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East Oregonian
Democrats: Unions feel betrayed and
consider putting money elsewhere
Continued from Page A1
package including $1 bil-
lion per year in new business
taxes.
Democrats only passed
it with the deciding vote of
Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scap-
poose, who said if PERS
reform didn’t follow, she
would lead an effort to refer
the education tax package to
the ballot, where she would
work to sink it.
The education package is
one of the crown jewels for
Democrats, including Gov.
Kate Brown. With its pas-
sage, it was clear to Dem-
ocrats PERS reform was a
must.
Several lawmakers told
the Capital Bureau the PERS
deficit was just too big to
ignore. In his vote expla-
nation, Rep. Marty Wilde,
D-Eugene, said not cutting
into benefits would lead to
public employees being laid
off in the coming years. It’s a
tough choice, but a necessary
one, he wrote.
Voting explanations are
voluntary statements law-
makers submit to the Legis-
lature for the public record,
and are sometimes used on
controversial votes, though
17 explanations stands out.
“The bill includes sys-
tem-wide cost savings that
will protect critical services
and ensure long-term stabil-
ity in our retirement system,”
wrote Rep. Teresa Alonso
Leon, D-Woodburn, in her
OPB photo
In a political environment where public employee unions
give generously to many Democrats’ campaigns, cutting
into pensions is a line rarely crossed.
vote explanation. “I believe it
will help head off corporate
efforts to make even deeper
cuts to employee benefits.”
Republicans have been
clamoring for PERS reform,
but said Courtney and
Kotek’s plan didn’t go far
enough. Plus, they have no
interest in making anything
easier for Democrats, who
have dominated the session
with their supermajority in
both chambers.
SB 1049 nearly died until
Kotek got two Democrats to
change their votes at the last
minute.
Kotek called a recess, and
Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Lake
Oswego, joined longtime
Portland Rep. Mitch Green-
lick in changing her vote at
Kotek’s request.
In 2018, public employee
unions spent $4.8 million
on candidates seeking leg-
islative seats, according
to the Institute on Money
in Politics. Trade unions
chipped in another $2.4
million.
Immediately, and as
expected, the unions voiced
their fury about the pension
vote.
Rumors started circulat-
ing that unions could fund
candidates to challenge some
politically weaker Demo-
crats who supported the bill.
Stronger politicians might
see their ambitions of state-
wide office evaporate.
“We’re taking it really,
really serious,” said Joe
Baessler, the political direc-
tor for Oregon’s chapter of
the American Federation of
State, County and Munic-
ipal Employees. “It was a
big blow.”
Waiting game: Huawei blacklist
could put a damper on rural broadband
Continued from Page A1
only stop installing new
Huawei equipment, but
also rip out and replace
what they already have in
their systems.
“There are lots of
ambiguous mandates out
there,” Franell said.
It started in April 2018,
when the Federal Com-
munications Commission
posted a notice of proposed
rule-making, signaling the
government was consid-
ering a restriction of cer-
tain types of gear from
Huawei based on wor-
ries that the Chinese com-
pany could pose a national
security threat. Later Con-
gress included language in
the 2019 National Defense
Authorization excluding
technology from Huawei
and ZTE, another Chinese
tech company, from all
government systems.
Last week President
Donald Trump issued an
executive order banning
purchase of communica-
tions equipment from com-
panies considered by the
administration to pose a
national security threat,
and the Department of
Commerce placed Hua-
wei on a trade blacklist.
In a White House speech
Trump called Huawei
“very dangerous” but also
said that he could see the
tech company included in a
trade deal.
Franell said many Hua-
wei products are 40%
cheaper than he can get
anywhere else, and they
sometimes makes products
he can’t buy from a U.S.-
based company. He showed
off a cable modem termina-
tion system that he pushed
Huawei to start exporting
to the United States after
seeing one during a tour of
a facility in China.
“Cisco makes cable
modem termination sys-
tems, but they don’t
make them like this,” he
said. “These are remark-
ably scaleable. [Huawei]
brought this equipment to
the United States on my
request, and now I don’t
know if I’ll get to keep it.”
In addition, he said,
Huawei equipment is the
most reliable in his net-
work. In the past five years
he has only had one equip-
ment failure from a Huawei
piece — a level of reliabil-
ity he said he has not been
able to find elsewhere.
There are concerns
within the government,
however, that infusing cru-
cial rural networks with
technology from China
could open up those net-
works to spying and sab-
otage via “back doors”
installed in the hardware.
“The U.S. Government
has determined that there is
reasonable cause to believe
that Huawei has been
involved in activities con-
trary to the national secu-
rity or foreign policy inter-
ests of the United States,”
the Department of Com-
merce report read.
Franell acknowledged
spying is a possibility
— the United States was
caught installing its own
back doors in exported
technology in the past, and
it stands to reason other
countries would employ
similar techniques. He said
if there were ever any evi-
dence that were happen-
ing with Huawei, he would
move to purge the risk
from his network without
waiting for the government
to give the direction.
If the government forces
rural internet providers
to replace all the Huawei
equipment in their systems,
Franell said it wouldn’t put
EOT out of business.
“For us, it would be a
distraction,” he said. “But
for some other companies
it could be catastrophic.”
Replacing
$500,000
worth of Huawei equip-
ment would likely cost
about $1.2 million for a
company to purchase more
expensive parts from other
companies,
reengineer
their system and expend
the labor for the installa-
tions, he estimated.
Even if the govern-
ment reimburses them
afterward, he said, “If
you’re into it for $20 mil-
lion, where do you get the
money?”
It could easily put some
rural providers out of
business.
Importance of rural
internet
Eastern Oregon’s most
rural cities know the strug-
gle it can be to get the inter-
net service so important to
modern life, and the last
thing they want to do is go
backward in that effort.
Debbie Sutor, mayor of
Adams, said she is excited
that Eastern Oregon Tele-
com will be extending fiber
internet to every home and
business in Adams, Weston
and Athena this year. Inter-
net access opens up oppor-
tunities for the town’s 350
residents to see a doc-
tor from another city over
video chat, telecommute to
a higher-paying job, shop
online for items not found
in town or get a college
degree without leaving
home.
“Adams is a very small
rural town, and this will
expand our borders,” she
said.
The town currently
has only a single inter-
net provider with what
she described as very slow
and unreliable wireless
internet.
“Any time we have
weather conditions it will
go out,” she said.
Jennifer
Spurgeon,
mayor of Weston, also
described struggles in her
town of almost 650 resi-
dents, some of whom can’t
event access the unreliable
wireless internet due to
geographical constraints.
“It’s hard to quantify the
time lost to the slow-speed
internet,” she said, noting
that her husband, a real
estate appraiser, spends
many hours of his job wait-
ing on documents to upload
or download.
Athena mayor Rebecca
Schroeder echoed those
thoughts.
“It’s a real positive,”
she said of faster inter-
net. “People can work in a
small town, live in a small
town and be part of the fab-
ric of the community and
yet take their business to
the next level.”
Farmers also benefit
from rural internet access,
as the technology allows
them to tap into preci-
sion irrigation, self-driv-
ing tractors, long-dis-
tance monitoring of field
conditions and other cut-
ting-edge agricultural tech-
nology to boost productiv-
ity and efficiency.
Franell said that EOT is
starting out with fiber-to-
home connections in East-
ern Umatilla County, but
in the future the company
will likely extend wireless
internet outside city limits
for agricultural use as well.
He said he plans to
complete a survey of res-
idents of Athena, Weston
and Adams to gauge their
internet literacy, then
provide some classes
on how they can bet-
ter use their new, faster
internet connection.
Saturday, June 8, 2019
Pride: State Police rolls with it
Continued from Page A1
children all the way up to adult-
hood. We know this harass-
ment and hate crime victimiza-
tion often goes under-reported
by LGBTQ community mem-
bers, as we often hear there
is a distrust of law enforce-
ment — because they feel we
harbor bias against these citi-
zens and won’t take their cases
seriously.”
Oregon State Police with
this car for this month, Fox said,
hopes to “engage the LGBTQ
community on a new level to
show we are here for you and
we are a resource for you. We
will be attending events they
organize, to show the agency
is committed to inclusion and
prevention of bias/hate crime.”
Alice Hepburn said state
police sending that message
is significant for the lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgender and
queer community. She is pres-
ident of Pendleton chapter of
Parents and Friends of Lesbi-
ans and Gays.
“Most nations the police is
so iconic,” she said, “and if the
police have your back, that’s
something special.”
She also said the rainbow
display signals someone is an
ally to LGBTQ folks, and that
is not the case in all places.
Police have too often been
tools for harassing the
community.
New York police almost
50 years ago raided the Stone-
wall Inn, a gay bar in lower
Manhattan. The raid set off
a series of riots at the end of
June 1969 in protest. June is
Pride Month to commemorate
those events. James O’Neill,
police commissioner for New
York City, apologized Thurs-
day for the raid, a first for a
department official.
The rainbow decals on
a state police car, however,
raised a red flag for Hermiston
police Chief Jason Edmiston.
“We are not elected offi-
cials,” he said. “The last thing
we should be doing is engaging
in political issues.”
The Hermiston Police
Department will continue to
be neutral partners with com-
Photo contributed by Oregon State Police
Oregon State Police rolled out a 2019 Dodge Charger with
rainbow graphics for Pride Month.
munity groups, Edmiston
stressed, but social causes have
become divisive, and police
have enough to handle with-
out jumping into certain cir-
cles. While the state police
may receive some short-term
political benefit from the car,
he said, the long-term fallout
could be problematic because
this sets up a slippery slope.
Could the National Rifle
Association, for example,
sponsor a police car, Edmiston
pondered, or would OSP have
cars that recognize an atheist
event?
“You can’t be a little bit in
with political matters,” Edmis-
ton said. “You’re either in or
you’re out.”
Umatilla County Sher-
iff Terry Rowan didn’t want
to weigh in on the matter, and
Pendleton police Chief Stu-
art Roberts didn’t return a call
seeking comment.
Fox said aside from neg-
ative comments on social
media, state police has
received
“overwhelmingly
positive” responses on the car.
The law enforcement agency
also issued this message about
the car on social media:
“At the Oregon State Police,
we want it ensure our citizens
know we value all Orego-
nians and their safety. OSP’s
workforce includes LGBTQ
employees and they want it
known that they are here and
working hard to support the
agency’s mission.
This is your Oregon State
Police — achieving our agency
mission of serving Oregon
with a diverse workforce ded-
icated to the protection of
people, property and natural
resources.”
Fox also explained state
police does not use a one-size-
fits-all approach when engag-
ing with the public but consid-
ers whether the opportunities
fit with the agency’s values.
OSP printed an American flag
and MIA/ POW themed decals
for veterans events, he said,
and tries to connect with resi-
dents “at all levels and places,
including parades, houses of
worship, in schools, fairs or
random gatherings that pres-
ent opportunities for positive
interactions.”
While car wraps and spe-
cial event decals are fairly
common recruiting tools, Fox
said this is a new engagement
tool for Oregon State Police to
gauge public response at patri-
otic and Pride events and see
if there is an increase in appli-
cations from the events. He
also said this is cost effective
method of outreach.
“These are just stickers,” he
said, “not permanent, and the
minimal cost is a bargain for
positive interaction with tens of
thousands of citizens to show
OSP is an inclusive employer
and here to offer equal public
safety protections for all our
citizens.”
The lone Oregon State
Police Pride car is in Salem
at the Capitol for visitors to
see. After the Pride events
this month, the car goes back
to Salem for standard decals.
Then it hits the road for the
next 140,000 miles, the state
police target to retire vehicles.
Wolves: Management plan approved
Continued from Page A1
its first Wolf Conservation
and Management Plan in
2005, which is supposed to be
revised every five years.
The last revision happened
in 2010, when wildlife offi-
cials identified just 21 known
wolves statewide. Today, the
minimum known popula-
tion is 137 wolves. The com-
mission removed wolves east
of highways 395, 78 and 95
from the state endangered spe-
cies list in 2015, and the latest
plan revision started a year
later.
Gray wolves are still fed-
erally protected in the western
two-thirds of Oregon, though
that could change under a pro-
posal by the Trump adminis-
tration to delist wolves across
the Lower 48 states.
Ranchers have long argued
they need to be able to kill
wolves that make a habit out
of preying on livestock. But
environmental groups say
management practices should
focus more on using non-lethal
deterrents to prevent conflicts.
Last year, the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wild-
life spent more than $100,000
to hire a professional medi-
ator, bringing the two sides
together to try and find areas
of compromise. However, the
four environmental groups —
Oregon Wild, Defenders of
Wildlife, Cascadia Wildlands
and the Center for Biologi-
cal Diversity — pulled out of
talks, describing the process as
flawed and unscientific.
At the heart of the issue is
the definition for what ODFW
calls “chronic depredation.”
Under the revised plan, ranch-
ers in Eastern Oregon can
apply to kill wolves if they
attack livestock two times
within nine months. The 2010
plan allowed for killing wolves
after two confirmed attacks
over any period of time in
Eastern Oregon.
The commission consid-
ered changing the proposed
standard to three attacks in
12 months, though the motion
was ultimately defeated.
Once a wolf or pack meets
the definition of chronic dep-
redation, ODFW can issue
what are known as “controlled
take” permits that allow other
members of the public to kill
the predators within a lim-
ited scope. Wolf advocates
staunchly oppose controlled
take, fearing it will lead to gen-
eral wolf hunting.
The commission did
approve an amendment to
controlled take regulations,
stipulating permits can only
be approved through a sepa-
rate rule-making process. In a
statement, ODFW says it has
not approved controlled take
of wolves and has no plans to
at this time.
Derek Broman, ODFW
carnivore and furbearer coor-
dinator, said the plan is not dra-
matically different than before,
though it does reflect the cur-
rent situation in Oregon.
“We continue to maintain a
conservation-based plan that is
true to its origins, but provides
additional clarity,” Broman
said. “Now we have a decade
of our own information.”
Ranchers from across
the state traveled to Salem
to provide their input on the
plan. Jerome Rosa, executive
director of the Oregon Cat-
tlemen’s Association, said
his members have “suffered
enormous losses, both eco-
nomic and emotional” due to
wolves. He and others repre-
senting the industry argued
for more collaring of wolves
and management zones with
population targets to assist
producers.
Broman said collaring
remains a valuable tool, but
stopped short of making any
promises. “The issue is, collar-
ing wolves is a very exhaust-
ing, very challenging prac-
tice,” he said.
In a staff presentation to the
commission, Broman said the
revised plan does not establish
population targets or caps.
Broman said the plan will
continue to emphasize non-le-
thal deterrents in every phase
of management, and ODFW
added a new chapter to moni-
tor potential threats to the spe-
cies — such as poaching, dis-
eases and habitat destruction.
Rusty Inglis, a rancher
and president of the Harney
County Farm Bureau, said the
success of the wolf is coming
at a high cost for the livestock
industry and rural Oregon as a
whole.
“Ranching is a mainstay
economic driver in most rural
communities here in Ore-
gon,” Inglis said. “Whenever
a ranching family faces eco-
nomic loss, the whole commu-
nity loses.”
Veril Nelson, a southwest
Oregon rancher and wolf com-
mittee co-chairman for the
Cattlemen’s Association, said
the losses don’t just come from
dead animals. He said studies
have shown cows suffer stress,
weight loss and poor grazing
that can all affect a rancher’s
bottom line.
Still, ranchers by and large
urged the commission to pass
the plan as proposed. Envi-
ronmental groups were more
sharp in their opposition to the
plan.
“We do not want dead live-
stock any more than the live-
stock industry does,” said
Sristi Kamal, Oregon senior
representative for Defenders
of Wildlife. “We need more
from the state to be able to help
producers to learn how to live
with wolves.”
Ellen Marmon, a resident
of Eugene, agreed that more
emphasis should be put on
non-lethal deterrents and less
on killing wolves.
“I think our wilderness
should be truly wild,” Marmon
said. “(Wolves) are a precious
resource, just like our farms
and just like our forests.”
Commissioner
Holly
Akenson said the rising wolf
population shows that the
state’s management has been
working so far, and the new
plan will be a continuation of
that success. She described
now as a time to celebrate.
“I think the plan in the past
has shown to be really success-
ful,” Akenson said. “We have a
strong wolf population. It con-
tinues to rise. I hope everyone
here can find some support for
this plan.”