BAKER CITY HERALD — 3A
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019
Buehler to run for Walden’s seat
“Many Oregonians are tired of being
disrespected or ignored by Portland lib-
Knute Buehler, an orthopedic surgeon erals and elite D.C. politicians,” Buehler
who represented Bend in the state
said in a press release. “In Congress, I
House until an unsuccess-
will defend the values, rights and jobs
ful run for governor in
threatened by the powerful arm of big
2018, announced Tuesday
government. I will be a conservative
he will seek the Republican
voice for the people and place I call
nomination for Oregon’s
home.”
2nd Congressional District.
Buehler’s announcement comes about
Buehler
The Congressional seat
a year since he lost the governor’s race
opened when U.S. Rep.
to Kate Brown. The 2018 governor’s
Greg Walden, R-Hood River, decided not race was the most expensive in Oregon
to seek re-election next year.
history.
Buehler hinted at plans to run for
More than $35 million was raised be-
the seat in October, and made it offi cial tween Brown and Buehler. The largest
Tuesday.
chunk went to television ads, primarily
By Kyle Spurr
The (Bend) Bulletin
TRADE
Continued from Page 1A
“Mexico can be a very good
market for us for potatoes,”
Ward said.
He said American po-
tato growers have a natural
advantage over both their
Canadian and European
counterparts simply because
they’re closer to Mexico,
which reduces transportation
costs.
Ward said about 65%
of Oregon’s potato crop is
exported.
As for wheat, the USMCA
would eliminate Canada’s
wheat-grading system, which
the U.S. Department of
Agriculture terms “discrimi-
natory.”
The issue is that Canadian
rules automatically rate
American wheat imports
as “feed grade” rather than
the higher-value grades,
said Blake Rowe, CEO of
the Oregon Wheat Growers
League and Oregon Wheat
Commission.
Doing away with those
rules would not have a direct
effect for Oregon wheat farm-
ers because they don’t export
to Canada, Rowe said.
But he believes the
USMCA would have an indi-
rect benefi t for Oregon grow-
ers by making it easier for
wheat farmers elsewhere —
particularly in states border-
ing Canada and for Midwest
growers for whom Mexico is a
key market — to sell bushels
to those two countries.
If more wheat from those
regions is exported to Mexico
and Canada, then Oregon
farmers in theory should
receive higher prices when
selling to their main export
markets in Asia, Rowe said.
“We’re certainly very sup-
portive of USMCA,” he said.
“We’ve lobbied for it, and we’d
love to see it pass.”
Wheat sales from Baker
County totaled about $6
million in 2017, the most
recent year for which fi gures
are available from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
Overall, crops, including
potatoes, alfalfa and pepper-
mint, generated $33 million
in sales that year. Beef cattle
sales are the biggest part
of the county’s agriculture
industry, with 2017 sales of
about $46 million.
Cheryl Martin, a North
Powder rancher and district
vice president for the Oregon
Cattlemen’s Association, said
she’s optimistic that the new
trade deal could boost slug-
gish cattle prices by removing
uncertainty about the future
negative attack ads by the candidates on
each other that blanketed the state.
Buehler raised and spent more than
$19 million during his campaign for gov-
ernor. It set a new record for a Republi-
can seeking statewide offi ce.
The governor’s race was a rematch.
Brown defeated Buehler in the 2012
race for secretary of state. Brown then
became governor in February 2015
when Gov. John Kitzhaber resigned
amid allegations of infl uence peddling in
his administration.
Among the other candidates seeking
Walden’s seat is State Sen. Cliff Bentz,
the Ontario Republican whose district
includes Baker County.
for trade among the three
countries.
The Oregon Wheat Grow-
ers League isn’t alone in its
endorsement of a revised
trade deal with Mexico and
Canada.
In September the National
Association of State Depart-
ments of Agriculture, which
represents agriculture agen-
cies in all 50 states, wrote a
letter to the Democratic and
Republican leaders in both
the House and Senate, urging
them to ratify the USMCA
during 2019.
All former U.S. agriculture
secretaries, dating to the
Reagan administration in
the 1980s, also signed a letter
supporting the USMCA.
Agriculture Secretary Per-
due also touts the USMCA as
increasing export opportuni-
ties to Canada for American
dairy products.
Although Baker County
has no dairies, Ward said the
trade pact’s dairy provisions,
both for Canada and Mexico,
could benefi t local farmers
who sell alfalfa to dairies.
He said he has talked with
some large dairy owners who
would like to expand their ex-
ports to Mexico in particular.
“If they can sell more dairy
products there, that will help
alfalfa markets, and we will
do better selling alfalfa,”
Ward said.
Rowe said ratifi cation of
the USMCA would help ease
uncertainty that has wor-
ried farmers over the past
two years or so related to
the Trump administration’s
trade policies.
Rowe said one concern was
that Trump would cancel
NAFTA before a new deal
was approved. That would
have eliminated current
tariff-free sales of American
wheat to Mexico, poten-
tially increasing the supply
of wheat for export to other
foreign markets and driv-
ing down prices for Oregon
wheat, he said.
Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden
touched on that topic —
although related to potatoes
rather than wheat — in a
February 2019 letter to the
Offi ce of the United States
Trade Representative.
In the letter Wyden wrote
that tariffs imposed by the
Trump administration had
led foreign countries to retali-
ate with tariffs on American
exports, including potatoes.
Wyden asked federal of-
fi cials for an update on how
the Trump administration
was dealing with retaliation
affecting Oregon potato ex-
ports to China and Mexico.
H EART TO H EART
Invest in Oregon’s
arts and culture
It has been a remarkable
year for arts and culture in
Baker County!
African metal wildlife
roaming along Main Street,
charming visitor’s young and
old, thanks to the Art Roam-
ers.
The fi nal season of the 50th
anniversary celebration of
“Paint Your Wagon” at the
Baker Heritage Museum.
The improvements
and ongoing evolution of
Churchill School including
the Churchill Dance Hall and
Hostel.
Excellent programs
about the North Powder Ice
Industry at Eastern Oregon
Museum and a wonderful
program about the history of
cattle by the Baker Historical
Society.
The extensive work, behind
the scenes on the Baker
Orpheum Theatre as they
get the engineering studies
fi nalized so they can move
forward with the restoration
of the theatre in the heart of
downtown Baker City.
And so much more ... I
thank all these amazing
partners for their hard work
and commitment to making
Baker City a vibrant arts and
culture community.
Crossroads Carnegie Art
Center celebrated the 110th
anniversary of the Carnegie
Library Building. We hosted
our most successful fundrais-
er “Oktoberfest,” since open-
ing at the Carnegie Library
in 2008.
We hosted a glorious
concert “Music from the
Heart” in August to raves, we
have had fi rst rate art in our
gallery every month and the
outside world has begun to
fi nd Baker County and the
vibrant arts, culture, heritage
and humanities scene here.
This year, I have worked
as a board member with the
Cultural Advocacy Coali-
Mobile Service
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tion to assure that funding
continues for critical arts and
cultural programs and this
year the Legislature extended
the Oregon Cultural Trust
Tax Credit for six more years
and we saw major invest-
ment by the state in some
important projects including
the Lincoln County Cultural
Center, Nikkei Project and
High Desert Museum.
This year Crossroads, East-
ern Oregon Regional Theatre
and the Baker County Cul-
tural Coalition received grant
funding from the Oregon Cul-
tural Trust. This investment
by our state and the citizens
of Oregon is a huge success
story. You make a donation
to one of 1,400 participating
arts and culture LOCAL non-
profi ts, with a donation or a
membership, then make a
matching donation to the Or-
egon Cultural Trust and you
will receive that back as a tax
credit on your Oregon taxes.
If you fi le as an individual,
you can donate up to $500 to
Local nonprofi ts and $500 to
the Oregon Cultural Trust
and receive a $500 tax credit!
As always talk to your tax
professional for advice.
In turn, those funds are
invested back into Oregon via
grants ... It is a circle of com-
mitment by Oregonians to
Oregon. So as the year comes
to a close — now is the time
to make those end of the
year gifts, and all gifts to the
Oregon Cultural Trust must
be received by Dec. 31. For
more information go to www.
Culturaltrust.org
We appreciate your sup-
port of arts and culture!
Have a joyous holiday sea-
son! May 2020 be fi lled with
even more arts and culture
opportunities to engage all
citizens.
Ginger Savage
Executive director
Crossroads Carnegie Art
Center
Baker City
Council will ask
voters to change
city’s charter
By Samantha O’Conner
soconner@bakercityherald.com
Baker City voters will decide in the May 2020 election
whether to do away with pay for City Council members,
and give councilors more authority to sell surplus city
property.
Councilors decided Tuesday to put on the May ballot
two suggested changes to the city charter, which dates
to the 1950s. Councilor Randy Schiewe was absent
Tuesday.
One change would eliminate the clause that says
councilors will receive $10 for each meeting they attend,
to a yearly maximum of $150.
The second would delete the section that requires
the city to secure the approval of voters to sell any city
equipment, such as vehicles, with a market value of
more than $10,000.
The city has a surplus backhoe it wants to sell, and
offi cials believe its value exceeds $10,000.
“The new language would be: Surplus equipment
may be disposed of by a majority vote of the council with
all proceeds going to the appropriate city fund to be used
for future equipment replacement,” Warner said.
Because the charter requirement that voters approve
sales of certain equipment, the proposed sale of the 1995
Case 580 four-wheel drive backhoe will also be on the
May ballot.
In other business Tuesday, city councilors:
• approved two $500 grants through a city program
designed to help downtown building owners improve
the appearance of their properties.
One grant will help pay for a new sign at Royal
Artisan, 1912 Main St., and the other will help replace
exterior windows at 2020 Main St.
• approved the third and fi nal reading of an amended
ordinance No. 3353, dealing with juveniles cited for
violating curfew or being truant.
The previous ordinance allowed the Baker City
Justice Court judge to fi ne the parent or guardian of
juveniles cited; the amended version also allows the
judge to fi ne the juvenile up to $100 for the fi rst citation,
up to $250 for the second, and up to $500 for the third
and subsequent citations.
• approved a contract between the Baker City Public
Arts Commission and the Oregon Department of Trans-
portation to install a vinyl wrap artwork on a traffi c
signal control cabinet at Main Street and Washington
Avenue.
• approved the fi rst and second reading of the 2019
Oregon Fire Code.
• awarded a three-year contract for maintenance of
the city’s parks, Mount Hope Cemetery, City Hall and
the Crossroads Carnegie Art Center to Grass Master
Inc., the current contractor. The contract pays the Baker
City company $171,210, annually, an 8.4% increase from
the current deal.
L OCAL B RIEFING
Police K9 program fundraiser Dec. 14
Tickets are available for the Baker City Police De-
partment’s fourth-annual fundraiser for its K9 Drug
Prevention program. The event will be Saturday, Dec.
14, at 4 p.m. at the Baker County Event Center, 2600
East St. Tickets are $30 for adults, $10 for kids 6 to
12 and free for kids under 6. Tickets are available at
the Police Department, 1768 Auburn Ave., at Barley
Brown’s Tap House and Thatcher’s Ace Hardware.
Durkee Christmas program Dec. 15
DURKEE — A Christmas children’s program and
a potluck are set for Dec. 15 at the Durkee School.
The annual potluck starts at 4:30 p.m., and will be
followed by the program. Santa Claus will also make
an appearance.
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team!
Have an
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