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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (July 8, 2015)
A4 Opinion wallowa.com July 8, 2015 Wallowa County Chieftain Impeachment more potent than recall I n the wake of Gov. John Kitzhaber’s resignation, Oregonians learned we are the only state without an impeachment clause in our Constitution. Our state representatives rightly responded by approving a measure to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot, allowing Oregon voters to enact an impeachment clause. EDITORIAL But a funny thing happened on the way to the ballot. Senate The voice of the Chieftain President Peter Courtney blocked the amendment, ruling WKDWKHZRXOGQRWEULQJLWWRWKH6HQDWHÀRRUIRUDYRWH Courtney’s stated excuse was that Oregon voters have the UHFRXUVHRIUHFDOOLQJDJRYHUQRUDQGWKDWVKRXOGEHVXI¿FLHQW (Translation: Shut up and eat it.) Courtney’s rationale is evasive. His excuse for inaction allows legislators to escape responsibility for a governor ZKRVHDFWLRQVZDUUDQWUHPRYDOIURPRI¿FH Here is the essential distinction between recalling a governor and impeaching him. Recall elections become re- election campaigns. Impeachment requires a legislative body WREHVSHFL¿FDERXWWKHFKLHIH[HFXWLYH¶VPDOIHDVDQFHDQGWR hold focused debate beyond the level of sound-bite politics. As president of the Senate and a creature of the statehouse for almost three decades, Peter Courtney epitomizes Oregon’s one-party government. Shielding our governors from what is common in every other state is effectively a Democratic Governor Protection Act. It is good for the axis of longtime OHJLVODWRUVOREE\LVWVDQGSXEOLFHPSOR\HHXQLRQVZKRGH¿QH our state’s one-party politics. Considering the alarms raised by Kitzhaber’s untrustworthiness, it is appalling that Courtney is so tone deaf. Financial shenanigans afoot in state government O regon state government is a vast enterprise — larger than giant private employers. But if you read the recent articles from EO Media Group’s Capital Bureau, you notice a theme. There seems to be no common standard among VWDWHDJHQFLHVIRUHQIRUFLQJ¿QDQFLDOFRQWURORYHU\RXUWD[ dollars. Moreover, a governor was allowed to operate in what an accountant would call a capricious manner. Hillary Borrud’s recent story concerned tax credits given to investors in green energy projects. Borrud reported that “... around 2011, the Oregon Department of Energy scaled back its oversight of the tax credit sales. The department quietly stopped enforcing pricing and other rules, which allowed private brokers to strike deals in which the prices were never YHUL¿HGE\WKHVWDWH´ When auditors in the Department of Revenue raised an alarm about this disparity, Gov. John Kitzhaber effectively told them to back off. An earlier story from the Capital Bureau concerned the Department of Geology and Mineral Industries. Employees of that agency struggled to track the many grants and other types of funding the agency receives. And the executive director spent down funds in one account that was meant for another purpose. As a consequence, the agency risked running out of funding altogether. :K\DUHQ¶W¿QDQFLDOFRQWUROVLQIRUFHWRIRUHVWDOOWKDWNLQG of capricious behavior? Like state government’s history of botching large computer software projects, this matter of building and enforcing ¿QDQFLDOFRQWUROVLVWKHXQJODPRURXVZRUNRIWKHVWDWH Legislature. And that is probably why it simply doesn’t get done. USPS No. 665-100 P.O. Box 338 • Enterprise, OR 97828 Of¿ce 29 1W First 6t., Enterprise, Ore. Phone -2-7 • Fax -2-392 Wallowa County¶s 1ewspaper 6ince 88 Enterprise, Oregon M EMBER O REGON N EWSPAPER P UBLISHERS A SSOCIATION P UBLISHER E DITOR R EPORTER R EPORTER N EWSROOM ASSISTANT A D S ALES CONSULTANT G RAPHIC D ESIGNER O FFICE MANAGER Marissa Williams, marissa@bmeagle.com Rob Ruth, editor@wallowa.com Stephen Tool, stool@wallowa.com Kathleen Ellyn, kellyn@wallowa.com Rich Rautenstrauch, rrautenstrauch@wallowa.com Brooke Pace, bpace@wallowa.com Robby Day, rday@wallowa.com Cheryl Jenkins, cjenkins@wallowa.com P UBLISHED EVERY W EDNESDAY BY : EO Media Group 3HULRGLFDO3RVWDJH3DLGDW(QWHUSULVHDQGDGGLWLRQDOPDLOLQJRI¿FHV Subscription rates (includes online access) Wallowa County Out-of-County 1 Year $40.00 $57.00 6ubscriptions must be paiG prior to GeliYery See the Wallowa County Chieftain on the Internet www.wallowa.com facebook.com/Wallowa | twitter.com/wcchieftain POSTMASTER — Send address changes to Wallowa County Chieftain P.O. Box 338 Enterprise, OR 97828 Contents copyright © 2015. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. Dreading the irrigation chore Now that the CJD Ranch Rodeo for 2015 is history I can return to my normal routine, whatever that is. Since the rodeo has gone international and had two Cana- dians on the winning team, I may suggest that they sing “O Canada” at the next one. After eight years and several changes it seems that the committee has come up with the right format and events. If they run next \HDU¶VZLWKQRFKDQJHVLWZLOOEHWKH¿UVW year without rule changes or event changes. Thank you to all the people that worked so hard on the event and to the generosity of all the sponsors. If Congress could accom- plish as much in the same amount of time they could go home for Presidents’ Day and stay there. Back to my routine, when I moved here I swore I would stay out of the cattle busi- ness. Too much risk, too much work, too little return on investment. I didn’t mind running cattle in California where you didn’t have to feed any hay or in Saskatch- ewan where they were all bought in the spring and all sold in the fall. I did weaken and take in some pasture cattle the last two years. This involved renting more ground and therefore more irrigating. I hate moving pipe and now I have to move a lot of it. Aluminum pipe doesn’t agree with me. It’s heavier than it should be, especially when SDWLHQWO\ IRU WKH ZLIH WR ZDNHQ DQG ¿[ breakfast, all the while dreading the irriga- OPEN RANGE WLRQ GHPDQGV , GR NQRZ VHYHUDO ¿W WULP and beautiful wives that have recognized WKHH[HUFLVHEHQH¿WVRISLSHPRYLQJ,WLV Barrie Qualle imperative to have the pipes moved by 9:30 to shower and attend the morning update it is full of water, and it is an excellent at the coffee shop. It is important for any conductor of electricity. This was brought civic-minded citizen to be a part of this up- home to me when I occasioned to touch the date. Your contribution could solve county HOHFWUL¿HGWRSZLUHRQWKHIHQFHZLWKD or even world problems. foot pipe. The update is over in time for me to I pretty much ruin the early morning go home and eat lunch, followed by one while drinking my coffee by dreading the of Mexico’s greatest contributions to soci- next couple of hours of pipe moving. This ety, the siesta. It is imperative to turn your not only ruins the time actually moving phone off for the siesta or it could be in- pipe, but also the time dreading the job, terrupted by a neighbor imagining it is of which I count at time and one half. To add great concern that you have 10 steers on WRWKHDJRQ\,¿QGP\VHOIVWRSSLQJWRFDWFK WKHPDQGWKH\ZDQWWKHIHQFH¿[HG A lot of people have accused me of my breath while moving pipe and losing WUDFNRIWLPHDOOWKHZKLOHGUHDGLQJ¿QLVK- being lazy. In the past I have pretty much agreed with them. I pretty much hate work. ing the job. This extends the time of misery. To add I have thought a little bit about this con- to the misery, when all the pipe is moved dition and come to the conclusion that in and it is time to turn on the water, I usually fact I am not lazy or an under-achiever. It is ¿QGDSLSHWKDWGLGQ¶WODWFKDQGDOOWKHSLSH just that work is boring and I am too far ad- from the end of the line has to be unlatched vanced and delicate to put up with it along with the additional discomfort of sweat and to re-connect the one that failed to latch. Back to the routine. I usually can’t sleep sore muscles. Open Range columnist Barrie Qual- past about 5:30 a.m., probably because I go to bed around 8 p.m. The coffee is turned le is an occasionally working cowboy in on and the morning news also. I then wait Wallowa County. Despite high danger no ¿res To the Editor: As the Unit Forester of the Oregon De- partment of Forestry, I have much to be thankful for above and beyond celebrat- LQJRXULQGHSHQGHQFHWKLVSDVWWKRI-XO\ weekend. For this time of year, this was the GULHVW-XO\WK,KDYHH[SHULHQFHGDQG,ZDV FHUWDLQ RXU ¿UH FUHZV ZRXOG EH UHVSRQG- LQJWRDKXPDQFDXVHGZLOG¿UHFDXVHGE\ ¿UHZRUNV,DPKDSS\WRUHSRUWWKDWRXU¿UH crews had a quiet weekend due to the fact that the residents and visitors in Wallowa County over the weekend did not start any ZLOGODQG¿UHV0\WKDQNVWRDOORI\RXDV you celebrated your independence respon- sibly. The forests and rangelands in Wallowa County are critically dry for so early in the summer. The indices in which we measure ¿UH VHYHULW\ DUH VHWWLQJ QHZ UHFRUGV IRU ¿UH GDQJHU HYHU\GD\ :KDW LV ZRUULVRPH IRUPHLVWKLVWKH¿UVWZHHNRI-XO\DQGZH KDYHRYHUWZRPRQWKVRIFULWLFDO¿UHGDQJHU ahead of us. I urge all who live and play in Wallowa County to be extra cautious this summer. As a reminder, there is a coordinated county wide burn ban in effect prohibit- ing all debris burning. In addition, public use restrictions are in place for forest and rangeland protected by the U.S. Forest Ser- vice and the Oregon Department of For- estry. These restrictions will be enforced in order to protect Wallowa County from GHVWUXFWLYH¿UH,QGLYLGXDOVZKRDUHIRXQG to be willful, malicious or negligent in the FDXVHRIDZLOGODQG¿UHPD\EHUHVSRQVLEOH for all suppression costs and any resulting damages. The restrictions in place are not meant to inhibit use but rather to prescribe conditions in which a person can live, work and play in our forests and rangelands safe- ly. Living amongst you, there is a group of men and women that proudly call them- VHOYHV¿UH¿JKWHUV7KH\VHUYHWKH2UHJRQ Department of Forestry, US Forest Service, FLW\ DQG VWUXFWXUDO ¿UH GHSDUWPHQWV DQG RXU ZLOGODQG ¿UH FRQWUDFWLQJ FRPPXQL- ty. All have seasoned veterans and rookie ¿UH¿JKWHUVDOLNH7KH\WUDLQKDUGDQGWKH\ work hard at protecting Wallowa County’s treasured natural resources. They are skill- ful and masterful in their profession. They DUHDFRQWLQJHQWRISURXG¿UH¿JKWHUVZKR are not boastful in what they do but are appreciative of the support they are given from the landowners and community in which they serve. ,XUJH\RXWRKHOSRXU¿UH¿JKWHUVKDYH a safe summer. Collectively, we all have PXFKWRORVHIURPKXPDQFDXVHGZLOG¿UHV Please continue to spread the word and help XVSUHYHQWZLOG¿UHVIURPRFFXUULQJ those who weigh over 300 pounds none of whom have applied for residency, but which we were promised the new facil- ity would be able to care for. If the fa- cility can care for bariatric residents who Matt Howard would need special lifting, why cannot Unit Forester it care for these three, as well as several Oregon Department of Forestry others, who need special lifting equip- ment? One other item, which you did not A start on Senior Living mention, is the inordinate lack of good scheduling and turnover of staff. People answers who would start work one week have not To the Editor: been around two weeks later. People who ,QUHJDUGWR\RXUHGLWRULDORI-XQH were willing to work short shifts, when 2015, I would like to answer some of the need for staff was most critical (i.e. your questions. But before that, I need IURP$0$0RUIURP to state that my husband, Jim Buckles, is PM - 7:00 PM) were let go and told they one of the three residents at Wallowa Se- were not needed. Several of the aides and nior Living who was given a purge/evic- med aides, and they are doing their best, tion notice. At the Health Care District have been double shifted several times Board meeting, it was agreed beforehand during a week. I wonder who does and that Annette Lathrop spoke for all three oversees the scheduling. of us, not just for herself. Also, although this was not part of ei- Now to the questions: The deciding ther the editorial or the questions put to factor in rescinding the eviction notices the Health Care Board, when is the con- was that the ombudsman and the state tract with ArtEgan up? Was the contract RI¿FLDO ZHUH LQ DJUHHPHQW WKDW WKH UHD- with Marathon sold to ArtEgan or was sons given for the notices were not valid. a new contract signed? What does the None of the three had changed greatly contract cover and who is overseeing the health-wise. One reason in the letter from ultimate management of the Senior Liv- the facility was an outright lie: that my ing facility? It should be the Health Care husband could not feed himself. Without District. having access to the other two letters, I Frances Buckles believe the reasons given were copied Joseph verbatim from one letter to the others. No one from the sate argued outright that the facility bore a kind of grandfa- thering obligation, but an oral promise Wallowa lost second was given by a Marathon employee and suitor repeated as ArtEgan took over that those grandfathered in would be kept “in their To the Editor: I’ll try to be nice, but wasn’t there homes.” The promise was not given by an unnamed employee as stated by Nick something pretty important missing from Lunde, President of the Health Care The Chieftain’s July 1 front page article Board, but by Judy Jackson, the Mara- entitled ‘Repairs begin on compound?’ I read the story once, thought to my- thon employee who was to be the direc- self “this cannot be” and read it a sec- tor. Individual assessments have been ond time without ever encountering the GRQHE\SHRSOHZKRZHUHQRWTXDOL¿HG words Divide Camp. I don’t want to choose sides and point to do them at the time of the notices. As- sessments were done by a nurse, Glenda ¿QJHUV EXW , GRQ¶W EHOLHYH *ZHQ 7ULFH Cummins, and each individual’s doctor was the only one who had problems try- at the time of the move from the old care ing to negotiate a lease with the City of center. The assessments done recently Wallowa for that former forest service have not been done on any measurable property. Wasn’t there a group with the scale that I know of and have been sub- potential, in time, of helping veterans jective more than objective. All three now dying more frequently from suicide residents do need a higher level of care WKDQ IURP HQHP\ ¿UHZKR H[SUHVVHG DQ than most residents of regular assist- interest as well? Rocky Wilson ed living facilities, but not appreciably Wallowa higher than the residents at Wallowa Valley Senior Living. Two of the three 6ee /E77ER6, Page $ are in the rooms for bariatric residents, LETTERS TO THE EDITOR