TUESDAY, JULY 7, 2020
Baker City, Oregon
4A
Write a letter
news@bakercityherald.com
OUR VIEW
Oregon’s
COVID-19
phone calls
should be
open to all
We are told that on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fri-
days at 3:15 p.m. the governor and/or the governor’s
staff continues to gather on the phone with some
legislators to talk about how the state is handling
COVID-19.
Why can’t the public listen?
The legal argument would be that these meetings
don’t meet the test of being public meetings under
the law. The Oregon Attorney General’s website says:
“A public meeting is any meeting conducted by a
state, regional or local governing body to decide or
consider any matter.”
These meetings are not in fact offi cial meetings of
the Legislature. Not all legislators apparently attend.
And also apparently no decisions by legislators are
reached during these meetings.
In that way, they are like other conversations that
the governor holds with legislators to brief them
on subjects and/or decisions the governor or state
agencies might be making. They are not necessarily
intended to form legislative policy.
The governor needs to be able to hold those con-
versations. We wouldn’t want those conversations to
stop. They help government function better. And for
the participants, there’s a benefi t for being part of the
conversation and arguably more in the know than
the general public.
Our question again is: Why can’t the public listen?
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.
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
D.C. as 51st state? Not so fast
“DC should be a state. Pass it on.”
That’s the message supporters of D.C.
statehood pushed on social media
late last month as the U.S. House of
Representatives prepared to vote on
D.C. statehood.
And on June 26, for the fi rst time in
our nation’s history, the majority-Dem-
ocrat U.S. House of Representatives
passed along party lines (save for a
lone defection) a bill that would create
the Douglass Commonwealth (D.C.) as
our nation’s 51st state.
Fortunately, this vote was noth-
ing more than political theater. The
measure is dead on arrival in the U.S.
Senate, and if it wasn’t, President
Donald Trump has committed to op-
posing it too.
But here’s the troubling aspect
about this vote: It pushes forward the
idea that the bulk of the District of Co-
lumbia — a federal enclave function-
ing as the seat of the federal govern-
ment — can be converted into the
Douglas Commonwealth, a co-equal
sovereign state, by mere legislation.
It can’t, at least not constitutionally,
a fact agreed on by all Justice Depart-
ments, Republican or Democrat, until
President Barack Obama’s attorney
general, Eric Holder, overruled his
own Offi ce of Legal Counsel because it
had come to the same conclusion.
But it’s not the fi rst time that state-
hood proponents have taken this tack
(though it is the furthest they’ve ever
gotten), so the myriad constitutional
problems with this approach have
previously been catalogued.
Unfortunately, some proponents of
D.C. statehood, like former Obama
national security adviser Susan Rice,
have impugned the motives of her
opponents and said that the “real rea-
sons for opposition are more sinister:
racism and political interest.”
The objections she calls “specious
ZACK SMITH
legal arguments” are, in fact, based
on the clear text and structure of the
Constitution.
True, there are political interests for
some in opposing D.C. statehood, but
Rice also ignores the fact that support-
ing D.C. statehood is in the political
interests of her allies. And to accuse
opponents of racism for raising valid
constitutional concerns is, let’s put this
politely, disingenuous.
While the constitutional objections
to D.C. becoming a state — especially
via simple legislation — are well-
founded, even the pragmatic argu-
ments proponents put forward cut
against their case.
Consider D.C. Mayor Muriel
Bowser’s recent complaints related to
federal reactions to the recent protests.
Washington Post op-ed columnist
Karen Tumulty framed the matter
this way: “D.C. residents’ lack of au-
tonomy has been on abundant display
in the recent standoff between Bowser
and President Trump over how to
handle the largely peaceful protests
(I guess she missed the looting and
rioting) that erupted after George
Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was
killed under the knee of a white police
offi cer in Minneapolis. Bowser could
not prevent federal troops from being
deployed on D.C. streets.”
But that’s exactly the point. The
federal government shouldn’t be
dependent on local authorities for its
safety and security.
Want an authoritative source? How
about James Madison, the Father of
the Constitution?
In Federalist No. 43 he said, “The
indispensable necessity of complete
authority at the seat of government,
carries its own evidence with it. It is a
power exercised by every legislature
of the Union, I might say of the world,
by virtue of its general supremacy.
Without it, not only the public author-
ity might be insulted and its proceed-
ings interrupted with impunity; but
a dependence of the members of the
general government on the State
comprehending the seat of the govern-
ment, for protection in the exercise of
their duty, might bring on the national
councils an imputation of awe or
infl uence, equally dishonorable to the
government and dissatisfactory to the
other members of the Confederacy.”
The importance of an independent
federal capital in more than name
only also makes sense given the expe-
rience many of the Founding Fathers,
including Alexander Hamilton, had
when the governor of Pennsylvania
refused to provide militia to protect
the Confederation Congress from a
sect of dissatisfi ed soldiers. Because
of this failure by state authorities,
the Congress had to fl ee the state.
This incident made abundantly clear
the need for an independent federal
capital under the control of federal
authorities and federal forces.
But more to the point, as Cato’s
Roger Pilon said when testifying
before the Senate several years ago,
“(W)hy are we debating a bill with so
little prospect of succeeding and with
problems galore if it did? The Framers
knew what they were doing when they
provided for the seat of government
that we have. It has served us well for
over two centuries. There are more
pressing issues before this chamber.”
That much certainly remains true
today.
Zack Smith is a legal fellow in the Meese
Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at
The Heritage Foundation (heritage.org).
Your views
I retain my right to refuse to
wear a face mask
OK, I get that some folks feel better
wearing a mask. I know folks with
compromised immune systems are
more likely to contract a viral disease.
I get all that. But, watching the
numbers on the rise and deaths drop-
ping, I sense our own “herd immunity”
is beginning to kick in. I agree with the
closing of casinos and bars, breeding
grounds for bugs, but the mask may be
causing more harm than good. Accord-
ing to the National Health Institute,
you maybe breathing in harmful levels
2
of CO . And common sense should tell
you that unless you’re changing them
out regularly, all that moisture and
debris in the mask is circulating right
back into your lungs.
Anyway, I don’t mind others wearing
them but don’t force it upon me. I will
not and even though our local Bi-
Mart asked me to, I refused. So stores
absolutely have the right to ask me
to leave. But I retain the right to not
wear one. And I don’t get all the hat-
ers out there who want to shove their
agendas on me. Like the guy videoing
people not wearing one and scream-
ing at them he would post it on social
media to disgrace people. He sat in
Bi-Mart’s lot and watched and pounced
on “non mask” wearers.
The other thing. We’re all Ameri-
cans. Not “black Americans” or “white
Americans,” just Americans. Let’s
drop the “my people” from our vocabu-
lary and remember, we are all our
people. Racism begins with segrega-
tion and separating yourself out is
racist. Preaching your life matters
more than others is nonsense. No one
life is more important than any other.
Born or unborn, we all matter. We are
all God’s creation.
Thomas Wilcoxson
Baker City
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. Baker City offi ce, 1705 Main St., Suite 504,
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.
State Sen. Lynn Findley (R-Ontario): Salem offi ce: 900
Court St. N.E., S-403, Salem, OR 97301; 503-986-1730. Email: Sen.
LynnFindley@oregonlegislature.gov
State Rep. Mark Owens (R-Crane): Salem offi ce: 900 Court
St. N.E., H-475, Salem, OR 97301; 503-986-1460. Email: Rep.
MarkOwens@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.
Loran Joseph, Randy Schiewe, Lynette Perry, Arvid Andersen, Larry
Morrison, Jason Spriet and Doni Bruland.
Baker City administration: 541-523-6541. Fred Warner Jr.,
city manager; Ray Duman, police chief; Sean Lee, interim 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; Noodle Perkins, roadmaster; Greg Baxter, 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. Board meets the third Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m.
Council Chambers, Baker City Hall,1655 First St.; Andrew Bryan,
Kevin Cassidy, Chris Hawkins, Katie Lamb and Julie Huntington.