OFF PAGE ONE
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
East Oregonian
A7
Business: Median annual commission for Scentsy consultants is $697
Continued from Page A1
the average commission for
someone who was active
with the company for all 12
months at $1,981 per year.
The top consultant in the
company earned $967,423
in commissions in 2018,
according to the report, but
the median was $697, mean-
ing half of Scentsy’s sellers
earned less than that over the
course of a year.
In multi-level marketing
companies, sellers get com-
missions from sales by peo-
ple they recruited to sell.
But Whetsler said Scentsy is
set up in a way that you can
make money without recruit-
ing people — she only has
one person “downstream”
from her.
“It is kind of like a pyra-
mid, but I don’t push people
to take the plunge with me,”
she said. “I want them to pur-
sue things they love. Scentsy
is what I love and it helps
bring income in for splurges.”
Each multi-level mar-
keting company has its own
rules for joining. Scentsy, for
example, requires consul-
tants to purchase a $99 starter
kit to start. LuLaRoe, known
for its colorful leggings, cur-
rently requires consultants to
make an initial investment
of $499 worth of products,
according to its website.
LuLaRoe has been the
target of multiple class action
lawsuits claiming it is a pyr-
amid scheme that misled and
pressured people into pur-
chasing thousands of dollars
of clothing that they were
unable to sell or return, then
Contributed photo by Olivia Olsen
Olivia Olsen, of Hermiston, makes homemade greeting cards, such as this one, and sells them
at yard sales.
convinced them to recruit
more people into an already
oversaturated market.
In response to one such
lawsuit in 2017, LuLaRoe
released a statement saying
the accusations were “base-
less, factually inaccurate and
misinformed” and that the
company’s success had made
it a “target of orchestrated
competitive attacks and pred-
atory litigation.”
Despite some people los-
ing money from participa-
tion in multi-level marketing
companies, others feel it’s a
good way to supplement their
income.
Tamara Bow, a registered
nurse from Umatilla, said
in an email to the East Ore-
gonian that she can’t dis-
close how much she makes a
month from selling Younique
makeup, but said she feels the
time she puts into it is “defi-
nitely” preferable to picking
up extra shifts at work.
“It can sometimes be a
challenge when someone
signs up and expects to retire
from their full-time job and
earn all the free trips, without
putting any work into it,” she
wrote. “This is like any other
entrepreneurship, you have to
put time into it, in order to be
paid like a full-time job.”
She cautioned people
looking into participation in
a multi-level marketing com-
pany to do their research
first and ask about specific
companies’ policies about
start-up costs, recurring fees,
cancellation fees, automatic
shipping of new inventory,
returns and website costs.
One reason she was drawn
to Younique specifically, she
said, was their lack of fees.
She has also enjoyed using
the product and bonuses,
such as the cruise to the
Bahamas she took last week
courtesy of the company.
Not everyone who starts
a home-based business does
so through a multi-level mar-
keting company. Some pre-
fer to work for themselves,
which may make them miss
out on bonuses but also gives
them more control over their
expenditures and revenue.
Olivia Olsen, of Hermis-
ton, started a small side busi-
ness making greeting cards
from home about two years
ago. She said she always
enjoyed making the intricate
cards, but she started selling
them after a friend gave one
of her homemade cards to a
coworker, and people started
requesting she make cards
for them.
“It’s just spread by word of
mouth,” she said.
Olsen said it takes 30
to 40 minutes to make one
card, and she charges $5 to
$8 per card, depending on
the cost of the materials used
to make it. She mostly sells
to friends and family, but
she also puts out a basket of
cards at friends’ yard sales
and donates batches of cards
to auctions that Hermiston
school groups put on to raise
money.
She can’t make a living off
of the business, she said, but it
turns a stress-relieving hobby
into a little extra cash she
puts away for “emergencies.”
“It’s nice people appreci-
ate them when I make them,”
she said.
Ana Cecilia Rodriguez,
of Hermiston, also started
a home-based business cre-
ating home decor, such as
succulent arrangements and
signs. As a stay-at-home
mother of six children, she
said she started Cecilia’s
Arts and Crafts because she
wanted to help contribute
toward what her husband was
earning.
She said she makes the
crafts while her children are
at school and sells them for as
much as $35 at places like the
farmer’s market.
Others in town offer ser-
vices, such as piano lessons
or tutoring, in their homes
instead of products.
Hermiston City Planner
Clint Spencer said he fre-
quently gets questions about
whether a home-based busi-
ness in a residential zone
would run afoul of city zon-
ing laws. The city’s code of
ordinances permits home-
based businesses in a resi-
dential zone if the building
is primarily used as a resi-
dence, less than one-fourth of
the ground floor is taken up
by the commercial activity
and the building maintains
the “outward appearance” of
a residence.
“There are lots of home
occupations in town where
people might do accounting
out of their homes, or run a
small, appointment only hair
cutting business out of their
homes,” Spencer wrote in an
email. “As far as online sales,
that’s one that is perfectly
acceptable. It’s a retail use,
but it’s done on an order by
order basis. That’s a big dif-
ference from having display
shelves and customers enter-
ing a store.”
According to section 11.02
of the City of Pendleton’s
code of ordinances, a home-
based business is considered
a “home occupation” requir-
ing a permit from the city if it
employs people who are not
residents of the home, has a
sign advertising the business
on the building or expects
more than two customers vis-
iting the home per day.
Cap and trade: ‘It’s going to affect every man, woman and child in Oregon’
Continued from Page A1
to find on the third and fourth
floors of the Senate side of the
Capitol building late Monday
morning, before the floor ses-
sion was called.
For state Sen. Bill Hansell,
R-Athena, that was the last
straw.
“I feel very strongly about
this,” he said in an interview
Monday. “It’s too conten-
tious, it’s too lifechanging, it’s
too monumental. It’s going to
affect every man, woman and
child in Oregon. This is it.”
Hansell recalled how
Republicans were able to
get a Democrat, Sen. Betsy
Johnson of Scappoose, to
join them on the otherwise
party-line vote, but Court-
ney’s last-minute decision to
add himself to the commit-
tee defeated the Republican
amendments and pushed the
bill through to the floor.
Hansell said Courtney’s
move was the first time he’s
seen that happen since he
joined the Legislature in
2013, although he admitted
that the move wasn’t illegal or
against Senate rules.
Other issues Hansell cited
for walking out included the
committee voting down an
alternative carbon sequestra-
tion proposal from state Rep.
Greg Smith, R-Heppner, and
the bill’s sponsors adding a
fiscal impact statement only
minutes before Ways and
Means was set to meet.
The walkout threatens to
derail the main legislation
that Democrats had hoped to
pass during a 35-day session:
a bill to limit greenhouse gas
emissions that threaten the
planet.
The latest so-called cap-
and-trade bill calls for the
state to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions to at least 45%
below 1990 emissions lev-
els by 2035 and to at least
80% below by 2050. The bill
would force big greenhouse
gas emitters to obtain credits
for each metric ton of carbon
dioxide they emit. Opponents
say fossil fuel companies will
wind up offloading increased
costs to customers.
Republican
lawmakers
said a matter of this magni-
tude should be brought before
voters. Republican state Sen.
Fred Girod said before the
committee’s vote that if the
measure were referred to vot-
ers “we would stick around.”
“Just give them the right to
vote,” Girod said.
Democratic Gov. Kate
Brown accused the Repub-
lican lawmakers of “being
against the Democratic pro-
cess.” The minority Repub-
licans staged two walkouts
on the Senate floor that not
enough senators were present
to convene Monday’s session,
several people in an upper
gallery clapped. Courtney
said he would order police to
expel them if they persisted.
A visibly angry Brown
denounced the boycott as
undemocratic.
“If they don’t like a bill,
then they need to show up and
“LEGISLATORS SHUTTING DOWN
THE GOVERNMENT BY WALKING
OFF THE JOB IS A CRISIS FOR OUR
DEMOCRACY.”
— Tina Kotek, Oregon House speaker, D-Portland
last year, leading Senate
President Peter Courtney to
request Brown to order the
state police to bring the miss-
ing lawmakers back. This
time, though, Courtney said
he won’t involve the state
police.
A few large trucks sup-
porting the Republicans
drove around the Oregon
Capitol, blowing their horns.
After Courtney announced
change it or show up and vote
no. They should make their
voices heard rather than shut
down state government,” she
said at a news conference.
Oregon House Speaker
Tina Kotek, D-Portland, also
condemned the walkout.
“Legislators
shutting
down the government by
walking off the job is a crisis
for our democracy,” she said.
“This is not a game. Voters
elected us to do our job. The
members who refuse to show
up and do their jobs are say-
ing to a large majority of Ore-
gonians — your vote doesn’t
matter.”
Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dal-
las, has been excused for the
next couple of days due to a
family medical issue.
Workers in the office of
Sen. Lynn Findley, R-Vale,
said Findley was “not here”
and that “he’s not coming
back.”
In a statement shortly
before the floor session, Find-
ley said that “if my colleagues
will not allow for a fair pro-
cess in the building, then I
will represent my constituents
from outside the building.”
Staff for Sen. Denyc Boles,
R-Salem, referred questions
to communications.
Kate Gillem, Senate
Republican spokeswoman,
said that all have walked out
except for a “senator from
Bend.”
Gillem said they would
stay away for the rest of the
session. She said they could
maybe be drawn back if
the bill could be referred
to voters.
She didn’t say where they
went.
“I don’t know,” she said.
“They’ve been super tight-
lipped. Even with staff.”
Although he’s staying out-
side Salem, Hansell said he
remains in-state, although
that could change if Brown
and Courtney order Oregon
State Police to bring back the
absent senators.
He also anticipated that
more legislators could leave
Salem in the future.
“The House is in lockstep
with us and there’s the possi-
bility that they will walk out
as well,” he said.
In the wake of the mass
walkout, Blue Mountain
Community College can-
celed its Tuesday videocon-
ference on the short ses-
sion with Hansell and state
Rep. Greg Barreto, R-Cove,
and was unable to confirm
whether the weekly event
would resume on March 3.
———
EO reporters Antonio
Sierra and Jessica Pollard
and The Associated Press
contributed to this report.
Helping: ‘It just felt like something I needed to do’
Continued from Page A1
Lang went to Nate Jack-
son and Luke Britt, both
pastors with the church, and
told them about the tragic
state of the park. The fol-
lowing Thursday, Lang,
Britt and Rod Darling-
ton, another member of the
church, went together to see
the park themselves.
“They were just heart-
broken,” Jackson said.
Though they wanted to
quickly organize a work
party for that Saturday, the
weather wasn’t ideal and
they instead scheduled one
for the following weekend.
“What I was hoping for
is that we could just come
here and try to be a bless-
ing to these people,” Jack-
son said.
The church has about
300 members, Jackson said,
and they were hoping for at
least 10-12 people to show
up and help them for the
day.
That proved to be an
underestimate.
Thirty to 40 church
members came decked out
in work gloves and muck
boots, and equipped with
their own rakes and shov-
els. The dumpster pro-
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Nathan Burcham, 14, shovels dirt into a puddle on Saturday
as part of the church’s effort to clean up flood damage at
Hall’s Trailer Park.
vided by the CTUIR was
filled within 30 minutes,
but luckily a handful of
members brought their own
trucks to fill and haul to the
dump. Pendleton also said
any debris that was left and
marked would be picked up
and disposed of on Monday.
The group started on the
east side of the park where
Meacham’s house sits, and
he said his yard was cleaned
and wood restacked within
20 minutes.
Though it wasn’t sup-
posed to be a burn day, the
city allowed the group to
start a burn pile of wood
and tree debris that grew
larger and larger as the day
wore on.
Steine worked along-
side the church members
throughout the day, clean-
ing up the mess around his
own home and the rest of
the park.
“I needed to clean my
place anyway, and they’re
my neighbors too,” he said.
A smile spread across
Jackson’s face as he took
a break and watched as,
wheelbarrow by wheel-
barrow, his congregation
worked hand in hand with
the community.
“This,” Jackson said as
he watched the stream of
volunteers trek back and
forth with load after load
of wreckage. “This is the
church right here. This is
what we should be doing all
the time. It just feels right.”
A few hours and many
truckloads later, the con-
gregation took a break
to barbecue and chat
with the community over
lunch. Before the group
served up its meal, Britt
led them through a prayer
giving thanks to God for
supplying them with the
strength to give back to the
community.
Prior to grabbing their
own lunch, Lang stepped
aside and told Hall the
church would have volun-
teers out later this week
to drop and spread gravel
along the park’s battered
roads and figure out what
else the community needs.
Hall hung her head and
shook it in disbelief for sev-
eral moments before finally
raising her gaze to Lange.
“I’m going to owe thanks
to the good Lord for send-
ing all of you for the rest of
my life,” she said.
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Hermiston city manager Byron Smith discusses fire dam-
age and accessibility concerns with members of the public
and city officials during a tour of the Hermiston City Hall
Monday night.
City hall: $9M price tag
Continued from Page A1
Six of the eight coun-
cilors were in attendance
Monday. Councilor John
Kirwan, who motioned to
approve building a new
city hall, stipulated that the
project should not exceed
$9 million dollars and that
the new enterprise zone
agreement and the possible
tenant be confirmed before
moving forward.
Prior to the city coun-
cil meeting Monday,
Smith initiated a pub-
lic walk-through tour of
the smoke-damaged city
hall building. Conversa-
tions around accessibil-
ity within and around the
building also sat center
stage.
“I brought a wheelchair
if anyone wants to try
making those corners,” he
said.
People were invited to
try the stair lift up the small
staircase to the city council
chambers. City councilor
Roy Barron commented he
could only make it halfway
up the short staircase to the
chambers.