Page 8A
OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Thursday, October 19, 2017
PENDLETON: Expanding the Jump Start loan program
Continued from 1A
The
enhancement
project and Union Pacific
are splitting the $70,000
cost of the fencing, which
will resemble the railroad
fencing near Mac’s Bar &
Grill at 1400 S.W. Dorion
Ave. Murdock told the
council that the fencing
might improve use of
Museum Park near Heritage
Station, which is otherwise
completely exposed to
passing trains.
The second phase repur-
poses Eighth Street Bridge
trusses set to be removed
next summer and move
them to South Main Street.
The enhancement project
had
proposed
several
different
configurations
of four trusses between
Southwest Frazer Avenue
and Southwest Goodwin
Avenue, but Union Pacific
nixed them, Wood said.
The group is now focused
on installing three trusses at
the Eagles parking lot on the
corner of Main and Frazer.
The
project
was
supposed to culminate in a
plaza at the Webb’s prop-
erty. Renderings showed
an area with grass, trees, a
repurposed flatbed rail car
used as a performance stage,
a hard surface designed
to resemble a Pendleton
Woolen Mill pattern and a
splash pad.
Although the plaza
would be named after the
railroad company, Union
Pacific had some objections
to the project.
According to Wood,
Union Pacific explicitly
rejected the idea of a farmers
market in the space and was
generally concerned with
the idea of a large public
gathering place so close to
the train tracks.
If the enhancement
project were to obtain the
land, Union Pacific would
want a fair market rate of
65 cents per square foot
on a year-to-year lease, the
company’s standard terms
for property in the area.
Given the approximately
$9,400 per year it would
take to rent the property —
and the estimated $670,000
it would take to develop it
— the group is abandoning
the plaza concept.
Wood said CAPECO is
also bailing on its plans to
build a food hub near the
plaza. Wood said CAPECO
wouldn’t want to invest
millions of dollars in a prop-
erty on a year-to-year lease.
“That’s not practical,” he
said after the meeting.
Wood said CAPECO
remains a part of the project
and intends to look for other
downtown sites for a food
hub. CAPECO did not return
a request for comment.
The Pendleton Enhance-
ment Project now wants
to incorporate some of the
ideas it had for the plaza into
the Eagles parking lot.
In addition to trusses
and landscaping, the group
wants to acquire rail cars
and place them on the
borders of the parking lot.
The revamped parking lot
would also have removable
shade covers.
Wood said little to no
parking would be removed
because of the project,
although the lot might have
to be restriped.
The commission voted
unanimously to release the
$20,000 grant to the project.
The group has raised more
than $100,000 toward the
approximately
$137,000
it needs for the first two
phases of the project.
Councilor Scott Fairley
advised Wood to solicit the
public before proceeding
with the later phases of the
project.
Other council business
included:
• The commission unani-
mously voted to expand the
boundaries of the Jump Start
loan program to the entire
urban renewal district.
The Jump Start program
previously covered just
Southeast Sixth Street to
Southwest Sixth Street and
some parts of Court and
Dorion avenues.
• Meeting later as the city
council, members unani-
mously voted to expand the
city’s temporary business
license program to vendors
at Pendleton Whisky Music
Fest and Pendleton Bike
Week.
Previously, the tempo-
rary license rule applied
only to Round-Up vendors,
who paid the city between
$100 and $160.
• The council unan-
imously
approved
a
$184,348 bid from All-Sur-
face Roofing to re-roof
the Pendleton Convention
Center.
The bid amount came in
higher than the city’s esti-
mate, which means the city
council will have to approve
a supplemental budget
that pulls money from the
general fund to help cover
the difference. That means
a city hall window replace-
ment project will have to be
postponed.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra
at asierra@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0836.
WTECHLINK: Raising monthly rates $2 starting November 1
Continued from 1A
for $483,500 in 60 monthly
installments of $9,573.88
beginning Nov. 1, 2015.
The deal also called for
McDonald to step down
as corporate officer and
director but stay on as an
employee and vice presi-
dent with the exclusive role
of managing Wtechlink’s
day-to-day
operations,
including finances and
employees.
The details of the settle-
ment came in McDonald’s
second lawsuit, which
he filed in May 2016 in
Multnomah County Circuit
Court after Wysocki made
good on only the first
payment. And even then,
according to the complaint,
Wysocki used Wtechlink
funds to cover the check.
McDonald also accused
Wysocki of continuing to
use company money as he
pleased. He moved $30,000
from Wtechlink’s general
account into a personal
savings account, he paid
$617.05 for a “real estate
education expense,” and he
used company funds to buy
a pair of Antelope Sling-
back sandals for $188 for
a female office employee,
among other complaints.
Wysocki defended those
actions and more in his
responses to the court. The
company owns property, he
explained, so knowing about
real estate was a business
expense. And the sandals
are less expensive than
the footwear the company
provides to employees in
the field.
McDonald won an
injunction in June 2016
that blocked Wysocki
from using Wtechlink
money, hiring and firing
employees and raising his
own salary, which stood
at about $10,000 a month.
Still, McDonald asserted,
Wysocki ignored the court
order, removing more than
$300,000 from Wtechlink
in the first seven months of
2017 beyond his salary.
The case wound its way
through court until this
past June, when McDonald
prevailed with a judgment
against
Wysocki
for
$471,000. To cover the debt,
the Multnomah County
Sheriff’s Office was to hold
an auction to sell McDon-
ald’s share of the stock.
Wysocki
filed
for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection on July 28, four
days before the auction. The
petition for bankruptcy put
an automatic stay on the
stock sale.
Wysocki claimed his
debt exceeded $1 million,
according to the bankruptcy
paperwork, which includes
almost $244,000 in federal
back taxes stemming from
the Wtechlink money he
used but never declared as
income, another $76,000 in
state taxes, and more than
$500,000 to the Bank of
Eastern Oregon. He also
pegged Wtechlink’s value
at about $3.1 million.
During the Sept. 19
hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy
Court, Portland, Wysoc-
ki’s bankruptcy attorney,
Joseph A. Field of Portland,
said Carol Wysocki was
providing her son $350,000,
plus Byron Wysocki had
more than $100,000 in
another account, and his
income would cover the rest
of the debt to McDonald.
Wysocki on Wednesday
described his mother’s
funds as an investment in
Wtechlink.
McDonald dropped out
of the bankruptcy case on
Oct. 5. He said staying in
would cost him a lot in
lawyer fees and cut into how
much he should receive for
his share of the company.
Wysocki also faced
seven misdemeanor charges
of telephonic harassment
for text messages he sent
to McDonald, including
threats against McDonald
and his wife McKennon
McDonald, a schoolteacher
and Pendleton city coun-
cilor.
“You had better hire a
body guard [sic],” according
to the transcript of texts.
“Coming for your family
dude [sic].”
Wysocki and McDonald
settled that matter in the
bankruptcy case, according
to the “acknowledgment
of satisfaction” statement
McDonald provided to
Umatilla County Circuit
Court on Sept. 25.
“I do not desire to
prosecute Byron Wysocki
for any criminal charges or
civil damage relating to the
incident dates of July 31,
through August 1 of 2017
and agree that any criminal
charges related to me should
be dismissed.”
According to bankruptcy
court records, Wysocki has
until Nov. 1 to provide a
draft of how he will handle
his debt.
McDonald said he works
in Boardman for another
fiber optic company, Wind-
wave Communications, and
has some plans but didn’t
want to talk about them
now. He also said when he
left Wtechlink in August the
company was bankable.
Wysocki also said the
company continues to
do well, growing each
month since its inception.
He also said the 100-200
bitcoins — digital currency
— be bought in 2013 with
Wtechlink funds has proved
a worthy investment. The
coins were about $20-$30
each then, he said, and are
worth $5,000 a piece now.
The bitcoins also were a
source of contention in the
first lawsuit.
Wtechlink also is raising
its monthly rates $2 on all
accounts starting Nov. 1.
Wysocki said that was due
to the uptick in Oregon’s
minimum wage.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.
TAXES: The tax framework leaves a pack of details to be determined by Congress
But there are too many gaps
in the proposal to know how
it actually would affect indi-
vidual taxpayers and families,
how it would be paid for and
how much it might add to the
soaring $20 trillion national
debt.
The chief architects of
the tax plan in Congress say
nothing is written in stone.
Continued from 1A
and running in 2018 having
voted against” the GOP tax
legislation.
The plan is still evolving
with lawmakers filling in
the blanks, but the proposed
repeal of the state and local
deduction
has
divided
Republicans.
Ending the deduction
would affect individuals and
companies unevenly.
If Amazon, now being
frantically courted by dozens
of cities, decided to locate its
new second headquarters in
Westchester County north of
New York City, an affluent
suburban area in one of the
highest-tax states, the tech
commerce behemoth still
would be able to claim state
and local taxes as a regular
business expense, on par with
items like buying machine
parts.
But
the
company’s
employees living in the area
wouldn’t be so lucky: They’d
take a financial hit from
losing the ability to deduct
their state and local taxes
from their federal income
calculations.
Trump and his Republican
partners in the nearly $6
trillion tax overhaul plan
push back against the idea
that it would benefit mainly
wealthy people and corpora-
tions. And they say the rest
of the country shouldn’t have
to subsidize wealthier states
like California and New York
whose residents use the state
and local tax deduction in
large numbers. Defenders
of the state-local deduction,
including several GOP House
members, say repealing it
would hurt low- to mid-in-
come taxpayers, subject them
to being taxed twice and
enable a federal revenue grab
on the backs of homeowners
who pay property taxes.
The
bare-bones
tax
framework leaves a pack of
Spokeswomen for the leaders,
Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas,
chair of the House Ways and
Means Committee, and Sen.
Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who
heads the Senate Finance
Committee, declined to
comment specifically on
the divergent treatment for
companies on state and local
taxes.
TREES: Wildfire
burned 20 sudden
oak death sites
Continued from 1A
industries. The U.S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture has
quarantined part of Oregon’s
south coast to keep the disease
contained.
The Chetco Bar Fire in
southwest Oregon was by
far the largest wildfire in the
state this year. It’s burned
just over 190,000 acres, but
is now mostly contained.
At its height, though, it was
the nation’s number one fire
priority, spreading to within
five miles of the coastal town
of Brookings — and right
down into the quarantine area.
Lead fire resource advisor
Linn Gassaway says this
wildfire posed a huge chal-
lenge to keeping sudden oak
death from escaping beyond
Oregon and other states
where it’s already become a
problem.
“We have firefighters
from Iowa and California and
Washington, Montana — all
over the place. We don’t want
that to be moved to those
locations,” she said.
The weed wash is one of
the last stops for firefighters
before they’re sent back home
— usually after a 14-day on
duty.
“They can’t leave the
fire and get their paperwork
process and ultimately get
paid until they check this
box,” Dubuque said.
But there’s another side to
this story.
Scientists are looking at
the possibility that the wild-
fire itself could actually help
control the disease within
Oregon.
That’s because the only
real tool they’ve had to slow
the spread of sudden oak
death in the past is fire.
“If you have tanoak
affected in an infected area,
you try to remove the tanoak
by cutting and piling and
burning,” said Steve Boyer,
with the U.S. Forest Service
in Gold Beach, Oregon.
Burning knocks back the
spores and gets rid of host
material.
Boyer said there were
slash piles of infected tanoak
still waiting to be burned up
in the forest, right in the path
of the Chetco Bar Fire.
Based on fire maps, more
than 20 sudden oak death
sites burned in the wildfire —
most along the Chetco River.
That’s less than one-fifth of
the known disease locations,
but it’s still something, said
U.S. Forest Service plant
pathologist Ellen Michaels
Goheen.
“I think it could be a
reprieve from rapid spread.
But we’ll just have to see
just how much of the tan
Oak there still is. How hot it
burned through,” she said.
This is especially prom-
ising because conditions this
year were perfect for the
moisture-loving disease.
AP Photo/Susan Walsh
President Donald Trump, sitting with from left, White
House chief economic director Gary Cohn, Sen. Claire
McCaskill, D-Mo., and Senate Finance Committee
Chairman Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, listens to a re-
porter’s question during a meeting with members of
the Senate Finance Committee and members of the
President’s economic team in the Cabinet Room of the
White House in Washington, Wednesday.
details to be determined by
Congress. Yet the blueprint
as written indicates that
the deduction of expenses
deemed an “ordinary and
necessary” cost of doing
business would mostly
remain, and would continue
to include state and local tax
payments.
The
only
business
deduction specifically set for
elimination is one that allows
U.S. manufacturers to deduct
costs related to production
such as building plants.
Several experts confirmed
that reading of the tax
framework, including Steven
Rosenthal, a senior fellow
at the Urban-Brookings Tax
Policy Center. Rosenthal,
who previously worked
as legislative counsel to
Congress’ Joint Committee
on Taxation, said he expects
lawmakers to continue to
allow the business expense
deduction.
As with many aspects
of the Republican tax plan,
“the money basically goes
to corporations and big
business. It’s unfair,” said
Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., a
member of the tax-writing
House Ways and Means
Committee.
To be sure, small busi-
nesses too can deduct state
and local taxes as business
expenses. But many more
billions of dollars are at stake
for large corporations, espe-
cially those with plants and
operations in high-tax states.
Trump and the tax plan’s
Republican architects eye the
roughly $1.3 trillion in lost
revenue over 10 years that the
state and local tax deduction
costs the government. They
want to recoup it to help pay
for the deep tax cuts, espe-
cially for business, proposed
in the far-reaching plan.
At its core, the overall
plan would double the stan-
dard deduction, to $12,000
for individuals and $24,000
for families; dramatically
cut taxes for corporations
and potentially for individ-
uals; shrink the number of
personal income brackets;
and simplify the tax system.
Trump and the Republican
leaders promise that the plan
would benefit middle-class
families by lowering tax
rates, creating new jobs and
sparking economic growth.
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