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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 27, 2019)
A4 East Oregonian Saturday, July 27, 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 the Uma- tilla County Housing Author- ity and their role in securing just over $8 million for a new housing development in Stanfield. Patriot Heights will break ground next spring at a predicted cost of $253,000 per unit. The 12-month construction project will be built by Hayden Homes — which builds homes in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. The funding comes from a num- ber of sources, including low income housing tax credits, the U.S. Depart- ment of Housing and Urban Devel- opment’s HOME program and the National Housing Trust Fund. The state has been locked in a hous- ing crisis for a long time, as illustrated by a report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition. In Oregon, a person needs to make $21.26 an hour to afford the rent on a two-bedroom home, according to the coalition’s cal- culations, or work 79 hours a week at the minimum wage. Thirty-nine per- cent of Oregonians are renters, and their average income works out to $15.44 an hour. No wonder so many people are barely making it. The lack of housing, though, isn’t just in Oregon. It is a nationwide problem. Oregon’s “housing wage” — the hourly pay needed to keep rent from consuming more than 30 percent of income — was 17th highest in the nation. In one-third of the states, the problem is worse. California ranked third — behind Hawaii and the Dis- trict of Columbia — with a housing wage of $32.68. Washington state was eighth, at $26.87. That helps explain why people keep moving to Oregon even though affordable housing is hard or impossible to find: They are likely to be coming from places where the problem is even worse. When we cover new homes being built in western Umatilla County, the prices of $250,000 to $350,000 are often out of reach for many residents, leaving more and more people in the growing area to fight for the same few apartments and affordable homes. The problem is that the cost of land, mate- rials and labor make it impossible for developers to get a return on their investment with $600 a month apart- ments or a $180,000 home. The only way that kind of housing shows up in the area is with state or federal dollars subsidizing the project, as is the case with Patriot Heights. Those in the area who can go after such grants will need to continue to do so if the area is to get more affordable housing. Umatilla, Stanfield and Echo recently got a state grant for a housing Staff photo by Ben Lonergan A vacant parcel of land along Highway 395 in Stanfield will soon be home to a 40-home, fed- erally funded housing development called Patriot Heights. study to look at what’s available now, what the need is and what they can do to better fill that need. We hope they find some good solutions and work to implement them. A tip of the hat to Portland resi- dent and outback biker Tomas Qui- nones who discovered 73-year-old Gregory Randolph near death in a remote region of the state recently. Quinones was biking across the remote section of the Oregon high desert when he came upon Randolph near death after being stranded for four days. Quinones did not have cell- phone service but hit the SOS button on his GPS tracking device and began to help Randolph. Randolph was later transported by ambulance to a hospital and Quinones went on his way. Qui- nones’ quick action and devotion to saving another life deserves the high- est praise. A kick in the pants to people who continue to disregard common sense and leave their animals in cars as the temperature climbs. At least for the foreseeable future, temperatures are going to continue to climb as we move into the last phase of summer. An animal left in a vehicle — even for a short time — can immediately be at risk of serious injury. Just last month a Medford man faced a felony charge for animal abuse after he fell asleep and left his dog inside a car. The ani- mal did not survive. A tip of the hat to the Hermiston School District and Good Shepherd Health Care System for their effort to provide a wellness clinic for youths during the upcoming school year. The concept is a good one, but what is best about the venture is the cooperation between the two entities to make a difference for students. OTHER VIEWS Farmland loss is a national crisis, and felt mightily in West A YOUR VIEWS Recall effort taking focus away from more important issues The editorial board rightly pointed out that the recall effort is taking time away from addressing more important issues. For every dollar and hour spent trying to recall Gov. Kate Brown, organizers could be register- ing voters, identifying legislative priorities for the next session, and strengthening community organizations that will represent their regional interests in Salem. The board also rightly expressed a frustration among Eastern Oregonians that officials in Salem, especially Democrats, tend to have a tri-county skew. Oregon’s vibrancy hinges on more Portlanders thinking about the opportunities and challenges facing Pendleton residents and vice versa. Our elected officials need to understand what life is like in every part of the state if they are going to craft laws that impact every corner of it. But these two rights are paired with a wrong: The board claims this recall effort is serious but beyond spotting a few canvassers, they don’t provide any evi- dence to suggest that this recall effort won’t end up like the last — achieving nothing but misdirecting energy. Oregonians don’t need a contentious recall vote to once again evidence the electoral strength of Democrats. What Oregonians need is greater participation in the political system by folks unbeholden to toeing the party line and untied to advocating for only their slice of the state. Kevin Frazier Tualatin 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. equal threat to farmland, but is insidious, often not recog- nyone who has taken a recent drive in America’s nized before it is too late. This is development that pops western states can see first-hand what we at Ameri- can Farmland Trust have been saying for years: Our up in rural areas creating pockets of houses surrounded by farmland is disappearing at an alarming rate. farmland. Between 1992 and 2012, 31 million acres of farmland Not only does this kind of development chew up prime land, it makes it more difficult for farmers to farm and often and ranchland disappeared, according to research from our leads to the disappearance of key farming services and recently released “Farms Under Threat” analysis — the infrastructure like equipment and seed dealers. most comprehensive study ever on agricultural land loss in Investing in tools like agricultural conservation ease- the U.S. ments is also critical. Agricultural conservation easements While 31 million acres may not sound like a lot, at AFT, are a way to keep working farmland and ranchland working, it set off alarm bells. It represents as much agricultural forever — by extinguishing the development rights land as is in the state of Iowa. And, perhaps more on a property and compensating the landowner for importantly, 11 million of those acres were our the value of those development rights. The land best and most productive agricultural land — land stays in production and in private ownership and most suitable for intensive food production with can be sold or handed down to heirs — but with the the fewest environmental impacts. promise that it will not be taken out of agriculture. In a region so important to the nation’s food These issues get more and more critical with a supply, AFT’s mantra and famous bumper sticker, massive generational transfer of land on the hori- “No Farms No Food,” is more poignant than ever. zon. In Oregon alone, two-thirds of the agricultural This region grows over 300 commodity crops, H annaH land will change hands in the next decade or so — from apples and cherries, to potatoes, to sweet C lark and the majority of those landowners don’t have an corn seed, to hops. It also has one of the fastest COMMENT identified heir or succession plan. Across the West, growing populations in the nation, and with that including in Idaho, AFT is advancing program- comes the demand for housing, shopping malls, schools, and highways — all resources that eat up farmland. ming to help a new generation of new and beginning farm- If we want to continue to enjoy the benefits of local farm- ers access land. land and ranchland — not just for delicious food and as a We need to double down on protecting agricultural land pillar of our economy, but also for the many important envi- in the West. ronmental benefits it provides — we must come together as In Washington state, we’re calling on the legislature to Westerners to take action now. continue investing in the Washington Wildlife and Recre- ation Program, the only state source of funding for farmland This was made abundantly clear in the recent article protection. “Western farmland continues to disappear,” by Brad Carl- son, in the Capital Press. In Oregon, the legislature has an opportunity to fund the Oregon Agricultural Heritage Program, which would be the Let me reiterate and even illuminate important points first state funding source for agricultural land protection made in Mr. Carlson’s article. The numbers coming out of Idaho, as noted in the article, and supporting a new generation of farmers. And in Idaho, we are calling on elected leaders, espe- and the numbers coming out of the West in terms of farm- land loss are downright scary. We need local and state offi- cially in the Treasure Valley, to ensure good planning to cials to pay attention to this and to invest in funding and protect our land base — and invest in supporting farmers tools for farmland protection. and ranchers. It is also important to consider how one allows develop- Perhaps it’s even time to consider a funding source for ment to happen. Planning is important. Urban sprawl and agricultural conservation easements in Idaho. After all — low-density development are both very damaging to farm- No Farms No Food and, perhaps, even No Future! land. It is easy to recognize urban sprawl and perhaps sim- ——— plest to address, compact growth strategies have worked Hannah Clark is American Farmland Trust’s Pacific Northwest region director. well in communities. Low density development poses an 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