ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
WYATT HAUPT JR.
News Editor
JADE McDOWELL
Hermiston Editor
TUESDAy, JANUARy 12, 2021
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
CD2 voters
deserve
better from
Cliff Bentz
L
ast week on this page we wrote that
we believed newly elected U.S. Rep.
Cliff Bentz had a bright future in
the halls of the Congress. We still believe
that to be true, but it’s clear the freshman
congressman didn’t get off on the right foot
last week in the wake of a seditious storm-
ing of the U.S. Capitol by a mob.
After the mob dispersed, Bentz — who
represents Oregon’s 2nd Congressional
District — joined more than 130 GOP
lawmakers who voted to object to Pennsyl-
vania election results. The vote was based
on shaky data that has been proven wrong.
The objection, rightly, failed.
Later, Bentz told the Malheur Enterprise
newspaper in Malheur County — where
Bentz worked for decades as lawyer — that
he doesn’t believe President Trump should
resign and he shouldn’t be impeached after
the insurrection at the Capitol last week.
Bentz arguably represents one of the
more conservative areas of Oregon, if not
the nation, so his vote on the Pennsylva-
nia results was no surprise. At the end of
the day, he is an elected member of the
Congress and can vote the way he feels best
represents his constituents.
The only problem with such logic is that
the Pennsylvania results were never really
in question and legal protests to it were
soundly defeated. To still vote in protest
of the results after such legal proceed-
ings calls into question the new congress-
man’s judgement and just exactly whom he
believes he is representing.
If he believes he must only listen to his
ultra right-wing constituents, then he must
rethink his outlook. The 2nd Congressio-
nal District is home to a good share of ultra
right-wing voters, but it is also filled with
middle-of-the-road Republicans and many
Democrats. Their views and concerns
matter too.
Bentz’s views on what should occur
after the president essentially incited a
mob to storm the Capitol building are head
scratchers. On a purely pragmatic road, he
is probably correct that an impeachment
of the president would be a waste of time.
The president leaves office within the next
two weeks, so spending valuable time in
impeachment proceedings won’t move
things along, especially since the U.S.
Senate also plays a role in such matters.
But his comments the president will be
held accountable for last week’s mob “in
the proper way” is also mystifying. What
does that mean?
Bentz made major missteps last week —
miscues that raise questions about his polit-
ical judgement. The voters of his district
deserve better.
EDITORIALS
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East
Oregonian editorial board. Other columns,
letters and cartoons on this page express the
opinions of the authors and not necessarily
that of the East Oregonian.
LETTERS
The East Oregonian welcomes original letters
of 400 words or less on public issues and public
policies for publication in the newspaper and on
our website. The newspaper reserves the right
to withhold letters that address concerns about
individual services and products or letters that
infringe on the rights of private citizens. Letters
must be signed by the author and include the
city of residence and a daytime phone number.
The phone number will not be published.
Unsigned letters will not be published.
SEND LETTERS TO:
editor@eastoregonian.com,
or via mail to Andrew Cutler,
211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801
YOUR VIEWS
City development needs
new leadership
In a recent article in the East Orego-
nian titled “Buildable land needed for
new housing,” it was stated that the city
of Pendleton’s No. 1 priority is hous-
ing. If you check the section on the
city’s website under “Mayor and City
Council,” it lists four goals: (1) Sustain-
able Infrastructure Funding for Build-
ings, Roads, and Utilities, (2) Increase
Economic Development Activities and
Blight Reduction, (3) Development of
Quality Commercial, Industrial, and
Residential Properties, (4) Increase
Available Housing.
After hearing for months that
rebuilding our streets was the top prior-
ity, has City Hall changed course?
At the last city council meeting on
Dec. 15, a booster pump project that
would open up residential development
in the Goad Road area was purposed.
The city would cover all the engineering
costs at roughly $350,000, but no actual
construction. This sounds suspiciously
similar to the city’s approach taken with
the Barnhart Road extension, affection-
ally known as the “road to nowhere.”
City officials assumed businesses
would jump at the chance of develop-
ment. Once it became apparent that
utilities were not available, interest
evaporated. The success of the city’s
drone program at the airport spawned
the idea of a new dedicated industrial
park. The city picked up the tab for new
infrastructure and construction has
flourished. For the first time in years,
the airport has not been a drain on city
resources.
When it comes to sponsoring new
major housing development projects, the
city has had a pretty dismal record that
in the end has cost taxpayers a bundle.
Chasing developers and offering free
property as an incentive for rapid
development set a bad precedent. City
negotiators, desperate and lacking any
practical business experience, allowed
contractors to demand even better
terms. The results? Inaction by the city
manager and council on the Pendle-
ton Heights and other projects brought
development to a standstill, costing the
city lost property tax revenue.
If it is in fact true that housing has
supplanted infrastructure as the city’s
No. 1 priority, perhaps it’s time to get
a management team in place that’s the
same caliber as the airport “Chrisman
Team,” the team that’s done such a
remarkable job reversing the fortunes at
the airport.
Rick Rohde
Pendleton
Bentz has betrayed his
oath of office
Two critical tests that any elected
representative must pass are that he or
she make sound decisions for the good
of their constituents, and that they seek
the truth. On Wednesday, Jan. 6, and
Thursday, Jan. 7, freshman Congress-
man Cliff Bentz, representing Oregon’s
2nd Congressional District, failed both
tests.
Going into the special joint session
of Congress — wherein the results of
the recent presidential election would
be certified — Mr. Bentz chose to side
with a fringe group of Republican
representatives that intended to oppose
the certification based upon lies and
baseless accusations the election had
somehow been rigged — lies and accu-
sations that were born and perpetuated
by a defeated president. The evolution
of these lies within the supporters of
President Donald Trump formed the
catalyst that led to armed insurrection
and storming of the Capitol building by
Trump supporters on Jan. 6.
Following this terrifying attempted
coup that threatened the fabric of the
U.S. government, Bentz still chose to
continue to perpetuate these lies by
voting with his cronies against the certi-
fication of the presidential vote. Bentz
is complicit with the president and his
Republican colleagues in attempting to
undermine the foundation of American
democracy by seeking to scuttle a free
and fair election.
Bentz has betrayed his oath of office
to uphold the Constitution of the United
States of America. Bentz has demon-
strated that he will not be an effec-
tive representative for the people of
Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District
and must resign, effective immediately.
Mark Peterson
Pendleton
Republicans must take
back their party
Trumpism has been thoroughly
expressed as of Wednesday, Jan. 6, by
the storming of the nation’s capital. The
decomposing soul of the Republican
Party has been dramatically exposed.
But we, as a nation, need the Repub-
lican Party. We are essentially a
two-party republic and we need two
viable, vibrant, functional parties so
that there are valid choices for the elec-
torate to make.
Sadly, the current status of the
Republican Party does not fit this defi-
nition. It is not viable, nor vibrant, nor
functional, especially in that there are
still leaders — senators and representa-
tives — who cling to the misrepresen-
tations and the tsunami of outright lies
that have been promulgated by Trump
and his troop of sycophants. How can
they, who have sworn to uphold the
Constitution, carry on with this rotting
compost?
For example, how can Joni Ernst,
clearly stated as a follower of QAnon,
believe and support the insane conspir-
acy nonsense and be a U.S. senator at
the same time? Senators are supposed
to be wise leaders who advise on good
and effective governmental policies and
operations.
I am a Democrat. But in state elec-
tions I am a ticket splitter; for exam-
ple, I have consistently voted for Bill
Hansell — a Republican — because he
is a native son of Eastern Oregon and
does excellent work on behalf of us all. I
do not despise the Republican Party —
rather, I feel a great deal of sorrow for
the good, true and honest Republicans
who see their party in such utter and
complete shambles.
I wholeheartedly hope that those
people — the honest and true and good
Republicans — can displace the disso-
lute leadership of our present times and
rebuild their party so the we can again
have choices of competent leadership on
both sides of the aisle.
Also, I note with sadness and shame
— anger, too — that our Eastern
Oregon congressional representatives,
Mr. Bentz and Ms. Levy, have shown
their stripes as Trumpistas and signed
on to the totally delirious nonsense
movement to object to the Electoral
College vote counting and attempt to
overturn the presidential election.
Jan. 6 is a dark day for all of us in a
multiplicity of ways.
Andrew Clark
Pendleton
Middle of the road is no
place to be
One-time Texas railroad commis-
sioner and longtime activist Jim High-
tower had it right: There’s nothing in
the middle of the road but yellow stripes
and a dead armadillo. That’s where our
newly elected congressional represen-
tative, Cliff Bentz, thought he found
himself when he arrived in Washing-
ton, D.C. Faced with his first test as a
congressman, Bentz failed it miserably.
In trying to walk that line between
accepting the results of the election
and rubber-stamping the subversion
our democracy, he thought he could
have it both ways. So he voted “no” on
destroying Arizona’s electoral votes, but
“yes” on burning Pennsylvania’s. That’s
despite the fact that Congress has no
business rejecting the ballots of millions
of voters in a fair election because they
include mail-in ballots.
That he was willing to do so after
rioters had trashed the U.S. Capitol,
smashing windows and looting offices,
was a real eye-opener for me. Just that
morning I’d called his office and made
it clear that, as a Vietnam veteran, I
didn’t go to war for to have our elec-
tions attacked with lies and deceit.
Oregonians have voted by mail for
over 20 years. It’s probably the most
secure system in the country. It’s elected
Democrats and Republicans, and it
elected Bentz.
He betrayed our state and the citizens
who elected him. The middle of the road
he thought he was traveling was on the
edge of a precipice, with sedition lurk-
ing below. He better have his parachute
ready: It’s a long way down.
Norm Cimon
La Grande