A4
East Oregonian
Tuesday, July 23, 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
Can transportation bill provide template for climate bill?
N
early three years ago law-
makers on both sides of the
political fence joined together
and spent 18 months canvassing Ore-
gon to seek input on a billion-dollar
plan to upgrade the state’s transpor-
tation system. Elected leaders vis-
ited just about every part of Oregon
where they met with stakeholders
and key community members. They
then went back to Salem and crafted a
sober, precise bill that, while it raised
taxes, was very much a vehicle of the
people.
The result was the passage of
House Bill 2017, a massive transpor-
tation initiative.
Lawmakers should take a careful
look at the process to get House Bill
2017 passed as they contemplate Ore-
gon’s failed climate bill from most
recent legislative session. Then they
should copy that process and go back
on the road to meet with the people of
Oregon.
The climate bill ended up dominat-
ing the legislative session and eventu-
ally sparked a walkout by Republican
lawmakers. There was criticism of
is more than a good chance some type
of similar legislation will be presented
in the future. We also need to face
the fact that all of us need to be more
than a little concerned about our cli-
mate and the way it is changing. Cli-
mate change is real, but the real ques-
tion is what can Oregonians do about
it? What is the best path forward?
That’s why the template used to
pass House Bill 2017 should be care-
fully considered by our elected lead-
ers. The recent climate change bill
was a hodgepodge of wishful think-
ing, half-baked science connected to
a cap-and-trade system that is convo-
luted and complicated. Our lawmak-
ers can do better.
We need to address climate change,
there is no doubt about that, but how
we do it will be what is remembered.
AP Photo/Andrew Selsky, File
Lawmakers convene at the Oregon Senate after the minority Republicans ended a walkout The way it was handled during the
they had begun on June 20 over a carbon-emissions bill they said would harm their rural last Legislature was baffling and, ulti-
constituents, at the Oregon Senate in Salem.
mately, troubling for voters.
Going across Oregon, seeking
the Republican move and threats by
tried to essentially ram the climate
input from the people, is the best way
the governor to send the Oregon State bill through.
to move forward. And, if the people
Police out to find them. The bill cre-
Thankfully, that low moment in
indicate they do not want a climate
ated a tremendous political rift inside Oregon legislative history is behind
bill any time in the near future, well,
the Legislature. Democrats, who have us. Yet the supporters of the climate
a supermajority in the Legislature,
bill are not going to go away and there so be it.
OTHER VIEWS
Progress being made
on reducing flood risk
A
OTHER VIEWS
Proposed petition would hurt shoppers
Bend Bulletin
The Oregon chapter of the AFL-
CIO thinks it has a dandy idea: Limit
self-checkout stands at grocery stores
and Oregon will be a better place. It
has filed an initiative petition with the
Secretary of State that would limit
the stands to two per grocery store. It
hopes to gather enough signatures to
place the proposal on the November
2020 ballot.
Since when did it become the
business of government to dictate
the maximum number of automated
checkout lines in a private grocery
store? It’s not.
The petition itself is an interest-
ing one. It cites the benefits of check-
ing out with a cashier, including social
interaction and assistance if you need
it. It also cites what its authors say
are the ills of self-service checkout,
including a better chance for shop-
lifting, more illegal alcohol sales and
credit card thefts.
But, according to the Loss Pre-
vention Research Council, theft and
other illegal activities can be reduced
if self-service checkout areas get rea-
sonable monitoring by store employ-
ees. In reality, the AFL-CIO’s prob-
lem with self-service checkout is not
theft, nor isolation, nor illegal alcohol
sales. Rather, it’s the notion that auto-
mation means a cut in the number of
union-member store employees.
We can’t blame unions for fighting
for better wages, benefits and working
conditions for their members. But then
employers can’t be blamed for looking
to automation to hold down costs for
themselves and their customers.
As almost any busy shopper can
tell you, self-service checkout can be
a big time saver when lines are long at
the manned checkout stations. Don’t
sign any such petition.
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. PRESIDENT
Donald Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
whitehouse.gov/contact/
U.S. SENATORS
Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office
Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
La Grande: 541-962-7691
Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Build-
ing
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton: 541-278-1129
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
La Grande: 541-624-2400
GOVERNOR
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court Street
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
U.S.
REPRESENTATIVE
REPRESENTATIVES
Greg Walden
185 Rayburn House Office
Building
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
We are in the process
fter April’s McKay
of hiring a project man-
Creek flooding
ager who is knowledgeable
emergency, city
about these kinds of water
leaders promised to take
action to reduce the risk of issues and knows how
to navigate this
future flooding.
complex process
Umatilla County
through literally
is playing a lead-
ing role in this
dozens of state
effort, so read-
and federal agen-
cies. This will be
ers can be confi-
a lengthy process,
dent that a coor-
dinated effort has
unfolding over
several years, and
begun. Several
J ohn
T urner
we expect prog-
meetings with
COMMENT
ress to be slow.
federal and state
Shifting focus
agencies have
to our streets, you
taken place and
have probably read that
we are now beginning to
we will begin talking to
understand the complex-
ity of the challenge. We
civic groups about ideas
recently learned that the
to raise more revenues to
state emergency declara-
fix our streets. This pro-
cess has already begun
tion — made after several
and seven or eight pre-
counties and numerous
cities made disaster decla- sentations will have taken
rations — went forward to place before this column
FEMA and a federal disas- gets to you. Our budget for
ter declaration followed.
street maintenance is $1.2
This will eventually allow million in the current fis-
cal year, but we need to
us to recover a maximum
spend at least $2.2 mil-
of 75% of our emergency
response costs and repairs lion per year in the next
decade before we can
to public infrastructure.
claim to have the problem
A short-term goal of
contained.
the city/county effort
That means we need to
is to restore the capac-
ity of McKay Creek to
raise another $1 million
carry large volumes of
each year for the next 10
water. Before the flood-
years. We have a number
ing, we believed that the
of ideas about how to do
creek could carry up to
this and we want to hear
1,200 cubic feet of water
what you think. Perhaps
per second. The silting of
you can give us an idea
the stream bed that was
that we haven’t thought
a result of the flood has
of. Presentations have
greatly reduced the carry-
been scheduled with civic
ing capacity of the creek
groups through Octo-
and we want to take action ber, and if you belong to
a group that is not on our
to restore these flows.
list, please tell us and we
Longer-term goals will be
will come to make a pre-
to study McKay Reser-
voir to see if its capacity
sentation to your group.
Several public meetings
to store more water during
heavy rain events might be will also be scheduled for
improved. We also want to people not affiliated with a
specific organization.
make sure the gauges that
———
measure the volume of
John Turner is the mayor
water coming into the res-
of Pendleton.
ervoir are accurate.
SENATOR
Bill Hansell, District 29
900 Court St. NE, S-423
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us
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. Send letters to the editor to
editor@eastoregonian.com, or via mail to Andrew Cutler,
211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton, OR 97801