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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 2019)
PREP FOOTBALL: hermiston’s Bradshaw named to MCC first team | SPORTS, B1 E O AST 143rd Year, No. 285 REGONIAN ThURSDAY, NOveMBeR 21, 2019 WINNER OF THE 2019 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD $1.50 Politicians get in line for secretary of state run Democrats — no Republican has filed so far — are trying to distinguish themselves before primary By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Oregon Capital Bureau EO file photo A Pendleton resident drops a donation into a Salvation Army bell ringer’s donation bucket outside of the Bi-Mart in 2018. The religious nonprofit, which describes itself as the “largest social services provider in the world,” has made headlines recently as the fast-food restaurant chain Chick-fil-A announced it would be changing its charitable giving strategy. Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which also has local chapters in Umatilla and Morrow counties, will no longer be receiving funds from the restaurant’s charitable foundation. Charitable controversy Salvation Army, Fellowship of Christian Athletes organizations caught up in giving controversy By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian MATILLA COUNTY — Bell ringers with red kettles col- lecting donations for The Sal- vation Army are a classic sign that the holidays have arrived, but for some, the choice about whether to drop in a few dollars has become as political as it is personal. The religious nonprofit, which describes itself as the “largest social ser- vices provider in the world,” has made headlines recently as the fast-food restaurant chain Chick-fil-A announced it would be changing its charitable giv- ing strategy. Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which also has local chapters in Umatilla and Morrow counties, will no longer be receiving funds from the restaurant’s charitable foundation. “Staying true to its mission of nour- ishing the potential in every child, the Chick-fil-A Foundation will deepen its giving to a smaller number of organiza- tions working exclusively in the areas of education, homelessness and hun- ger,” the restaurant said. Many have speculated that The Sal- vation Army and Fellowship of Chris- tian Athletes were among those that didn’t make the cut because both orga- U nizations have come under fire from activists who say they discriminate against members of the LGBTQ com- munity. Chick-fil-A itself has also been boycotted by LGBTQ groups for its founder’s stance against gay marriage and for donations to organizations con- sidered anti-gay. “WE SERVE EVERYONE AND ANYONE WHO COMES THROUGH OUR DOORS” — Alexa Morris Pendleton Salvation Army staff directed questions on the subject to Alexa Morris, director of communi- cations for the Cascades region of The Salvation Army. She said the organiza- tion does not turn away people in need of services based on sexual orientation or gender identity. “We serve everyone and anyone who comes through our doors,” she said. Posts that have circulated on social media in recent years tell stories — often anonymously — of discrimina- tion at the hands of Salvation Army employees and volunteers, claiming they have made derogatory comments, turned transgender people away from shelters if they were not willing to sleep in areas according to their assigned sex at birth, or required homosexual cou- ples to sleep in separate areas while allowing heterosexual couples to stay together. In 2014, a transgender woman in Texas named Jodielynn Wiley told the media she had applied for a hous- ing program through the Salvation Army that would have involved shar- ing a room and bathroom with other women. Wiley said she was told by a caseworker she wouldn’t be accepted because she hadn’t had gender-reas- signment surgery. Critics also point to the Salva- tion Army’s religious doctrine requir- ing celibacy outside of marriage and restricting the definition of marriage to between a man and a woman. In 2015, the magazine Queerty published inter- nal documents from Salvation Army directing officers to decline to perform same-sex marriages. Today, The Salvation Army’s web- site has a section dedicated to dispelling what it calls “myths” about its treatment of LGBTQ people, stating that it does not discriminate in hiring or providing See Charity, Page A8 SALEM — The job of Oregon secretary of state may not bring fame or fortune, but it’s an essen- tial state post. And politicians are lining up to get it. Hass The race for secretary of state will determine who will manage over- sight of state government performance. And the next secretary will be responsible for protecting the reliabil- McLeod- ity of the state’s elections Skinner as cyber threats grow by the day and concerns of foreign interference are paramount. While the most press- ing thing on voters’ minds may be the ongo- ing parade of public ser- Smith vants testifying on Capi- tol Hill or the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, prospective secretar- ies are busy fundrais- ing and trumpeting their platforms. “I think the secretary Williamson of state’s seat is one of the most overlooked and misunderstood roles,” said Jamie McLeod-Skinner, a natural resource attorney seeking the office. “But it’s really the most import- ant statewide office for making sure that government functions well, and that also helps to establish accountability and really building that public trust.” Democrats — no Republican has filed so far — are trying to distinguish them- selves as they head into a packed primary. That primary next May has already drawn state Rep. Jennifer William- son of Portland, state Sen. Mark Hass of Beaverton, Cameron Smith, recently departed director of the state Department of Consumer and Business Services, and McLeod-Skinner, who mounted an unsuccessful attempt to unseat Con- gressman Greg Walden last year. Topics like elections security and access to the ballot are already common themes. And the candidates portray the race as a high-stakes battle. See Politicians, Page A8 Weston mayor shares battle with cancer Jennifer McClure-Spurgeon fights isolation, terminal illness by posting her journey on Facebook By KATY NESBITT For the East Oregonian WESTON — Weston Mayor Jennifer McClure-Spurgeon is bat- tling cancer, again, and she’s taking the battle to the inter- net, sharing her deeply per- sonal journey to tell a story about what she calls an insidious disease. The daughter of longtime Union County Commis- sioner Steve McClure and an Elgin native, McClure-Spur- geon was diagnosed with cervical cancer a month after taking office as a Weston City Council mem- ber in 2013. “Do you think that was an omen?” McClure-Spur- geon said. A few months after her diagnosis she had surgery — and then another surgery to address complications from the first operation four weeks later. McClure-Spur- geon said she recovered and had five years of good health — serving on city council, raising children and working alongside her husband in both their real estate appraisal business and as a leadership trainer and consultant. In late 2018, she started having abdominal pain. A colonoscopy revealed another tumor. Given the way the cancer returned, McClure-Spur- geon said, it appears when the original tumor was removed, cells were released into her abdominal cavity, See Cancer, Page A8 Contributed photo Weston Mayor Jennifer McClure-Spurgeon, a native of Elgin, poses for a photo with her care team as she goes through her cancer treatment.
