A4
East Oregonian
Saturday, May 25, 2019
CHRISTOPHER RUSH
Publisher
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
ANDREW CUTLER
Editor
WYATT HAUPT JR.
News Editor
JADE McDOWELL
Hermiston Editor
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Tip of the Hat,
kick in the pants
A
tip of the hat to Sunridge
Middle School and Pendle-
ton School District for their
decision to hire Eric Virgil, who was
born with an intellectual disability that
makes learning, problem solving and
reasoning a challenge, for a part-time
custodian position at the school.
The 42-year-old Pendleton man
worked in a sheltered workshop for
many years, but dreamed of having a
regular job in the community. District
Facility Manager Ken Lebsock, on
the hiring panel, listened to the pitch
with interest. The plan was that Vir-
gil would work with the help of his job
coach at Horizon Project to keep him
on track. Virgil had previous janitorial
experience with Horizon Project. Sun-
ridge Principal Dave Williams said he
doesn’t regret the hiring decision, call-
ing it a classic win-win. Virgil gets the
fulfillment of working hard and earn-
ing a paycheck. Sunridge gets a clean
school and the satisfaction of helping a
man realize his potential.
That decision led to Williams and
the district’s director of business ser-
vices, Michelle Jones, traveling to
Wilsonville to accept an award from
The Arc Oregon, which supports and
advocates for people with intellectual
and developmental disabilities. The
award goes to a business or individ-
ual employing a person with an intel-
lectual disability for at least a year
and elevating the person’s indepen-
dence, integration and participation in
the community. Williams, who called
the award “humbling,” said Virgil has
more than proved he can do the job.
A kick in the pants to developer
Saj Jivanjee for playing loose with a
deal for the Pendleton Heights housing
development.
Jivanjee of Newberg originally set
out to build 72 townhouses east of
Olney Cemetery. The city donated
land off Tutuilla Creek Road to Jivan-
jee and fronted him the money for
infrastructure improvements. That was
seven years ago.
Since then, Jivanjee has come back
to the city to alter the deal. He finished
32 townhouses and claimed build-
ing the next 40 was not feasible. So he
pitched a 100-unit apartment complex
instead, and the city council reluctantly
agreed.
Jivanjee again and again came back
to the city to change the terms of the
deal, usually asking for more pub-
lic money or to shift around the debt.
He asked in September for a new debt
repayment plan. The city council voted
that down.
But in February the city agreed
to take on more infrastructure cost
and Jivanjee agreed to pay the city
$150,000 before starting the apartment
project.
That didn’t happen.
Jivanjee started the work without
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Custodian Eric Virgil looks over his checklist under the watchful eye of his job coach, Chris
Humphrey, while working at Sunridge Middle School on Tuesday in Pendleton.
paying the city. The city did not stop
the work. Corbett expressed his con-
fidence that Jivanjee would pay up by
June 15.
The townhouses are for lease. How
many of the folks leasing in Pendleton
Heights are allowed to skip payments?
Jivanjee told East Oregonian
reporter Antonio Sierra he was too
busy to talk about this until next week.
That from a guy relying on public
money to complete his development.
The city either has a deal with
Jivanjee or it does not. Letting
$150,000 slide may seem like petty
cash to the city, but is also sends the
message this deal has no teeth to hold
Jivanjee accountable.
That’s a bad setup. The next devel-
oper who ignores the terms of a deal
can point to the case with Jivanjee for
an easy out. The city let one guy do it,
so why not let the next one?
A tip of the hat to the men and
women who have served this nation.
This weekend many of us will enjoy
long holiday weekend filled with bar-
becues and family gatherings. Yet
while we all enjoy the time off — and
hopefully good weather — it is import-
ant that we recall why Memorial Day
matters.
Memorial Day weekend is a time
when the nation can collectively stop
and reflect on the men and women
who died while serving in the armed
forces. Once known as Decoration
Day, Memorial Day allows all of us a
moment in time to remember that our
freedoms are truly not free and that
many brave Americans made the ulti-
mate sacrifice for liberty.
While those who gave the last full
measure of devotion to our nation are
gone, we will not, cannot, forget them.
We hope everyone has a great Memo-
rial Day weekend, but while you are
enjoying the time off, take a moment
and remember those who gave their
lives for us to enjoy the freedom we
often take for granted.
YOUR VIEWS
Streets and future budgets
As Pendleton’s mayor, city manager, and
city council continue to wrangle over ways
to fund rebuilding our streets, increasing rev-
enue through various fees and taxes seems
to be the only avenue open for discussion. In
the end, after speaking to those civic groups
that have great sway with City Hall, we’ll
get an ultimatum: Approve increasing taxes
or expect a tripling of the utility fee. That’s
possible because no vote by taxpayers is
required, and it’s the easy way to avoid any
budget cuts.
A gas tax is probably the most fair because
it does leave you with options. You can pro-
test by cutting back on your driving or buy-
ing your gas elsewhere. Arrowhead comes to
mind and CTUIR will appreciate it. Thirteen
cents a gallon is pretty hard to swallow alone,
so willing participation by tourists will be
essential. However, with free cellphone apps,
those tourists the city is so depending on will
soon discover gas is considerably cheaper at
the numerous truck stops and other towns in
the area.
Meaningful budget cuts, though unpopu-
lar at City Hall, need to be discussed. Token
cuts like the $750 reduction in support of the
Pendleton Downtown Association (PDA)’s
flower basket program just won’t cut it. City
Hall, using the Pendleton Development
Commission, has funneled millions into the
downtown area with mixed results. Busi-
nesses continue to come and go on a regular
basis, some just merely relocating from one
part of the city to another. A program that
merely shifts businesses around does little to
promote economic growth. The PDA claims
a zero vacancy rate downtown on their web-
page when nothing could be further from the
truth.
Terminating both the PDC, whose
administrative budget has ballooned to
over $100,000, and financial support for
the PDA would be a good start. The bud-
getary restraints placed on the use of state
and federal tax/grant revenue are endless.
Those same restrictions don’t apply to util-
ity franchise fees. It seems the simplest solu-
tion to our street problem would be to shift
the PP&L franchise fee of $1.2 million into
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.
the street maintenance fund where it was
intended to go. Then, institute a fair, sensible
approach for additional housing to increase
our tax base.
Rick Rohde
Pendleton
Basic human rights belong to
babies too
Anti-abortion laws are not about taking
rights away from women. They are about the
life and rights of unborn human children who
had no say in being conceived by women
who were exercising their rights to do as they
please with their bodies.
After conception, the rights of the unborn
child should come first, before those of the
mother, except when the health of the mother
maybe in jeopardy.
If reasons can be put forward to deny basic
human rights to one group, then reasons can
be put forth to deny them to all groups. This
is not advancing humanity, it is taking us
backwards.
Robert Stuart
Hermiston
UP layoffs devastating families
In May of 2018, I was lucky enough to get
offered a job working for Union Pacific at
the Hinkle yard. My family and I sold almost
everything we owned, and moved from
Springfield, Missouri, to Oregon. I started
as an apprentice electrician, and was granted
journeyman status just before my probation
period was completed. It was a great career
and a nice family-supporting wage.
Fast forward to March 2019, and the career
opportunity we moved halfway across the
country to invest ourselves in just vanishes. I
get that companies have to make hard choices,
and that a lot of other people were affected by
the layoffs, but it was devastating to my fam-
ily. I just hope that everyone affected by these
layoffs finds a new career that will be able to
support their families.
Jonathan Slagley
Irrigon
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. 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 the editor to
editor@eastoregonian.com,
or via mail to Andrew Cutler,
211 S.E. Byers Ave.
Pendleton, OR 97801