Wallowa County Chieftain
News
wallowa.com
September 16, 2015
A7
STORE: More business opportunities with new law
Continued from Page A1
“There’s a 20 percent tax
on the sales, and the state gets
17 percent, which leaves only
3 percent for the municipali-
ty. We feel that’s problematic,
and if we could change that
to where the local commu-
nity gets more than the state,
we could get behind it. Let
us keep our own money so
we can be self-supporting,”
Kramer said.
The couple has received
very little negative feedback
from the community. One
person actually complained
because the couple doesn’t let
anyone under 21 in the store,
even though the law bans only
those younger than 18. “We
choose to serve only those over
21, because we don’t want
someone 18 coming in here
to buy accessories for their
15-year-old friends. We don’t
want high school parents get-
ting angry with us, so we elim-
inated that option,” Flanagan
said.
The store mainly sells
smoking accessories imported
from other areas but the couple
hopes products from local ar-
tisans will eventually make up
a good portion of their wares.
One local artist has already
sold several pieces through the
store. The couple is also work-
ing to establish a website to
make their goods available for
purchase in a broader market.
The store is very clean and
well-lighted. The accessories,
which include dozens of pipes
and even a hookah, are artfully
arranged in an appealing va-
riety of colors in their display
cases. Art from New Orleans,
Flanagan’s native town, deco-
rates the walls, giving the shop
a down-home appeal.
The couple intends to
eventually offer bulk boutique
tobacco for discriminating
smokers, as to expand current
offerings. Kramer and Flana-
gan are currently gearing up for
the Christmas season with or-
ders for holiday-themed smok-
ing accessories.
During the tourist season the
store is open from 10 a.m. to 6
p.m. seven days a week with
the possibility of reducing the
hours during the off season.
“We’ve always looked
around for something we can
do to better ourselves and our
families. With this, we can
say ‘Hey, we did this, and it’s
ours,’” Flanagan said.
Gratitude was very much on
Kramer’s mind as she described
the couple’s Joseph experience.
“We’re grateful to the city for
allowing us here and grateful
to our customers who support
us being here and we’re grate-
ful for the moral support that
we’ve gotten from the com-
munity. It’s been amazing,”
she said.
MERGER: Combined COUNTY: Commission looks at opting out
chambers contemplated Continued from Page A1 six county licensing
categories and a those with prescriptions may and the 10 percent (of 10 per-
may choose to keep a KDYHWRWUDYHODVLJQL¿FDQWGLV- cent) it will give the county for
Continued from Page A1
“People search for Joseph,
not Wallowa County,” Rush-
ton said. “They often hav-
en’t even heard of Wallowa
Lake and are surprised when
we ask, ‘Have you been to
the lake?’ You’d be amazed
how many people drive in on
Highway 39 and only know of
Joseph, have never even heard
about the rest of the county.”
Mike Lockhart, president
of the Wallowa Lake Tourism
Committee, agreed that most
tourists do not understand the
many attractions of the coun-
ty.
“We started re-branding as
The Village at Wallowa Lake
three years ago because peo-
ple didn’t understand what
was there,” he said. “A lot of
people would never get past
Joseph if not for the (visitors
information) booth. The booth
is not just representing Joseph,
but the county as a whole.”
“We do trip planning and
route people through Imnaha
and everywhere,” said booth
employee Michael Maslach.
In addition to keeping the
booth open for most weekends
and holidays when tourists
are most often in town, the
Joseph Chamber manages a
Facebook page and a website.
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needs of the potential tourist
for hard-copy brochures and
magazines and for detailed in-
formation needed to plan their
trip.
“We’re a team player,” said
Rushton. “We can’t afford
the staff answering the phone
so we redirect folks to WC
Chamber.”
Maslach, who has worked
the Joseph booth for three
years, seconds the notion that
it’s a team effort.
“WC Chamber makes our
copies for us, they put maga-
zines and brochures on the bus
for us if we call, they have the
storage space for all that pa-
per. I just love working with
them. Without them it would
be impossible to operate.”
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team playing with regard to
serving the visitors, there was
a decided lack of team playing
with regard to funding, Rush-
ton said.
Currently Joseph Chamber
of Commerce is paying for op-
eration of a tourism booth that
serves an estimated 10,000
tourists per season, and costs
approximately $13,000 per
year to manage. That $13,000
comes partly from WC Cham-
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hotel tax money (which they
didn’t get this year); and mem-
bership fees ($50 per year per
business).
Joseph Chamber had ap-
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operating expenses from the
hotel/motel tax fund in Febru-
ary and hadn’t received a reply
from the county.
WC Chamber, by contrast,
has a budget of $120,000 per
year to promote the entire
county.
Although the commission-
ers assured Rushton the lack
of funding was an oversight
and immediately remedied
that by pledging $5,000 from
the video poker fund now and
again in January 2016, Rush-
ton felt the time had come to
address the problem of consis-
tent funding.
If the WC Chamber were
located in Joseph, Rushton ar-
gued, the tourism booth could
be absorbed into WC Cham-
ber responsibilities and dupli-
cation of fees, such as work-
man’s comp payments, could
be eliminated. Nor would there
be a need to limit the amount
of business representation —
provided the WC Chamber
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booth or remain open during
peak tourism hours.
Right now, the WC Cham-
ber is not open on weekends or
holidays.
Nor is the Forest Service,
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lot of questions about trails.
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ed, Rushton proposes that the
two full-time employees of
WC Chamber expand duties
to man the booth on weekends
and holidays, or that the WC
Chamber pay for the addition-
al employee to man the booth.
Rushton pointed out that
unless tourists were served on
weekends and holidays, they
were not getting the service
their hotel/motel tax dollars
were meant to support. “The
tourists are paying for a ser-
vice and this is what they’re
getting — closed on week-
ends, closed on federal holi-
days,” she said.
After providing the $5,000
support, the commissioners
advised that the issue was best
discussed by the two boards
of the chambers.
After July 2017, half of the
10 percent will be distributed
as above, but the other half
will be distributed based on
each city’s portion of licenses
issued — more dispensaries
means more money.
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would be the 3 percent tax that
cities and counties could im-
pose. This is a change from the
original language of Measure
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The reason cities and coun-
ties are both mentioned is that
even if the county opts out, an
individual city may opt in —
or vice versa.
In any case, this 3 percent
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when added to the city/coun-
ty’s share of state tax, or it may
only be “six dollars,” commis-
sioner Hayward quipped.
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that a city or county no longer
has to deal with the issue.
County
commissioners
have until Dec. 27, 2015 to
decide.
A county may choose to
negotiate the issue; there are
few and opt out of the rest.
Even if a county chooses to
opt out, the decision is not nec-
essarily permanent. Judging
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local government or munici-
pality may be able to opt back
in at a future date. The precise
process for the “opt-back-in”
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most likely involve repealing
the ordinance against pot and
notifying OLCC of that action.
Opting out does not change
the law with regard to person-
al growing and use. As of July
1, 2015 adults may grow up to
four plants and eight ounces
per residence.
Use of medical marijuana is
also allowed in a city or coun-
ty that has opted out, though
tance for their medication.
The Wallowa County Com-
missioners have other input to
consider beyond the raw voter
opinion. If they opt out they
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sources of income for local law
enforcement — the 10 percent
(of 10 percent) that the state
will give for local police forces,
county law enforcement.
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Sheriff Department and Wal-
lowa County District Attorney
want input on this,” said Com-
missioner Hayward.
Next week: How much
money are we talking? What
other counties in Oregon have
opted out and why?
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