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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 20, 2019)
A6 OFF PAGE ONE East Oregonian Thursday, June 20, 2019 Tensions: GOP threatens to stop proceedings Continued from Page A1 have the 20 members it needs to legally meet. The late-season shenani- gans — combined with some hemming and hawing among Democrats — could throw a wrench into the conclusion of the session and create a log- jam of bills. Lawmakers have been busy working to allocate money for state programs, such as foster care and schools, and to revise the state’s laws. Gov. Kate Brown has stepped in, saying she’d con- vene a special session to force cap and trade through if law- makers don’t get it done by their June 30 deadline. Long-standing tension between Oregon’s environ- mentalists and timber indus- try emerged into full view in the Capitol this week. The day began Wednes- day with hordes of loggers and truckers showing up to protest against the goliath proposal to limit the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. With their trademark sus- penders and hard hats, log- gers presented a gritty con- trast to the environmental advocates in white “Clean Energy Jobs” T-shirts who sat in the lobbies of all three Senate office floors for the second consecutive day, pro- viding a constant reminder of how they would like their senators to vote. In the second-floor Sen- ate lobby, as Democrats hud- dled in their caucus room Wednesday morning, mem- bers of each group stood elbow-to-elbow, waiting for a chance to make their pitch to senators: “kill the bill” or “pass it now.” Meanwhile, floor sessions in the Senate have seen more bickering, at a time of the session traditionally charac- Capital Press/Sierra Dawn McClain Abigail Eckhart, 32, of Salem, hands out free water bottles to protesters. Although Eckhart is not part of the timber com- munity, she says that a cap-and-trade plan will impact her and everyone else in Oregon, raising the cost of living and doing business. Capital Press/Sierra Dawn McClain A crowd of over 300 protesters gathers outside the Oregon Capitol on Wednesday. terized by crabbiness and an eagerness to go home. Most of the 18 Democrats in the Senate are backing House Bill 2020. But the votes of Lau- rie Monnes Anderson of Gresham, Arnie Roblan of Coos Bay, Elizabeth Steiner Hayward of Beaverton and Betsy Johnson of Scappoose have been in question for weeks. Johnson is a definite no. On Tuesday night, Monnes Anderson said she still hadn’t decided, but she’s confident some kind of deal among Democrats would be worked out. Democrats — who spoke only on background — are confident enough to roll the dice on a floor vote, where political pressure will be imposed on members like Steiner Hayward, who has a liberal constituency west of Portland. But it’s not clear when or if Democrats will get the chance. On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Herman Baertschiger Jr., R-Grants Pass, signaled that he and his caucus were prepared to walk out — denying the Senate a working majority to hold any votes at all — in order to stop the cap-and-trade bill. Brown responded that she’d order state troopers to round up senators if they attempt a boycott, and then threatened to call legislators into special session two days after adjournment to pass the bill. She said if Republican senators walk out again, it would violate “the oaths they took to speak for their con- stituents, as well as the word they gave to their colleagues and to me.” It was a swift escalation for Brown. When Republi- can senators shut down Sen- ate business by leaving the Capitol for a week in May, she responded by cutting a deal with Baertschiger to kill two bills most Democrats supported. Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas, said Brown taking a hard line now only inflames Diet: Stanfield considers joining ‘road diet’ trend Continued from Page A1 in the right-of-way into a bike lane and additional parking. City manager Linda Hall told the East Orego- nian that the city agreed to the plan because they were concerned about pedestrian safety, particularly after passing a school bond that would lead to more children trying to cross the highway. “Traffic has slowed down,” she said. “It’s been very, very successful for Milton-Freewater. We’re very happy with it.” There had been a few complaints from residents, she said, but overall the city had worked hard to do citi- zen outreach and demon- strate the benefits of helping traffic slow down through the city. “Before, when you would park on South Main you would literally take your life in your hands trying to open your driver’s side door and get out into traffic,” she said. Milton-Freewater has upward of 3,000 more vehicles per day traveling through compared to Stan- field, but a higher percent- age of Stanfield’s traffic is semitrucks. Strasser and traffic and roadway manager Daniel Fine told the Stanfield city council that taking away the “passing environment” in the city would help people slow down — if a semitruck is going the speed limit, it means everyone behind it has to as well. Fine said ODOT had seen pedestrian deaths over the years where a truck stopped for a pedestrian but another driver struck the person after trying to pass the truck, not realizing why they had stopped. The combination of bulb-outs and fewer lanes would significantly reduce the 80 feet pedestrians cur- rently have to cross. The improvements would also benefit drivers trying to turn onto Highway 395 from a side street, who would have a better line of sight and would only have to watch for two lanes of oncoming traf- fic instead of four. The space previously taken up by lanes of travel could be used to add bike lanes and additional parking or to expand sidewalks. City manager Blair Larsen — who was at his final city council meet- ing before departing for a new job in Sweet Home — told the council he believed ODOT’s project would help increase safety and create a more “vibrant” downtown. “Right now Stan- field doesn’t have a sense of place,” he said. “Peo- ple don’t feel like they’re going through a town here ... I think this will reap dividends for Main Street businesses by making a place people want to walk and shop.” While councilors told ODOT unanimously that they were in favor of most of the repaving project, includ- ing the bulb-outs, they wanted more time to think about the number of travel lanes. Some were concerned that it would increase traf- fic congestion too much and traffic would get too backed up at red lights. Mayor Thomas McCann said he didn’t want to make any decisions about the number of lanes without getting input from the pub- lic, and the council agreed to schedule a public hearing for July 16. A city survey during the latter half of 2018 did ask a question about reducing the number of travel lanes, and only 20% of respondents were in favor. While taking Stanfield down to three lanes could help slow traffic, some cit- ies with three lanes through town complain about traf- fic speeds as well. Highway 730 is already only three lanes where it runs through city of Umatilla, but ODOT is planning a $6 million repaving project there with bulb-outs, new lighting and other traffic-calming features. Engineering for the Stan- field renovation, paid for by ODOT, is expected to start later this year, construc- the politics. “Six-gun Kate went over her skis this time,” he said Wednesday. But Sen. Mike Dembrow, D-Portland, said Brown showed she had resolve to back the Democrats and he said it “galvanized” the ranks in a tense moment. The high-profile legisla- tion was originally going to get a “second-read” Wednes- day morning — votes are typically taken when legisla- tion is read for the third time — but the Senate floor ses- sion was hijacked as tensions boiled over. Boquist veered off-topic while inveighing against a bill. “We’re effectively in the midst of a political coup,” Boquist said, turning to the subject of the walkout and Brown’s threat to call the police on absent senators. To Peter Courtney, the Senate president, who was standing at the dais, Boquist warned, “If you don’t think these boots are for walking, you’re flat wrong, Mr. Pres- ident. And if you send the state police to get me, Hell’s coming to visit you personally.” Since the May walkout, senators have been increas- ingly testy with one another. Boquist apologized Wednesday after Courtney asked senators to observe “decorum,” but Sen. Lew Frederick, D-Portland, wasn’t satisfied. “What I heard earlier was a threat, and the apology is not enough,” said Frederick. “That is the kind of thing that we can simply not allow on this floor.” Courtney conferred with Democratic and Republican leaders after the bill vote, and then recessed the Senate for a couple of hours to let emo- tions cool down. The vote will go forward Thursday unless Republican senators walk out and stop Senate business again. A spokeswoman from Courtney’s office said he’s willing to ask Brown to dis- patch state police to bring Republicans back to the Cap- itol for a vote. He could also fine absent senators up to $500 per day. For the past two days, though, Courtney has been in direct negotiations with Sen- ate Republicans. Republicans have signaled they are will- ing to stay in Salem if they can get changes to other pol- icies, although it’s unclear what’s on the table. In May, a Republican walkout over business taxes came to an end when Dem- ocrats agreed to kill bills stepping up restrictions on guns and tightening vaccine requirements. Democrats aren’t willing to amend the greenhouse gas emissions gap any further. The House, which has been doing brisk business in recent weeks, has already passed the bill, so any changes now would mean the bill would have to go back to the House for another vote. Boquist set the odds of a walkout at 50-50. For him, that goes to 100% if Democrats don’t agree to change the cap-and- trade bill. “I’ve only worn these boots three times,” he said of his combat boots. “The first time we walked out, yester- day and today.” Airport: Council approves airport lease language Continued from Page A1 and begin negotiations for a new lease, tenants can either pay a “rever- sion deferral fee” equal to the value of the property at the end of their lease, or they could pay twice the standard ground lease rate over the life of the initial agreement. The council was set to vote on the proposal on May 1, but members sent it back to the airport com- mission after City Man- ager Robb Corbett sub- mitted a list of suggested revisions to the language. But the commission adopted none of Corbett’s revisions and sent it back to the council a second time unchanged. David Styer, an air- port commission mem- ber and the owner of air- port business All Terrain Aircraft, said the com- mission felt that Corbett’s revisions would make the lease language too con- fusing and decided to proceed with their origi- nal recommendation. As for the airport administration, Airport Manager Steve Chrisman said he thinks the new lease language will pass the FAA’s “sniff test.” Council approval or not, Harold Nelson still doesn’t like his options. Nelson owns Pendle- ton Aircraft Service and has been heavily involved in the reversion debate as he tries to negotiate a new lease with the airport. Nelson said pay- ing twice the lease rate doesn’t make economic sense for his business and the deferral fee isn’t equitable. He said his next step is to talk with his employ- ees about whether they want to stay in Pendleton. “I’m passionate about the airport, but I’m not ready to move away from it,” he said. Drone study While many current airport businesses deal with manned aviation, the burgeoning unmanned aviation industry is where the city expects to see much of its growth. To capture the current economic impact of the Pendleton UAS Range and what kind of impact it will have on the future, the council unanimously agreed to commission an economic impact study from the Virginia-based NEXA Advisors. In its pitch to the city, NEXA states that the air- port could helped by get- ting “compelling eco- nomic impact analysis information that will reflect the many compa- nies benefitting” from the UAS range. NEXA’s $55,000 fee will be paid for with grants from the Port of Umatilla, the Ford Fam- ily Foundation, Uma- tilla County, and the Pendleton Foundation Trust. Airport Road Sixty acres of undevel- oped industrial land along the Airport Road exten- sion could still be devel- oped, but the city won’t have a direct say in what happens to it. The city bought 40 acres of land from A & B Pinkerton Inc. in 2011 with the expectation that it would be developed into an industrial park. The deal included an option to buy an additional 60 acres of land from the com- pany, but there’s been lit- tle activity in the area and the city never activated it. City Attorney Nancy Kerns explained to the council why A & B owner Donald Pinkerton wanted to reacquire the option for $8,937. “Since that time (of the deal), Mr. Pinkerton has sold the rest of his prop- erty around the area, and would like to retire, and needs to deal with this dangling option interest that the city has,” she said. The council unani- mously approved the sale. Workforce: Umatilla, Morrow counties seek own workforce group Continued from Page A1 East Cascade Works covers 10 counties in central Oregon. The remaining seven boards on the west side of the state have between one and five counties. Murdock said the smaller regions are more homoge- neous, and Umtilla and Mor- row counties “are a natural fit on workforce issues.” The county board to that end voted 3-0 on a resolu- tion to set up a workforce board focused only with the two counties. The Morrow County Board of Commis- sioners also voted Wednesday for the move. Morrow County Commis- sioner Melissa Lindsay said the resolution will come for- ward next week, but the board voted 3-0 to put in an appli- cation and send a letter to the governor’s office asking for the more focused board. The two counties already work on projects together and have common issues, she said, and a board dedicated to the needs of the two counties would continue to push that pendu- lum forward. Umatilla County commis- sioners also voted to have the county rejoin the Eastern Ore- gon Counties Association. Umatilla County in June 2018 withdrew from the association. The county paid $14,600 a year in dues for lob- bying in Washington, D.C., but the board questioned if it got its money’s worth, finding the group instead focused on too many issues that did not matter in Umatilla County while not working on water issues, the growing wolf pop- ulation and more. Murdock said the asso- ciation opted to broaden its agenda after the county broke off and created a two-tiered membership — one for the federal level and another for the state. Umatilla County board voted 3-0 to pay $10,000 to join at the lower level. And in other business, the county joined as co-sponsors of the free enterprise zone between Pendleton and Pilot Rock. Gal Nelson, the coun- ty’s economic development coordinator, told the board the two cities renewed the zone for another 10 years. The only change was Pend- leton added hotels and resorts as businesses that can qual- ify for tax abatement. The county board approved the co-sponsorship 3-0.
