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143rd year, No. 259
REGONIAN
WEDNESDAy, OCTOBER 16, 2019
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Oregon labor
unions vow
retribution
Some Democrats
coping with fallout
from passage of
PERS legislation
By DIRK VANDERHART
Oregon Public Broadcasting
SALEM — Anna Williams was a
particular bright spot among the many
2018 election victories for Oregon
Democrats.
Before the college adviser unseated
an incumbent Republican in House
District 52 — a hyper-scenic swath
of urban and rural Oregon stretching
from Hood River to Gresham and up
the slopes of Mount Hood — Demo-
crats had spent a decade losing there.
But as she prepares to seek a second
term next year, Williams might face a
far different race. One of her key sup-
porters in 2018 now pledges to have
nothing to do with her.
“I probably wouldn’t have won with-
out their support,” Williams said of the
American Federation of State, County,
and Municipal Employees Council 75,
one of the state’s largest public-sector
labor unions. “It’s a little heartbreak-
ing thinking of not having them next
time.”
Williams is just one Democratic
lawmaker grappling with possible
fallout from the passage of Senate
Bill 1049, which made controversial
changes to the state’s pension system
for public employees.
The bill was seen as an instrumental
way for state and local entities to dodge
ballooning pension payments in com-
ing years — payments that risked loot-
ing a new tax for schools. But among
its changes was what labor leaders
considered a poison pill: a small reduc-
tion in retirement savings for members
of the Public Employees Retirement
System, or PERS.
Oregon’s powerful public employee
unions were unable to apply enough
pressure to dissuade lawmakers from
passing the bill. Now, some are vow-
ing retribution for Democrats they say
betrayed them.
The Oregon AFL-CIO, a federa-
tion of unions representing more than
140,000 dues-paying public- and pri-
vate-sector workers, voted Sept. 22 not
to support any candidate in the May
2020 primary who voted for SB 1049.
While the group’s resolution doesn’t
prevent its constituent unions from
donating, AFL-CIO often serves as a
central hub of political activity, lever-
aging members’ time into canvass-
ing and phone banking for favored
candidates.
“The primary is the first election
cycle in front of us,” Oregon AFL-CIO
president Graham Trainor said. “It was
important to our affiliates to make a
clear statement.”
Photo contributed by James Thomas
The Amazon data center in Umatilla is one of four sites in Umatilla and Morrow counties that have been completed since 2010,
with at least two more on the way.
Amazon breaks
Amazon offered a
15-year tax break
on Hermiston
project in exchange
for $40 million
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
H
ERMISTON — The Herm-
iston City Council agreed
Monday to give Amazon
a 15-year tax break on a
planned new development, but they
won’t be walking away empty-handed.
If the Umatilla County Board of
Commissioners agrees to the same
deal during their Wednesday morn-
ing meeting, Amazon is expected
to pay up to $40 million over 15
years directly to the Greater Herm-
iston Enterprise Zone, a partnership
between the city and county, in lieu of
property taxes.
The two government entities
have yet to finalize a memorandum
of understanding on how the money
would be split, but City Manager
Byron Smith said they planned to
channel some of the money to Uma-
OTHER BUSINESS
The city council also voted Monday
to begin the process to vacate an unde-
veloped right-of-way behind the former
Hermiston Foods.
City planner Clint Spencer said
the portion of Southeast 10th Street
between Penney Avenue and Feedville
Road “is completely unimproved and
exists only on paper at this point.”
He said a “large economic devel-
tilla County Fire District 1 and other
taxing districts, and have discussed
using the windfall to fund projects of
mutual interest, such as paving and
extending Gettman Road.
“In the course of the history of the
city, very rarely do opportunities like
this come along,” said Councilor John
Kirwan, who was leading the meeting
in the absence of Mayor David Drotz-
mann and City Council President Rod
Hardin.
As part of the deal, Amazon has
promised to invest at least $200 mil-
lion into developments in the enter-
prise zone and pay workers there at
least 130% of Umatilla County’s aver-
age wage.
Some residents present at the meet-
ing questioned why a company valued
at $1 trillion shouldn’t be asked to pay
opment project” is planning to build
a development on the undeveloped
property that is bisected by the right-
of-way and asked that the city consider
vacating it. He said no one would be
landlocked out of their property if the
right-of-way was given to the property
owner for development.
The council’s vote Monday started off
the process by setting a public hearing
on possible vacation for Oct. 28 at
7 p.m. at city hall, 180 N.E. Second St.
the same property taxes as everyone
else. Jackie Linton said she under-
stood the company was bringing in
jobs it would likely take elsewhere if it
wasn’t offered the incentive, but it was
still frustrating to see a deal offered to
a company with so much money.
“I think they can do with one less
yacht or mansion,” she said.
Another commenter pointed out
that the resolution before the coun-
cil stated Amazon must pay a certain
wage, but did not specify how many
jobs they had to provide. Companies
are becoming more automated all the
time, he said, and there was no guar-
antee that Amazon wouldn’t soon
come up with a way to automate the
jobs they were supposed to bring.
See Amazon, Page A8
See PERS, Page A8
Blackouts to prevent wildfires remain in toolbox in Oregon
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — While power
companies expect to use more black-
outs to prevent wildfires in California,
that tool so far remains in the box in
Oregon.
The Golden State already is fire-
prone with lots of dry plants and
woodlands — but add high winds that
can knock down power lines or cause
them to spark, then watch out, wildfire
experts said.
The darker outlook hits close to
home for Stanford University climate
scientist Chris Field, who like so many
others had his electricity cut off by
Pacific Gas & Electric Co.
“At this point we don’t have a better
option for reducing risk than shutting
ONLINE
You can find out more about
emergency preparedness at
www.ready.gov.
electricity off,” Field said. “It’s better
than having a whole community burn
down.”
Mike Flannigan, a professor of
wildland fire at the University of
Alberta in Canada, said “the new real-
ity” is there will be more fires with
drier and hotter weather from man-
made global warming. So he said
power shutdowns like those by Cali-
fornia utilities are more likely to hap-
pen to try to avoid catastrophic fires
See Blackout, Page A8
AP Photo/Elias Funez, File
Vehicle traffic provided some of the only lights to illuminate the streets
of downtown Grass Valley during the PG&E power shutdown earlier this
month.