KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Editor/Senior Reporter
TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2022
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Rivers
act needs
more input
P
olitical hyperbole aside, U.S. Rep.
Cliff Bentz’s concerns raised during
a floor speech of the U.S. House of
Representatives regarding a bill to protect
more than 4,500 miles of rivers and streams
in Oregon as part of the federal Wild and
Scenic Act are valid and deserve more than
a passing glance by voters.
Bentz lambasted the River Democ-
racy Act, a bill sponsored by U.S. Sen. Jeff
Merkley and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, Jan. 11
and labeled it as a sure way to create more,
rather than fewer problems for forests in the
eastern part of the state.
Bentz implied the act would leave forest
dangerously exposed to become, essentially,
tinderboxes.
At first glance, the legislation — now
stalled in the congressional committee —
appears to be a commonsense way to protect
the forests and watersheds we all enjoy.
Supporters of the River Democracy Act
would add protections to waterways, lessen
wildfire risk, enhance drinking water, and
expand recreation to help rural economies.
The act also promises that only federal
lands would be protected while private prop-
erty and water rights would be safeguarded.
A key piece of the legislation is a move to
widen the area along protected waterways
from one-quarter mile to half a mile.
There are a few problems with the legis-
lation, though, not the least of which is
what appears to be a lack of input from
rural lawmakers at the county level. While
supporters of the bill proudly proclaim voter
participation through “nominations” from
2,500 Oregonians, the plan triggered resis-
tance from several Eastern Oregon counties.
Commissioners in Union, Wallowa,
Grant and Malheur counties have called the
legislation into question with a variety of
concerns, including lack of detailed maps
and federal overreach.
One of the act’s most serious problems,
though, isn’t visible up front. Legislation
safeguarding public spaces is crucial and
deserves support. Yet, there are already
numerous state and federal laws on the
books — including the 1968 Wild and
Scenic Rivers Act — that provide a firm
foundation for conservation. Too often legis-
lation is created without a careful study of
unintended consequences.
The bill may appear to be a winner for
urban voters who wish to utilize Eastern
Oregon as a handy natural resource-rich
theme park for tourists, but for those who
live and work in this area, its possible unin-
tended consequences are a real worry.
To move forward, the bill needs more
input from local county lawmakers.
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
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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
Sir Paul McCartney’s piano
ALEX
HOBBS
PASTURES OF PLENT Y
rowing up, I had never given the
Beatles much thought. Like all
good children being raised in
corporate America, I had a tangential
knowledge by way of advertisements.
Nike and “Revolution.” “Come Together”
and luxury vehicles.
The songs were clipped and snipped
and ready to sell stuff. It was not until I
became a parent, fueled by the revulsion
of technology, that I purchased a record
player for my children. It seemed fitting
that with their Union Jack-clad Victrola
that a Beatles record should be spun first.
The record was “Abbey Road.” Less of a
record and more of a launchpad.
It wasn’t long after the needle first
descended onto vinyl that my sons
began to show interest in creation. A
stop motion film, little fingers find-
ing their way along keys of a piano in
paths they’ve never before taken, stories
clacked onto a black space. I started to
ask myself how is a person imbued with a
desire to create?
What might the world be like if we
were all given equal opportunity to fully
explore the depths of art, to analyze the
spark of human creation? If for a moment
we were all released from the expecta-
tions and standards of what we should
G
be producing, what might blossom in the
void?
In lieu of immediate answers to these
questions, I have only the Beatles. Specif-
ically, the nine hours of footage compiled
by Peter Jackson in his documentary
“Get Back.”
Picture this: Yoko Ono is shrieking,
Paul McCartney is flailing wildly near
the vicinity of a drum set, John Lennon
holds his guitar aloft near an amp like a
communion wafer. The noise emanating
from it undulates, an unholy din. But it is
an act of primordial creation — free and
clear of constraint. The music that takes
root around the four humans will eventu-
ally bloom into “Abbey Road” and “Let
it Be.” Their final songs. Absent from the
music, however, is any sense of final-
ity. Instead of, and in spite of, a looming
deadline, faltering faith in members and
uncertainty we see artists arguably at
their best.
What is most notable about the
entirety of the documentary is an under-
lying sense of playfulness. A joyful aban-
don. In fact, it reminded me of my sons.
This isn’t necessarily equating “Let it Be”
with whatever combination of notes my
son puts together, but in the distillation
process, you will find the same unboth-
ered spirit. The same willingness to take
risks, be silly, and lean into vulnerability.
We have a misconception that art and
creation are predicated upon pain. There
are certainly no shortages of this trope
in our collective mindset. For example,
I recently visited Portland where I took
my children to see Beyond Van Gogh:
an installation that attempts to change
the narrative surrounding the troubled
painter. Blasted onto four walls were his
life’s work and letters transformed into
animated wisps and swirls. It was immer-
sive, visually arresting, and inspiring. But
one left unable to isolate his art from his
tragedy, his torture. “Look,” the exhibit
seemed to say, “look at what the journey
led to.”
Of course, art forged within the mire
of suffering will always be with us.
And there will always be beauty in van
Gogh’s pain, the moralism of Dosto-
yevsky, the ennui of modernism. But this
is a moment to celebrate art and love, art
and joy, art and glee. Paul McCartney at
a piano and his daughter, Heather, at his
lap singing “Let it Be.” A small sliver of
soul-distracting joy as the world slides
further into immiseration and disarray.
Author Ursula Le Guin said, “The
trouble is that we have a bad habit,
encouraged by pedants and sophisticates,
of considering happiness as something
rather stupid. Only pain is intellectual,
only evil interesting. This is the treason
of the artist: a refusal to admit the banal-
ity of evil and the terrible boredom of
pain.”
If this isn’t an invitation to frolic in
strawberry fields, I don’t know what is.
———
Alex Hobbs is a former educator
turned full-time homeschooling mom.
She has a degree in political science from
Oregon State University.
if approved. So how many vehicles will
we be required to purchase simply to
“store” because a grant is available? How
many city vehicles do we currently own
that are not stored indoors? You can get
a pretty good idea by visiting the Pendle-
ton Convention Center parking lot when
the city conducts their required employee
safety meetings.You can get that meeting
schedule from city hall.
Rather than working with Kayak
or Mid Columbia Bus, both experts in
the transportation field, city manage-
ment elected to reinvent the wheel and
compete, designating over $100,000 for
such items as “Planning Grant Consul-
tant,” “Data Services Plans,” “Drug &
Alcohol Oversight,” and an additional
$50,000 annually for a “contingency”
fund, in its latest budget that exceeds
$800,000. It’s just a matter of time before
they request a “transportation” fee to
cover the cost of all those free rides and
operation of that storage/maintenance
facility.
The latest rumor coming out of
city hall? The public works director is
expected to replace that much touted
state-of-the-art street maintenance
computer program with a private consult-
ing firm, sticking with the motto: If at
first you don’t succeed, spend more and
hire a consultant.
Rick Rhode
Pendleton
Charge former
President Trump
with criminal conduct
YOUR VIEWS
City officials tie future
to government grants
Pendleton city officials intend to pave
the road to future economic development
with government grants. Grants are not
normally designed to fund new proj-
ects in perpetuity, may require matching
funds and are subject to political whims.
The city manager’s latest wishlist of grant
funded projects has reached an astonish-
ing $34,145,608.
One particular grant request is for
$2,358,000 to purchase another bus and
construction of a bus maintenance facil-
ity that includes a wash rack. They claim
this new facility is required to “store” the
nine vans and buses the city owns so they
won’t get dirty.
A little history lesson here. At one
time, the city had one handicapped van
operated by the taxi company. The trans-
portation officer approached the city
council informing them of the opportu-
nity to acquire a second van. Questions
were put forth by the council: Was an
additional van really needed? Could the
old van be traded in? Were funds avail-
able for the purchase? The answers to all
three questions were “no”, followed by:
An additional van would be nice to have
as a backup. The old van, for various legal
reasons, could not be used as a trade. The
new van could be paid for with a grant
President Joe Biden made a major
speech at the first anniversary of the
Donald Trump-incited riots in Washing-
ton, D.C. Biden made it very clear that
his predecessor is singularly responsi-
ble for the seven deaths and hundreds of
injuries that occurred during this day of
infamy for our country.
Attorney General Merrick Garland
also put the blame on Trump. So what
needs to be done now is to charge
former President Trump with crim-
inal conduct, which would hold him
accountable? There is a Department
of Justice policy, not a law, which
precludes a sitting president from being
criminally prosecuted. The rationale
here is a president is too busy to defend
himself.
Trump is no longer in office so he
should be charged with either volun-
tary manslaughter, or involuntary
manslaughter, or reckless endanger-
ment or a related felony. This would
demonstrate that the long standing
adage that no one is above the law has
real meaning and are not just good
sounding but empty words.
Bob Shippentower
Pendleton