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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (May 12, 2021)
Wednesday, May 12, 2021 A4 OPINION VOICE of the CHIEFTAIN A second charge raises the need to investigate T he “cloud” that remains over the city of Joseph is starting to take on the appearance of smoke. And where there is smoke, there is fire. All popular adages aside, there truly is a mess in the city of Joseph, and it seems to be getting worse. The good news of the council appoint- ing Brock Eckstein as its interim admin- istrator to get through budget season was overshadowed by a second accusation of harassment by a city employee, who is on leave currently and may not return to work. The news of Dennis Welch’s accusa- tion was announced by Councilwoman Lisa Collier at the City Council meet- ing Thursday, May 6, and came after the council was already dressed down in a letter by the Joseph Chamber of Com- merce and by members of the commu- nity who were in attendance. One accusation of harassment — that by former city Administrator Larry Bra- den last month — should have been enough for an immediate call for an investigation. This second charge ups the ante. We already wrote in this space two weeks ago that it was concerning the council kept silent on whether there would be an investigation. Now, any answer other than “yes” to that question should send up a massive red flag. Any accusation of harassment is a matter that must be looked into, and the reasons are pretty simple. Suppose Councilman Matt Soots is correct in his opining last week that this may be a case of individuals being thin- skinned. If what has been claimed as harassment doesn’t rise to that sever- ity after all, the community of Joseph — and the council — needs to know that as soon as possible. But if these accusations are, in fact, valid, then a thorough investigation must be done, and quickly. The chamber, in its letter that was read to the council last week, called for the individual or indi- viduals responsible — if this is indeed a valid charge — to resign. We agree, as we called for the same move in this space recently. We also know, though, that the pro- cess must be allowed to play out, and we don’t want to point an accusatory finger until we know for certain where it must be directed. Which is why the investigation must begin. Immediately. Residents of the city of Joseph are starting to lose trust in their government. Accountability is the only thing that can begin to restore order and put out this fire before it turns from a manageable blaze into a raging inferno. LETTERS to the EDITOR A different way to think about the 2nd Amendment When referring to the early colonial days, some people conclude that since the colonists had to fight to gain inde- pendence from the tyranny of the king of England, patriots now must have home arsenals to fight our current government. They believe that the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution requires that there be no limits to the amount of armor they collect and prepare to use. There is a different way to think of the 2nd Amendment and the way it relates to the Declaration of Independence. On one Fourth of July, a group of people reen- acted the colonists’ development of the Declaration of Independence as a cele- bration of Independence Day. They were assigned opposing positions, those agree- ing to separate from English rule and those who were reluctant to change the status quo. As the group read the his- torical document they noticed that the phrases at the beginning of the document were, and still are, used frequently. “We hold these truths to be self-evi- dent, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The Fourth of July group read through what seemed a never-ending list of griev- ances against the king of England. Sure, the colonists were against paying taxes to the king, because they suffered extreme abuses by the dictator king. The king’s soldiers were the controlling power in the colonies even during times of peace. Just read the long list of abuses listed in the Declaration of Independence and you will appreciate our freedom today. The Declaration of Independence is a powerful reminder of the reasons our Founders decided on the concepts in the Constitution of the United States. Those concepts make the U.S. a free country — free because its citizens are the govern- ment. In my opinion, colonial life was far different from the lives we live in 2021. We have civilian control of our govern- ment and we raise taxes to maintain our government services. We are not gov- erned by a king or dictator. We disagree with one another, but the majority rules. The majority rules by a system of law and order that is dependent on the loy- alty, responsibility and education of the people. With a system of law and order that supports freedom, men and women of goodwill have no need to be armed with high-powered military equipment and ammunition to protect their homes, prop- erty, families. Muskets were enough for the patriots in 1776 and they ought to be enough for patriots in 2021. Evelyn Swart Joseph Waiting for more vaccine information is not ‘arm swinging’ I must respond to Mr. Kemp’s letter to the editor from Wednesday, May 5. 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 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 General manager, Jennifer Cooney, jcooney@wallowa.com 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 Designer, Andy Nicolais, anicolais@eomediagroup.com • • • Contents copyright © 2021. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. To submit news tips and press releases, call 541-426-4567 or email editor@wallowa.com First of all, a person does not have a right to eat in a restaurant “free of contagion.” Secondly, the federal government fully and clearly admits getting a COVID-19 vaccine does not always work. FDA.gov states: “The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine may not protect everyone.” It states the same for the Pfizer-BioN- Tech COVID-19 vaccine and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The Moderna, Pfizer and J&J vaccines have not received FDA approval. FDA.gov states: “There is no U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved vaccine to prevent COVID-19.” Getting vaccinated does not make a person any less of a threat to the gen- eral public than someone who is not vac- cinated. This potentially makes the vac- cinated person even more of a danger of spreading COVID-19 since he or she is walking around with a false sense of security. Many people just want more informa- tion before committing to a vaccine that may or may not be effective. I wouldn’t call that “arm-swinging.” In fact, I think it is wise. Mr. Kemp may be discouraging the swinging of arms that aren’t swinging at all but are, rather, merely waiting for more facts. After all, we’re not bullies; we’re people who understand the respon- sibility, the beauty, and the danger of liv- ing free. Trina Rice Enterprise 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 See the Wallowa County Chieftain on the Internet Wallowa.com facebook.com/Wallowa twitter.com/wcchieftain 1 Year $51.00 $4.25 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Wallowa County Chieftain P.O. Box 338 Enterprise, OR 97828