Wednesday, October 20, 2021
A4
OPINION
VOICE of the CHIEFTAIN
Federal
policy needs
to support
families
F
amily policies being decided at the
federal level now will have a major
effect on Americans for years to
come.
This should be a bipartisan effort.
There are plenty of Republicans and
Democrats alike who understand how
child tax credits, support for child care
centers and universal preschool could
have a huge positive effect on their con-
stituents — not just families with young
children, but also on business owners
who depend on a strong workforce.
The lack of affordable child care and
the serious shortage of child care in gen-
eral are keeping parents out of the work-
force, discouraging couples from having
children and hurting the economy. This is
a long-standing problem exacerbated by
the pandemic.
When parents can find and afford qual-
ity child care and preschool for their chil-
dren, they are free to work or continue
their education and job training.
We believe child tax credits for low-
and middle-income working parents to
spend as they please on the best child
care they can find would drive the market
to create more quality child care options
(both home- and center-based), and raise
wages for child care providers.
The greatest challenge for most rural
communities is the demand for child care
far exceeds the supply. Building child
care centers is expensive because of the
specific needs of infants, toddlers and
preschoolers and often onerous state reg-
ulations that govern child care facilities.
Federal grants to communities to build
and maintain child care centers (which
then could be operated by nonprofit orga-
nizations or cooperatives, with local con-
trol) would go a long way to shrink the
child care shortage.
A recent analysis shows universal pre-
school for 4-year-olds will save the exist-
ing taxpayer-funded K-12 public educa-
tion system over $83 billion per year. It’s
clear that having young children spend
three or four hours a day at a high-qual-
ity preschool — learning how to follow
instructions, manage their emotions and
work and play with others — means they
will be ready to learn in kindergarten.
The K-12 savings come from reduced
need for special education and grade
repetition.
We want to see Republicans and Dem-
ocrats working together to allow parents
to have choices about child care and pre-
school, to support low- and middle-in-
come families for whom child care and
preschool is currently a significant eco-
nomic burden and to encourage adults
to work. Family policies that support
marriage, children and the economy are
within reach.
LETTERS to the EDITOR
‘Show some patriotism,
get vaccinated and wear a
mask’
I would like to thank both Harold
Weight and Evelyn Swart for their words
in the last Chieftain. Both letters showed a
refreshing clarity and understanding of our
duty as citizens of this country.
It seems to me that there is a disturbing
trend in this country where so many folks
equate patriotism with individual free-
doms and unwillingness to compromise or
consider the safety or needs of others. One
definition of patriotism is, “Willingness to
sacrifice to promote the country’s good.”
In much of the discourse and actions
today, what I see is a disturbing lack of
such willingness, not just to sacrifice but
to even be momentarily inconvenienced
by wearing a mask. What would our
fathers and grandfathers who sacrificed so
much to defeat fascism think of such petty,
self-centered comments and actions?
I implore my neighbors to stop listening
to the paid voices of disinformation and
think of your neighbors and friends. This
pandemic has gone on long enough. We all
know how to end it, so show some patrio-
tism, get vaccinated and wear a mask.
Apply previous logic to many other
issues for a better America.
John Chlopek
Lostine
Visitors shortened stay
in the county because of
a lack of masks
My wife and I visited Joseph and
Enterprise last week and were stunned to
find so few people wearing masks. Peo-
ple at the Wallowa Lake Lodge, retailers,
servers at restaurants, and even the man
who ran the RV park we stayed at did not
wear masks.
They are putting everyone at risk of
catching a deadly disease. We do not
comprehend what this is about. Is it
some type of political statement (about a
virus?), childish “you can’t tell me what
to do” behavior, just plain ignorance or
what?
No matter what the reason, we had
planned to stay for a number of days in
this beautiful area, but left the next day to
go someplace we felt safer.
People here need to realize that you
are not only putting yourself at risk, you
are putting your children, families and
visitors at grave risk.
Yes, wearing a mask can be a pain. But
it is not that difficult and the little hassle it
creates is nothing compared to the pain of
causing someone to catch a serious illness
or die. Come on people: Think about the
health and well-being of others, not just
your own desires.
Bob Doppelt
Eugene
Commissioner offers pen
response about River
Democracy Act
To Mack Birkmaier:
Thanks for the letter concerning the
River Democracy Act (RDA).
We have been consistent in ask-
ing three basic questions to Sen. Ron
Wyden’s staff:
1. Who nominated these “rivers”?
2. What criteria was used for
nomination?
3. Can you provide detailed maps with
designations of each segment?
Question 1:
I have not gotten an answer to this
question from the senator’s office, but we
do know, by Sen. Wyden’s statements,
that fifth-graders nominated segments.
We do not know where these fifth-graders
reside. I have not heard from one person
that has nominated a “river” or is in sup-
port of this bill. I did, however, receive a
“request for public records” sent by Ore-
gon Wild concerning RDA. I’m only left
with the assumption that Oregon Wild is
in support of this bill, and I will let the
readers of this letter to draw their own
conclusions.
Question 2:
Apparently no criteria was needed;
CONTACT your REPRESENTATIVES
LETTERS: The Wallowa County Chieftain
welcomes original letters of 400 words or less
on public issues and public policies for publi-
cation 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. Un-
signed letters will not be published.
U.S. PRESIDENT
Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. 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
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
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
P.O. Box 338 • Enterprise, OR 97828
Office: 209 NW First St., Enterprise, Ore.
Phone: 541-426-4567 • Fax: 541-426-3921
Contents copyright © 2021. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without permission is prohibited.
Cliff Bentz
1239 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
Medford office: 541-776-4646
General Manager, Karrine Brogoitti, kbrogoitti@eomediagroup.com
Editor, Ronald Bond, rbond@wallowa.com
Reporter, Bill Bradshaw, bbradshaw@wallowa.com
News Assistant, Cheryl Jenkins, cjenkins@wallowa.com
Classifieds/Inside Sales, Julie Ferdig, jferdig@bakercityherald.com
Advertising Assistant, Devi Mathson, dmathson@lagrandeobserver.com
• • •
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
USPS No. 665-100
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton office: 541-278-1129
REPRESENTATIVES
GOVERNOR
SEND LETTERS TO: editor@wallowa.com, or
via mail to Wallowa County Chieftain, 209 NW
1st St. Enterprise, OR 97828
VOLUME 134
unlike the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of
1968 that had strict guidelines and robust
public involvement, the RDA has neither.
As commissioners, we have repeatedly
invited the senator and his staff to public
meetings and have been turned down cit-
ing not wanting to have the press there.
Sen. Wyden’s staff has been strategic and
somewhat successful in meeting with
individual commissioners and getting
them to stay neutral on this issue.
Question 3:
When this bill was first presented to
me, I and others asked for maps so we
could have time to study the areas and
better understand the impacts of RDA,
both positive or negative. We were repeat-
edly told that they would provide detailed
maps, but that has not been the case. Sen.
Wyden does have detailed maps but has
not made them available to the public.
They have shown maps to various
commissioners, but refuse to leave cop-
ies or even allow them to take a picture.
Wallowa and Union counties did hire
an engineering firm to produce maps of
our respective counties. The 404 miles
of RDA added to the nearly 300 miles of
our wild and scenic in Wallowa County
is a startling image with half- and quar-
ter-mile buffers well defined. To better
illustrate, Wallowa County has 700 miles
of county roads — imagine half-mile off
all dirt roads and a quarter off paved on
either side, and that’s how much territory
we are talking about.
Mack, to your last bullet point; the
board of commissioners are on record
in opposition to the bill (S. 192) and
have asked that all 404 miles in Wallowa
County be removed. We have the larg-
est wilderness in this state and have lost
most timber production from Forest Ser-
vice-managed lands and we have more
vacant and closed grazing allotments than
active ones.
We do not need another layer of
bureaucracy added to this complex beau-
tiful landscape we have the privilege of
calling home.
Thanks for your 90 years dedication to
Wallowa County, Mack.
Todd Nash
Wallowa County commissioner
Bill Hansell, District 29
900 Court St. NE, S-423
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us
Published every Wednesday by: EO Media Group
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