ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Editor/Senior Reporter
SATUrDAY, JANUArY 15, 2022
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Lawmakers
trickle out
information
to the public
T
he 2022 legislative session doesn’t
officially start until February, but
next week legislative committees
will meet and talk about proposed bills.
Legislators may know some of what’s
coming. It’s hard for the public to know
much of anything, so far.
For instance, as of Jan. 7, it was not
clear who will be testifying or even what
those bills are really about. On Tuesday,
Jan. 11, one House committee talked
about a proposal for broadband, cannabis,
system development charges, assistance
for live venues, workforce development
and more.
You could argue that’s fine. More
details are typically posted before the
meetings. Some committees have posted
proposed bills and who will be testifying.
And, well, the legislative session hasn’t
even started, yet. These are just prelimi-
nary discussions.
It’s always easy to come up with
excuses and justifications. But if the
state’s elected leaders aimed to create a
system designed to get input from Orego-
nians, this is not how they would do it.
Proposed bills and full agendas would be
posted far in advance to give the public a
chance to understand what’s coming and
react.
From what we can tell there are some
interesting legislative concepts on the
table. We will just single out one. It aims
to protect school superintendents.
Last year, the Adrian School Board
fired Superintendent Kevin Purnell
because the board wanted him to defy the
governor’s mask mandate, and he refused.
The proposed bill says school boards may
not direct superintendents from taking
any action that conflicts with state or
federal laws or policies. It also prevents
schools boards from taking any employ-
ment action if a superintendent complies
with such laws and policies.
Maybe that bill is not one that will
generate much public discussion. But
when a bill is not posted well in advance,
there is less chance that the public could
have input.
What we have with the Oregon Legis-
lature is a system that allows public input,
not one that is designed for it. It’s designed
now to serve only those who have the time
and energy to refresh state websites every
hour to see if clear information is posted.
We don’t expect that to change.
Trickling out information keeps the
power in Salem in the hands of legislators
and lobbyists and away from the public.
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
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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
Let us celebrate
and honor MLK Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day won
distinction as a national holiday at a
terrifically bloody cost, and though the
pandemic precludes large celebrations,
we are extremely aware of the need to
celebrate and honor all colors, ethnic-
ities, shapes and sizes of people as
belonging to the human family.
“Ye are the fruits of one tree and the
leaves of one branch,” said Abdu’l Baha,
son of Baha’u’llah, prophet, founder of
the Baha’i Faith. More than 100 years
ago, when speaking about the blight
of racism in this country, Abdu’l Baha
warned us that if we didn’t do all in our
power to bring about the oneness of
humanity, our streets would run with
blood and so they have.
The pivot of peace and justice in
every area of life — economic, cultural,
social, academic, agricultural, artistic —
requires an end to the divisive and corro-
sive influence of race and prejudice.
Let us celebrate and honor then, with
heart and soul and action, the stunning
and heroic pioneering efforts of a man
with the mission of a world changing
principle, the oneness of humanity, his
honor MLK Jr.
Many are familiar with his life story,
his unwavering commitment to his
mission but it is well not to forget some
of his monumental utterances such as
those in “I have a dream.” He tells us that
there are “insufficient funds in the great
bank of justice.” and that we, as people,
“cannot walk alone.” He commends us
to “transform the jangling discords of
our nation into a beautiful symphony of
brotherhood.”
Isabel Wilkerson, in her book “The
Warmth of Other Suns,” tells us of the
75-year migration, beginning in the
early 1900s of African Americans to the
north, east and west from the the South-
ern states — something untouched in my
history classes.
And while we’re about it, let us not
forget his honor Mahatma Gandhi, father
of the Indian independence movement,
assassinated in 1948 for his monumental
nonviolent activism towards justice and
peace for his people. He lived his words
to humanity. Words such as these, “An
eye for an eye will only make the world
blind,” and “In a gentle way, you can
shake the world, “ and “The greatness of
humanity is not in being human, but in
being humane.”
And also among those to whom
we owe such tribute is his honor, the
recently deceased Archbishop Desmond
Tutu, what a loss to our world.Winner
of the Nobel Peace Prize, the Albert
Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism,
the Gandhi Peace Prize, the Presiden-
tial Medal of Honor, to name a few of
his accolades. He was known for his
outstanding sense of humor as well as for
quotations such as the following: “My
humanity is bound up with yours, for
we can only be human together,” and “If
you want peace, you don’t talk to your
friends, you talk to your enemies.”
He also is reported to have said, “God
is not upset that Gandhi was not a Chris-
tian, because God is not a Christian.
All of God’s children and their different
faiths help us to realize the immensity of
God.”
May we never forget the mission of
these beloved souls.
Ruth Hall
Pendleton
Big lumber is
making record profits
I used to think big tech and big
pharmacy were the two most corrupt
businesses in the country. Big lumber
is catching up fast. While the poor
consumer, contractor and family build-
ing a home all suffer, big lumber is
making record profits.
These obscene price increases cost
the family building a home over $30,000
past what they had planned. I just
surveyed prices at Home Depot (Jan. 3)
and found that oriented strand board has
gone up to $26 per sheet, 3/8 plywood is
now $33.73 a sheet and 1/2 plywood is
now $51.88. A 2x4 is $6.48 and a 2x6 is
now $8.27.
I went to Home Depot recently
needing the 3/8 plywood, a few sheets
of OSB, and some 2x6s. My pickup
was full, so I came back early the next
morning to find 3/8 plywood at $25 a
sheet — an overnight increase of $5 per
sheet — and today it’s almost $34. The
2x4s had gone up $1 each. There was a
contractor there loading 100 2x4s, which
would now cost him an extra $100.
Another little trick big lumber uses
now is downsizing the products. What
used to be 3/8 plywood is now 11/32.
Half-inch plywood is 23/32. So they get
you both ways, downsizing the materials
and upsizing prices.
You will hear all kinds of excuses for
this coming from big lumber. They were
not prepared, it’s hard to get materi-
als, the pandemic means fewer work-
ers, a full moon and of course disasters.
I am convinced now big lumber loves
disasters. Every time the news reports a
coming hurricane or tornado, big lumber
breaks out the champagne. They know
more bonuses are on the way.
Several economic online sources
report big lumber profits were up 300%
over pre-pandemic levels. Even good
old Home Depot made a profit of $49.8
billion in 2021, up to 19.38% over 2020. I
do a lot of shopping at Home Depot and
appreciate their military discount.
I guess the old fashion American idea
of us all suffering together and gaining
together is gone.
David Burns
Irrigon
Recent ruling
should change the
vote-by-mail system
I was intrigued by the recent Oregon
Supreme Court ruling concerning the
exclusion of inactive voters from being
counted on petitions. In review of the
opinion it stipulated that by statue inac-
tive voters are prohibited from voting.
Thus only active voter’s signature will
be counted. A voter is considered inac-
tive if they have not voted in the last
10 years and have been notified by the
county.
I think this ruling will/should have
ramifications concerning Oregon’s vote-
by-mail system. Instead of sending out
mass ballots to all registered voters, only
active voters should be allowed to vote
using the rationale of the court’s ruling.
I am not a proponent of vote-by-mail.
I am a firm believer in one person, one
vote. I also think people should have to
show some type of identification to vote.
The United States is only one of a few
countries in the world that do not require
identification to vote. Given the impor-
tance of each election, it is critical to
ensure voter integrity.
So, if you are in an inactive status
your signature will not count on a peti-
tion, and the same should hold true to
your ballot. If you are in an inactive
status, all you have to do is contact
the Oregon Driver and Motor Vehicle
Services to be activated.
Some court rulings have unattended
consequences, I think this one may and
should change the vote-by-mail system
in Oregon.
Joe Mesteth
Hermiston