Wednesday, April 14, 2021 A4 OPINION VOICE of the CHIEFTAIN Elected leaders work for the voter O regon lawmakers did some- thing good recently when they approved Senate Bill 513, a measure that requires high school students to complete one semester of civics before they graduate. The bill goes into effect beginning in the 2025-26 school year. Lawmakers passed a similar bill in 2017 that strongly encouraged school districts to offers civics instruction, but it was not required. Senate Bill 513 probably will not garner banner headlines or spark con- troversy, but is probably one of the most crucial pieces of legislation to come down the pike in decades. That is because knowledge regard- ing how our government works is, at times, absent from public discourse. All one must do is look to the recent presidential election or the tenure of several of our past presidents. For- mer Presidents Donald Trump, Barak Obama and George W. Bush could not simply rule exclusively. That is not how our system of government works. Each president can do a whole lot by themselves — using such edicts as executive orders — but in the end they are beholden not only to the people but to Congress. A firm, basic knowledge of how our republic functions, how legisla- tion is created and who gets to make the final decision on key issues is cru- cial for not only our youths but for all voters. We in the news business sometimes make the error that everyone under- stands how our government works, and then stand in dismay when peo- ple make what appear to be outra- geous statements about democracy. The path to work within our sys- tem to make change or to get some- thing done begins with the knowledge of how the machinery of democracy works. Why is it important? Civic educa- tion is critical because if we do not know how the system functions, we cannot act as careful observers of our elected leaders. Our elected lead- ers — from the local city council all the way up to the president — are not bestowed with unlimited power to do as they choose. They are constrained by a check-and-balance system bril- liantly conceived by our Founding Fathers. Many of the recent problems the nation encountered can be directly traced to an ignorance of how our government works. Many do not know how a legislative bill works. Where it is developed. Others believe a president carries unlimited power and can make “things happen” on a whim. The first lesson in civics educa- tion should be the easiest. That lesson is elected leaders work for the voter. Period. LETTER to the EDITOR ‘Civic Pride?’ letter revisited I am updating a letter I wrote in 2002. Here is the original letter called “Civic Pride?” “The smokers in front of the Pioneer Guest Home dispose of their cigarette butts in the same time-honored manner as the nearby well-dressed tourists do — on the street. “A tour of the Enterprise downtown area will show many other examples of missing civic pride. City Hall is badly in need of paint and the beautiful Carnegie Library has crumbling and leaking foun- dations and no handicap access. There is also the matter of the swimming pool repairs, expensive clocks at confusing intersections, the need for well-main- tained year-round public toilets, lack of parking for shoppers since storekeep- ers and their staff park in front of their stores, handicapped access to these same stores, etc. “So, at what socio-economic level does civic pride start? With our teenag- ers and residents of ‘Halfway’ homes or with our elected officials and community businesspeople?” Let’s address the positive first. The clock has been fixed, the library has an elevator thanks to our librarian, Denine Rautenstrauch. The staff at the court- house (a landmark) endured many years of construction and now this building is ADA compliant, too. The pool was removed and, when the weather allows, we have an ice rink. Maybe a permanent indoor ice rink could be a dream for a wealthy donor to our city. And we have public toilets near the tennis courts in the park. Thanks to many soccer fans, we now have a per- manent indoor arena and our young teenagers are improving the skateboard park. Parking is still an issue and handicap access to many stores will never be pos- sible, but at least the Oregon Department of Transportation is improving the hand- icap/stroller ramps. There is the sign coming into town — that looks great. EDITORIALS: Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the Wallowa County Chieftain editorial board. Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opin- ions of the authors and not necessarily that of the Wallowa County Chieftain. LETTERS: The Wallowa County Chieftain 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 Wallowa County’s Newspaper Since 1884 Member Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association Published every Wednesday by: EO Media Group General manager, Jennifer Cooney, jcooney@wallowa.com VOLUME 134 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 about individual services and products or letters that infringe on the rights of private citizens. Letters must be signed by the author and include the city of residence and a daytime phone number. The phone number will not be published. Unsigned letters will not be published. SEND LETTERS TO: editor@wallowa.com, or via mail to Wallowa County Chieftain, 209 NW 1st St. Enterprise, OR 97828 Periodical Postage Paid at Enterprise and additional mailing offices Subscription rates (includes online access) Annually Monthly (autopay) Subscriptions must be paid prior to delivery 1 Year $51.00 $4.25 Editor, Ronald Bond, rbond@wallowa.com Reporter, Bill Bradshaw, bbradshaw@wallowa.com Multimedia Journalist, Alex Wittwer, awittwer@eomediagroup.com Advertising Assistant, Cheryl Jenkins, cjenkins@wallowa.com • • • Contents copyright © 2021. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. City Hall did not get its coat of paint since unfortunately, it burned down. After much delay, the town now has a beautiful City Hall and a large fire hall. Improvements to many heritage buildings have been made but there are still many empty stores. Wild Carrot Herbals is a new addition as are other stores too numerous to mention. The OK Theatre looks great and includes ADA bathrooms. When COVID-19 hit the community, it seemed to halt much of the downtown remodeling. On the cor- ner of River and Main, there are sev- eral buildings undergoing improve- ments although the Litch Building has put a new meaning to the words “Com- ing Soon.” Admittedly, it will be an eye-catching building when finished. Due to a lack of space, I neglected many improvements being done in this town so there is civic pride but it will be years before tourists can exclaim, “What a great little town Enterprise is!” Cathryn A. Paterson Enterprise To submit news tips and press releases, call 541-426-4567 or email editor@wallowa.com See the Wallowa County Chieftain on the Internet Wallowa.com facebook.com/Wallowa twitter.com/wcchieftain POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Wallowa County Chieftain P.O. Box 338 Enterprise, OR 97828