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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 29, 2019)
A4 East Oregonian Thursday, August 29, 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 Umatilla needs to use its gift of growth wisely A t the start of 2017, then-city councilor Mark Ribich told the East Oregonian that Umatilla was declaring itself “open for business.” The results of the city’s campaign for economic growth have been mixed. On the one hand, Ribich him- self told us recently that he was dis- appointed by the trickle of new busi- nesses that have since set up shop downtown. Only two new businesses have joined the city’s chamber of commerce this year, he said, and one was not located in Umatilla. While Umatilla’s commercial growth has been halting, however, its industrial and housing growth have not. Amazon continues to boost the city’s tax base as its valuable data centers filter onto the tax rolls, and the city is experiencing booming housing growth that city manager David Stockdale predicts will result in 100 new housing units a year for the next five to seven years. This presents an opportunity and a challenge for Umatilla. New homes in city limits need water, sewer, electricity, police ser- vice, fire service, roads and class- Staff photo by Ben Lonergan, File A pair of nearly completed homes undergo construction work in an expanding development in Umatilla. room space for any children who might move into them. But they also increase the city’s tax base. The important thing is that the new reve- nue is used wisely. Umatilla seems to be on the right track. They put out a request for pro- posals in February for a consultant to do an in-depth analysis of the best structure for system development charges and utility rates, so that the city can raise the revenue it needs to put in the infrastructure to support new growth. They are also moving up the timeline of some projects, such as upgrades to the wastewater treat- ment plant. Too often we have seen cities in our coverage area kick the can down the road on infrastructure projects for decades, creating a crisis for a future city council to deal with and a future set of residents to pay for with a sud- den, steep increase in their utility bills or other costs. Umatilla has an opportunity now to use its increas- ing revenue to set the city on a more sustainable path for maintaining its infrastructure. Repairing wastewater treatment plants and replacing old pipes in the ground aren’t as exciting as cutting the ribbon on new parks and statues, but it is sometimes the most import- ant work city leaders can do. The more superficial livability projects do help draw people to a community, but nobody is going to want to move to a town that is trucking in bottled water for residents. There will always be grants avail- able for the “fun” projects, as seen by the recent generous donations from the Good Shepherd Commu- nity Health Foundation and Hermis- ton Kiwanis toward new features for Umatilla’s Kiwanis Park. As Umatilla continues to grow, we hope they are thoughtful in their spending, keeping their eye on the projects that will secure the best future for the community. OTHER VIEWS Special session needed to fix death penalty Bend Bulletin T he Oregon Legislature bumbled a change to Oregon’s death penalty. Gov. Brown needs to stop delaying and call a special session of the Legisla- ture to fix it. Oregonians were misled about what the law would do. That must be corrected. The issue is the language in Senate Bill 1013 and the related SB 1005. SB 1013 fundamentally diluted Oregon’s death penalty by narrowing the definition of aggravated murder. Aggravated murder is the only crime in Oregon that qualifies for the death pen- alty. The law restricted the definition to acts of organized terrorism that kill two or more; premeditated murders of chil- dren younger than 14; and premeditated murders of correctional, probation and law enforcement officers. It would also apply to convicted murderers who kill CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES U.S. PRESIDENT GOVERNOR Donald Trump The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414 whitehouse.gov/contact/ Kate Brown 160 State Capitol 900 Court Street Salem, OR 97301-4047 503-378-4582 U.S. SENATORS Ron Wyden 221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg. Washington, DC 20510 202-224-5244 La Grande office: 541-962-7691 Jeff Merkley 313 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 202-224-3753 Pendleton office: 541-278-1129 U.S. REPRESENTATIVE Greg Walden 185 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 202-225-6730 La Grande office: 541-624-2400 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. REPRESENTATIVES 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 SENATOR Bill Hansell, District 29 900 Court St. NE, S-423 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1729 Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us another prisoner in jail or prison. Legislators said the law would not be retroactive. Gov. Brown said she did not believe the law was retroactive. Ben- jamin Gutman, Oregon’s solicitor gen- eral, has written recently he believes it would be for cases that are being retried or pending. Brown opposes the death penalty and had already put in place a moratorium on executions in Oregon. She is having her staff do more research before making a decision about what to do about the law. Let’s help them. Legislators told the public they did not intend for the law to be retroactive. Brown did not believe the law was retroactive when she signed the bill into law. If she doesn’t call a special session to clarify what the law does, it will critically undermine the integrity of the Legisla- ture and Brown. Call the special session, governor. YOUR VIEWS Bring back syndicated columnists I first subscribed to the East Orego- nian in 1980, mostly for the sports page. Over the course of time, I became inter- ested in other features: letters to the edi- tor, editorials, and syndicated columnists. Each of these features has helped me to broaden my perspective, but none more so than the syndicated columnists. My mother mentioned how she enjoyed the insights provided by reading Mau- reen Dowd’s column — so I started read- ing her columns, too. I found her style to be engaging and entertaining, while pro- viding deep insights into her topics. As a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, she ele- vated the pages of the EO. I also enjoyed the columns written by Dave Barry, another Pulitzer Prize-win- ning author whose humorous columns entertained and educated, often leaving me wanting more. Most recently, I have looked forward to columns by David Brooks, Nicholas Kristof, and Thomas Friedman. Each of these columnists is renowned for their work, known for the depth and breadth of their writings. Their columns challenge values, enlighten thought, raise ideals, and expand understanding of the issues we face today. I’m saddened that the EO has discon- tinued these fine columnists and I do hope that they will reconsider. Wesley Duchek Pendleton Warm Springs needs our help now Oh, for Pete’s sake! The salmon just got $15 million and we can’t come up with help for the Oregon community of around 4,000 who have been without water and sewer since the end of winter? School is starting soon and those kids are relying on sponge baths! One of the school rooms is used for distributing bottled water? Maybe we should just hand out washboards and deliver a ton of new buckets and let it be at that — not! Janet Boyd Hermiston 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