KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Editor/Senior Reporter
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2021
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
City,
county
deal raises
questions
A
decision recently by the Umatilla
County Board of Commissioners to
approve $2 million in a Pendleton
project left a few questions in its wake that
elected leaders need to answer sooner rather
than later.
The issue evolved out of a Nov. 10
commission meeting when commissioners
voted to furnish Pendleton with a $2 million
revolving loan fund. The fund will hopefully
help pave the way for the construction of a
connector road between Highway 11 and
Highway 30 on the city’s south hill to open
land for housing.
Commission Chair George Murdock and
Commissioner John Shafer voted to approve
the deal, while Commissioner Dan Dorran
voted no because he had not seen the actual
agreement.
Dorran’s views strike home because,
apparently, hardly anyone else has seen the
pact either. Murdock and Shafer voted on the
proposal without — it appears — an actual
text of the agreement to refer to. Neither has
the public — the voters — gained the ability
to see the actual agreement.
Murdock said the agreement wasn’t avail-
able because county counsel Doug Olsen
was out of the office and couldn’t provide it.
Murdock did say that while the elected board
voted to approve the move, the agreement —
wherever it is — isn’t set in stone because it
has not been signed.
During the commission meeting, Dorran
requested the issue be tabled until he could
see the agreement. That didn’t happen. It
should have.
Briefly, the issue appears to be a minor
bureaucratic move, but the way it was
handled raises questions. How can you vote
on an agreement that you have not even seen
yet? The answer is you shouldn’t, but two
commissioners did, raising the specter that
this relatively minor move is more than it
seems.
In all fairness, there is most likely nothing
wrong with how the commissioners faced
this issue. Yet their actions — essentially
shoving through an agreement without an
actual document to refer to or to allow the
public to see — is heavy-handed and a gross
misjudgment.
Elected leaders should know better. Blam-
ing the absence of the agreement on the fact
the county counsel is unavailable doesn’t
wash, either. If the county counsel was
unavailable, and therefore could not provide
the agreement, the commissioners should
have done what Dorran asked — table the
issue.
In short, the way it was handled looks bad
to voters and raises questions that are unnec-
essary and a distraction.
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.
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SEND LETTERS TO:
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Remembering those we’ve lost
REGINA
BRAKER
ANOTHER MILE
y neighbor was finishing her
walk as I was picking up some
windblown items in our yard,
and we paused to talk for a bit about
our neighbor we now miss, who didn’t
quite make it to her 90th birthday. As
we shared anecdotes about our interac-
tions with her, we agreed that her sense
of independence was something we
admired.
As November started, there were
cultural and religious references to
commemorations of the departed in Dia
de los Muertos, All Saints and All Souls
Day, and I thought of people I know who
are no longer among us. Remembering
each one, it brought to mind what they
offered, whether to their families, their
neighbors or to colleagues they worked
with, and the void left by their passing.
Sometimes it’s not easy to define the
lines between collaboration, concern,
affection and love, when we think back
to our relationships with those we’ve
lost.
Some offered their talents and capa-
bilities to civic groups as volunteers.
I have a special memory of a friend
whose candy-making lesson, auctioned
at a community fundraiser years ago,
allowed my son and me to learn to make
her favorite holiday sweets together
in her kitchen. That was an important
M
experience for both of us, at a time when
the challenge of navigating teenage
behavior resulted in dissonance in the
family atmosphere.
Others extended their love and
affection in special ways to anyone
they included in their expanded defini-
tion of family. That was my mother-in-
law’s sister, who was happy to become
grandma to whoever needed one. In
the year her sister died, she took on that
role for our son at his wedding, stand-
ing in for her sister. We were lucky to
be among those who surrounded her at
her home this spring when her life was
coming to an end.
As this month progressed, we marked
Veterans Day. Though this holiday
honors the living who’ve sacrificed
so much in their service to the nation,
commemorations around us also focused
attention on those who made the ultimate
sacrifice. This year has seen recogni-
tion of others as heroes as well, because
they’ve stepped up to the challenges
brought by the coronavirus pandemic,
and they, too, have sometimes paid with
their lives for doing their jobs.
This year many of us have made our
first extended travel to belated gath-
erings, to happy occasions such as
weddings, but also to the postponed cele-
brations of lives of those we now miss.
Some succumbed to COVID-19. And
there were those unable to receive care
for conditions that under normal circum-
stances would not have ended their lives.
Our local obituaries document a
sampling of who has departed among
us, their interests and passions, their
commitments. And often the accompa-
nying photo is of a friend and loved one
who is far too young, someone’s son or
daughter, a sister or brother, cousin, aunt
or uncle. It may be a parent or grandpar-
ent, someone with a parental role in chil-
dren’s lives.
As we remember them, I wonder
about the impact of their absence in our
lives, in what we have lost in a perma-
nent relationship as we experienced the
death of a relative, spouse or partner,
friend, colleague or neighbor. What also
matters is the absence of their impact on
others beyond ourselves. Will our loss
inspire us to take on some contribution
that we can commit to in their honor?
Are we willing to consider filling some
void they have left?
With Thanksgiving approaching, I
hope we can be grateful to the people we
knew who have passed beyond us this
year, as we remember what their lives
meant to folks for whom they mattered.
It can prompt us to consider our role
in filling a gap they’ve left us with, an
inspiration to us to say yes to something
new. And it can challenge us to look
back on their lives, even those we didn’t
agree with, to seek something posi-
tive to emulate. A common wish in the
Jewish tradition is to let their memory
be a blessing to others. I understand that
to mean the fulfillment of that wish only
happens through us. May it be so.
———
Regina Braker, of Pendleton, is a
retired educator with journeys through
many places and experiences who enjoys
getting to know people along the way.
do not dwell in the past, I am making a
way in the wilderness and streams in the
wasteland.”
With Chuck’s input there will be light,
exciting perspectives and creative ways
to celebrate humanity at our national
parks. Chuck Sams has continually
demonstrated Chief Seattle’s take on this
world — take nothing but memories,
leave nothing but footprints. I can’t wait
to experience the new parks memories.
Congratulations to Chuck Sams as
our new director of the National Park
Service. Chuck’s contributions to East-
ern Oregon education have been greatly
appreciated and what exciting news for
all of us. Chief Seattle would be so proud.
Sally Sundin
Walla Walla
dwarf planet. However, reclassifying Pluto
as a dwarf planet has caused disagree-
ments on whether it’s a dwarf or a planet.
I vastly disagree with reclassifying
Pluto as a dwarf planet. One reason is the
definition is a little rough around the edges.
The three criteria were: No. 1, a planet
must orbit the sun; No. 2, a planet’s gravity
must be massive enough to form it into the
shape of a ball; but No. 3 is a bit unclear. It
is that a planet must clear it’s orbital neigh-
borhood. How big is this neighborhood
— 8,000 yards, 3,000,000,000 meters,
986,000,000 miles?
Another thing is Pluto is technically
in Neptune’s orbit. No one has seemed
to question if Neptune is a real planet. In
conclusion, Pluto should be a planet for
various reasons, such as the voter count,
definition and history. One thing, however,
is very clear:
Change is usually awesome. But in
some cases like this, change is very ques-
tionable.
Garrett Willingham
Pendleton
YOUR VIEWS
Chuck Sams’ appointment
is a ‘bright gift’
Some are born great, some achieve
greatness and some have greatness thrust
upon them. Chuck Sams is all three. At
this time of year, we are reminded to be
thankful and grateful, his appointment is
a bright gift. What an honor to have the
director of national parks from Eastern
Oregon. Congratulations, Chuck.
Many ancestors rest on Chuck Sams’
shoulders. Our community is proud of
him and his hard work. His staffs And
accomplishments are proof of great-
ness. Congratulations for perseverance,
integrity and a sense of humor hold true,
Chuck.
Sams’ work for education is greatly
appreciated. Chuck is a bright light.
Harriet Tubman couldn’t read but she
could memorize. My former students
know this story well. From the Bible, in
the book of Isaiah, Harriet memorized
and used as her life mantra to guide her
in difficulty “Forget the former things;
Why Pluto should
be a planet
A while back in 2006, the International
Astronomical Union reclassified Pluto as a