ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
PHIL WRIGHT
News Editor
JADE McDOWELL
Hermiston Editor
TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2021
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Government
accountability
is in our hands
L
ast week, Oregon lawmakers made
a good move toward greater trans-
parency in government when they
passed two bills connected to higher
education.
House Bill 2542, which requires public
universities and colleges to prominently
display the fees they charge students, and
House Bill 2919, which stipulates higher
educations facilities clearly display the
costs of course materials when students
register for class, secured passage.
On the face of it both bills may not seem
altogether earth shattering, but they are
important when placed in the context of
transparency in government.
Transparency in government is a crucial
pillar of a democracy. Sadly, over the past
few decades that notion — and goal — of
transparency has gradually been eroded.
That is not good for our form of govern-
ment. When government agencies that are
funded through public dollars step away
from transparency, everyone loses. Yet, it
occurs more often than the average public
probably knows.
When government disregards transpar-
ency — or worse, acts like it is being trans-
parent when it is not — it means it is no
longer accountable to the people.
Millions in public funds are funneled
into various state agencies every year in
Oregon. That money is not the govern-
ment’s, it’s yours. That means the people
who work in government are accountable
to you, the voter.
Oregon is lucky in a sense because of
its public records laws, which provide a
gateway into government when it refuses
to hold itself accountable to the people. The
public records laws are robust — to a point
— but are constantly under siege by those
who wish to restrict oversight.
Independent organizations, such as
newspapers, are also an important tool
to hold government accountable. Often,
newspapers use public records laws to dig
out information government agencies and
officials do not want the public to see.
In a democracy, there should not be any
type of restrictions — barring top secret
military projects or personal health records
— that hamper a voter’s access to informa-
tion.
While newspapers and news organiza-
tions fill a crucial role in ensuring greater
transparency, in the end the voter must play
a key role as well.
That means paying attention to what
is going on in places such as the Oregon
Legislature and asking good, thoughtful
questions of lawmakers.
There never has been anything wrong
about asking questions in democracy.
Government tends to block access to
information, and sometimes appointed
or elected officials will decide they know
better than the voter about what informa-
tion should be released.
They do not.
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
Inspiring our everyday lives
REGINA
BRAKER
ANOTHER MILE
O
n a rainy day in spring two years
ago my friend from Alaska and
I stood outside the high school
talking. It was one of our first exten-
sive conversations after getting to know
one another only through small talk
social gatherings and the brief chats that
happened during choir rehearsal breaks.
And because we had both walked to this
rehearsal to sing with the high school
choral students, we finished talking
through whatever fascinated us before
going our individual ways home.
Singing together has been a special
joy that many of us have missed since
our last joint efforts in musical theater,
community and church choirs. Recently
we joined with others at a local park to say
farewell to our choir director and sing a
few songs together. It felt like the months
in between just melted away, as we heard
one another’s voices both in song and tell-
ing anecdotes. And my friend shared a bit
about her best adventure of the last year,
traveling to Portugal and singing at her
son’s wedding.
For many in that group and other sing-
ers, our fellow chorister has been a life-
line through her blog, sharing past travel
adventures and stories of other interest-
ing figures in her life, bringing a sense
of a wide-open world during the months
languishing in lockdown. Her writing
and photos brighten everyday reality, and
bring thoughtful perspective to challeng-
ing realities. And when I read something
shared in an email, I hear her laughter,
remembered from a party or that day in
the rain.
Recently a poem offered during
poetry month in April suggested that the
past year of pandemic had taken her to
a thoughtful place. Some lines spoke to
me: the things that kill the body / and kill
the soul / have always been with us / they
won’t go away / what matters is / the chaff
from grain / we cull / within.
Her wisdom comes from a wide range
of sources: the music and literature she
studied in college, her children’s profes-
sions as musicians, a lifetime of journeys
and exploring history and the people she
has met along the way. One journey in
particular was etched by the beauty of her
surroundings, perhaps because she was
traveling alone and took it all in with no
other distractions.
It was in the south of France, her desti-
nation a village she had heard of and
wanted to visit, but the train journey only
took her as far as its neighboring town,
beyond which there was no further public
transport. She would have to walk, and
did so, moving from the train station in
the center of town toward vineyards and
country cottages, her path following the
town’s river upstream toward its source
near the village situated in a closed valley,
its craggy hills and gushing turquoise
river stunning her with their beauty.
Upon arriving, she noticed the sign
with the youth hostel symbol, a beauti-
ful cottage filled with guests speaking
German. They included her by summa-
rizing in English their heated political
discussion about changes in post-Cold
War Europe. In the days that followed her
arrival there, she joined two of her new
acquaintances in bike rides around the
region. Having walked into this beautiful
place alone, she left it on foot enriched by
new friendships.
When my friend visited again 30 years
later, she asked, “After years of traveling
and broadening my perspective beyond
Alaska, would it still be the most beautiful
place in the world?” Her answer was yes.
She encourages others with these words:
“May your feet take you to inspiring
places and may your hands create some-
thing beautiful and help others!”
As I’ve followed my singing friend’s
travel writing, without possibility for
extensive journeys beyond our shores
even now, I’ve been taking her motto seri-
ously, to look for new inspiration where
my feet take me, to be open to new experi-
ences and friendships right here where we
are, to make the most of getting to know
new places close to home. And I know
that I will find beauty, and that there are
always others around us we can help.
———
Regina Braker, a retired educator with
journeys through many places and experi-
ences, enjoys getting to know people along
the way.
Time for dialogue on dam removal issues
FRED
ZIARI
OTHER VIEWS
N
ortheastern Oregon is home to
some of the most rich and fertile
farmland in the state, producing
potatoes, onion, carrots, peas and numer-
ous other variety of crops for consumption
here at home and for export around the
globe. This region also leads the world in
irrigation technologies and water sustain-
ability.
The four lower Snake River dams play
a vital role in sustaining this corner of
the state, and our regional stakeholders
have a long history of working together to
preserve and enhance local salmon popu-
lations. That’s why I was disappointed
to learn that after joining the governors
of Washington, Idaho and Montana in
a collaborative effort to rebuild Colum-
bia Basin salmon, Gov. Kate Brown filed
a lawsuit over the federal government’s
management of the four lower Snake
River dams.
I’ve been involved in the fish versus
dams debate for nearly three decades, and
lawsuits have gotten us nowhere. The only
way forward is through working together
toward a collaborative long-term solution.
I hope Brown will set aside her lawsuit
and work to make the four-state process a
success.
The agriculture sector relies on the
four lower Snake River dams for hydro-
power, transportation and irrigation. The
dams are a significant part of the federal
hydropower system, which provides as
much as 95% of the clean, reliable and
affordable power essential to families,
farmers, ranchers and businesses in rural
Oregon. According to a recent three-year
study of Snake River dams completed by
the federal government, removal could
result in an energy price hike in rural
Oregon of up to 50%, which adds up to
several hundred dollars per year for each
rural family.
Farm operations and related agricul-
ture industries and manufacturing are the
backbone of our Umatilla and Morrow
counties’ economy, employing nearly 40%
of local residents and producing crops and
products that are barged down the Colum-
bia River for export to world markets.
However, the federal study deter-
mined that removing the dams would
make the Snake River unnavigable for
barge traffic, resulting in higher produc-
tion costs for farmers who would have to
transition to rail or truck transport. Under
this scenario, freight transportation by
rail could increase by as much as 86%
— a level that is too high for existing rail
capacity.
The transition from barge to surface
transportation also would result in more
traffic congestion and the need for road
and rail infrastructure improvements.
Truck and rail transportation create
higher emissions per ton than barges,
which would result in a net increase in
CO2 emissions of approximately 17% —
taking us in the wrong direction as the
state is working to meet its clean energy
goals.
With an average annual rainfall of less
than 8 inches per year, our region is also
dependent on the river for local water
supply. Removal of four Snake River
dams in Washington state would have an
especially long-term adverse impact on
operations of existing Columbia River
pump stations in the lower McNary and
John Day pools in Northeast Oregon, as
50 years of sediments will be now depos-
ited in the irrigation intakes downstream.
This negative impact is in addition to
much more expensive or even nonexisting
barging for our products as well as higher
energy costs.
Over the last 30 years, the Eastern
Oregon irrigation community had a
respectful and open dialogue with our past
governors (Roberts, Kitzhaber and Kulon-
goski) and we ask Gov. Brown to commit
to the process by listening and under-
standing our local agricultural concerns
as well as all river stakeholders so that she
can develop a collaborative approach to
protecting salmon without harming the
rural economy.
We are committed to a respectful, open
minded and solution-oriented dialogue
with Gov. Brown and her staff.
———
Fred Ziari is an irrigation engineer who
for the last 39 years has worked on water
management issues in Hermiston and the
Pacific Northwest.