SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2017
ODDA
being assembled
across the country
— and the world
— to deal com-
passionately with
issues surround-
ing
the
irre-
versibly and hope-
lessly ill.
“The very exis-
tence of the law
and the fact that it
has worked with-
out problem and
with
generally
good effect is
what I am most
pleased about,”
Humphry
said.
“That, and the fact
that five other
states have enact-
ed laws that are
based on our law,
has had a tremen-
dously good effect on the broader dis-
cussion of self deliverance.”
There are, however, elements of the
ODDA that Humphry feels should be
amended. Specifically, one of the
from 1A
The subject has become part of a
national conversation in the last 20
years.
“During that time, a great many
people have made up their minds, one
way or the other. And that’s just fine,”
said Humphry. “I don’t expect every-
one to agree with my position, but at
least now it can be discussed.”
Humphry’s work on the ODDA
began soon after he moved to Oregon
and consisted of trying to craft the
country’s first legal path to self deter-
mination.
“I pioneered the law in Oregon from
1986 onward, by speaking and writing
on the subject. I was part of the team,
which passed it in 1994. When we
were drawing up the law, I argued for
it to be stronger, embracing chosen
death by doctor injection and also doc-
tor-assisted suicide,” Humphry said.
“But I was out voted, thus a more lim-
ited, pre-scripted law was offered to
the voters and it was passed.”
Humphry said the ODDA has been
an important piece in the puzzle that is
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problems highlighted in Part I of this
series, “Desire for Dignity,” which
drew Humphry’s attention.
“I regard the ODDA as a positive
step along the way to something more
Tenacious
from 1A
During the Feb. 20 special
meeting, port commissioners
attempted to resolve the issue
by possibly reducing the
amount Owen owed the port.
Commission President Ron
Caputo said, “Owen has not
made our job easy. He seems
like a nice person, but he has
made no attempt, until very
late, to resolve this.”
Commissioner
Mike
Buckwald said, “Did he
absolutely understand that he
was going to be paying the
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compassionate —
of a type that
would consider
the case of Bruce
Yelle.” Humphry
said. “I feel that
we need to amend
the six-month ter-
minal diagnosis,
which is a stum-
bling block for
individuals like
Bruce — and it
would
enable
more people with
degenerative dis-
eases to access
the law.”
Humphry felt
that the ODDA,
while an impor-
tant first step in
the process of self
determination,
was lacking in its
scope and inclusivity.
“Cases like Mr. Yelle’s are exam-
ples of the ODDA’s limitations, and
were behind my founding of the
Hemlock Society, now called the Final
($17 per day transient rate)?
Do we know that?”
Staff referenced a letter
dated Oct. 10 informing Owen
that he would not be granted
another contract, that he must
remove the Tenacious from the
Port of Siuslaw and that the
daily rate of $17 per day would
be assessed.
Commissioner Terry Duman
said, “That letter is not applica-
ble here because his payment
was good to Oct. 1 and that was
his second payment on the
semi-annual. He still had part
of an annual moorage contract.
“I don’t know how you go
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from an annual or semi-annual
to a daily rate. A contract in
dispute is still a contract,” he
added.
Port staff pointed out that the
contract ended Oct.1, 2016.
Board members then asked
if the engine worked, and
Leskin said the engine was dis-
mantled and the sails were not
useable.
“I guarantee, if I needed to
sail that boat out of here I’d put
a sail up and go,” Duman said.
The commissioner suggested
that Owen be allowed to bring
his moorage current and com-
ply with all port rules and reg-
ulations, and then be allowed to
sign a new contract.
“He can reclaim his boat by
just paying the semi-annual
moorage (fee). Then for him to
get a new contract he has to be
in compliance,” Duman said.
Commissioners argued that
Owen had been current since
Oct. 1.
“We have been going back
and forth with Owen since last
April,” Leskin said.
“I don’t care if you have
been going back and forth with
him every day. He is a cus-
tomer,” Duman said.
Port
attorney
David
Coulombe, who was participat-
ing via conference call, was
asked if the commissioners
could stop the sealed bid auc-
tion set for 4:30 p.m. Feb. 24.
Coulombe said the port had
the authority to do that.
But he also cautioned com-
missioners, saying, “Moorage
fees are required to be paid in
advance. In my perspective, the
only rational fee to charge a
person (without a contract) is
the daily fee. Otherwise you
are discounting someone who
is mooring illegally. Why
would you give a discount to
someone who is, under the
ordinance, committing a
crime?”
He said that requiring pay-
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ment in advance could be
enforced as a criminal matter
with a fine of up to $500 per
day and six months in jail.
“There is a good policy rea-
son to enforce the board’s fees
at the daily rate as opposed to
some semi-annual or annual
rate. As a port authority, you
are using public funds. You
have to ask yourself, ‘Are we
subsidizing Mr. Owen’s moor-
age with public funds?’”
He added, “Are you treating
all similarly situated vessel
owners now, in the past and in
the future the same?”
Commissioners decided not
to make any further motions
and to allow the sealed bid auc-
tion to move forward on Feb.
24.
Leskin described the respon-
sibility of the port as a tax
authority.
“When we take taxpayers’
money we have a duty to spend
their money responsibly.
Subsidizing a yacht owner who
is not paying his moorage is
not managing that responsibili-
ty responsibly,” he said.
Owen said, “I’ve been doing
business with this port for six
years, and for me to come in a
few days late with my payment
for a six month lease. I was
denied the ability for filling out
a new contract for money I did-
n’t owe.”
According to the port, Owen
renewed a one-year contract
with the port to run from Oct.
1, 2015 to Sept. 30, 2016. He
made his first $840 payment
late on Oct. 13. In April, Owen
informed the port he would not
be able to make the $840 pay-
ment on time. He was told that
he would be placed on a
monthly contract rate of $261.
He paid the $261 for April.
Leskin said Owen returned
on April 11 and paid $579, an
amount equal to what would
have been the balance owing
on his annual contract, if the
$261 were applied to that bal-
ance.
The port mistakenly gave
Owen a receipt showing that he
was paid in full through Sept.
31, 2016.
On April 12, the port sent
Owen a letter correcting that
mistake and telling Owen he
was on the monthly rate of
$261 until the end of his con-
tract date, Sept. 30, 2016.
The April 11 payment was
the last payment Owen made to
the port.
Water
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Exit Network,” Humphry said, refer-
ring to an advice and moral support
system for people who fall through the
cracks of the ODDA and wish to
explore the option of self deliverance.
While the current political climate
doesn’t seem to lend itself to revisiting
the wording of the ODDA, Humphry
hopes that the enactment of other
Death with Dignity laws will allow for
a review of the Oregon Act — and
with that review the possibility exists
for change moving forward.
“There is a rising tide of opinion
supporting the widening of the present
law, but it is getting hardly any support
in legal and legislative circles,” he
said. “I believe that will change in
time.”
(Due to the federal President’s Day
holiday this week, statements from
Sen. Ron Wyden, Sen. Merkley, Rep.
Peter DeFazio, State Sen. Arnie
Roblan, State Rep. Caddie McKeown
and Gov. Kate Brown were not ready
for publication before Siuslaw News
went to press. Look for those and
more information in the final install-
ment of this series in the Wednesday,
March 1, issue of Siuslaw News.)
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7 A
from 1A
A few homes in the direct
area of the break — namely
Falcon Street and two homes
on Second Avenue — are on a
boil order until today at 4
p.m.
“We are sure it is
resolved,” Kennedy said.
She also said that the recent
rainy weather was not a fac-
tor.
“And there will be no last-
ing impacts, which is great,”
Kennedy said.
For more information, visit
hwpud.com or call the office
at 541-997-2446.