A4 Opinion wallowa.com December 28, 2016 Wallowa County Chieftain Enterprise must consider pedestrian safety C lose readers of the Chieftain may have noticed that Kathleen Ellyn’s byline has been missing from the last few editions. Some many know that Kathleen was hurt while walking down First Street in downtown Enterprise, when a car pulled out of the Chevron station and ran her over. She survived and, miraculously, was spared serious injury. She may be back to work soon. Kathleen may have been the victim of a crime — we will report if Voice of the Chieftain charges are indeed filed against the driver of the car. But some pedestrian accidents in Enterprise are simply accidents, and the city should think about how to reduce them. Enterprise is a dangerous place for a pedestrian, especially in winter when roads and sidewalks are slick and snow, visibility is often low and mounds of snow line streets. Crosswalks disappear under layers of packed snow. Trying to quickly cross over the slick roads is dangerous for those on foot and those behind the wheel. But there are other year-round concerns. There is a major highway running through town, and its l-shaped turn means downtown pedestrians may have to cross it more than once in the process of finishing their errands. That same highway runs through Joseph, but it funnels down in size and the busy corners and cars parking and leaving help force drivers to slow down. It’s often not so in Enterprise. And the kind of shoppers and explorers that the city is trying to convince to stop and wander on their way to the lake can be inconvenienced by the trucks and other vehicles traveling through town. Major fixes would be prohibitively expensive but little fixes could make the city safer, more attractive, and help local business. Perhaps a lighted crosswalk across Highway 82, connecting East and West Main, is an answer. Flags for crossing the street near there, already in place, are a good step. Perhaps city planners could look for ways to further reduce speeds in the downtown core and funnel drivers farther away from Main Street when they drive through town. Perhaps more signage would be useful. Stronger enforcement of the speed limit, and for vehicles not stopping for people in the sidewalk, could make a difference too. Making pedestrians as safe as possible is something the city should strive toward. And it could have other benefits, too: It will help keep visitors and locals downtown for more than just a fillup, and it can help those same people feel free to traverse all that Enterprise has to offer. EDITORIAL USPS No. 665-100 P.O. Box 338 • Enterprise, OR 97828 Office: 209 NW First St., Enterprise, Ore. Phone: 541-426-4567 • Fax: 541-426-3921 Wallowa County’s Newspaper Since 1884 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 O FFICE MANAGER Marissa Williams, marissa@bmeagle.com Tim Trainor, editor@wallowa.com Stephen Tool, stool@wallowa.com Kathleen Ellyn, kellyn@wallowa.com editor@wallowa.com Jennifer Powell, jpowell@wallowa.com Cheryl Jenkins, cjenkins@wallowa.com Periodical Postage Paid at Enterprise and additional mailing offices 1 Year $40.00 $57.00 Subscriptions must be paid prior to delivery 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 © 2016. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. Volume 134 For about two years now, I have devoted all my leisure literary reading to the consumption of the works of Charles Dickens, my favorite novelist. I have been proceeding steadily and contentedly through a 30-volume set that includes all of Dickens’ novels and many of his short stories, as well as a few non-fictional pieces. In Volume 27, in a travel journal called “American Notes,” Dickens recounted events during a six-month long excursion that he made to the United States and Canada in 1842. Toward the end of the journal, he made some general observations about Americans that might still give us reason to pause for consideration 175 years later. Speaking broadly of the American people, Dickens wrote: “They are, by nature, frank, brave, hospitable, and affectionate. Cultivation and refinement seem to enhance their warmth of heart and ardent enthusiasm; and it is the possession of these latter qualities in a most remarkable degree which renders an educated American one of the most endearing and most generous of POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY John McColgan friends…These qualities are natural, I implicitly believe, to the whole people. That they are, however, sadly sapped and blighted in their growth among the mass; and that there are influences at work which endanger them still more, and give but little present promise of their healthy restoration, is a truth that ought to be told…” Addressing his American readers directly, Dickens admonished: “One great blemish in the popular mind of America, and the prolific parent of an innumerable brood of evils, is Universal Distrust ... By repelling worthy men from your legislative assemblies, it has bred up a class of candidates for the suffrage, who, in their every act, disgrace your Institutions and your people’s choice. It has rendered you so fickle, and so given to change, that your inconstancy has passed into a proverb; for you no sooner set up an idol firmly than you are sure to pull it down and dash it into fragments … Any man who attains a high place among you, from the President downward, may date his downfall from that moment; for any printed lie that any notorious villain pens, although it militate directly against the character and conduct of a life, appeals at once to your distrust, and is believed…” “Another prominent feature,” Dickens cautioned us, “is the love of ‘smart’ dealing; which gilds over many a swindle and gross breach of trust; many a defalcation, public and private; and enables many a knave to hold his head up with the best, who well deserves a halter; though it has not been without its retributive operation, for this smartness has done more in a few years to impair the public credit, and to cripple the public resources, than dull honesty, however rash, could have effected in a century. See DICKENS, Page A5 Wildlife nuisance bill will go forward I thought it might be helpful if I explained the background to the “deer proposal bill” that was recently discussed at the Joseph City Council Meeting and reported in the Wallowa County Chieftain. It all began when my office asked citizens in the district for potential legislation for the 2017 session. Joseph Mayor Dennis Sands contacted my office indicating there was a deer problem within the Joseph city limits, and that the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife was unable to help. Was there anything we might be able to do through legislation? We began to work on the issue to determine if there was a need and if so, how to fix it. It was quickly determined that Joseph was not alone. Several cities came to our attention experiencing deer problems, Union and Ashland to name a couple. The League of Oregon Cities, when we met with their staff, were supportive of a bill. ODFW staff helped us craft the language of the bill concept, and seemed to be pleased that something might be done to help with this problem. The Oregon Food Bank met with us in my Salem office and indicated they would love to take the deer meat for their feeding programs. Having determined there was a GUEST COLUMN Sen. Bill Hansell need and working with a coalition of interested parties, we began to craft a bill. It included the following: · Local Control. I insisted on this. The process begins if and only if the city council determines there is a public nuisance and chooses to use this bill to fix it. No city is mandated to do it. · ODFW has to concur that a problem exists. If they don’t then nothing will happen. · ODFW will be tasked with putting the statewide program together and will supervise it. · Humane euthanasia will be used to take the problem deer. No hunters will be marching through neighborhoods shooting deer. Most likely the state’s wildlife services, i.e. government trappers, will perform those duties. · Oregon Food Bank will take the meat to feed the homeless in their food programs. · Antlers and hides can be sold by the city to help pay for any costs they incur. I have been told there is a market for such items. Because Mayor Sands had been the first to bring this issue to our attention, I wanted to extend the courtesy to him to look at the wording and make sure, if the city of Joseph chose to use it, it would be what the city needed. Unfortunately, as I understand, it took on a life of its own when people posted the bill concept on Facebook. Representative Greg Barreto and I are moving ahead sponsoring a bill that will add tools for cities to use if they determine they have a problem. I believe, with the strong support that has thus far been generated, the bill has a good likelihood to pass. Should anyone want more information on this or any other issue, please contact my office (503) 986- 1729 or by email sen.billhansell@ oregonlegislature.gov. Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas and prosperous 2017. ■ Senator Bill Hansell was recently elected for a second term to the Oregon Senate. He represents Wallowa, Union, Umatilla, Morrow, Gilliam, Sherman, and half of Wasco counties. He was Umatilla County Commissioner for 30 years before being elected to Salem in 2012. He and his wife Margaret live in Athena. Private ownership of public land not the answer p ublished every w ednesday by : EO Media Group Subscription rates (includes online access) Wallowa County Out-of-County Dickens, wisdom and the American character Historians say that knowing the past prevents us from making the same mis- takes made by our forebearers. When Oregon became a state, the United States government ceded two sections of every township to the state to use for schools. Unfortunately, the legislature in 1887 decided to sell the school lands. Had they kept those lands and used the timber harvest and grazing fees wisely, charging the going rate, the schools would be financed in perpetuity. Unfortunately, unscrupulous officials sold the lands at minimum prices to pri- vate entities, therefore taking them out of the public domain. Now we have groups of people who want all federal land managed by the state. Their argument is that the state LETTERS to the EDITOR would take better care of the lands than the Forest Service or the BLM present- ly take care of them. According to Tim Smith (Dec. 21 Chieftain), the state would manage the lands efficiently and fires would not be a problem. Where would the state get the money to manage the BLM and Forest Service lands? Would the state sell off those lands in order to finance the land man- agement program? Would the entities that buy the lands allow grazing? Would the supposedly private enterprise new land owners charge less than the federal government now charges to lease graz- ing lands? Would they care more about stewardship of the land than about their immediate private financial gain? Smith apparently believes that the public lands should be under the pur- view of their “users.” I am hereby claim- ing as a citizen of Oregon and the United States of America and a member of the public that the public lands belong to me just as much as they belong to him or any “user.” The public lands ought to be for the benefit of the public, not solely for the benefit of the “users.” If the state should become the man- ager of the forest and BLM lands, they should not be sold to private entities and the fees for their use should be adjusted to the going rate. All of the income from the lands should go to finance education. Evelyn Swart Enterprise