MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2019
Baker City, Oregon
4A
Write a letter
news@bakercityherald.com
EDITORIAL
Firefighting
costs, forest
health go
together
For years the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau
of Land Management have had a problem: While
federal budgets have included money for fi ghting
wildfi res, it often hasn’t been enough to get the job
done. The budget shortage could be made up by tak-
ing money earmarked for forest health restoration, a
practice called fi re borrowing, leaving the very work
that would reduce the likelihood of catastrophic fi re
short of money.
That’s about to change. Maybe. The Consolidated
Appropriations Act of 2018 included a provision that
would end fi re borrowing in the federal 2020 fi scal
year, which begins Oct. 1.
That was then. Today, just weeks before the fi scal
year begins, the departments of the Interior and Ag-
riculture, which oversee the two land management
agencies, have failed to include the money Congress
hoped would improve forest health even in the event
of catastrophic fi res.
The lack hasn’t gone unnoticed. Oregon’s two
senators, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both Portland
Democrats, joined six other western Democratic
senators in March to write to the secretaries of the
Interior and Agriculture departments, urging them
to include more money for forest health. They note
that ending fi re borrowing will allow the agencies
to save $649 million in fi re suppression costs in the
2020 fi scal year, yet none of that money has gone to
work on correcting the problems that lead to such
fi res in the fi rst place.
The two, fi re suppression and forest health, are in-
extricably linked, and funding one half of the pair —
fi re suppression — without funding the other leaves
the country’s public lands prone to more, bigger, and
more expensive fi res in the future. If the proposed
federal spending is adopted, there are funds to re-
store only 3.4 million of the nation’s 90 million acres
of forest land in need of the work in the coming year.
That’s not enough. The administration and Con-
gress must do better.
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the Baker City Herald.
Columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions
of the authors and not necessarily that of the Baker City Herald.
Letters to the editor
• We welcome letters on any issue of public interest.
Customer complaints about specifi c businesses will not be
printed.
• The Baker City Herald will not knowingly print false
or misleading claims. However, we cannot verify the
accuracy of all statements in letters to the editor.
• Letters are limited to 350 words; longer letters will be
edited for length. Writers are limited to one letter every 15
days.
• The writer must sign the letter and include an address and
phone number (for verifi cation only). Letters that do not
include this information cannot be published.
• Letters will be edited for brevity, grammar, taste and
legal reasons.
Mail: To the Editor, Baker City Herald,
P.O. Box 807, Baker City, OR 97814
Email: news@bakercityherald.com
OTHER VIEWS
Governor Brown fails in transparency
Editorial from The Oregonian:
Even for those familiar with the
lack of transparency from Oregon
Gov. Kate Brown’s administration, the
circumstances leading up to the sudden
resignation by Oregon Public Records
Advocate Ginger McCall are dumb-
founding.
McCall, a well-regarded attorney with
extensive experience in public records
and privacy issues, was named to the
new position in January 2018. From the
start, she poured her passion for trans-
parency and access to public records into
practice, holding trainings for govern-
ment offi cials, mediating disputes and
working with legislators and a public
records advisory council for new ways to
promote access.
But on Sept. 9, McCall announced
her resignation, citing “abuse of author-
ity” by Brown’s general counsel, Misha
Isaak, as The Oregonian/OregonLive’s
Hillary Borrud reported. Among other
things, McCall alleged Isaak intimidated
and pressured her to secretly advance
Brown’s agenda, even if it confl icted with
the mission or objectives of McCall’s
offi ce. During a Jan. 15 meeting, McCall
said Isaak claimed supervisory authority
over her, dismissing the independence of
her offi ce. He told her she should derail
proposals that could put the governor in
a politically awkward situation, accord-
ing to a memo McCall wrote after the
meeting.
Isaak then closed the meeting with
an ominous statement, telling her he
was concerned she would call a reporter
and say that the governor’s offi ce was
censoring her, McCall’s memo states. The
“expectation of secrecy,” she wrote, “felt
both unethical and dishonest.”
She’s right — but it extends beyond
the secrecy request. It is both unethical
and dishonest for the governor’s offi ce to
try to gain back-channel control of an in-
dependent offi ce meant to promote open
government and build the public’s trust.
It is both unethical and dishonest for
the governor’s offi ce, while responding
to the news of her resignation, to accuse
McCall of lying. And it was both unethi-
cal and dishonest for Brown to attempt
to distance herself from responsibility
for the actions of her top advisers when
she’s the one running the show.
McCall’s resignation was a principled
stand, but it shouldn’t mark the end of
this matter. There’s much that Brown
should do, starting with Isaak. The
governor recently nominated him for
a seat on the Oregon Court of Appeals.
She should rescind the nomination or
encourage him to voluntarily withdraw
his name. Even before the news of Mc-
Call’s resignation, the decision to give
her inexperienced, but loyal lawyer a
seat on the appellate court smacked of
cronyism. But McCall’s very credible
allegations that he pressured her to
support the governor’s political objectives
over the mission of her independent office
merit pulling the nomination completely.
If true, such scorn for transparency and
disrespect for the office’s independence
show Isaak to be unqualified for the ap-
peals court.
And nothing is stopping Isaak — a
37-year-old attorney with no bench experi-
ence — from seeking a seat on the appeals
court through the elections process if he
so desires. Voters are free to choose him if
they think he’s trustworthy. But there’s no
reason he should be gifted a vacant seat.
Brown only hurts her own reputation by
following through with this nomination,
which was problematic from the start.
Brown has already said she wants to
hear McCall’s ideas for making the office
truly independent. She should also meet
with members of the Public Records Ad-
visory Committee to hear their concerns
following this debacle and ensure that
fixes are in front of the Legislature for the
short session next year.
Brown also should answer for the
actions of those in her office. It’s not just
Isaak’s pressure or his demeaning and
insulting advice to McCall that she slow
down and not be so ambitious. It’s not just
that Brown’s government accountability
attorney, Emily Matasar, apparently fol-
lowed Isaak’s lead in pressuring McCall.
It’s also the immediate response by her
spokesman, Chris Pair, to try to discredit
McCall after the news of her resigna-
tion broke. In an email to Oregon Public
Broadcasting, Pair said her allegations
were “untrue,” which was largely refuted
by Brown herself in a statement at the
end of the day. That attack-dog instinct
to label McCall a liar reveals much about
how the governor’s office handles unflat-
tering news.
Brown also seems to cast blame on Mc-
Call for not bringing her concerns directly
to her previously. But McCall isn’t the
one who mishandled the situation. Isaak
wasn’t some low-level employee in the
governor’s office. He was the governor’s
lawyer. The more appropriate question
is did Brown and her chief of staff know
what Isaak was doing, and if they didn’t,
why not?
In a press release Sept. 9, Brown ended
her statement on the resignation by say-
ing, “It appears this is a situation where
staff were confl icted between the goals of
serving the Governor and promoting the
cause of transparency. Let me be clear,
there should be no confl ict.”
How odd that Brown didn’t fi nish that
thought by saying declaratively that
transparency comes fi rst. She should
have. Instead, she’s left things a little
ambiguous. Brown’s next moves should
reveal exactly what she means.
Commerce Secretary should just resign
Editorial from The New York Daily
News:
Why is Wilbur Ross still on the public
payroll?
The commerce secretary’s latest of-
fense is the serious allegation that he
ordered professionals at the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-
tion, upon threat of losing their jobs,
to contradict their expert assessments
in order to echo rather than contradict
President Trump’s errant claims that
Hurricane Dorian might hit Alabama.
In short, fall in line, meteorologists
— or Hurricane Donald will blow you
away.
This is not Ross’ fi rst corruption and
obstruction rodeo. A year ago, he told
Congress that a citizenship question
was being considered on Census forms
on orders from the Justice Department,
to comply with the Voting Rights Act.
Commerce staffers, in fact, confi rmed
that Ross himself had pressed the issue
at the White House’s behest.
In confi rmation hearings, the sup-
posed billionaire had promised to divest
his investments upon entering the
powerful Cabinet position. More than
a year later, he had still maintained
several stock holdings — and entered
into others — to the tune of a cool $1.2
million.
If Ross had decency, he’d resign. If
Trump had some, he’d fi re him in more
unceremonious fashion than he just
booted John Bolton.
Neither is happening. House Demo-
crats, over to you.
CONTACT YOUR PUBLIC OFFICIALS
President Donald Trump: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania
Ave., Washington, D.C. 20500; 202-456-1414; fax 202-456-2461; to
send comments, go to www.whitehouse.gov/contact.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley: D.C. offi ce: 313 Hart Senate Offi ce
Building, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-3753;
fax 202-228-3997. Portland offi ce: One World Trade Center, 121
S.W. Salmon St. Suite 1250, Portland, OR 97204; 503-326-3386;
fax 503-326-2900. Pendleton offi ce: 310 S.E. Second St. Suite 105,
Pendleton 97801; 541-278-1129; merkley.senate.gov.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden: D.C. offi ce: 221 Dirksen Senate Offi ce
Building, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-5244; fax 202-228-2717.
La Grande offi ce: 105 Fir St., No. 210, La Grande, OR 97850; 541-
962-7691; fax, 541-963-0885; wyden.senate.gov.
U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (2nd District): D.C. offi ce: 2182 Rayburn
Offi ce Building, Washington, D.C., 20515, 202-225-6730; fax 202-
225-5774. La Grande offi ce: 1211 Washington Ave., La Grande, OR
97850; 541-624-2400, fax, 541-624-2402; walden.house.gov.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown: 254 State Capitol, Salem, OR
97310; 503-378-3111; www.governor.oregon.gov.
Oregon Legislature: Legislative documents and information
are available online at www.leg.state.or.us.
State Sen. Cliff Bentz (R-Ontario): Salem offi ce: 900 Court
St. N.E., S-301, Salem, OR 97301; 503-986-1730. District offi ce:
P.O. Box 1027, Ontario, OR 97914; 541-889-8866.
State Rep. Lynn Findley (R-Vale): Salem offi ce: 900 Court
St. N.E., H-475, Salem, OR 97301; 503-986-1460. Email: Rep.
LynnFindley@oregonlegislature.gov
Baker City Hall: 1655 First Street, P.O. Box 650, Baker City,
OR 97814; 541-523-6541; fax 541-524-2049. City Council meets
the second and fourth Tuesdays at 7 p.m. in Council Chambers.
Mike Downing, Loran Joseph, Randy Schiewe, Lynette Perry,
Arvid Andersen, Ken Gross and Doni Bruland.
Baker City administration: 541-523-6541. Fred Warner Jr.,
city manager; Ray Duman, police chief; John Clark, fi re chief;
Michelle Owen, public works director.
Baker County Commission: Baker County Courthouse 1995
3rd St., Baker City, OR 97814; 541-523-8200. Meets the fi rst and
third Wednesdays at 9 a.m.; Bill Harvey (chair), Mark Bennett,
Bruce Nichols.
Baker County departments: 541-523-8200. Travis Ash,
sheriff; Jeff Smith, roadmaster; Matt Shirtcliff, district attorney;
Alice Durfl inger, county treasurer; Stefanie Kirby, county clerk;
Kerry Savage, county assessor.
Baker School District: 2090 4th Street, Baker City, OR 97814;
541-524-2260; fax 541-524-2564. Superintendent: Mark Witty.