News
Wallowa County Chieftain
wallowa.com
HOUSING
that they aren’t staying with in-
dividuals who are involved in
illegal activities and drug and
alcohol use.
“I think if people truly un-
derstood who was (already) in
their backyard with no place to
live, they would be shocked,”
Hacker said. “I have 45 individ-
uals I could put in a transitional
housing situation immediately.”
Continued from Page A1
As a result, the county cur-
rently receives $50,000 per year
in grant money from the pro-
gram, which was established
by House Bill 3294 during Or-
egon’s last legislative session to
develop and track a program to
handle probation issues and re-
duce the prison population.
HB3294 recognized that the
cycle of repeated incarceration
was not the answer to curbing
criminal activity: interrupting
that cycle and providing treat-
ment, support and training is
more effective.
Hacker seeks funds from
“anywhere I can get them,” he
says, but the county only pro-
vides $1,000 each year for tran-
sitional housing.
So, Hacker wrote the grant
proposal for Wallowa County,
which includes $20,000 to be
spent on mental health coun-
seling and transitional housing.
The rest of the money is spent
on offender supervision, drug
and alcohol assistance, manag-
ing the county work crew, and
sharing $10,000 with the non-
proit Safe Harbors for victim
assistance.
As it stands, since Wallowa
County has no transitional
housing, Hacker is obliged to
spend the money for transitional
housing to temporarily put pro-
bationers or parolees up in local
motels.
“I don’t like that,” Hacker
said. “It’s not a good environ-
ment for rehabilitation.”
Dificult choices
“With 110 on parole or pro-
bation in the county, how do
you screen who you’re going
to help and who not?” Hacker
asked. “Most of these people
are not bad people, they’re peo-
ple who made a poor choice and
are now labeled as bad.”
When Isley volunteered to
take in four individuals last year,
Hacker gave a small portion
of his $1,000 county money to
Isley “to at least help keep the
lights on.” This represented a
savings from installing the indi-
viduals in hotels and gave them
a much better chance of actu-
ally making life changes. The
fact that Isley’s tiny program is
faith-based was an added plus.
“Isley’s idea is more hands-
on and faith-based than a coun-
ty facility (would be),” Hacker
said.
Services Isley provides in a
sober setting that are not oth-
erwise available in standard
transitional housing include
transportation to help residents
get to work and appointments,
going with them to help them
re-establish family connections
and accompanying them on vis-
itations.
“Many come out of prison
with no car, no family, no pro-
vision for positive interaction,”
Hacker said. “I have tons of
people who need a place to go
to sleep at night. We didn’t have
any idea we needed a zoning
change for (Isley to help). The
Isleys, for years, have helped in
the community. Period.”
Certainly, there is no legal
obstacle preventing any indi-
vidual from assisting another,
offering them a place to stay,
or providing them with a faith
structure to help them make
better choices.
And without such a facility
offering oversight and account-
ability, parolees may be left
couch suring wherever they
can. There’s no way to ensure
‘It fell into our lap’
Paul Flanders, Mental
Health Emergency Services
supervisor for Wallowa Valley
Center for Health, said Isley’s
inability to set up the transition-
al housing so far was “hugely
unfortunate.”
According to information
iled by Hacker as a require-
ment for continued funding
from State Justice Reinvest-
ment Grant Program, approxi-
mately 40 parolees use mental
health services.
The number should not be
shocking.
“Essentially since the ‘70s
we have discharged people
from state hospitals and put
them in the corrections system,”
Flanders said. “The departmen-
tal health provider (for mentally
ill) in the nation is the correc-
tion system. They do the best
they can. Ideally there’s a place
for (parolees with mental health
issues) to go (when they are
paroled) and I think Isley does
a great job and has provided a
great service for this communi-
ty. (His program) creates addi-
tional structure of them.”
Isley originally announced
his intention to answer an unof-
icial request to help by proba-
tion oficers in 2015. An article
in the April 1, 2015 edition of
The Chieftain reported that Is-
ley originally started working
in an unoficial capacity with
Lt. Beth Hulse, a former Wal-
lowa County Community Cor-
rections oficer, and Hacker,
her successor, to start plugging
holes in parolee reintegration
and housing needs. Isley ini-
tially took in two people. That
number eventually grew to four.
All but one of the individuals he
initially housed has since moved
on to other options.
“We’ve kind of been doing
this all along and that’s how it
fell into our lap,” Isley said at
the time. “Kyle (Hacker) was
like, ‘Hey, you’ve got this big
building and I’ve got this person
who needs a place, could you
take him?’”
Isley now plans to make
his next appeal to the State
Land Use Board of Appeals
(LUBA) within 30 days.
“We’re going to take it as
far as we can, said Isley, “Be-
cause this is a place where
we as a society have created
a huge problem and we won’t
address it.”
Wallowa County
August 24, 2016
A9
BOATS
Continued from Page A1
There will be a booth for
your dragon gear and jewelry
at the Marina on Wallowa Lake
to raise funds for the local club,
which continues to recruit crew
members and volunteers.
The creation of youth teams
remains a goal, and spectators
are encouraged to express their
interest at the Dragons in the
Wallowas booth and ind out
when the next “try it, you’ll like
it” paddle day is planned.
Participation is open to peo-
ple ages 14-96. That upper limit
can be extended and teams have
welcomed blind and otherwise
disabled folks — you just have
to be able to paddle.
Wallowa Lake paddlers
have reported excellent itness
results and several have met
weight loss goals — despite the
occasional celebratory beer af-
ter practice.
The dragon boat community
has been abuzz about the Wal-
Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain
A few dragon boats were parked in front of the Outlaw Restaurant in May.
lowa County event and the Sev-
en Wonder Cup Race from the
moment it was announced, and
coaches and boats have come to
Wallowa Lake to help the new
local team prepare.
Now it’s time to put our
homegrown dragons to the
test and introduce hundreds of
dragon boaters (there are 22 per
boat, plus all their support folk)
to Wallowa County.
Events begin at 8 a.m. each
day. Spectators may gather at
the swim beach area to watch
the boats come into the inish
line.
Trials will take place Sat-
urday to whittle the ield down
to the top four in each division,
and Sunday is the inal race day
for the top contenders. Medals
will be given to the top three
inishing teams in each cate-
gory of the Sunday 500-meter
inale and top three in the in
the serpentine race — a sla-
lom course unique to Wallowa
County that also will be held on
Saturday.
Citizens panel endorses
corporate sales tax measure
By Paris Achen
Capital Bureau
A citizens’ panel that re-
views Oregon ballot initia-
tives for the voters’ pamphlet
has endorsed a controversial
corporate sales tax measure
on the November ballot.
Measure 97 would levy
a 2.5 percent tax on certain
corporations’ Oregon sales
exceeding $25 million.
The citizens panel heard
from both sides of the pro-
posal before voting 11-to-9 on
Sunday to endorse the mea-
sure. Its key indings will be
published in the state voters’
guide, which goes out to most
voters by Oct. 19.
The tax would raise an es-
timated $6 billion every two
years in additional revenue
at a time when the state fac-
es an estimated $1.4 billion
shortfall to maintain existing
services.
Supporters cited the short-
fall and a study by Ernst &
Young ranking Oregon 50th
in the lowest rate of corporate
taxation as reasons for the en-
dorsement.
“We are currently in a
crisis of underfunded public
education, healthcare and se-
nior services,” the supporters
wrote in a statement. “The
passage of Measure 97 would
quickly ix this.”
Panelists who voted
against the endorsement cit-
ed a study by the Legislative
Revenue Ofice that shows
the tax would drive up the
prices of daily items such as
food and fuel for the typical
family by $600 a year.
That study also showed
job growth would slow sig-
niicantly in the private sec-
tor while public sector jobs
would increase.
“A regressive tax takes a
larger percentage of income
from low income earners cre-
ating an unnecessary burden
on many Oregon families,”
panelists wrote in a statement
of opposition.
The endorsement marks
another victory for the union-
backed campaign for Mea-
sure 97. Earlier this month,
the measure won an endorse-
ment from Gov. Kate Brown.
Another research committee
recommended last week that
the City Club of Portland en-
dorse the measure.
“It’s clear that when Or-
egonians get the facts about
Measure 97, they agree it’s
time to hold large and out-of-
state corporations account-
able,” said Katherine Dries-
sen, a spokeswoman for Our
Oregon, the nonproit back-
ing the measure. “Oregon
ranks 50th in the country in
corporate taxes, leaving our
schools and critical services
badly underfunded.”
The campaign against the
measure said panelists ig-
nored research that showed
consumers would bear most
of the burden from the tax.
“We disagree with the con-
clusions of the panelists who
voted to support Measure 97
despite the fact that most of
the $6 billion measure will
be paid by Oregon consum-
ers through higher prices for
the services and goods they
buy every day — clothing,
groceries, electricity, medi-
cine, insurance, even medical
care,” said Rebecca Tweed,
Defeat the Tax on Oregon
Sales campaign coordinator.
Lawmakers approved the
creation of the citizens panel
in 2011 based on a concept
developed by Health Democ-
racy Oregon. The creation of
the panel “marked the irst
time a legislature has made
voter deliberation a for-
malized part of the election
process,” according to the
Healthy Democracy Oregon
website.
HELLS CANYON
MULE DAYS
EVENT SCHEDULE
SEPTEMBER 9-10-11, 2016
Wallowa County Fairgrounds
Enterprise, Oregon
36th Annual
Three Days of Family Fun!
Featuring Tennessee Mule Artist Bonnie Shields
Friday - September 9th
Please Note: Times may vary for Class Events
9:00 am – Gates Open
9:00 am - Driving Events: Singles, Teams & Youth Classes
9:00 am - Exhibitors, Vendors & Western Gear
The Green, Quonset Building & Exhibitors Barn
Noon - (To follow Driving events) Log Pull, Mule Races & More!
11:00 -1:00 pm - Trail Class – Track in front of grandstands
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm - Timed Trail Class – Main Arena
6:00 pm - Max Walker Memorial Scholarship Cowboy Poetry Gathering
Indoor Arena • Admission is free, but $5.00 donation suggested
Saturday - September 10th
HEALTH LINE
Please Note: Times may vary for Class Events
8:00 am Gates Open
8:00 am - Halter and Showmanship
8:00 am - Exhibitors, Vendors & Western Gear
The Green, Quonset Building & Exhibitors Barn
9:00 am - Matt Fournier Mule Clinic –Warm-up Arena
11:00 am - Non-Motorized Parade - Downtown Enterprise
12:45 pm - Spectator Kids Events • Stick Mule Race & Boot Scramble • 4-9 years
1:00 pm - Grand Entry & Mule Show – Main Arena
Fun and Entertaining Events
4:00 pm - Private Treaty Mule Sale – Warm-up arena
5:30 pm - Pit B-B-Q Dinner $10.00 (Scholarship Fundraiser) – On The Green
7:00 pm - Joni Harms Concert – “Let’s Put The Western Back In The Country.”
Cloverleaf Hall - Showtime: 7:00 pm • Doors Open at 6:30 pm
Tickets: $10.00 Advance - $15.00 Door - Children (12 & Younger) $5.00
Ticket Locations: Favorite Finds on Main, Thompson Auto Supply, and The Bookloft
Sunday, September 11th
519 W. North Street, Enterprise
541.426.3413
Mon-Thurs 9 to Noon/1-5pm; Fri. 9-1
Specializing in Anti-Aging Skin Therapy
Customized Facials
Waxing Services, Brow Sculpting
Body Polish-Back Facials
High-Perfomance Products
541-398-0759 | Located @ beecrowbee 01 Main Joseph
Keycode Entry
Weight Room • Cardio
Women’s Circuit • Tanning
202 W. Main, Enterprise
541-426-0313
Please Note: Times may vary for Class Events
8:00 am - Gates Open
8.00 am - Cowboy Church Exhibitors Barn
8:30 am - 3:30 pm - English & Western Pleasure, Jump-Of Challenge,
Ranch & Western Riding, Barrel Racing, Pole Bending, Team Branding & more.
9:00 am - Exhibitors, Vendors & Western Gear
The Green, Quonset Building & Exhibitors Barn
9:00 am - Noon - Dutch Oven Cook-Of,
Two member teams, One pot cook-of – Main Dish and/or Dessert
Buy your People’s Choice Packet and be part of the tasting and judging.
10:00 am - Levi King Mule Clinic - Warm-up Arena
4:00 pm - Show Awards Presentation
SONDRA LOZIER 541-426-3271 / 541-263-0104 • Visit our website - HELLSCANYONMULEDAYS.COM
Souvenier Admission Button - Return Privileges All 3 Days
Children 6 & Under - FREE • Youth 7-12 - $3.00 • Seniors - $8.00 • Adults -$10.00
Daily Admission - Children 6 & Under - FREE • Youth 7-12 - $2.00 • Adults & Seniors - $5.00
Free parking • Covered seating