Page 4A
East Oregonian
Thursday, August 23, 2018
CHRISTOPHER RUSH
Publisher
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Managing Editor
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
The Neal deal
T
he Port of Morrow has been
the primary engine driving
the Morrow County economy
for decades. Its impact cannot be
overstated.
Part of the success has been purely
logistical — a port with river, interstate
and rail access, plus plenty of room to
grow.
But part, and we’d argue a big part,
has been Gary Neal’s leadership as
general manager. He’s customer service
oriented, always finding ways to say
“yes” to new development and new
ideas. The port has flourished under his
guidance, and the surrounding area has
been the beneficiary.
So Neal’s impending retirement has
been a matter of great interest. Finding
someone with the combination of vision
and acumen to take the helm is no easy
task.
A four-month search ended with the
job being offered to Gary Neal’s son,
Ryan Neal, who has worked under his
father at the port (though not reporting
directly to him) for the last four years.
Family succession is commonplace in
the business world. It’s only natural that
someone raised in the family business
would be an obvious choice to take it
over.
But the Port of Morrow is no family
business. It’s a public entity, funded
by taxpayers and directed by five
elected port commissioners. The role
of general manager is comparable to a
city manager. This kind of succession
certainly warrants deeper scrutiny.
For starters, Ryan Neal is no slouch.
His résumé, even with the last name
removed, would rightfully catch the
eye of a search committee. His history
at large trucking companies, and his
internal promotions while there, indicate
that his success wasn’t some ploy of his
father.
But there’s still the tricky issue of
nepotism, or even its appearance. The
timing of his arrival back in Boardman,
and his quick rise to a leadership post at
the port, is worthy of a raised eyebrow.
The port commission seemingly did
its due diligence, expanding the search
in June when it didn’t feel it had enough
qualified candidates and putting four
finalists in front of a panel to help find
the pros and cons of each.
One of those finalists was tossed,
another dropped out, and the decision
came down to Neal and Stephanie
Seamans, a CPA and economic
development director in the Tri-Cities
and previously at the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation.
Staff photos by E.J. Harris
Ryan Neal and father, Gary Neal.
According to Rick Stokoe, a port
commissioner, Seamans had plenty of
qualifications but was lacking a big one
— experience at a port. It’s a reasonable
drawback to consider.
There’s no overwhelming evidence
that the last name made the difference.
But there’s also no completely
convincing answer that it didn’t.
The fact that Ryan Neal grew
up in the community, has personal
connections to the commissioners
and stakeholders and has the current
general manager on speed dial (and at
Thanksgiving dinner) can be seen two
ways. To the commissioners, he looks
like a natural fit. To onlookers, he’s an
unfair shoo-in.
Ultimately, it’s the port commission’s
choice to make. Their positions will
come up for election, and voters will
have the option to change course if they
disagree.
All five believe Neal 2.0 was the
best option. Don Russell, a former
commissioner with the port and now for
Morrow County, said he thinks Ryan’s
work will speak for itself and within two
years we’ll “forget who his father is.”
For Ryan’s sake — and the port’s —
we hope that’s the case. It’s an awfully
large shadow to come out from under,
and a job with big implications in
Eastern Oregon life.
OTHER VIEWS
Melania’s call to greatness
M
YOUR VIEWS
McLeod-Skinner recognizes
global warming threat
Most of us accept the scientific
evidence that our world is warming. The
downstream effects of warming our global
environment are not good. Worldwide
there will be hotter temperatures, more
droughts, fires, famine, and refugees.
There will be more competition for
dwindling resources, potentially
threatening our own national security.
One major cause of this warming is
mankind’s activities. Thus, we have the
theoretical ability to change this scenario.
We need our lawmakers to acknowledge
this and come up with science based
solutions. How do we know which of
our District 2 congressional candidates is
paying attention and willing to do this? An
easy way is to look at their website and see
their stance on global warming.
Greg Walden’s website doesn’t mention
it. Jamie McLeod-Skinner’s website says
global warming is the greatest threat to our
environment there is. I’m voting for Jamie.
John Schwartz
The Dalles
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. SENATORS
Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
La Grande office: 541-962-7691
Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton office: 541-278-1129
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
Greg Walden
185 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
La Grande office: 541-624-2400
GOVERNOR
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the
East Oregonian editorial board. Other
columns, letters and cartoons on this page
express the opinions of the authors and
not necessarily that of the East Oregonian.
900 Court Street
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
REPRESENTATIVES
Greg Barreto, District 58
900 Court St. NE, H-38
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1458
Rep.GregBarreto@state.or.us
Greg Smith, District 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us
SENATOR
Bill Hansell, District 29
900 Court St. NE, S-423
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us
aybe someday, when
When she initially announced
the history of Donald
her cyberbullying campaign in
Trump’s presidency is
a speech in November 2016, we
written, we’ll pinpoint the start of
thought that she was out to lunch.
this week as his pivot into complete
Did she not see the contradiction?
derangement and come up with a
The updated theory is that she’s
pithy name for it. Maybe we’ll call
trolling him. I buy it. It fits in with
it Melania Monday.
so much else.
Fank
We’ll note that on Aug. 20,
For the president’s first State
Bruni
2018, the first lady, again with
of the Union address, she wore
Comment
a pussy bow, publicly chided
a white pantsuit that served as a
cyberbullies at the same time
sartorial reminder of suffragists
that her husband ranted and raged on
and of Hillary Clinton. This month, after
Twitter, likening Robert Mueller to Joseph he questioned LeBron James’ intelligence
McCarthy and demonstrating a grasp of
in a tweet, her spokeswoman released
history commensurate with his grip on
a statement that asserted the first lady’s
civility.
admiration for James’ work with at-risk
We’ll admire the wickedness of her
children in his hometown, Akron, Ohio.
Melania was possibly interested in visiting
announcement, just hours later, that she’d
the school there that James had helped to
be making a solo trip — her farthest and
start, the statement said.
flashiest yet as an official ambassador —
And my colleagues Katie Rogers and
to Africa, whose nations the president can’t
Maggie Haberman recently reported
pronounce, let alone respect. She didn’t
choose that destination randomly, throwing that during a trip overseas last month,
the president had a fit because the first
a dart at a map. She chose it defiantly,
lady’s television on Air Force One was
throwing shade at her husband.
tuned to CNN, not his beloved Fox News.
Surely Melania Trump is getting under
his skin. Certainly she’s making the effort. Was CNN an accident or a provocation?
Well, in a public response to the incident,
If she would just turn these fitful baby
Melania’s spokeswoman made clear that
steps into full-length strides, she might
the first lady watches “any channel she
finally undo him and set us free. Melania
wants.”
the Savior. A pussy-bow coup. Stranger
I’m not sure what to make of that “I
things have happened. Less exhilarating
REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” jacket
fantasies have been born.
that she wore on her way to a detention
And is it really so far-fetched? To
judge by his tweets, tantrums and apparent center for migrant children in Texas. It’s
the “rosebud” of our time. But what if the
belief that Rudy Giuliani is an appropriate
message was that she didn’t mind if we
advocate, Donald Trump teeters at
interpreted her behavior as a rebuke of her
the precipice of incoherence and self-
husband’s?
destruction, needing only a shove. Who
Marriage as psyops — it’s not virgin
best to administer it but a spouse with her
own, separate bedroom in the White House territory, but the stage and stakes here
are epic. On Monday, as The Washington
and her own, separate hotel suite when
Post’s James Hohmann noted, she used the
they travel?
She inches ever closer to open contempt phrase “global society” in both her spoken
remarks about cyberbullying and her
for him. She finds increasingly clever
ways to show it. And it’s a perfect wedding written remarks about the trip to Africa,
which she praised for its “rich culture.”
of patriotism and payback for all the
Her husband, of course, treats “globalists”
humiliations that he has heaped on her.
and “globalism” as dirty words, and some
This first-lady thing clearly flummoxed
of his “shithole countries” are on that
her at first. It’s a ludicrous job. You’re
richly cultured continent. She’ll be going
supposed to make a difference without
there without him.
making waves, find a passion while
Other first ladies beautified highways,
veiling your convictions and smile blithely
promoted reading, planted squash. This
through a ceaseless forensic examination
one could abbreviate a nightmare. She’s in
of your every accessory.
a situation that her predecessors weren’t,
It’s infantilizing. It’s objectifying. If a
on the arm of an overlord who needs
presidential administration were a sedan,
undermining, and it’s her invitation to
the first lady would be its hood ornament.
greatness, or at least her prompt for an
If it were a manse, she’d be the topiary
itinerary tailored to taunt.
bracketing the front stoop.
■
Usually Melania Trump was absent
Frank Bruni has been an Op-Ed colum-
topiary. America had a denuded front
nist for The New York Times since June 2011.
stoop. And we made hasty assumptions.
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