ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
WYATT HAUPT JR.
News Editor
JADE McDOWELL
Hermiston Editor
TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2021
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Making
smart
choices
with federal
money
P
endleton will have an array of choices
regarding where it can spend its share
of the mammoth federal $1.9 trillion
American Rescue Plan Act.
Hopefully, the city’s elected leaders will
choose wisely.
The choices are not easy. There are a host
of competing priorities and needs that seek a
one-time infusion of funds, but what elected
leaders must do is sift through the ideas that
sound grand and decide where the money is
needed the most.
A plan developed by a local group that
consists of the Pendleton Economic Devel-
opment Department, the Pendleton Conven-
tion Center, the Pendleton Chamber of
Commerce and the Pendleton Round-Up
Association to receive $250,000 to create a
broad-based effort based to beef up tourism
is not a bad place to start.
Tourism is an important element the
vitality of any community, and Pendleton
is in a unique position once a year with the
Round-Up to capitalize on the large influx of
visitors that arrive.
Yet, there are other pressing concerns
city leaders must carefully consider. Infra-
structure improvements should be at the top
of any list regarding where to use the infu-
sion of funds. The Vert Auditorium and the
Pendleton Aquatic Center, for example, both
need upgrades because of deferred main-
tenance. Other city infrastructure — not
least of which are roads — also could use
some repairs or outright replacement and the
federal money could be used for those proj-
ects.
At its last session, the council seemed to
like the idea of spreading the money across
tourism, infrastructure and the general fund,
and that may be the safest — or least contro-
versial — avenue.
Yet, city leaders should be wary of
making compromise decisions that spread
the cash too far over too may subjects. If
there is a need, such as an infrastructure
improvement, that could be solved with a
large infusion of the money then elected
leaders should not be shy of saying so and
voting for that approach.
No one discounts how difficult monetary
decisions — especially when it is free and
there are so many competing needs — can
be. Yet, part of the job of being an elected
leader revolves around a certain degree of
fortitude. Sometimes when the table is full
of money the possibilities can seem endless.
Yet, at least in Pendleton there are some
key options that probably need to be at the
forefront of elected leaders when it comes to
making firm decisions.
The city is lucky to be able to count on the
money. We just need to make sure we spend
it wisely and for items that truly need the
money.
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
There and back again
ALEX
HOBBS
PASTURES OF PLENT Y
I
n J.R.R Tolkien’s “Lord of the
Rings,” Khazad-dûm is an ancient
dwarven stronghold used to mine
Mithril: a precious metal renowned for
its strength and beauty. Unfortunately,
the dwarves dug too greedily, and from
the depths of Moria rose the Balrog.
What awaits the villages of Eastern
Oregon when they dig too deep? When
all that remains are concrete bunkers,
with their incessant technological whir
and perpetual illumination? When all
the treasure to be found sits beneath the
talons of the Dragon in Seattle?
Let’s leave the Shire and find out.
The first smell to hit you will be the
camphor and terpenoids of sagebrush.
Perhaps you will be lucky enough to
experience its intense fragrance after
rainfall.
Next, and if your immune system can
handle it, you’ll smell the Russian olives.
Though not in bloom until August, their
sweet scent is unmistakable, their khaki-
green leaves a juxtaposition upon a
brown horizon.
Perhaps in the distance, you’ll catch a
whiff of a body of water. A pond that has
long gone eutrophic. At its bottom, an
organic alchemy you can practically feel
smush between your toes. It is home to a
dizzying assemblage of life.
Above you are stars. Millions of
them. Constellations that bear little
resemblance to their namesake burst out
of the sky’s inky fabric. They pulsate so
vibrantly it becomes easy to forget the
objects that tether us to life back home.
Somewhere, the Milky Way greets you
shyly like an old friend. Its gossamer belt
of color still shimmers faintly in Eastern
Oregon.
The click and flit of bats. The chirrup
of the katydids. A silence and dark-
ness not often found elsewhere. But the
village leaders tell us this land is cheap
and worthless. Crops can’t be grown
here. After all, it’s just sagebrush. What
better use for it than to tear it away. To
build a monument to man’s ever-decreas-
ing attention span.
They begin to rip the earth apart.
Suddenly, a behemoth erupts from
the ground like the cataclysmic lava
flows that once carved this land. Hard
and angular, bending the earth to its will.
Its teeth bared and gnashing. Its black
spikes, an armor around its stony perim-
eter. Its electric buzz is wholly unlike the
hoot of a burrowing owl.
The monster comes under the guise
of a gift. But its perfume is too strong,
its smile too saccharine, and beneath it
lingers something rotten. It is not like
the sage, which offers us the gift of stars
and sweetness. With hands outstretched,
the inhuman monster offers the parched
desert dwellers a long drink of water.
Some of the local village lead-
ers drink heartily from those gnarled,
cupped palms, their tongues lapping up
the cool water greedily.
“I am smart,” they think. “I have
water to drink while others go thirsty.”
And so the village leaders let the monster
smash his way through a land that offers
up other gifts. Gifts of mutuality. One
by one, other monsters take root, like
the noxious thistle, choking out the stars
with their eternal illumination.
Soon the stars recede from their
velvety home in the night sky. Dust
rolls across the land, choking out the
sun. Homes become inundated with the
perpetual, electric din of the monster and
all its progeny dredging up water from
their poisoned wells.
But someday, the wells will run
dry. The monsters will no longer have
any cool water to offer the insatiable
village leaders. Their tongues will cease
lapping. Unlike the Balrog, who sits and
waits, these monsters will uproot them-
selves in search of other village leaders
to beguile.
In the end, the monsters will run out
of room in Northeast Oregon. Their life
source becomes cheaper elsewhere and
eventually, they have to pay taxes. Above
all else, the monsters loathe paying taxes.
The village leaders try to figure out
what to do with the exoskeletons left
behind by the monsters. But they are too
vast. Within, the defunct internal organs
begin to collect dust. Absent from this
silence is the sound of wind rustling
through the sage. In its stead, the sterile
silence of absolute nothingness.
———
Alex Hobbs lives in Irrigon and is a
former educator turned full-time homes-
chooling mom. She has a degree in politi-
cal science from Oregon State University.
YOUR VIEWS
Spencer a dedicated
champion of worthy causes
I readily endorse Ms. Briana Spencer
for a member of the Pendleton School
District 16 Board. I, as the executive
director of a nonprofit organization,
Enough-Iz-Enough, as well as a Mission
and Pendleton local, have had many
opportunities over the years to witness
the growth and drive of Ms. Spencer.
Briana shows great empathy for our
joint community’s citizens and is will-
ing to listen to the voice of the people
and advocate for them to be heard. Ms.
Spencer has an adept ability to empower
the youth and community through
her example of compassionate leader-
ship. She has a history of serving in her
communities through responsible activ-
ism, affecting lasting, real, and diverse
solutions to challenging issues.
Ms. Spencer serves with a level head
and just heart as a dedicated cham-
pion of worthy causes. She voluntarily
commits to taking on challenging tasks
and has raised significant monetary
support for community awareness. She
knows how to coordinate with inter-
agencies across multiple counties to
meet a need and facilitate direct action
for policy change.
Ms. Spencer is a multicultural
member of the Confederated Tribes of
the Umatilla Reservation, has been a
resident with the CTUIR and Pendle-
ton communities for most of her life,
and knows many families here. Briana
brings with her knowledge of the local
LETTERS DEADLINE FOR MAY 18 ELECTIONS
The East Oregonian does not run endorsements of more than 400 words.
The A East Oregonian will institute a deadline for letters to the editor, so we can be fair
with all the letters we receive and allow for responses before Election Day, if necessary.
We run local letters of endorsement on a first-come, first-served basis.
Please submit your endorsement letters to the editor by 5 p.m. Friday, May 7. You can
email them to editor@eastoregonian.com, or mail them to East Oregonian, c/o Andrew
Cutler, 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton, 97801.
We will publish our last letters on Saturday, May 15. Any letters received after the dead-
line will not run. Election Day is May 18.
people and area, contemporary ideas,
understanding, determination, and the
ability to create a positive and produc-
tive work environment.
For these reasons and further reasons
listed in the above letter, I believe she
will be an exceptional addition to the
Pendleton School District 16 Board.
Willa Wallace
Pendleton
Spencer brings
people together for the
common good
The Pendleton School Board is in
need of fresh leadership.
Briana Spencer, candidate for the
school board, position 7, has qualifica-
tions that will bring a new and exciting
perspective to the school board.
I have known Briana for approxi-
mately three years. I really got to know
her during the Pendleton BLM 2020.
I was amazed at the organizational
skills she demonstrated bringing the
city police, city manager and numerous
other entities to highlight the concerns
of many.
Briana brings uncanny knowledge
and innate abilities to help young and
old with organizing food distribu-
tions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Christmas dinner program for the
CTIUR and Pendleton communities
was another example of Briana’s ability
to bring people together for the common
good.
Briana is preparing for public office
by completing a seven-month program
called Emerge Oregon. This program
identifies, trains, and inspires women to
run for all levels of office. The program
also encourages women to participate
in committees and community-based
advocacy organizations.
Let’s bring a new energy to the
school board and school district 16R.
Vote for Briana Spencer for School
District 16R, position 7.
Sue Peterson
Pendleton