BAKER CITY HERALD • THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2022 A3
LOCAL & STATE
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The years have not been kind
to the John Day totem pole.
A quarter-century of wind
and rain, sun and snow have
taken a toll on the local land-
mark, leaving its once-bright
wood darkened, weathered
and cracked.
That doesn’t sit well with
Margot Heiniger-White, the
widow of Ralph White, the
Canyon City chainsaw artist
who carved the pole.
“I would like that totem pole
cleaned up,” she said.
And she’s not crazy about
the location, either, tucked be-
tween a telephone pole and a
two-story building just off the
city’s main drag.
“It’s not a very good place
for it because nobody can see
it,” she said. “It’s in a bad spot.”
American or Alaska Native.
Perhaps more to the point,
Oregon tribes didn’t carve to-
tem poles. That was something
the coastal tribes of what is
now Washington, British Co-
lumbia and Southeast Alaska
were known for.
So what’s it doing here?
The answer to that question
comes back to Ralph White.
Mountain Man
Ralph White died on Jan.
28, 2018, at the age of 79.
In life, by all accounts, he
was a colorful character.
He wore a bushy beard and a
bearclaw necklace, and he called
himself the Mountain Man.
According to an article by
C.J. Gish in the July 20, 1995,
edition of the Blue Mountain
Eagle, he made his living for
many years as a chainsaw art-
ist. White had a love for the
Old West and Native Ameri-
can art forms — and a knack
for turning tree trunks into
animal figures.
See, Totem/Page A5
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NATIO
TH
Location, location
Truth be told, it really is an
odd place for a totem pole.
Standing 50 feet tall and
weighing in at 18,000 pounds,
the towering tamarack spar is
topped by an eagle with a 20-
foot wingspan. Below the
eagle are three more carved
figures: a salmon, a turtle and
a beaver.
It’s perched atop a concrete
footing at the intersection
of Main and Dayton streets,
at the east end of downtown
John Day.
Yet despite its imposing
size and central location, the
totem pole is surprisingly
easy to overlook.
Driving down Main Street
from the east, the totem pole
is hidden behind the impos-
ing bulk of the Grant County
Ranch and Rodeo Museum.
Coming from the west, the
view is partially obscured by
a telephone pole.
And why is there a totem
pole in John Day at all?
Grant County doesn’t have
much of a Native American
presence these days — ac-
cording to the 2020 census,
only 1.7% of the county’s
residents identify as Native
Bennett Hall/Blue Mountain Eagle
The John Day totem pole is showing its age, but the city has plans to
clean it up and refinish it this spring. There are also discussions about
possibly moving it to a more prominent location.
GU
Providing quality and compassion to all his patients.
BY BENNETT HALL
Blue Mountain Eagle
TE
1
R GU
’S
County has authority to choose
ambulance provider
The Council’s notification to
commissioners about the pos-
sible cessation of ambulance
service is the latest move in a
city-county conundrum that
dates back several years.
At the center of the matter
are the state law that gives the
county the sole authority to
choose the ambulance service,
as well as the city’s costs to pro-
vide the ambulance service,
which makes up the majority
of the fire department’s calls.
The Baker City Fire Depart-
ment is the longtime provider
for a “ambulance service area”
Financial challenge has been
mounting for many years
In his report to councilors,
Cannon outlined the history of
the city’s fire department and
in particular the financial bur-
den of providing ambulance
services even though the fed-
eral Medicare and Medicaid
programs, as well as private
insurance, don’t pay the full
amount that the city bills for
ambulance runs.
“When the city bills insur-
ance, Medicaid, and Medicare
for a call, we do not recover
enough revenue to cover the
financial break-even point,”
Cannon said.
In response to a question
from Councilor Joanna Dixon,
Cannon said about 80% to
85% of ambulance calls are for
patients who have Medicare or
Medicaid.
Those sources typically pay
only about 20% of the amount
the city bills.
Meanwhile, the city’s labor
and materials costs are rising.
“The City anticipates sig-
nificant increases in the per-
sonnel costs necessary to
provide ambulance services,”
Cannon wrote in the March
22 letter to commissioners.
“The cost of medical supplies,
ambulance equipment, and
fuel is also increasing signifi-
cantly every year.”
County officials have dis-
cussed in the past asking voters
within the ambulance service
area to approve a tax levy that
would raise money for ambu-
lance services. The idea is that
a levy would be a more sustain-
able source than ambulance
billing and yearly contributions
from the county to supplement
the city’s general fund.
Talking totem
N
Under state law, the county
has the authority to designate
ambulance service providers.
Nichols said that contract
was ready to be sent to the
city on Tuesday, March 22,
but that didn’t happen.
Cannon said the timing is
“a real shame.”
“I was unaware they had a
response prepared,” he said.
Nichols said he recognizes
that the city needs additional
financial assistance to oper-
ate the ambulance service,
as well as a written contract
designating the city as the
ambulance provider.
“I understand where they’re
coming from, I really do,”
Nichols said. “Baker City is in
a difficult position. The ambu-
lance service has been a money
loser for them for a long time.”
The proposed contract the
county prepared, but didn’t
send to the city, was a re-
sponse to a proposal the city
submitted to the county on
Jan. 11, 2022, Nichols said.
The city proposed a three-
year contract. Although the
proposal didn’t include a spe-
cific dollar amount for the
county’s contribution, Can-
non said that based on a for-
mula the city suggested, the
county’s payment to the city
to support the ambulance ser-
vice would have been about
$137,000 for the first year —
$7,000 less than the amount
the county offered in its pro-
posed contract.
In a report to councilors on
Tuesday, Cannon mentioned
the proposed contract that
Nichols cited — the docu-
ment that the county failed to
send prior to the City Coun-
cil meeting — noting that the
county was “working on a
response” but without know-
ing the response had been fin-
ished but not yet sent.
Cannon also noted that the
county has committed to pay-
ing the city $100,000 for am-
bulance service for the current
fiscal year, which ends June 30.
The city has received
$25,000 so far, Cannon wrote
in his report, “and we have
been told that an additional
$50K is coming. We greatly
appreciate those funds.”
Nichols said he under-
stands the financial burden
that the city is under in pro-
viding ambulance services,
given that revenue from am-
bulance billing doesn’t cover
the costs. Cannon in his letter
noted that those costs are ris-
ing due both to inflation and
to higher call volumes.
In his report to councilors,
Cannon wrote that the differ-
ence between the cost of the
ambulance service, and ambu-
lance billing revenues, “could
approach a million dollars a
year in the very near future.”
Ambulance billing is a sig-
nificant source of revenue
for the city’s fire department,
amounting to around 38% of
the budget.
Most of the rest of the de-
partment’s approximately $2.3
million annual budget comes
from the city’s general fund.
Nichols said he was optimis-
tic that the county’s proposed
$130,000 contribution to the
city for the next fiscal year
would be sufficient to keep the
ambulance service going for at
least the coming fiscal year.
Cannon said that al-
though he can’t say for certain
whether the city would have
set a Sept. 30 date for ceasing
ambulance service had the
county sent its proposed con-
tract prior to Tuesday’s meet-
ing, it would have altered his
conversation with councilors.
“If the county has a pro-
posal obviously we will look
at that,” he said.
But even with the county’s
proposed $130,000 contribu-
tion, Cannon said that with-
out a “larger, more sustainable
funding source” for ambulance
service, the city will at some
point reach a threshold where
it’s no longer possible to con-
tinue that service.
outside the city limits as well
as inside.
Cannon notes that the city
“appreciates” the county’s
contributions in his letter to
commissioners.
“The city recognizes the
county was not required by
a contract to provide funds
but chose to do so regardless,”
he wrote. “Unfortunately, the
contributions do not cover the
budget shortfalls for operating
such an expensive service.”
The federal grant ended in
2021, leaving the city solely
responsible for paying the sal-
aries and benefits of the three
firefighter/paramedics that
the city hired after accepting
the grant.
15 % & 10 %
2
Continued from Page A1
that includes the city as well
as much of Baker Valley and
other parts of the county, cov-
ering about 1,600 square miles,
or slightly more than half of
Baker County’s area.
During a Jan. 19, 2022,
meeting of the county com-
missioners, Cannon told
commissioners that the city
wants to continue to provide
ambulances within the city
and the rest of the ambulance
service area. This was formal-
ized in the proposed contract
the city had sent to the county
on Jan. 11.
Although that proposal was
for a three-year pact, Cannon
suggested that city and county
officials negotiate a new 10-
year agreement.
Commissioners started the
process in 2019 when they is-
sued a request for proposals
for ambulance service. Baker
City and two private compa-
nies submitted bids.
In early 2020, commission-
ers tabled the matter.
Baker City continues to
provide ambulance service in
what Cannon described in his
March 22 letter as a “hand-
shake agreement.”
Both the city’s Jan. 11 three-
year contract proposal, and
the county’s one-year pro-
posal, are designed to formal-
ize that agreement.
The root of the problem,
as councilors discussed Tues-
day, is that the city’s cost to
operate ambulances contin-
ues to rise.
“Currently there is not a
significant and stable funding
source available to Baker City
which fully covers the cost of
the Ambulance Service with-
out city taxpayers heavily sub-
sidizing the service for Baker
County,” Cannon wrote in his
letter to commissioners. “The
city taxpayers, City Council,
and the Baker City budget can-
not continue in this fashion.”
Starting in 2018, the city
received a three-year federal
grant that allowed the city
to hire three new firefighter/
paramedics.
The grant was for about
$462,000, and the city spent
about $265,000 over the
three years.
Baker County, meanwhile,
gave the city $33,000 per year
over the three-year grant pe-
riod, an acknowledgement
that the expanded fire de-
partment staff continued to
respond to ambulance calls
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Clarene Powell Rohner
June 3, 1924 - March 18, 2022
Clarene Powell Rohner, 97, quietly
passed away at home, March 18,
2022. Clarene was the corner stone of a
prosperous Baker County farm since 1942.
Her graveside service
will be held at Mount
Hope Cemetery, Saturday,
March 26, at 11:00 a.m.
with
Reverend
Suresh
Telagani of St. Francis de
Sales Cathedral Baker City
officiating. A reception will
be held afterward, for family
and friends, at the Baker
Elks Club, 1896 Second
Street, in Baker City.
Mrs. Rohner was born
in Durkee, June 3, 1924 to
Authur Powell and Anna
Silvers. She lived in Durkee on the family
cattle ranch until 1932 when the family
moved to Bowen Valley. Clarene graduated
from Baker High School in 1942.
Clarene grew up in an era that was
without cell phones, social media, jet
planes, indoor plumbing or refrigeration.
Cooking was done on wood stoves and
the main source of transportation was
the horse. She rode to school on a horse,
traveled to work on a horse and farmed
with a team of horses. She sewed her own
clothes, processed meat and dairy products
by hand and canned vegetables and fruit
from crops her family raised.
Some would say that she lived a tough
and primitive life style. She lost her mother
when she was 11 to pneumonia and helped
raise her brother Bryce who was 10 and
sister Jeanine 5. In 1938 her horse rolled on
her and shattered her ankle to a degree that
she had bones protruding through her boot
and spent 6- weeks in the hospital. Over the
years she had both her hips and both knees
replaced. With all this you would never
notice her limp, never hear her complain
and she never failed to accomplish the
necessary tasks that farm life demands.
One day in 1939 her father hired a
young man to help work the ranch. “He
came through on horse back and asked
about a job,” she said. “He had the biggest,
blackest beard. I asked Dad where he found
that bum.” That man’s name was Orville
Rohner. Clarene and Orville married on
June 6, 1942. They moved into a house
adjacent to Orville’s father’s dairy farm off
Pocahontas road and began a partnership
with him in the dairy business. That
business grew and expanded over the next
66 years and became a “Dairy of Honor”
Clarene’s achievements in life and
community involvement are long and
impressive. 1994 Legacy Woman of the
Year, 1999 Diamond Pioneer Agriculture
Career Achievement Award from OSU,
President of Soroptimist International,
Board member and treasurer of the Soil
and Water Conservation District, Dairy
Heard Improvement treasurer and member
of three different Granges. She was a 4-H
leader when she was 17 and taught 4-H
sewing and home economics for over
60 years. She judged at
the county and state level
and was a member of the
state and local 4-H Leaders
Association and the Home
Extension Club. The number
of people whose lives
Clarene touched in creative
and positive ways spans
generations.
Clarene especially en-
joyed sewing. She was a
very accomplished seam-
stress, making everything
from tailored suits to ma-
chine embroidery crafts. She often wore
clothes she created. She spent many years
traveling to La Grande to take machine
embroidery classes with her good friend
Marie Savage. Her keen eye for fabrics,
color, and attention to detail were evident
in the beautiful quilts she made for her
children and grandchildren.
As accomplished as she was, she
considered her family the most precious to
her. She raised four children; Anna, Norma,
Jean, and John. Over the years the family
increased to include 12 Grand Children, 22
Great Grand-children and 5 Great-Great-
Grand Children. Their love and devotion
to her tells a story greater than volumes
of words could achieve. Grandma never
forgot a birthday or Christmas present
and she never forgot to smile or hug, but
most importantly she always managed to
give guidance when necessary and love in
abundance.
Survivors include her son and daughter-
in-law, John and Kate Rohner; daughters
and sons-in-law, Norma and Leonard
Nemec and Jean and Dave Justus, all of
Baker City and Anna and Jerry Hortsch of
Sun City West, Arizona. Grand Children,
Josh Rohner and Cindy, Kyra Rohner, John
Taylor Rohner and Alysia, Joel Rohner and
Whitney, Mike and Nita Troupe, Don and
Cathi Bigspring, Brian Troupe, Kathy and
Mike Colton, Barry and Anne Nemec,
Jesse and Jaime Justus and Daniel and Erin
Justus, 27 Great and Great-Great Grand
Children, sister Jeanine Culver and many
nieces and nephews.
She is preceded in death by her Father
and Mother, Husband Orville, Brother
Bryce and Grandson Christopher.
Those wishing to make memorial
contributions in memory of Clarene may
direct them to the Baker County 4-H
Association, this maybe done through the
Coles Tribute Center 1950 Place St. Baker
City, OR 97814.
If one wishes to light a candle in
memory of Clarene, please visit www.
colestributecenter.com