LOCAL
Forum
Thielman said he was disap-
pointed that some candidates
Continued from Page A1
drove for hundreds of miles to
attend the forums with a goal
of “getting their mes-
Duby said on Tues-
sage out” and meeting
day, March 29, that
voters, only to have
he “doesn’t feel really
disturbances interfere.
comfortable” with
Thielman said
what happened.
there’s “no validity”
“It puts us in a bad
to McQuisten’s im-
situation,” Duby said.
plication that his
He said he doesn’t
supporters conspired
believe police are re-
Thielman
to disrupt the Baker
sponsible for ensuring
City forum.
people attending an
In a post on his
event such as the fo-
campaign’s Face-
rum, which took place
book page, Thielman
at a privately owned
wrote that “the Baker
venue, comply with
County Republican
the audience rules.
Party hosted an en-
So long as people
Duby
tirely disrespectful
attending aren’t acting
and unAmerican gu-
in a threatening way,
bernatorial candidate
Duby said he doesn’t
forum.”
believe police officers
“In these low-atten-
should be involved.
dance, remote-loca-
Greg Baxter, Baker
tion events which can-
County district attor-
not be accessed easily
ney, said he is await-
by the majority of Or-
ing reports from the
McQuisten
egonians, providing
Baker City Police to
streaming coverage is
determine whether
a useful tool to voters,” Thiel-
there is anything to pursue
man wrote. “It is understood
with possible charges.
among earnest people seeking
Rick Rienks of Baker City,
information that the sharing of
who along with his wife,
candidate positions is beneficial
Penny, was escorted from the
to voters.
Elks Lodge by Officers Prevo
“One must wonder why a
and Parsons, contends that the
situation didn’t warrant sum- candidate, via her mother/
campaign manager, would be
moning police.
Rienks said he and his wife, so determined to stifle the re-
spectful coverage of candidate
who are registered Republi-
positions,” Thielman wrote.
cans, attended the forum be-
“What is there to hide? Why is
cause they wanted to hear
the flow of information to vot-
from the candidates.
ers stopped at the dictate of one
The conflict stemmed in
part from rules that the Baker county chair? Is the candidate
afraid to have her performance
County Republican Party,
recorded and compared to that
which organized the forum,
set, including a prohibition on of other candidates?”
McQuisten, on her Facebook
people videoing the event or
page, wrote: “The hue and cry
applauding while candidates
on social media from such peo-
were speaking.
ple is that their first amendment
Kerry McQuisten, Baker
rights were infringed upon.
City mayor and a Republican
The setup to make these claims,
gubernatorial candidate who
attended the forum, said some of course, was always part of
candidate forums this year, in- their plan as this was my home
county. No part of our won-
cluding one in Pendleton on
derful Constitution gives any
March 24 and one on March
individual permission to cause
26 at Vale, had similar rules.
McQuisten said in a phone harm simply because they feel
entitled to. This behavior isn’t
interview on Monday, March
patriotism; this is thuggery.”
28, that she believes the “dis-
In a March 28 letter re-
turbance” during the forum
sponding to the incident at
at the Baker Elks Lodge was
the forum, the six-member
“scripted and pre-planned.”
executive committee of the
McQuisten, whose mother,
Suzan Ellis Jones, is chair of the Baker County Republican
Baker County Republicans, said Party blamed the disruption on
that prior to the forum she over- Baker County United, the local
heard a group of people talking group formed last summer that
about their plan to speak out in has objected to Oregon Gov.
Kate Brown’s executive orders
opposition to the rules.
requiring mask wearing and
In a post on her campaign
vaccinations during the pan-
Facebook page, McQuisten
wrote that “the minute the for- demic.
“Law enforcement was made
mat for the evening was read
aware that we may have an
aloud, they began heckling.”
In the phone interview, Mc- issue at this event,” the letter
Quisten said some of the people reads. “We hoped not.”
The executive committee
she overheard were carrying
campaign signs for Marc Thiel- consists of Jones; vice chairman
Julie McKinney; treasurer Jo-
man, who is also seeking the
anna Dixon (who is also trea-
Republican nomination in the
surer of McQuisten’s campaign
May 17 primary.
committee and, like McQuis-
Thielman, in a phone inter-
ten, a member of the Baker
view on Monday, March 28,
called the forum rules “weird.” City Council); secretary Justin
Church
Continued from Page A1
Baker City’s First Pres-
byterian Session has agreed
to match donations dol-
lar-for-dollar up to $10,000
from the church mission
budget.
“We’re happy to match
whatever we can,” said Jean
Simpson-Geddes, a member
of Session.
To donate online, go to
https://firstpresbaker.blog-
spot.com/. Click on “Ukraine
Fundraiser” to donate through
PayPal.
Donations can also be
mailed to First Presbyterian
Church, 1995 Fourth St., Baker
City, OR 97814.
Include “Ukraine” in the
memo line so the church
knows where to direct the
funds.
According to its website,
https://pda.pcusa.org, Presby-
terian Disaster Assistance fo-
cuses on these areas:
• The long term recovery
of disaster impacted commu-
nities.
• Provides training and di-
saster preparedness for presby-
teries and synods.
• Works collaboratively with
church partners and members
of the ACT Alliance (Action
by Churches Together) inter-
nationally, and nationally with
other faith based responders.
• Connects partners locally
and internationally with key
organizations active in the
response — United Nations,
NVOAD (National Voluntary
Agencies Active in Disaster),
World Food Program, Red
Cross, FEMA and others.
To learn more about the
Presbyterian Disaster Assis-
tance work in Ukraine, visit
https://pda.pcusa.org/situa-
tion/ukraine/.
Langan; and delegates Tom Van
Diepen and Keith Jones.
The letter states that the
ban on livestreaming the fo-
rum, except for hosts, was
added after “ugly behavior” at
a forum in the Portland area
when someone “used their re-
cording/livestreaming to bash
other candidates with slander
and name calling.”
Jones said the organizers’
video of the forum will be
posted online.
The letter states that during
the Baker City forum, one
couple was recording the
event and, after being asked to
stop, declined.
Jones said in a phone inter-
view on Tuesday, March 29, that
she believes Langan, who was
part of the security detail along
with Van Diepen and Sharon
Bass, then called police.
“Allowing a disruption is
unfair to ALL candidates and
ALL who were there to watch
the forum,” the letter states. “By
allowing a faction to be disrup-
tive is not supporting the rights
of the whole. While this group
screams first amendment rights,
their rights do not overcome
our right to assemble peacefully,
or the rights of who we choose
to have on private property at a
private event.”
Rienks said that when officers
Prevo and Parsons arrived, he
told them that he was there to
listen to the candidates and did
not feel there was any reason for
him and his wife to leave.
Rienks said he eventually
decided to go along with the
officers. While walking out
of the Elks Lodge, he said he
started chanting, “hell no, we
won’t go,” and that some other
audience members started re-
peating the slogan.
Rienks said others yelled “let
them stay.”
He said some other par-
ticipants, who had not been
asked to leave, also exited in
what he considered a show of
“solidarity.”
The executive committee’s
letter also notes that “others
chose to leave as well.”
Rienks said that outside the
Elks Lodge, he shook hands
with the police officers and left.
He said he considers the ep-
isode a “betrayal” of the candi-
dates who attended, and he in-
tends to send an apology letter
to each of them.
Other interparty disputes
among Republicans
Thielman isn’t the only Re-
publican to reference the re-
lationship between Jones, the
longtime Baker County Re-
publican chair, and her daugh-
ter, McQuisten, who is seeking
to become the first governor
from Eastern Oregon in more
than half a century.
In a February letter, Dallas
Heard, then the chairman of
the Oregon Republican Party
(Heard resigned the position
in early March, citing “wicked-
ness” in the party), asked Jones
to respond in writing to a se-
ries of complaints, including
that the county party donated
$2,500 in November 2021 to
McQuisten’s campaign.
In the letter, Heard writes that
the Oregon Republican Par-
ty’s bylaws require the party to
treat all GOP candidates equally
prior to a primary election. To
comply with that bylaw, Heard
wrote, the Baker County Re-
publicans would need to donate
$2,500 to each GOP candidate,
rather than contributing to Mc-
Quisten’s campaign alone.
But Jones contends that the
Baker County Republican by-
laws allow members to override
chapter bylaws by a vote of a
majority of those present, and
that doing so, in the case of the
donation to McQuisten’s cam-
paign, does not violate the state
GOP bylaws.
Jake Brown of Halfway, an
BAKER CITY HERALD • THuRsDAY, MARCH 31, 2022 A3
elected precinct committeep-
erson for the Baker County
Republican Party, also filed
a complaint with the Oregon
Government Ethics Commis-
sion regarding the $2,500 do-
nation.
Brown sent the complaint
to the state agency, which is re-
sponsible for reviewing poten-
tial violations of Oregon’s gov-
ernment ethics laws, on Dec. 31.
The Ethics Commission
did not open a case based on
Brown’s complaint, however, be-
cause members of county polit-
ical parties, including Jones, are
not considered public officials
and thus not under the Com-
mission’s jurisdiction, Susan
Myers, the Commission’s com-
pliance and education coordi-
nator, wrote in an email to the
Baker City Herald.
In his written complaint to
the Commission, Brown wrote
that the $2,500 donation, which
was approved at the GOP Cen-
tral Committee’s Nov. 29, 2021,
meeting, was not listed on the
meeting agenda.
He believes that omission vio-
lates the Committee’s bylaws.
According to the bylaws,
“Material changes in the
agenda or a substantial substi-
tution of a new agenda shall
be treated as a new meeting,
and will require the manda-
tory ten (10) days’ meeting
notice. Minimal agenda addi-
tions or deletions are allowed
by majority vote of those
present. The Chair or Vice-
chair, in their sole discretion,
will determine which agenda
changes are truly ‘minimal.’ ”
Brown contends that the
$2,500 donation does not con-
stitute a minimal change to
the agenda, since that amount
equals about 66% of the
$3,799.87 the Committee had
on hand at the start of No-
vember, according to its trea-
surer’s report.
Brown’s complaint was the
latest in a series of contentious
exchanges between him and
the executive committee of the
Baker County GOP.
In September 2021, a major-
ity of the members of the Baker
County Republican Party ap-
proved a resolution censuring
Brown for, among things, al-
legedly “maliciously comment-
ing about Gubernatorial Can-
didate Kerry McQuisten with
the intent to hurt her campaign”
during the Miners Jubilee event
in Baker City in July 2021.
The resolution states: “Be it
resolved by the Baker County
Republicans that Mr. Brown
cease and desist his constant
barrage of libel and slander.”
Heard, in his letter to Jones,
questioned a screenshot regard-
ing Brown’s censure that was
posted on Jones’ personal Face-
book page, and Heard asked
Jones to provide a copy of the
Baker County GOP bylaws al-
lowing for “such public censure.”
Brown and Jones also dis-
agreed over Senate Bill 865,
which was introduced in the
Oregon Legislature in May
2021.
The bill, which passed and
became law on Jan. 1, 2022,
makes it a fineable offense to
serve simultaneously as a state
officeholder and an officer of
a state central committee of a
political party. Violators can
be fined $250 per day.
The bill challenges Heard, a
Republican state senator from
Roseburg, who earlier in 2021
was elected chair of the Ore-
gon Republican Party.
The bill says it was intro-
duced “at the request of Mal-
heur, Baker and Morrow
Counties Republican Execu-
tive Committees.”
Brown said in May 2021 that
he did not support the bill, and
that he was disappointed that
Jones and other members of
the Baker County executive
committee backed the bill.
Norma Jean Magill
David Anderson IV
August 10, 1936 – March 22, 2022
April 21, 1986 - October 1, 2021
Norma Jean Magill of Baker
City fell asleep in death in the
privacy of her home on March 22,
2022.
Norma was born on August
10, 1936, in Bell, California. She
married her childhood sweetheart,
Donald Magill, on July 1, 1955,
and they enjoyed 49 years together
until his death in December 2004.
Norma was baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses
along with her husband in December 1957. They settled
in Long Beach, California, where they raised their three
daughters. She was a devoted wife and loving mother,
unselfish and generous to others, and a zealous, faithful
servant of Jehovah God. Norma spent many years as
a full-time volunteer in the public ministry helping
others to be better acquainted with the Bible and to
come to know the only true God. She will always be
remembered for her smile and sense of humor along
with her positive, cheerful disposition.
Norma is survived by her three daughters, Lori
Carrington (son-in-law Miles) of Middletown, NY,
Lyndi Hutchinson of Grass Valley, CA, and Laree
Snyder (son-in-law Marlin) of Baker City; her
granddaughters, Megan Walter (husband Bill) of Logan,
Utah, and Brandi Bybee of Graham, WA, her brother,
Tom Smith (wife Sandy), her nephews, Daniel Smith
and Scott Smith and their families. A memorial service
will be held at a later date. Donations may be made
at www.JW.org. Online condolences can be shared at
www.tamispinesvalleyfuneralhome.com.
David T. Anderson IV of Gig
Harbor, WA, passed on October
1, 2021, as a result of injuries
sustained in a motorcycle accident
while visiting Baker City, Oregon.
David was born to a military
family on April 21, 1986 in San
Diego, CA, and married his wife
Alexa Anderson (Robles) from
Fort Worth, TX on June 2, 2013.
David served as a US Marine for over six years,
ultimately seeing duty in eastern Europe. Most recently
he had worked as a warehouse manager for the Packrat
Moving and Storage company in Tacoma, WA.
David rose to the rank of Eagle Scout as a member of
the Boy Scouts USA, and he enjoyed various activities
with family and friends. He and his wife, Alexa,
supported their church through various endeavors.
David is survived by his wife, Alexa Anderson of
Gig Harbor, WA; mother, Cindy Bock of Peoria, AZ;
father, David T. Anderson III of Vancouver, WA; half-
sister, Melissa Francis of St. Joseph, MI, half-brother,
John Siemssen of Gig Harbor, WA; and half-brother,
Timothy Siemssen of Erie, PA.
In honor of David’s military service, a memorial
service will be held from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on
April 21, 2022, at Tahoma National Cemetery, 18600
SE 240th Street, Kent, WA, 98042.
Catherine “Elaine” Wood
October 21, 1924 - March 23, 2022
Gary Wentworth
November 21, 1948 - March 20, 2022
Gary Wentworth, 73, died March 20,
2022, at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical
Center in Boise, ID, with his wife and
family at his side. There will be
a celebration of his life at a later
date.
Gary was born in Ashland,
OR, on November 21, 1948, to
Norman and Viva (Matteson)
Wentworth and was one of
three brothers. He attended
school in Ashland before the
family moved to Southern
California where he continued
his education and held several
jobs before he hired on with
Maas Hansen Steel, where he learned to
drive trucks and do maintenance. This led to
a career as a millwright. He married Roberta
(Bobi) Mordel and they had a son, Cliff.
He later married Laura McCoy. In 1980 he
moved to Oregon, but returned to California
where he started his own millwright
business. In 1992 he moved to Ohio where
he hired on with Unimast to set up new
steel plants. They later transferred him to
Texas. In 1996, he moved back to Oregon
and started his own millwright business in
Bend. In 2004 he moved to Baker City after
meeting his future wife, Linda, in an online
chat room. He went to work for Louie and
Donny Tholen at Farm & Industrial where
he was an ace fabricator until his retirement
in 2019.
Gary was an avid hunter, loved to cook
for guided hunting parties, and was heavily
involved in the Oregon Hunters Association
and served as its president while with the
Bend chapter. He volunteered his skills as
a machinist to run the antique sawmill at
the High Desert Museum when he lived
in Bend. He was a member of Elkhorn
Muzzle Loaders Club and the Powder River
Sportsmen’s Club and was a proficient
shooting enthusiast.
Favorite pastimes were
camping with his family
(especially
making
them
fabulous breakfasts), whittling/
carving and teaching the
grandkids camping skills, drives
in the mountains, reading,
creating useful furniture, tools,
fold-up tables, etc. He loved his
dog friends, Kirby and Sadie;
they were included in most of
his adventures. Gary was a big
guy with a big heart, generous
and caring, with the adoration of his children
and grandchildren being a testimony to his
loving nature. He loved living in Baker
County and is leaving many friends.
Gary is survived by his wife, Linda
Evans Wentworth; his son Cliff Wentworth
(Heather) of Bend, OR; mother-in-
law Myrna Evans of Baker City, OR;
stepchildren Jarond Browning (Lexie) of
Vale, OR, Tricia Price (Paul) and Aimie
Shepherd of Baker City, OR and Matthew
Shepherd (Rebecca) of Fruitland, ID; and
his brother Tom Wentworth (Evelyn) of
Bend, OR; sisters-in-law Diana (Paul) York
of La Grande, OR and Eileen Lewis of
Oregon City, OR; He has 15 grandchildren
and three great-grandchildren with another
one on the way in July. He was preceded in
death by his parents; brother David and his
father-in-law Lloyd Evans.
The
family
suggests
memorial
contributions to the charity of one’s choice
through Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral Home,
P.O. Box 543, Halfway, OR, 97834.
Online condolences may be made at
www.tamispinevalleyfuneralhome.com.
Catherine “Elaine” Wood,
97, a longtime resident of Baker
City, Oregon, died March 23,
2022, with her family at her side.
A private family graveside will
be held.
Elaine was born on October
21, 1924, to parents Louis
and Johanna Osborn in Baker,
Oregon. At 12 years old, she
began attending St. Francis
Academy where she graduated in 1942.
Elaine worked at the Eltrym Theatre where she met
her future husband, Hershel Wood. They were married
June 10, 1945. She later worked for the county clerk as
an assistant city recorder at the courthouse. Soon after,
Elaine ran a childcare service for 19 years, caring for a
total of 104 children, many of whom she kept in touch
with over the course of her life.
Elaine was a devoted Catholic and member of the
St. Francis Cathedral and Altar Society. She was also
a “Lady Elk.” Elaine took pride in baking and tending
to her flower beds and roses. Her favorite colors were
pink and blue. She cherished many lifelong friendships,
staying in contact by writing letters, also a hobby of
hers.
Memorable moments in her life included her
marriage, and the birth and raising of her two sons.
Elaine especially loved the company of her family and
lived by the philosophy that family always comes first.
Elaine was treasured by those who loved her. She was
the most kind, caring person.
Elaine was preceded in death by her husband of 78
years, Hershel J. Wood, both parents and a brother, John
Osborn.
She is survived by her sons, Daniel Louis Wood of
Nashville, TN, Timothy R. Wood of Baker City, OR,
and granddaughter Tayler Catherine Wood of Baker
City, OR.
For those who would like to make a memorial
donation, Elaine asked they be made to St. Francis
Cathedral, through Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral Home
and Cremation Services, P.O. Box 543, Halfway,
Oregon 97834. Online condolences can be shared at
www.tamispinevalleyfuneralhome.com.