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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (May 26, 2021)
Wednesday, May 26, 2021 A4 OPINION VOICE of the CHIEFTAIN Eckstein’s superhero efforts should be applauded H e was almost instantly dubbed by some in the city of Joseph as a superhero. While Brock Eckstein more than likely won’t be donning a red cape any- time soon, his efforts — and the speed of them — to get the city back on track are ones to be applauded. On Thursday, May 27, Eckstein will unveil the individual or individuals responsible for the harassment that has been alleged — actions that led to the resignation of former city Administrator Larry Braden and put Parks Supervisor Dennis Welch on the sideline for about two months. Actions that have landed the Joseph City Council on the front page of this publication almost weekly for more than a month. He and city attorney Wyatt Baum also will propose punishments for those accused. Truth always comes out. Sometimes it is a long, drawn out, arduous process. Sometimes, like this, it is a lot faster. That Eckstein was able to find enough evidence in relatively short order — he was hired as the city’s interim admin- istrator not even three weeks ago — is stunning. It makes one wonder if the evi- dence was right under the noses of those looking all along. Or if they weren’t looking all that hard. Eckstein, in his position, cannot force any charged individuals to resign, though that is a punishment he can recommend that the council choose. And it is the action we have said repeatedly should be made, and we repeat that refrain here. If the evidence presented is, indeed, enough to peg this allegation on any person or people beyond a reasonable doubt, the correct thing for those indi- viduals is for them to, indeed, step down from their post. In order for there to be healing in the city, whoever has been the cause of the discord needs to step away. Our hope is that this brief, but rough chapter in the history of the Joseph City Council can be put to bed. This has been a messy past couple of months in the town. Perhaps, finally, the cloud that has lin- gered can be lifted. LETTERS to the EDITOR A different course of action for vaccines It seems lately that our government is indecisive as to how to best adminis- ter the oversupply of COVID-19 vac- cine resource nationwide due to individu- als refusing the procedure. Distribution to populations in India, where the pandemic is out of control, is a good plan. My solution, accompanied by lift- ing economic embargoes of food, fuel and medicines to our adversaries, specif- ically Iran, North Korea and Cuba, is to provide this surplus of COVID vaccine to these nations, using U.S. military medical personnel, amongst others, to administer them, and without preconditions. My Christian faith demands this course of action: “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath for it is written, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink...’ Do not EDITORIALS: Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the Wallowa County Chieftain editorial board. Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions 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 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 overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:19-21) Perhaps our politicians could learn a thing or two: kindly words of advice spo- ken by the ancient Hebrews and Chris- tians (and Muslims likewise) before con- tinuing hellbent on a reckless arms race, where our military spending as percentage of our national treasure, is now the high- est, “in the history of the universe” (Mario Cuomo). They might be pleasantly sur- prised by the results. John Walker Enterprise 3), apathy toward spirituality and scoff- ing as the end draws near (2 Peter 3:3-4). All of these conditions will take place just before the return of Christ. Will there be more pestilence? If the Bible is correct, and we, of course, believe it is, then the answer is yes. Jesus knew that wars, famines, earthquakes and pestilence would exist more frequently in the end times. He wanted to warn us that these are signs of the end and of the near- ness of His return. Roger Weishoff Enterprise Signs point to the nearness of Christ’s return I’ll have only muskets when the government does May 6 was the National Day of Prayer. Not one church or preacher held any kind of service that I know of in the county. How sad is that? The Bible predicts that there will be more crime (Matthew 24:12), a break- down of the family unit (2 Timothy 3:2- To Evelyn Swart, I will agree to your position in your letter in the May 12 issue of the Wallowa County Chieftain as soon as the government, state and federal, also only have muskets. Kurt Swinburnson Eagle, Idaho CONTACT your REPRESENTATIVES U.S. PRESIDENT Joe Biden The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Comments: 202-456-1111 U.S. SENATORS Ron Wyden 221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg. Washington, DC 20510 202-224-5244 La Grande office: 541-962-7691 Bobby Levy, District 58 900 Court St. NE, H-376 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1458 Rep.BobbyLevy@state.or.us Member Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association Published every Wednesday by: EO Media Group 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 SENATOR Greg Smith, District 57 900 Court St. NE, H-482 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1457 Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us Wallowa County’s Newspaper Since 1884 VOLUME 134 Cliff Bentz 1239 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 202-225-6730 Medford office: 541-776-4646 REPRESENTATIVES GOVERNOR Kate Brown 160 State Capitol 900 Court Street Salem, OR 97301-4047 503-378-4582 U.S. REPRESENTATIVE Jeff Merkley 313 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 202-224-3753 Pendleton office: 541-278-1129 Bill Hansell, District 29 900 Court St. NE, S-423 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1729 Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us 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. 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