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East Oregonian
Thursday, November 21, 2019
Cancer: Weston mayor shares her battle with cancer over the internet
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eventually forming another
tumor that pushed against
her colon. She is going
through chemo, again, to
shrink a tumor on her liver
that is so overtaxed, bile
salts are coming out through
her skin.
She said her kidneys are
compromised, too, from
the chemotherapy. But, for
now, it’s the chemo that will
keep her alive. At this point,
McClure-Spurgeon said, she
is traveling to the Univer-
sity of Washington Medical
Center every three weeks for
palliative care.
“I went to Tri-Cit-
ies for chemo last time,”
McClure-Spurgeon
said.
“The reason I chose Seattle
this time is because my liver
and kidney numbers are so
in flux — if there are any
sudden changes, the doc-
tors there are used to seeing
strange things all the time.”
McClure-Spurgeon said
the chemo is supposed to
make her feel better by the
second week of treatment.
Right now, though, she said
her pain is a steady “7” on a
scale of 1 to 10. Her ability to
eat depends on how well her
liver is functioning. She said
her appetite comes and goes,
and with the aid of anti-nau-
sea medication she is able to
eat small portions.
She’s also fighting fatigue,
weakness and dizziness.
“It is such an extent going
to the bathroom I almost
EO file photo
Weston Mayor Jennifer McClure-Spurgeon, right, goes on a walking tour of the area around Athena-Weston Middle School
in 2017 with Nick Foster, a senior planner with Kittelson & Associates Inc. of Boise, Idaho. The daughter of longtime Union
County Commissioner Steve McClure and an Elgin native, McClure-Spurgeon was diagnosed with cervical cancer a month
after taking office as a Weston City Council member in 2013.
pass out going back to bed,”
she said.
Despite the struggle,
she is able to maintain her
job as mayor, working over
the phone and going into
city hall to sign checks.
McClure-Spurgeon said the
council has been a big help
and thanks to a well-defined
list of priorities, the city has
been able to tackle its to-do
list.
“We have some pretty
cut-and-dried plans for what
is happening over the next
year or two,” she said.
Battling cancer can
become an educational expe-
rience — for the patient and
the family. McClure-Spur-
geon said she started writing
everything down in a note-
book when she was going
through chemo treatments in
Tri-Cities.
“I’ve
written
down
every blood draw since we
started this crazy odyssey,”
McClure-Spurgeon
said.
“The nice thing about having
my husband at appointments
is he can remember all the
questions we talked through
and pick up the slack where I
may have forgotten.”
Mostly homebound and
with a fragile immune sys-
tem,
McClure-Spurgeon
said even her grandchildren
and daughter, who live down
the street, can’t visit her if
they have a cold or cough.
To keep people up-to-
date on her status, this last
go-around with cancer treat-
ment she is documenting on
the Internet.
“I went public with this
second round on Facebook,
posting video feeds every
week so people have a way
to talk through what’s hap-
pening,” she said.
Besides breaking through
her isolation with social
media, McClure-Spurgeon
said her leadership train-
ing taught her that one of
our life’s purposes is to add
value to others.
“Major illnesses are
such a drain on family and
resources,” she said. “It is a
comfort that I was adding
value while going through
something so horrible.”
Politicians: Democrats appear eager to reclaim the seat they lost in 2016
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“I believe that we are at a
point where our democracy
and voting rights are under
attack across this country,”
Williamson said. “I’m run-
ning because we are in a
fight, I believe, to save our
democracy.”
The candidates are already
shaping their personal narra-
tives into smooth pitches.
McLeod-Skinner,
who
made headlines for travers-
ing thousands of miles of
rural Oregon in a Jeep in her
bid for Congress, said she’s
the candidate who would
give voice to the state’s rural
interests.
Williamson casts her-
self as the “proven progres-
sive” who championed a list
of state policies in her time as
a representative and leader of
the House Democrats.
Hass is the legisla-
tive taskmaster who would
implement what he thinks is
a sorely needed “overhaul” of
an office filled by four secre-
taries in the past four years.
Smith is the self-styled
“fresh voice,” claiming he is
the only candidate with exec-
utive experience because he
managed two state agencies.
Smith
just
recently
joined the race so he’s not
yet reported his campaign
finances. His opponents have
been steadily collecting cash
since September, according
to state campaign finance
records.
“There will be a lot of
shared policies, I think,
across all of the candidates,”
Smith said. “But nobody, I
think, that brings both that
military experience, that
veteran experience and that
executive office experience
to be able to hit the ground
running and actually imple-
ment, and implement them
well, all the different initia-
tives that we’re going to be
talking about this campaign.”
The secretary of state
oversees state elections and
archives, registers businesses
and assesses the inner work-
ings of state government
through audits.
Bill Bradbury, secretary
of state from 1999 to early
2009, said the post is a bit of a
dichotomy — it has functions
that Democrats and Repub-
licans tend to value, such as
running fair elections.
But it’s also a political job
since the secretary is in suc-
cession to the governor.
“On one hand, it’s consid-
ered an important partisan
office,” Bradbury said. “On
the other hand, all the duties,
really, of the secretary of state
are essentially nonpartisan.”
Secretary of state is a
more prominent post in Ore-
gon than in some other states,
where the duty is primarily
as chief elections officer, said
Bill Lunch, professor emeri-
tus in political science at Ore-
gon State University.
“It’s been an important
office because we do not have
a lieutenant governor in Ore-
gon,” Lunch said. “There
have been occasions, not
common, but every once in a
while, where the secretary of
state becomes governor.”
It’s also the only open seat
among the statewide offices
in 2020.
Dennis Richardson, a
Republican who broke Dem-
ocrats’ three-decade streak in
the job in 2016, died in office
and his appointed replace-
ment, Bev Clarno, isn’t seek-
ing election to the office.
No
Republican
has
announced for the job. Clar-
no’s deputy, former legislator
Rich Vial, wouldn’t comment
on reports he was consider-
ing a run.
Julie Parrish, a former
state representative from the
Tualatin area, said she would
prefer to support another can-
didate but isn’t ruling out a
run herself.
So for the moment, the
contest among Democrats
may matter most to deciding
the next secretary of state.
“It’s not quite the case in
Oregon that the primary is
the election, but it’s close,”
Lunch said.
“Generally speaking, the
Democratic nomination is
going to be the most, by far,
the most important choice
that the voters will make
because the Republicans are
so weak in the general elec-
tion context, usually,” Lunch
said.
Prior to Richardson, the
last Republican to hold the
office was Norma Paulus,
whose term ended in 1985.
The job hasn’t been a
political stepping stone in
recent years. Brown moved
to the governorship from
secretary of state because
of the resignation of John
Kitzhaber. In the past, Mark
Hatfield went on to become
governor and then U.S. sen-
ator. Tom McCall, too, held
the office before winning the
governor’s office.
“It does raise your profile
when you are the secretary of
state,” said Jim Moore, asso-
ciate professor and director
of political outreach at the
Tom McCall Center for Civic
Engagement at Pacific Uni-
versity. “It does put you in the
mix to be governor. But we
just don’t see the same cul-
ture of that happening that we
did from the ’30s through the
early ’90s.”
Democrats appear eager
to reclaim the seat they lost
in 2016.
Democratic
nominee
Brad Avakian “was a contro-
versial figure who had done
some things that had alien-
ated some of his natural sup-
porters,” said Lunch.
Already, some overlap is
emerging in the policies that
the candidates are proposing:
For instance, many empha-
size the need to buttress the
state’s elections security.
But, as a measure to allow
limits on campaign dona-
tions also heads to the bal-
lot, a potential pact among
the Democratic candidates to
agree to a specific dollar limit
from donors fell through.
“Each of them have their
own strong points to empha-
size … How that’s going to
play out, my guess is that Wil-
liamson and Hass will have
some advantage because they
come from the Portland area,
which is where a very large
fraction, certainly not all, but
a large fraction of the voters
are,” said Lunch.
McLeod-Skinner,
who
lives in rural Central Ore-
gon and serves on the Ore-
gon Watershed Enhancement
Board, as well as the Jeffer-
son County Education Ser-
vice District board, empha-
sizes her rural background.
“With all due respect to
my colleagues from major
urban areas, we have differ-
ent and unique challenges and
issues throughout our state,”
McLeod-Skinner said. “And
I think it’s really important to
have a full understanding of
that to make sure that govern-
ment is functioning well and
serving all Oregonians.”
Hass, a veteran legislator,
has proposed several policy
initiatives, such as ranked-
choice voting, which allows
voters to list multiple candi-
dates in order of preference,
rather than selecting just one
for each office.
“It’s really important to
me in this election that my
campaign is driven by poli-
cies and ideas to ramp up the
profile of this office to help
more Oregonians,” Hass said.
“And I think I can do that. I
don’t like to see people strug-
gle. I think the secretary of
state has statutory tools to
help vulnerable people by
protecting their elections and
speaking up for them when
they need help.”
Smith casts himself as
a nontraditional candidate,
one with experience running
state agencies, but who also is
open to weighing policies like
allowing 17-year-olds to vote
in school board elections.
In announcing his can-
didacy, Smith said he could
unite Oregonians in an era of
sharp political polarization.
“I think there is a hunger
for a fresh voice and a new
energy,” Smith said, “But also
that citizens want to know
that that same person is going
to be able to hit the ground
running and brings the expe-
rience to actually deliver on
what they’re touting through-
out this campaign.”
Williamson is keen on
expanding access to the bal-
lot and wants to have the state
agencies besides Oregon
DMV register voters, provide
for election day voter reg-
istration, and provide more
election materials in lan-
guages other than English.
“Oregonians deserve a
secretary of state, a strong
secretary of state with a
proven record of fighting
for fairness in systems for
everyone,” Williamson said.
“And that means fighting for
policies that ensure our elec-
tions are clean and fair, and
removing barriers so that all
eligible voters have access to
the ballot.”
Charity: Because of homophobia, LGBTQ youths are more likely to be homeless
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services, such as emergency
shelter. The organization
points to its practice of hiring
openly gay employees and
that it offers the same ben-
efits to employees in same-
sex marriages as it does to all
married employees.
The organization states
due to homophobia, youth
who identify as LGBTQ are
more likely to be homeless,
making up as much as 40%
of the country’s homeless
youth population. The Sal-
vation Army assists them
with food, clothing, shelter
and counseling resources.
“We serve more than
23 million individuals a
year, including those in the
LGBTQ+ community. In
fact, we believe we are the
largest provider of poverty
relief to the LGBTQ+ popu-
lation,” The Salvation Army
said in a statement respond-
ing to Chick-fil-A’s decision
to not donate to the organi-
zation in 2020. “When mis-
information is perpetuated
without fact, our ability to
serve those in need, regard-
less of sexual orientation,
gender identity, religion or
any other factor, is at risk.”
Morris said all dona-
tions made to red kettles
and events, such as The
Salvation Army’s red ket-
tle kickoff fundraising din-
ner, stay locally, supporting
programs like meals for the
homeless that The Salvation
Army provides in Pendle-
ton six days a week. Even
if someone makes an online
donation, the money stays
within the ZIP code asso-
ciated with the credit card
used to pay.
“You’re able to give right
in your community,” she
said.
Morris said a volunteer
bell ringer will on aver-
“WHEN MISINFORMATION IS
PERPETUATED WITHOUT FACT,
OUR ABILITY TO SERVE THOSE IN
NEED, REGARDLESS OF SEXUAL
ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY,
RELIGION OR ANY OTHER FACTOR,
IS AT RISK.”
— The Salvation Army
age bring in enough money
in one hour to pay for 13
meals for a homeless mem-
ber of their community.
Major DeWayne Hallstad
of the Pendleton Salvation
Army told the East Orego-
nian earlier this year there
were 73 people at a meal the
previous day.
“We urge the public to
seek the truth before rush-
ing to ill-informed judg-
ment and greatly appreciate
those partners and donors
who ensure that anyone
who needs our help feels
safe and comfortable to
come through our doors,”
The Salvation Army stated.
In 2019, Chick-fil-A
donated $115,000 to The
Salvation Army for its
Angel Tree program, which
provides Christmas gifts
for children, and $1.65 mil-
lion to the Fellowship of
Christian Athletes to pay
for underprivileged youths
to attend sports camps at
historically black univer-
sities, such as Morehouse
College.
Rod Bragato of Herm-
iston, who supervises the
Umatilla and Morrow
County chapter of the Fel-
lowship of Christian Ath-
letes, said the money Chick-
fil-A has donated to the
organization in the past has
stayed on the other side of
the country and not been
used to fund programs
locally.
“The issue is really irrel-
evant to us,” he said.
Locally, the FCA offers
optional religious devotion-
als to student athletes after
practices, hosts athletic
activities, such as broom
hockey, and offers weekend
camps. Bragato said they
serve about 300 students on
a weekly basis.
The organization has
been criticized for the
“statement of faith” on its
website, which says, in part,
that sexual relations should
only happen within mar-
riage and that marriage is
“exclusively the union of
one man and one woman”
and that leaders must agree
to follow teachings on sex-
ual purity.
Bragato said despite the
national organization’s reli-
gious beliefs, local students
are never turned away for
being LGBTQ and he has
not been instructed by the
organization to do so.
“Anyone can come,” he
said. “I don’t think anyone
is discriminated against.”
Instead of donating
smaller amounts to a long
list of organizations as it has
in years past, Chick-fil-A
plans to donate a total of $9
million in 2020 to Covenant
House International, Junior
Achievements USA and
food banks in areas where
its restaurants are located.