TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2020
Baker City, Oregon
4A
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news@bakercityherald.com
OUR VIEW
State keeps
public in
the dark
Nothing has put stress and hardship on Orego-
nians and their government quite like COVID-19.
The public needs to understand the policy choices
their government is considering and the debate
about those policies.
That debate should be public. Substantial parts of
it were not.
Gov. Brown held dozens of daily teleconference
meetings to brief up to all 90 lawmakers about the
coronavirus. Legislators were allowed to ask ques-
tions and get answers from leading state offi cials.
The public was not allowed to listen.
We made a public records request from Gov. Kate
Brown’s offi ce, seeking more information about these
briefi ngs. We requested all written records prepared
for or shared during these meetings by the governor’s
offi ce. We received 26 pages. We got some notes of
policy-related questions about health equity, masks,
metrics, how legislators should respond to questions
and other matters such as: Should Oregon require
people coming into the state from some areas go into
quarantine?
We also know other policy matters were discussed
during these briefi ngs from reporting by The Orego-
nian. For instance, the Employment Department
discussed handling of employment claims.
Legislators were then able to ask questions. In
another example, Oregon’s Department of Human
Services briefed legislators weekly early on about the
dangers of infections in nursing homes.
So why couldn’t Oregonians listen in? Why couldn’t
Oregonians waiting for unemployment claims be
allowed to listen? Why couldn’t residents of nursing
homes or families with relatives in nursing homes
hear those discussions?
We are not saying that some of the information
from those meetings was never eventually shared
with the larger public. It surely was. Some legisla-
tors took it upon themselves to spread the word. Gov.
Brown and state staff have held regular briefi ngs
with the public. Legislators have also held open com-
mittee meetings on some topics.
But consider the intent of Oregon law. “The Oregon
form of government requires an informed public
aware of the deliberations and decisions of govern-
ing bodies and the information upon which such
decisions were made. It is the intent of (the Public
Meetings law) that decisions of governing bodies
be arrived at openly.” That is a quote from Oregon
statute.
The argument from the governor’s offi ce and
legislators is that requirement was not met by these
legislative briefi ngs. Legislators were not preparing
to make decisions, the argument goes. They were
getting information about decisions made by the
governor and state agencies. The governor’s offi ce
also made the point that these briefi ngs were really
no different than other briefi ngs between legislators
and the governor’s staff when COVID-19 was not an
issue.
More than 50 of these closed door briefi ngs oc-
curred and they don’t have any impact on policy?
That’s baloney.
Legislators cannot wall off and isolate information
they learned in these meetings. They cannot some-
how not use the information to make decisions about
funding state policy for COVID-19, the Employment
Department or anything else.
Look, we get it. Gov. Brown and state legislators
were scrambling in the early months of this crisis to
understand it and understand how to respond. These
briefi ngs were held to keep legislators in the loop.
That was a smart step to take.
What about the public? Meetings to brief all 90 leg-
islators and the governor’s offi ce on COVID-19 don’t
trigger any requirement for openness? That was the
argument of your governor.
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.
Your views
Kerry McQuisten a perfect
candidate for City Council
I am writing a letter in response
to the news that my friend, Kerry
McQuisten, is running for Baker City
Council. We were Baker High School
Bulldogs together, where Kerry earned
her spot at the top of our class and
never let up. She has been a valuable
employee, run her own businesses,
worked in the political arena and
answers to the name “Mom” — among
other great accomplishments you can
fi nd listed on her Facebook page.
While these qualifi cations give her
the groundwork she needs to under-
stand and succeed in the City Council
position, I am most excited to know
how much Kerry loves Baker City. She
is enthusiastic about our people, our
businesses, our stunning surroundings
and our rich heritage. It means a lot
to me that while she is a quick learner
and interested in new ideas, she also
has deep regard for the folks that put
their blood, sweat and tears into build-
ing this town into the amazing place
we all call home. She is a perfect candi-
date to bridge that gap between doing
things because they are old habits, or
the other extreme of buying into every
new thing in the name of progress.
After the upheaval of these last
few months, it would be a relief to put
anger and distrust aside, take the time
to listen to one another in a respect-
ful way, and work together to move
into the future. I’ve known Kerry long
enough to trust her with bringing a
servant leader mentality to the table,
combined with the important qualifi ca-
tions of being fi rmly grounded in law,
political procedure and business.
Whether you are here from genera-
tions back, or freshly relocated, it is
time to fully enjoy the fruits of living
in a caring and unique little place with
its very own heartbeat, and I believe
Kerry can help us do that.
Thanks to Kerry and to all the candi-
dates who put their name in the hat for
these positions. After all, “It is not the
critic who counts ... the credit belongs
to the man who is actually in the arena
...” — Theodore Roosevelt.
Whitney Black
Baker City
OTHER VIEWS
A challenge for Trump, and the U.S.
Editorial from The New
York Daily News:
We wish Donald Trump,
the president of the United
States, a speedy recovery
from COVID-19. We wish
the fi rst lady a speedy recov-
ery as well.
The same for Hope Hicks.
And Secret Service agents
now infected. And the
very many people Trump
interacted with the past few
days as he crisscrossed the
country campaigning, often
in front of largely unmasked
crowds. We hope Judge Amy
Coney Barrett — Trump’s
nominee to the Supreme
Court, who recently stood
near the president, un-
masked — is COVID-nega-
tive. We are grateful Trump
and Joe Biden did not shake
hands or get too close to one
another in their Sept. 29
debate.
This is a gravely serious
situation for the most power-
ful nation on Earth, one
struggling with a pandemic
and a deep recession, with
looming international
threats, in the fi nal legs of a
sprint to a November elec-
tion: infections in the very
seat of power, potentially
enabled by a superspreader-
in-chief.
Trump is 74, among the
age demographic typically
most harmed by the disease;
one study says 9% of septua-
genarians who test positive
for COVID die. The presi-
dent’s doctors have repeat-
edly said he is the picture
of health for a man of his
years. If that is really true,
we pray it pays dividends
now as he battles a disease
that has claimed the lives of
more than 200,000 Ameri-
cans — 160,000 of them
aged 65 and over.
We wonder whether
Trump, who may have been
an asymptomatic spreader
for days, will rethink his
stance on masks. In that
debate, he belittled Biden’s
tendency to wear face cover-
ings, as he so often has, say-
ing, “Every time you see him,
he’s got a mask. He could be
speaking 200 feet away from
him and he shows up with
the biggest mask I’ve ever
seen.” Despite debate rules
telling audience members to
remain masked, the presi-
dent’s entourage all removed
their masks upon entering
the venue.
In early February, Trump
told Bob Woodward the
virus was “deadly stuff,”
“more deadly than even your
strenuous fl u,” before he
went on to liken the virus
to the fl u, repeatedly telling
them the fl u was worse and
COVID would magically
melt away.
At a rally of largely
unmasked acolytes last
week, Trump said, “It af-
fects elderly people, elderly
people with heart problems,
if they have other problems,
that’s what it really affects,”
adding, “It affects virtually
nobody.”
We fervently wish
Trump’s case is quick, and
that he does not end up
among those he defi ned as
“virtually nobody,” both for
his sake and for the sake of
our nation.
Don’t forget to get your flu shot
Editorial from The Pittsburgh Post-
Gazette:
As much as we’d all like to see things
return to normal as quickly as possible,
the reality is that the threat of COVID-19
is going to be with us for a while. Health
officials and politicians offer varying opin-
ions on when an effective vaccine might be
available, so face coverings, social distanc-
ing and frequent hand-washing remain
the best bets for stopping the spread.
As if COVID-19 worries were not
enough, we also have the annual flu
season rapidly approaching, and the
last thing health officials want to see is a
double whammy of influenza cases and
coronavirus infections arriving at the
same time.
That’s why it’s more important than
ever for as many Americans as possible to
take one simple health precaution — get
a flu shot.
Combating the flu during a pandemic
has health officials worried that trying
to treat both respiratory diseases at the
same time could overwhelm the health
care system with a surge in hospitaliza-
Letters to the editor
We welcome letters on any issue of
public interest. Writers are limited
to one letter every 15 days. Writers
must sign their letter and include
an address and phone number (for
verifi cation only). Email letters to
news@bakercityherald.com.
tions. During the 2019-2020 flu season,
which stretched from roughly October to
March, there were more than 56 million
flu cases in the United States and nearly
740,000 hospitalizations.
And there’s also a concern about testing
capacity and shortages in the substances
— called reagents — needed to run the
tests. Dr. Charles Chiu, an infectious dis-
ease expert at the University of California,
San Francisco, said that “the definitive
tests for flu use essentially the same ap-
proach that we use for COVID-19 tests.”
What’s more worrisome is the pos-
sibility of some people contracting both
diseases this winter. Since both infections
target the lungs, the risk for the elderly
and those with underlying health condi-
tions is substantial.
Although the overall fatality rates are
low — about 0.1% for the flu and any-
where from 0.5% to 1% for COVID-19 —
there were still more than 50,000 deaths
attributed to the flu last season and more
than 205,000 Americans have already
died from COVID-19.
The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention reports that the flu vaccine
reduces the risk of getting the flu by 40%
to 60%. And the CDC estimates that
manufacturers will produce nearly 198
million doses of the vaccine for the upcom-
ing flu season.
The flu vaccine is widely available from
doctors or pharmacists and often for little
or no charge.
While researchers continue their work
on finding a safe, effective vaccine for
COVID-19, we can all do our part to make
sure health issues from the pandemic
aren’t compounded by the arrival of the
seasonal flu.