KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Editor/Senior Reporter
TuesDAY, JAnuARY 11, 2022
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Doing the
people’s
business
A
new law that mandates govern-
ing bodies to make most public
meetings accessible remotely is a
good idea, but lawmakers need to focus
on ensuring voters have person-to-person
admission to the capital building when
the Legislature is in session.
The new law, passed by the Legisla-
ture in its 2021 session, is the result of the
pandemic. When the pandemic began and
coronavirus restrictions shut down the
state, the only reasonable way for voters
to participate in the business of govern-
ment was through remote channels.
In a sense then, as now, the remote
access to our lawmakers was a temporary
fail-safe but it was far from ideal.
The new law is good because it places
into statue a way — in case the worst
occurs — for voters to be involved.
Yet, make no mistake. Remote access
isn’t good for government long-term. The
American way of government rests of a
variety of principals but one of those is
essential: Voters must be able to person-
ally petition their lawmakers, to lobby
and count on access to the house where
the people’s business is conducted.
Clearly the risks of the pandemic
created a scenario where access had to be
curtailed. The virus was contagious and,
in some cases deadly, and so a switch to
a remote type of access for voters made
sense.
It was, clearly, a stopgap move to
bridge a chasm created by a virus.
However, lawmakers — and the gover-
nor — must be focused now on finding
as many ways to keep the capital open as
possible.
As Americans, we expect to be able
to interact with those who we elect to
represent us. Observing a government
meeting in person, rather than remotely,
creates a completely different atmosphere
than watching the session on a computer
screen. The sense of immediacy, of
participation is wholly different in person
than through a remote venue.
The reality is the COVID-19 virus
is going to be with us — in one way or
another — for the foreseeable future.
Lawmakers must find a suitable work-
around regarding restrictions to ensure
the public can access the capital on a
regular basis.
The ability to switch to remote-access
is a good tool to have in the toolbox, a
way to guarantee that in the worst-case
government can still move ahead but it is
only a necessary expedient, not a future
way to do the people’s business.
Communicate with neighbor over tree branches
BLAINE
CLOOTEN
ASK AN ATTORNEY
Q. My neighbor’s tree has branches
that drop its leaves all over my yard.
Can I cut off the branches that are on
my side of the fence?
The property owner may cut the tree
to the property line but must exercise
reasonable care so as to not harm the
remaining portion of the tree on the
neighbor’s property. It’s best to coordi-
nate the trimming with the neighbor and
used a certified arborist.
If you are having trouble commu-
nicating with the neighbor or have
questions about the property line, it’s
recommended that you talk to an attor-
ney before any trimming or cutting.
Q: Is rent-to-buy furniture a good
idea?
I am not permitted to give financial
advice. so, when it comes to the terms of
purchase, meaning the interest rate and
purchase price, you’ll have to do your
own due diligence. I will note that in my
experience, a large percentage of people
filing for bankruptcy also had rent-to-
own furniture agreements.
Most people I talk to that end up with
rent-to-own furniture use this route
earlier on in their rental life and purchase
their own furniture as time goes on.
Q: What is an easement? How do I
know if the property I want to buy has
one? How do I find out if it is aban-
doned or not?
This is by no means exhaustive, and
I’ll try not to use legalese, but we need to
start with some basic ideas. easements
are nonpossessory interests in land of
another, entitling the easement holder to
limited use of the other’s land. nonpos-
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
submitting questions takes bravery,
and your questions help others in simi-
lar situations. Please feel free to submit
them to me at clootenlaw@gmail.com
or the “contact us” portal on my website.
You’ll notice that I’ve never used a ques-
tioner’s name or information.
second, the feedback I’ve received
through these columns has been so posi-
tive that I’ve dedicated additional time to
answering similar questions via podcast
available here: apple.co/3JXen3b.
Third, in my september 2021
column, I answered an important ques-
tion about workplace sexual harassment.
With a word count limit, I wasn’t able to
include everything I wanted. Thereaf-
ter, I worked with another attorney who
specializes in employment law to write a
more complete answer. That article will
first be published through the Oregon
Trial Lawyers Association Trial Lawyer
Magazine, which is published quarterly.
Once published in the magazine, I will
make the article available through the
resources tab on my website: oregonle-
galfirm.com.
Fourth, providing legal resources
to those with questions is an import-
ant responsibility. Writing this monthly
column is a great privilege, and I am
thankful for the questions received. I
will continue to focus on providing the
best possible information and content
possible. That being said, these column
are for general information only and
there is no substitute for competent legal
advice. Please talk to an attorney for
your own legal situation to determine
the best solution.
———
Blaine Clooten is an attorney serving
Umatilla County with a focus on family
law, estate planning and personal injury
cases. Questions answered do not create
an attorney-client relationship. Facts and
law may vary; talk to an attorney for more
information.
would like to know what politicians own
stock in companies dealing in lithium. It
appears to be a huge conflict of interest
to vote for electric vehicles or renewable
energy storage facilities if you own stock
in the production and mining of lithium.
since domestic production of lithium
in the united states makes up only 1%
of the world supply of lithium, this mine
could be a cash cow for the investor. It
just seems the push for green energy may
be motivated by a push for greenbacks. I
think all politicians should declare if they
own any lithium stock in advance of any
vote concerning green energy proposals.
Just my thoughts.
Joe Mesteth
Hermiston
stories from the previous night’s
sporting events covering area youth
in umatilla, Morrow and other nearby
counties. Youth sports are an important
part of our local communities, but very
seldom is there an article highlighting
what is happening.
How many of your readers know that
the varsity Hermiston High school Lady
Bulldogs lost their first basketball game
Friday night, Jan. 7, in a nail biter? They
are now 8-2 for the season, and I enjoy
attending their games. Maybe more
people would attend the games if they
were aware of how they are doing. every-
body loves to watch a winning team.
I grew up in an era where fans and
students packed our gyms on a Friday
night. When I’m not able to attend a
game or wrestling match, it would sure
be nice to have box scores available in
the paper. I realize newspapers are strug-
gling to survive, but our youth deserve to
be recognized for their efforts.
Bruce Wilcox
Hermiston
YOUR VIEWS
Green energy or
greenbacks?
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.
sessory is a term to describe any of a
category of rights held by one person
to use land that is in the possession of
another.
An easement does not give the holder
a right of possession but rather a right
to use something from the possessory
estate of another.
An easement holder is a person with
a legal right to use the easement and
may include the owner of the land across
which the easement passes.
There are numerous ways of creating
easements. The way in which the ease-
ment was created will necessarily deter-
mine the scope of the easement and the
extent of the encumbrance on the under-
lying real property.
Think of utilities, the most common
type of easement, which provides for
access to the dominant estate over the
servient estate. A utility easement allows
for wires, cable, or pipes to be strung
over, placed upon, or buried under the
servient estate.
A grant of an easement should be
drawn and executed with the same
formalities as a deed to real estate.
Generally, abandonment occurs only
when an easement holder manifests the
intent to relinquish the servitude by affir-
mative conduct.
Typically, when buying a piece of
property, you will obtain a title report.
The title report should show all ease-
ments of record.
The most efficient way to vet out an
easement is to have a local real property
lawyer in the county where the land is
situated to investigate the chain of title
and other instruments pertaining to the
parcel that are public record.
———
I would like to take the remainder of
this column to make some comments
and provide some additional resources.
First, I would ask those reading this
column to continue to submit questions.
I found the article concerning test
drilling for lithium in Oregon very inter-
esting (“Test drilling OK’d for proposed
lithium mine,” Dec. 23 edition). espe-
cially given the number of green new
deal proposals before Congress. It made
me wonder if all these proposals were
designed to protect the earth or were
there alternative motivating factors.
The Biden administration signed an
executive order to strengthen the domes-
tic lithium supply. Oregon Department of
Geology and Minerals granted Austra-
lian-based company Jindalee Resources
a permit to dig 39 test holes. The execu-
tive director of Jindalee estimated there
could be more than 10 million tons of
lithium. At $15,000 a ton that works
out to around $150 billion from just one
mine.
In light of what happened in the
ukraine concerning family members
of politicians enriching themselves, I
Missing local sports
coverage in print
Call me old fashioned, but I really miss
what use to happen every saturday morn-
ing in the east Oregonian newspaper.