OFF PAGE ONE
Friday, January 24, 2020
East Oregonian
A7
Measure to limit self-checkout gets nod from Oregon Supreme Court
By CLAIRE
WITHYCOMBE
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Are they an
annoyance? A convenience?
Do they destroy jobs?
A federation of Oregon
workers wants voters to issue
a verdict on the self-checkout
kiosks becoming more prev-
alent at grocery stores.
A petition to limit each
grocery store to two of the
checkout kiosks can soon
move forward to signature
gathering. On Friday, the
Oregon Supreme Court cer-
tified the attorney general’s
description of the proposed
measure.
Sandra
McDonough,
president and CEO of lobby
group Oregon Business &
Industry, challenged Attor-
ney General Ellen Rosen-
blum’s description of the pro-
posed measure, asking the
Supreme Court to review it.
Backers need 112,020 sig-
natures to get to voters’ bal-
lots in November.
Filed in July, Initiative
Petition 41 is backed by the
Oregon AFL-CIO, a coali-
tion of labor groups repre-
senting about 300,000 Ore-
gon workers.
“We have been consis-
EO Media Group file photo
A federation of Oregon workers wants voters to issue a verdict on the self-checkout kiosks
becoming more prevalent at grocery stores.
tently concerned about the
impacts of technology and
automation on the liveli-
hoods of working people,
especially when they have
no voice in how technology
is used in their workplaces,”
Graham Trainor, president of
the Oregon AFL-CIO, said
in a statement. “You can see
expansion of self-checkout
machines in stores across the
country and in Oregon.”
He said jobs are lost as a
result.
The AFL-CIO contends
self-checkout kiosks make
customers feel socially iso-
lated, particularly elderly
people, and that the kiosks
let stores rely more on part-
time workers and leaves
workers “feeling devalued.”
They also claim self-check-
out stands make it easier for
minors to buy alcohol and for
people to steal from stores.
Joe Gilliam, president of
the Northwest Grocery Asso-
ciation, an industry group,
scoffed at the labor group’s
claims, calling the proposed
measure “a bit perplexing
and very misguided.”
“Today’s customer wants
convenience and less has-
sle when shopping,” Gilliam
wrote in an email to the Ore-
gon Capital Bureau. “This
is evident in the growth of
online shopping for local
pick-up and home delivery.
This measure is tone deaf to
what the public is demanding
in the marketplace.”
He said that self-check-
out lets customers check
out more quickly and pri-
vately. He said presuming
that self-checkout machines
would replace workers is
“simply untrue.”
“Employees are our life-
blood and provide key ser-
vices that no machine can
duplicate,” Gilliam said.
The measure would give
the state Bureau of Labor
and Industries enforcement
power and let it issue pen-
alties for stores that pro-
vide too many self-service
stations.
In court documents,
McDonough argued the pro-
posed restriction would have
a “substantial impact” on
retailers and shoppers.
She argued that the bal-
lot title wasn’t clear that “vir-
tually all Oregonians” could
sue grocery stores that have
more than two self-checkout
kiosks.
“The ballot title pro-
cess, which we were just in,
is about making sure, if the
measure actually gets on the
ballot, that the words that
describe it accurately reflect
what the measure’s going to
do,” said McDonough in an
interview Wednesday.
She added, “And we’re
going to wait to see if it
makes it on ballot. And if it
does, then we’ll assess what
we’re going to do about it.
But from our perspective,
this is really about what con-
sumers want.”
Evan Christopher, a law-
yer for Gilliam, echoed sim-
ilar concerns about poten-
tial lawsuits in a letter to the
Secretary of State’s elections
division last fall.
“Voters
must
be
informed that (the initia-
tive petition) permits every
employee who complains
about a self-checkout and is
later terminated or demoted
or given a different work
schedule to call his or her
employer into court on a
claim of retaliation,” Chris-
topher wrote. “Every cus-
tomer who files a com-
plaint about a self-checkout
machine and is later asked
to leave the same store —
for whatever reason —
would have the same claim.”
River: Homeless and environment hot topics at north bank meeting
Continued from Page A1
facilitate the process.
Prado said the goal of the
committee wasn’t to formu-
late definitive plans for the
north bank or expend pub-
lic resources on new proj-
ects. Instead, the commit-
tee’s goal was to produce a
document that would reflect
the community’s collec-
tive vision for the relatively
undeveloped area.
As homelessness has
risen in Pendleton, so too
have homeless camps along
the north bank.
In 2018, a fire started by
a homeless camp threatened
some nearby homes before
being put out. The following
year, the Pendleton Police
Department cleared out 22
camps situated along the
river.
Illicit activity along the
river was on the minds of
some of the attendees.
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
A rusted axle and leaf springs rest among the foliage on the north bank of the Umatilla River
in Pendleton on Thursday afternoon.
Northwest Bailey Ave-
nue
resident
Roxanne
Duchek said she and her
neighbor recently went
down to a north bank
area near their homes and
cleared out brush and trash
themselves, and the “crimi-
nal activity” she used to see
has since gone away.
“We got rid of the prob-
lem of disrespect,” she said.
Others in the audience
felt like the homeless were
being scapegoated for the
north bank’s issues and even
if the city cleared out the
homeless, they would still
end up elsewhere in town.
Jim Willis, a North Hill
resident who led the effort
to prevent the city from sell-
ing the piece of north bank
property, said there was a
“yin and yang” to maintain-
ing the north bank: Clear-
ing out brush and vegetation
might prevent camping, lit-
tering and fire hazards, but
it also repels wildlife that
congregates in and around
the river.
Humans aren’t the only
ones clearing out weeds and
plants. For several years,
the city has hired a herd
of goats to graze on both
sides of the river to clean up
potential fire hazards.
Pendleton resident Karen
Wagner noted that over the
years, the native plants and
grasses along the Umatilla
River have been replaced by
invasive species like cheat-
grass and puncture vine,
further hurting the local
environment.
While Prado stressed that
the committee wanted to
hear from as many people as
possible, audience member
George Winter took a more
spiritual approach to advo-
cating for the environment.
“I didn’t see a place
where we could listen to the
river speak,” he said.
Prado said there would
be more opportunities for
input before the committee
delivers its report, starting
with another public meet-
ing on Feb. 19 and continu-
ing on with a multi-month
process that includes focus
groups.
Records: Council will be looking
for a new advocate come March
Continued from Page A1
League of Oregon Cities,
proposed measure amend-
ments to strike language
dealing with the advo-
cate’s voting power. He
also wanted the group to
drop its plans to seek pub-
lic records legislation.
Instead, the council
voted to approve the bill
as it was proposed. Mem-
bers also authorized Chair
Stephanie Clark and acting
Public Records Advocate
Todd Albert to propose leg-
islation. Winkels was the
lone no vote.
In addition, the council
decided to advertise begin-
ning March 9 for a new
public records advocate.
The council expects to
review applicants and hire
someone in April.
‘Torpedo’
proposed bill
During
Wednesday’s
debate, two members of the
council — Les Zaitz, edi-
tor and publisher of The
Malheur Enterprise and
chief of the Oregon Capital
Bureau, and Steve Suo, The
Oregonian‘s investigations
editor — raised concerns
that amendments proposed
by Winkels’ organization
put the council in an awk-
ward position.
“I’m
uncomfortable
having a council member
presenting and promoting
the special interest they’re
paid to represent,” Zaitz
said. “While it might be
interesting informationally,
it just strikes me as inap-
propriate. I’m concerned
that going into a discussion
of amendments that are not
of the council’s doing pro-
vides, frankly, a special
entree to the council that
other organizations don’t
appear to have.”
Suo said it was disrup-
tive to the process to have
one member to try to “tor-
pedo” a proposed bill the
council supported.
Council member Mark
Landauer, executive direc-
tor of Oregon Public Ports,
said he didn’t view the
league’s amendments as
an attempt to torpedo the
bill. He saw them as a dif-
ference of opinion on the
council’s mission.
Winkels said the amend-
ments were more about
cleaning up “sloppy” lan-
guage dealing with the
council’s authority to pro-
pose legislation, a con-
stitutional right already
available to the group. He
also said the league did
not agree that the public
records advocate should be
an independent office. The
advocate’s position was
created in 2017 under the
governor’s authority.
“If the league doesn’t
feel like this is a good bill,
we should be able to offer
an alternative,” Winkels
said.
Limiting council’s
independence
During public testi-
mony, Stayton City Coun-
cilor Jordan Ohrt said she
supported more indepen-
dence for the council and
the advocate. Former Pub-
lic Records Advocate Gin-
ger McCall, who resigned
in September 2019, also
opposed the amendments.
“One thing I’d point out
to be wary of is that the
language in the amend-
ment says the council can
‘vet and review’ propos-
als by others. Having that
language in there could
be interpreted as lim-
ited, so that then council
is not placed or positioned
to propose legislation on
its own,” McCall told the
council.
Independence for the
public records advocate
and the council was partic-
ularly important because
of the situation surround-
ing McCall’s exit. In a let-
ter to Brown in Septem-
ber 2019, McCall cast light
on disagreements she had
with Brown’s top attor-
ney, Misha Isaak, over
whether it was the advo-
cate’s responsibility to be
a member of the governor’s
team or an independent
authority.
“If the advocate were to
represent the interests of an
elected official while allow-
ing the council and the pub-
lic to believe that she is act-
ing independently, that
would be both unethical
and particularly inappro-
priate for an office that was
founded to promote trans-
parency,” McCall wrote.
Lawmakers
created
the office of the public
records advocate in 2017
to increase transparency
in state and local govern-
ment. It also was designed
to mediate disputes over
public records. Brown pro-
posed the advocate and the
council as a way to increase
state transparency after
ascending to the governor’s
office when former Gov.
John Kitzhaber resigned.
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
A poster shows potential designs for wayfinding signs in Hermiston.
Wayfinding: Creating a unified brand
Continued from Page A1
realized we really need a
comprehensive design plan
for the whole city,” he said.
The project would use a
mixture of elements. Cur-
rent, mismatched signs at
features, such as city parks,
would be replaced. New
signs for motorists would
point the way to attractions
ranging from schools to
trails to government build-
ings, such as the courthouse
or DMV. Maps and kiosks
would be posted to orient
pedestrians. Arches or other
decorative features would
beckon people to a clearly
defined downtown district,
and the city’s seven munic-
ipal parking lots in the dis-
trict would be numbered and
clearly marked.
“Currently, they have
nothing,” Swantak said of
the parking lots. “I don’t
even know if I’m allowed
to park there. So, we will
label them as public parking
and include any regulatory
information.”
The signs would all fit
the same decorative theme.
Swantak presented three
potential design themes —
one inspired by the city’s
“Where Life is Sweet” logo
on the water tower, one with
a more historical feel and
one with an outdoor theme
that uses natural elements,
such as stone and wood.
Beyond signs, MERJE
would also help the city cre-
ate a more coordinated effort
to help visitors find their way
around Hermiston through
other means, such as provid-
ing user-friendly, up-to-date
maps on websites and at the
chamber of commerce.
“When you talk about
wayfinding, people always
talk about signage, but it
starts before people get
there,” Swantak said, adding
he wanted messages to visi-
tors “all talking in the same
language.”
Swantak said the goal for
the project will be to come
up with a comprehensive
list of what attractions need
highlighted, where signs for
those attractions need to be
located and which type of
sign should be used. The list
can then be presented to the
city council for a vote, and
the city can prioritize that
list.
Spencer said he had
money in the urban renewal
budget for signs in the urban
renewal district, but other
signs will need to be phased
in over time as the city finds
money through grants, dona-
tions or the general fund.