TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2021
Baker City, Oregon
A4
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EDITORIAL
Baker’s
generous
donors
We’ll never know how many lives
Baker County residents saved last week.
But it’s a solid bet that at least one
person will owe their life to this recent
generosity of local residents.
They donated about 132 pints of blood
during a two-day event put on by the
American Red Cross Nov. 8 and 9.
“People have really stepped up,” said
Myrna Evans, the local blood drive
coordinator.
Baker County residents have been
more willing than usual to bare their
veins during the pandemic.
Evans said donations are up this year
in the county.
That’s one reason Red Cross offi cials
added a second day to last week’s drive —
Baker City events typically are a single
day.
Offi cials were a trifl e worried initially
about expanding the drive. Just a week or
so before the event, there were about 40
appointments available for donors on the
second day.
Residents claimed almost all of those
slots.
This gratifying turnout has prompted
Red Cross offi cials to consider having two-
day drives in Baker City in the future,
Evans said.
Giving blood is one of the simplest, but
most important, ways people can donate.
And most of us are eligible to do so.
Baker City blood drives for 2022 are
scheduled for Jan. 24, April 4, June 13,
Sept. 12 and Nov. 14. You can fi nd out
more, and schedule an appointment to
donate, at redcrossblood.org.
— Jayson Jacoby,
Baker City Herald editor
Your views
Letter writers attacking loyal
members of Baker City Council
I’m really sick of seeing local liberals
attack Mayor McQuisten and Councilors
Dixon and Waggoner. They’re the only
ones on council who have been loyal to
their constituents.
In case Bev Calder doesn’t realize it,
the Mayor faced down a room fi lled with
a special interest group so that the will
of the voters was upheld, and she fought
for the issue to be placed on the ballot.
That group didn’t want anyone else to
have a say in the matter. Yet Bev calls
her a bully? Who is the bully? I’d say it’s
Ms. Calder and her leftist letter-writing
buddies. But they’re great at name-calling,
aren’t they?
Most of the community is against the
railroad quiet zone, just as most of the
community was against moving the Visi-
tor’s Center away from the Chamber into
a postage-stamp sized hole with no park-
ing on Main Street. These three on Council
are standing up against constant evil at-
tacks by these people just because they’re
fi ghting for us. They need our support.
The pressure to appoint Randy Daugh-
erty simply because this group wants
what they want when they want it is also
absurd. The Mayor has stated plainly that
she has no personal issue with Daugh-
erty, and said in the public meeting that
the claims their decision was something
political or partisan has nothing to do with
it. Why wasn’t that reported in the paper?
Why wasn’t it reported that Baker City
has lost $500,000 to $1,000,000 in ambu-
lance billing revenue and that mistake
falls at the feet of the past city manager
and prior councils? It’s wise not to bring
anyone involved in such mismanagement
back into a council position. But of course,
that little tidbit, which was made very
public in the last Council meeting, wasn’t
reported either.
The fact that the other applicant, Tom
Hughes, has managed over $95 million in
client contracts over the years, and had a
judge, county commissioner and business
owner as references doesn’t matter to
these people either. They’d rather sit back
and disparage him too, when he was just
stepping up to serve.
Michael Miller
Baker City
Worried about Wyden’s involvement
in our forests
Beware! Senator Wyden is mucking
around in our forests again.
I attended a meeting in Wallowa about
10 years ago. There was fewer than 10
people there and Senator Ron Wyden was
one of those attending. I’d gone that day to
report on federal funding for the Wallowa-
Union Railroad Authority.
Minutes into the meeting a local busi-
ness owner thanked Wyden for securing
$12 million for federal purchase of a large
piece of agricultural land in the Imnaha
river canyon lands. Upon hearing this, my
focus changed completely as I recognized
the big story being the federal government
purchasing thousands of acres of private,
agricultural land.
The parcel had been acquired by a
private entity during the era of the failed
Blue Mountain Land Transfer-BMLT,
2006ish. During the same time, the land
purchaser had actually been working
with Rep. Greg Walden on legislation that
would have forced certain private-to-public
land transfers. When that confl ict of inter-
est became public, Walden backed away
from the legislation and BMLT died on
the vine. This left the land purchaser in a
pickle with thousands of acres of land and
a large loan from a local institution.
Next, that piece of Imnaha property
becomes the highest priority, top of the list,
for federal land acquisition; in steps the
Nature Conservancy, United States Forest
Service (USFS) and Wyden.
After about fi ve years, Nature Conser-
vancy purchased the property from private
land purchaser and holds the property
while Wyden works to get federal funding,
from the Land and Water Conservation
Fund, so the USFS can purchase the prop-
erty, circa 2009-2012.
When I learned all this, problems
began to surface. First, I learned that the
private owner, Nature Conservancy, and
USFS all used the same land appraiser.
Next, a well-respected, local ag-land
appraiser claimed they’d violated laws,
including the “larger parcel rule” after the
private purchaser submitted a verbal plan
to construct a 11-parcel housing subdivi-
sion. I was informed this infl ated the
land’s value by about 3.5 times.
Now we see Wyden mucking around in
our forests again and I wonder to whose
benefi t.
Brian Addison
Baker City
OTHER VIEWS
As governor, Bud Pierce would correct Brown’s errors
By DANIEL ZENE CROWE
Deadly diseases and human
suffering are as old as time itself.
America, that great shining city on
a hill, has led the world for centu-
ries in fi ghting deadly disease and
human suffering worldwide. We can
accomplish anything when united,
which makes the current climate of
division, hatred, and mutual hostil-
ity concerning the COVID vaccine
so painful to my friend, Dr. Bud
Pierce, and me.
Bud and I ran alongside one an-
other in 2016 — him for Governor
and me for Attorney General.
Bud isn’t just my friend; he’s
more like a brother ... but I don’t
always agree with my brother.
Bud has taken the COVID vac-
cine. For reasons Bud knows and
respects, I have chosen not to.
These days, you might think our
disagreement means that Bud and
I would be sniping at each other.
But nothing could be further from
the truth. To disagree for principled
reasons has merely deepened the
bonds of trust and respect between
us.
In the face of our disagreement,
Bud and I worked hard to fi nd com-
mon ground. And we found it.
Dr. Bud Pierce and I agree: In
the present circumstances, govern-
ment has no right to compel you,
or anyone else, to take the COVID
vaccine. That’s why he has posted
this OpEd on his website.
In Bud’s 44 years of fi ghting for
people who are fi ghting against
cancer, he has cared for more than
20,000 patients. He doesn’t coerce;
he persuades. Like me, Bud fi nds
shouting unpersuasive.
Like many of his generation,
Bud was inspired to pursue medi-
cine because of Dr. Jonas Salk’s
discovery of the polio vaccine. As
an expert in immunology, Bud is in
regular contact with the actual ex-
perts at the national level. (Not the
celebrities you see preening on TV.)
The real experts, alongside whom
Bud has worked for decades, care
about using science to safeguard
you and your loved ones. They love
you as deeply as Bud and I do. Bud
trusts their professionalism. I trust
Bud.
COVID is not currently the
greatest threat to your health and
well-being. Rampant infl ation,
skyrocketing utility bills, high gas
prices, chaos and anarchy in Port-
land, failing schools, empty store
shelves, out-of-control homeless-
ness, and an Oregon government
seemingly incapable of solving
any of these problems are going to
kill more of us than COVID. Drug
overdoses, suicides, untreated medi-
cal conditions, lack of education and
opportunity, and hopelessness can
kill you, too.
It is for this reason that Bud
Pierce for Governor has gone on re-
cord declaring that you are perfect-
ly capable of deciding for yourself
whether the COVID vaccine is right
for you and your family.
Every single person whom we
have lost to COVID — including the
300-400 kids who have died — is a
gut-wrenching tragedy. But, during
the same time period, more than
30,000 children have died from
other causes. Far too many have
killed themselves because adults
who should know better have told
them that the world is ending.
Panic, incompetence, and fear-
mongering are not examples of ef-
fective leadership. Dictators dictate;
leaders govern by accurately and
honestly measuring risk. Leaders
lead by maturely, effectively, and
respectfully bringing matters of
public concern to the public’s at-
tention; and then using the normal
give-and-take of the law-making
process to fi nd solutions.
Bud understands that, in an
actual emergency, sometimes a gov-
ernor must act unilaterally. If, God
forbid, the Cascadia Fault erupts on
his watch, Bud will act swiftly and
decisively within the full scope of
his powers as our governor to save
those who would otherwise be lost.
Some will be tempted to mistake
Bud’s kindness for weakness. But
if we are confronted by chaos and
anarchy in the streets again, Bud
will end it — decisively. However,
only an idiot or a maniac would sic
the Oregon National Guard on our
own people. Our brave, heroic cops
are perfectly capable of putting
the perpetual adolescents of Antifa
and the Proud Boys in time out ... if
only the career politicians would let
them do their jobs.
We must not let the common
good be hijacked by those for whom
power is always going to be more
important than you and your
family. Coercion, mandates, and
bribery are all examples of failed
leadership. The idea of mandat-
ing something — including the
COVID vaccine — is that mandates
automatically lead to the desired
outcome. However, that isn’t real-
ity. Americans generally — and
Oregonians specifi cally — prefer
to control our own lives. Mandates
invariably elicit resistance. For my
people, mandates simply add a deci-
sive minus to an already signifi cant
number of reasons not to take the
vaccine.
Bud understands what every
true leader understands: Coercive
power should never be used if there
is any less coercive path avail-
able. Because a huge part of any
governor’s job is to never overuse
the powers which have been given
to them in trust. When political
power is overused, free people react:
fi rst they resist and, in time, they
rescind delegated power that they
had previously granted.
Emergency power then becomes
unavailable for real emergencies.
The future is left unprotected.
My Dad taught me, “Any fool
can learn from his own mistakes; I
prefer to learn from the mistakes
of others.” In that sense, Governor
Brown has taught us all something
important: If you neglect and then
bully the 47% of Oregonians (and
the 80% of Oregon) that didn’t vote
for you, you might have a tough
time persuading them to trust you
in an emergency. As Governor, Bud
won’t make that mistake.
Let us show that we can learn
from our own mistakes.
Daniel Crowe was the 2016
Republican nominee for Oregon
attorney general.