sea of fire”? Or
cake,” more than calling President Xi Jinping
force the other’s country to suffer “fire and
of China a good guy one day, a bad guy the
fury like the world has never seen?”
next. Diplomacy is hard. But it beats the
It doesn’t make for an easier night’s
alternative.
sleep here on the humidity-free West Coast
I know you don’t read. But somebody on
that one of your top advisers, Sebastian
your staff — perhaps the well-read defense
Gorka, has been trying to sound like you,
secretary, James Mattis — could summarize
ratcheting up the my-nukes-are-bigger-
“The Guns of August,” by Barbara W.
than-yours brinkmanship. “We are not just
Tuchman. She details the missteps, the idiocy
the superpower,” he said. “We are now a
of powerful men with powerful weapons,
hyperpower.” If only he were talking about a
leading the world into a war that would kill
Marvel Comics character.
17 million people. The path to destruction, to
And it’s equally unsettling that your
mass murder, to horror is there. So is the way
evangelical adviser, the Texas pastor Robert
out.
Jeffress, is now giving you cover from the
■
Bible. “God has endowed rulers full power to
Timothy Egan worked for 18 years as a
use whatever means necessary — including
writer for The New York Times, first as the
war — to stop evil,” he said, speaking for
Pacific Northwest correspondent, then as a
God.
This is not “The Celebrity Apprentice.” The national enterprise reporter.
Y
We West
Coasters don’t
have a shield.
We don’t control
the nuclear code.
YOUR VIEWS
Why is city kicking out its own
programs for REACH?
Pendleton city manager Robb Corbett
recommended to city council in a workshop
that REACH take over the Pendleton
Recreation Center for their program.
I don’t deny it could be a good program.
My questions: Why is a government agency
being used to house an outreach program?
Why have Parks and Recreation programs
been displaced for this program?
It seems unacceptable that the city will lose
revenue for an outreach program. It is known
the church founding the outreach is the city
manager’s place of worship. It is known the
REACH “board of directors” are made up of
members of the church, not a mix of members
of the community who have a vested interest
in the success of the program. And there
was no clarification at the meeting regarding
REACH actually having any secured funds,
only an understanding that many people will
be vying for the funds.
How will they be able to fund the lease of
the building and fund programs such as meals
two to five times a week? Is the outreach
program going to have a lease with the city at
a fair market rate that will recoup funds going
to be lost from, for example, birthday parties
and foundation room rentals?
It is unfortunate the Parks and Recreation
employee has been displaced from their office,
and has had to find other venues for programs
established. Gymnastics moved to the Vert
Auditorium — that isn’t the purpose the Vert
was built to serve. Why should city programs
have to be housed at school facilitates when
there is a facility owned by the city that should
be used?
It is very upsetting. Why is council just
now being made aware of this? Shouldn’t this
have gone before the Parks and Recreation
Commission instead of the city manager just
doing it?
Unfortunately, I have heard a lot of upset in
the community. Why is one church allowed to
take over a building over the city programs?
As a taxpayer I am concerned how the city
will recoup revenues lost.
It would be appreciated if the community
could get answers.
Cody Cimmiyotti
Pendleton