A8
OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Friday, July 5, 2019
Oncology: Construction underway on Pendleton cancer center
Continued from Page A1
“It’s a very nice addi-
tion not just for the Pendle-
ton community, but for those
to the south and east as well
who will no longer have to
travel out of the region,” he
said.
Some of the other “crit-
ical community members”
in attendance on June 18
included Harry Geller, presi-
dent of St. Anthony Hospital;
Tim Simons, Pendleton’s city
engineer; Dr. John McBee, a
longtime advocate of bring-
ing specialty health services
to the area; and Dr. Cindi
Holmes, the radiologist at St.
Anthony.
The center will be
located down the street
from St. Anthony Hospi-
tal and will use its imaging
capabilities to compliment
its treatments.
“It’s been a collabora-
tion with them,” Leasure
said. “They’ve been very
helpful in establishing that
connection.”
As for the oncologist who
will staff the facility, Leasure
said that they are in negotia-
tions and plan to announce a
hire in August.
RBS announced its plans
for the center at the end of last
year, and after its completion,
it will become the fourth cen-
ter the company has devel-
oped. RBS already operates
two facilities in Alaska and
another in Oklahoma.
Though the center will
hold its grand opening some-
time in January 2020, it hopes
to welcome its first patients
in December. RBS has a his-
tory of quick turnarounds on
its development projects. At
its center in Juneau, Alaska,
the first patient was treated
six months after its ground-
breaking, the same proposed
timeline for the Pendleton
facility.
RBS was formed in 2010
by a group of physicians and
targets rural communities
with the goal of eliminating
long distances that people
must often travel to receive
cancer treatments.
“We were excited to find
an area like Pendleton where
we can make a real impact,”
said Denise Gerlarch, the
company’s vice president of
business development and
marketing.
As of June 28, Leasure
said the project has secured
roughly two-thirds of its
local investors. The project
is also working with a newly
formed nonprofit organiza-
tion, which will be called the
Eastern Oregon Cancer Net-
work, and satisfies another
goal set by RBS at the proj-
ect’s onset.
The nonprofit is designed
to help collect and distribute
funds to patients at the new
center, specifically to assist
those who must travel and
make overnight accommo-
dations in the area for their
treatments.
RBS will work in con-
junction with the East-
ern Oregon Cancer Net-
work to host an event at the
unfinished facility at noon
Sept. 7. With construc-
tion stopped for the day,
the event, titled “Written
in Stone,” invites commu-
tracted for the project.
The company’s prior
experience in rural devel-
opment projects has made
things smoother for the city
as well.
“What’s been really
enjoyable about working
with them is that they’ve
done this before in other
places,” Simons said. “They
were very prepared and very
knowledgeable. There’s been
no hand-holding.”
In general, Leasure, who
has been accepted as a mem-
ber of the Rotary Club since
the project’s announcement,
said communication and col-
laboration within the com-
munity has been robust.
“People have done any-
thing and everything I’ve
needed,” he said. “The com-
munity has really opened up.”
nity members to write their
names along with motiva-
tional or encouraging mes-
sages on the walls of the
building’s unfinished vault.
The idea is for patients at
the center to see the names
and messages of those who
have undergone treatments
themselves, or who know
someone who has, so that
they feel the support of the
entire community behind
them, Gerlach said.
While RBS turned to
its usual source of Alas-
kan-based Denali General
Contractors for the proj-
ect, Leasure said construc-
tion has been subcontracted
to local and regional com-
panies. Simons, Pendleton’s
city engineer, confirmed that
nine different locally based
companies had been con-
Wrap up: Despite disagreements, bipartisan work was accomplished
Another bill sponsored
by Hansell will allow small
rural cemetery districts to
annex more land into their
districts.
Hansell said it was a
tough session, but he was
pleased with the number of
capital projects the district
will see funding for.
He said projects such
as a mental health-related
renovation of the Umatilla
County Jail and a joint med-
ical and mental health Wal-
lowa Valley Center for Well-
ness are expected to serve as
an example to the rest of the
state in better serving those
with mental illnesses and
addictions.
Smith was a sponsor or
chief sponsor on 85 bills and
resolutions this session. One
was SB 408, which allows
counties to approve cer-
tain types of land zoned for
exclusive farm use to site
utility facilities “necessary
for public service.” He said
the bill will assist Umatilla
Electric Cooperative as it
Continued from Page A1
and community colleges to
charge in-state tuition for
Native American students
who graduated from an Ore-
gon high school. He said he
heard from Nixyaawii Com-
munity School in Pendle-
ton that they have tribal stu-
dents who attend during the
school year while living with
relatives, but keep a home
address outside the state.
“The bill seemed to make
good sense that we keep
these students in Oregon
if they want to go here,” he
said.
One of the bills Hansell
sponsored was brought to
his attention by a constitu-
ent in Adams, whose insur-
ance denied coverage for a
type of cancer treatment that
Hansell himself benefitted
from when he survived can-
cer. Senate Bill 740 requires
insurance companies that
cover radiation therapy for
cancer to also cover proton
beam therapy.
continues to serve the grow-
ing region.
Smith said despite promi-
nent disagreements between
Republicans and Democrats
during the session, there
was also bipartisan work.
One example was a pack-
age of reforms of Measure
11. Smith, who didn’t spon-
sor the bill but did support it,
said he believed the reforms
balance “justice and mercy”
for young offenders.
Measure 11, passed by
Oregon voters in 1994, set
mandatory minimum sen-
tences for certain offend-
ers and required offenders
ages 15-17 be tried as adults,
allowing them to receive life
without parole. Under Sen-
ate Bill 1008, those con-
victed of a crime before
their 18th birthday will be
given a hearing halfway
through their incarceration
that would consider whether
they might serve the rest of
their term under supervision
outside of prison. They will
also be allowed to apply for
parole after 15 years.
Offenders would not
automatically be released,
Smith pointed out, but the
new law will allow the jus-
tice system to take into
account how someone who
committed a violent crime at
age 15, 16 or 17 might have
changed in the years since.
“I would hope I’m not the
same person today as I was
at age 15,” he said.
The beginning of the
2019 session focused heav-
ily on education. Smith
sat on the Student Suc-
cess Committee that toured
schools throughout the state
as legislators worked on
a package of bills to help
boost graduation rates and
other measures of educa-
tional success.
Smith ultimately voted
no on the resulting tax bill,
however. He said business
and industry leaders told
legislators they knew more
revenue needed to be raised
for education, and made
an “extremely reasonable
request” to be given a cou-
ple of weeks to come up with
language they could support.
“When that deal was
rejected, I knew I needed to
step back,” Smith said.
He said much of the
school-related work this
session was focused on ele-
mentary and secondary
education, but he expected
assisting higher education
would be a major focus in
the next biennium.
He said beyond sponsor-
ing legislation, an important
part of being a rural East-
ern Oregon legislator is also
educating legislators from
urban areas on issues facing
rural Oregon and how one-
size-fits-all bills might have
negative consequences for
the east side of the state.
That work will likely
continue into the next ses-
sion, he said, as the legis-
lature grapples with how
to address climate change
while protecting jobs.
Barreto was sponsor or
chief sponsor of 83 bills and
resolutions this session.
Hansell said it was Bar-
reto who spearheaded a bill
that the two Eastern Ore-
gon legislators co-sponsored
requiring Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife to
consider elk overpopulation
when issuing tags as part
of the Oregon Landowner
Damage Program. Farmers
and ranchers in Eastern Ore-
gon often experience dam-
age from elk herds.
Barreto was also chief
sponsor of a bill that appro-
priated $1.43 million to the
FFA.
He joined Smith and
Hansell in working to bring
tax dollars back to Eastern
Oregon for capital construc-
tion projects.
In a Facebook post reflect-
ing on the session, Barreto
thanked his colleagues and
said it had been an honor
serving with such “hard-
working men and women”
as the House Republicans.
“A very tough session but
we persevered!” he wrote.
Tax: Worries linger over Washington sales tax
Continued from Page A1
“They walk in the door.
They want some filters. You
ring it up, you tell ‘em how
much, and they say, ‘Oh, I’m
from Oregon, no tax,’” he
said in late June.
“Yeah, they’ll make you
re-ring $2, cause they don’t
want to pay the extra 15
cents.”
In the days leading up to
July 1, Ogden worried. He
checked his records. Twenty
percent of his business last
year came from Oregon cus-
tomers — more than $1 mil-
lion in gross revenue. If his
customers don’t want to pay
sales tax on an inexpensive
filter, why would they cross
the river to pay 7.7% sales tax
on a $30,000 tractor with a
front loader?
They like his service, but
Oregonians don’t have to pay
sales tax at home.
“I just think our legis-
lators are out of touch with
reality,” he said. “I think that
they want money so bad that
they’ll do anything to get
it. But the ramifications on
our local businesses in Clark
County are extreme.”
Over in Vancouver, Wash-
ington, the sales tax change
was keeping Don Thompson
up at night.
“You know, wake up at 3
o’clock in the morning and
wonder how it’s all gonna fit
together,” he said.
Thompson owns the
America the Beautiful
Dreamer furniture store in
Vancouver,
Washington.
He checked his records, too.
This spring, about 40% of his
business came from Oregon
customers.
“Well, it’s a bit scary,”
he said the week before the
OPB Photo/Kate Davidson
Skip Ogden, who owns Dan’s Tractors outside Battle Ground,
Wash., said 20% of his business last year came from Oregon
customers — more than $1 million in gross revenue.
change. “If we have 40% of
our business from Oregon,
how much are we going to
lose? Twenty percent? Thirty
percent? I really have no idea.
It’s kind of unnerving.”
Thompson has four chil-
dren who work for him. He
just refinanced his building.
He wants to raise revenue, not
shrink it.
“I sent an email to the
governor. I said ‘You’re the
head salesman for the state
of Washington. Give me
one reason why a furniture
store should operate in Clark
County versus just moving
to Portland,’” he said. “Van-
couver/Clark County already
loses half of their high-ticket
sales to Portland because of
the sales tax.”
For years, Washington
lawmakers have been eye-
ing the automatic sales tax
exemption for shoppers from
places like Oregon with no
sales tax. This year, the move
to eliminate it passed, with
exceptions.
Oregonians,
Alaskans,
some Canadians and oth-
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ers still won’t pay sales tax
on cars, boats or farm equip-
ment. Skip Ogden’s tractors
are largely used by home-
owners and builders, not
farmers, so he won’t get much
relief there.
But days before the auto-
matic sales tax exemp-
tion ended, Ogden realized
he could take advantage of
another exception: Items
delivered to Oregon appar-
ently don’t count. Ogden’s
relief was palpable. His trac-
tors are often delivered.
The whole idea of the
sales tax exemption was to
keep Washington businesses
competitive with their coun-
terparts in sales tax-free Ore-
gon. Even the prime sponsor
of the legislation ending the
automatic exemption says
border businesses have legiti-
mate concerns. But state Sen.
Christine Rolfes, D-Kitsap
County, says that, in general,
it’s a fairness issue.
“That is how Washing-
tonians feel about it — that
everybody should be charged
the same amount of money
when they purchase some-
thing,” she said.
Lawmakers’ first moti-
vation was revenue. With
no income tax, Washington
relies more heavily on sales
tax to bring in money. Dem-
ocratic lawmakers pointed
to a range of pressing fund-
ing needs, particularly edu-
cation, but also mental health
care, rape kit testing and orca
recovery.
The second motivation,
lawmakers said, was resi-
dents’ annoyance.
“It’s very unpopular with
Washington residents that
may be standing in a line,”
and hearing Oregonians skip
sales tax, said Democratic
state Rep. Sharon Wylie of
Vancouver. “And the people
in line listening to this don’t
care for it very much.”
This year, Wylie voted
to get rid of the automatic
exemption, despite having
supported it in the past. She
says she’s heard the concerns
of the business community.
Lawmakers’ third motiva-
tion was the potential abuse
of the system.
Some legislators fixed on
the idea that people were mis-
using the sales tax exemption.
They pointed to Washington
residents undermining the
tax base by using old Oregon
IDs to skip sales tax. So they
tried to make that harder.
“We didn’t get rid of the
exemption, but we changed
the way it’s carried out,”
Rolfes said.
Now instead of show-
ing ID, shoppers from places
without sales tax will have
to save all their receipts and
submit them once a year
to get the 6.5% state sales
back. Local sales tax can’t
be recouped.
Rendering Courtesy of Blue Mountain Community College
BMCC plans to use FARM II as indoor rodeo arena in addition to
classroom space for veterinary science, UAS, and other agricul-
tural education.
FARM II: BMCC
gets $13 million
Continued from Page A1
nered bipartisan support. We
look forward to serving the
region even further with this
facility.”
In an interview, Hansell
said getting the governor to
include the project in her bud-
get proposal was important
and pointed to local efforts to
get Brown’s endorsement as
the reason.
BMCC, the city of Pend-
leton, Umatilla County, and
other local private and public
entities met before the session
started to plot out which proj-
ects they wanted to lobby for
in the Legislature.
FARM II and a Umatilla
County Jail renovation rose
to the top of the legislative
list and both were eventually
funded.
Although FARM II had
bipartisan support, it still
overcame some late obstacles.
Casey
White-Zollman,
the BMCC vice president
of public relations, said the
college was concerned that
an Oregon Senate walkout
would lead to the Legislature
concluding business with-
out appropriating the Article
XI-G bonds and lottery funds
needed to financially back the
project.
Republican senators held
a nine-day walkout toward
the end of the session to block
a cap-and-trade bill, only
returning the day before the
session was set to end after
receiving assurances that the
bill was dead.
If BMCC didn’t get the
funding, it would have to
mount a fundraising effort
to help fund the project,
White-Zollman said.
Hansell, who participated
in the walkout, said he was
concerned about FARM II’s
fate as well, and he was glad
that senate business resumed
before the session ended.
“I think Shakespeare said,
‘All’s well that ends well,’” he
said.
FARM II will be located
west of the Round-Up
Grounds on land owned by
the Round-Up Association.
The city and Round-Up
had been buying land west
of Southwest 18th Street
for years, and in 2018, the
Round-Up acquired 11 of
those properties from the city
when it looked like FARM II
was coming closer to fruition.
White-Zollman
said
BMCC will begin solic-
iting bids for an archi-
tect over the winter and the
design and planning pro-
cess will help determine the
construction timeline.
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