A4 BAKER CITY HERALD • THURSDAY, JULY 7, 2022
BAKER CITY
Opinion
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Baker City, Oregon
EDITORIAL
Tranquil fire
season so far,
but risk is rising
T
he damp spring brought multiple benefits
to Baker County and Northeastern Oregon,
among them an easing of the drought, which
is a boon for farmers and ranchers whose operations
are vital parts of the region’s economy.
But the cool and frequently damp weather that per-
sisted well into June also stifled something that has
plagued our area the past few summers — wildfire
danger.
Last year, by contrast, the spring was drier than
usual, and the fire danger was escalating even before
June arrived.
This year, as of July 5, one measure of fire danger —
the energy release component, which predicts how fast
a fire would spread — was below average in each of the
six zones that the Blue Mountain Interagency Dispatch
Center in La Grande monitors. That area extends from
south of John Day into the southeast corner of Wash-
ington, and encompasses most of the Blue Mountains.
The fire danger in each zone was moderate.
Although dramatically different so far from 2021, this
year is actually reminiscent of fire seasons prior to the
series of droughts over the past 20 years or so. During
the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s, wildland firefighting crews gen-
erally didn’t get busy until mid to late July. That coin-
cided with the start of the peak lightning season — light-
ning sparks about 80% of the wildfires on public land
in and around Baker County, although human-caused
fires are more common on private property.
As of July 6, the Blue Mountain Interagency Dis-
patch Center had reported just 14 fires — seven caused
by lightning, seven by people — that burned a mere 2.6
acres.
Yet the past week or so has reminded us that al-
though the current fire season has been tranquil com-
pared with its immediate predecessor, the risk exists,
and is beginning to rise.
On June 28 a blaze of unknown origin started on
private land northeast of Vale. Gusty winds and tem-
peratures that reached 100 degrees combined to spread
flames over about 40,000 acres, eventually reaching the
edge of Interstate 84 between Farewell Bend and On-
tario. Fortunately, the fire burned in remote rangeland
country, and no buildings were threatened. (The fire is
not within the Blue Mountain Dispatch Center’s area,
so not included in its tally of fires and acres burned.)
The Willowcreek fire highlighted one of the poten-
tial downsides of the wet spring and the lush crop of
grass that resulted. Much of that grass — in particular
cheatgrass, an invasive annual — is no longer lush. The
tall, dry grass readily takes a flame. The range country,
which covers tens of thousands of acres in Northeast-
ern Oregon, will remain susceptible to fire throughout
summer and into fall.
A few other, much smaller, fires flared during the
Fourth of July weekend. Two of those — one in the
dredge tailings near Sumpter, the other near Bourne —
were started by lightning. Both burned one-tenth of an
acre or less.
Higher elevation, forested country remains relatively
moist, with snow lingering in the Elkhorn, Greenhorn
and Wallowa mountains. But a couple weeks of warm,
dry weather — typical summer conditions, in other
words, which is in the forecast — will increase the fire
danger.
Lightning, of course, is beyond our control. But at
least fire officials can monitor both the risk of lightning
and, through lightning detection sensors, the areas
where the most bolts hit the ground. That allows fire
managers to respond quickly to smoke reports.
Human-caused fires, by contrast, are far less predict-
able. No weather forecast can determine when, and
where, a careless camper will fail to douse a fire, or toss
a still-hot cigarette butt out a car window. The haphaz-
ard nature of such blazes can delay the response from
fire crews — and with wildfires, even a brief period can
be enough for a small fire, easily controlled by a sin-
gle fire engine, to blossom into an inferno that defies
the attack by air tankers and helicopters and hordes of
firefighters.
It’s gratifying that the 2022 fire season isn’t likely
to be as lengthy, at least, as last year’s. But the risk re-
mains, and if we’re careful while spending time out-
doors, we can minimize the threat.
— Jayson Jacoby, Baker City Herald editor
YOUR VIEWS
Recall appropriate for councilors
who helped dismantle fire dept.
BY CASEY HUSK
F
ire the Cannon! Fire the
Cannon! Fire the Can-
non! The chants echoed
off of the stone facade of the
Baker City Hall on a pleas-
ant May evening. Hundreds
of concerned and angry citi-
zens lined the halls of the old
building, right out onto the
streets. They were all there, at
least based on the 18 speeches
given that evening, to tell city
council one thing: keep the
fire department intact. The
way those 18 communicated
this point varied.
Former city recorder Katie
Lafavor stated that while there
may have existed a problem
with funding the ambulance, it
did not rise to the level of justi-
fying firing a proven provider
(Baker City Fire) in exchange
for a private ambulance com-
pany from out of town. She
urged council to send this issue
to the voters, as they are the
ones who will bear the conse-
quences of the change.
Another woman raised
questions about Jon Cannon’s
commitment to a commu-
nity where, instead of buying a
home and setting up roots like
half of the firemen he would
soon lay off, he decided to
buy a brand-new cherry red
$80,000 Jeep while living in a
bumper-pull trailer. Not exactly
the actions of a man commit-
ted to this community, or one
who would likely be around to
experience the consequences of
his misguided actions.
At the end of the public com-
ment period, I addressed coun-
cil on the numerous flaws or
outright manipulations put out
by Jennifer Spencer, the city’s
finance director, and Cannon
in regards to the budget “crisis”
they created. How could we be
hemorrhaging money when
the fire department has been
under budget for most of the
past decade? If Spencer can’t
tell us how much it actually
costs to run a 911 call or why
the city charges the amounts it
does for an ambulance ride to
the hospital, how can she then
say that we’re losing money?
Remember, they stated that the
ambulance service cost the city
roughly 85% of the total fire de-
partment budget. Without an
ambulance, shouldn’t the new
budget be that leftover 15% of
the previous budget? 85% of
$2.34 million (last year’s orig-
inal adopted fire department
budget) is just shy of $2 mil-
lion, so the new budget, with-
out the ambulances, should be
$350,000. But it’s not $350,000,
the new budget is $1.67 mil-
lion. They touted the infamous
20% Medicare repayment as a
driving cause, but again, if we
don’t know how much it costs
to run a 911 call, how can they
say that the 20% Medicare pays
us isn’t adequate? It would be
like a store owner asking a dol-
lar for a product, getting paid
20 cents for it, and saying they
are losing 80 cents even though
they don’t know how much
it cost them to buy! What if it
only cost 10 cents?
Despite the protestations of
myself and 18 other vocal con-
cerned citizens that evening,
our efforts were for nothing.
Two weeks later, in the prover-
bial cover of darkness, council
reversed its decision to fight to
get the ambulance back. About
seven minutes into the meet-
ing, councilor Dean Guyer
made a motion that he could
“get behind.” Guyer stated that
the city should not submit a
proposal to the county, instead
it should wait until after the
bid period closed to put Baker
City in a better bargaining po-
sition with the county. This
motion, approved by Guyer,
Dixon, Waggoner and Dam-
schen, ended the conversation
with the county and doomed
our community along with
the careers of six loyal public
servants. To quote the great-
est hockey player of all time,
Wayne Gretzky, “you miss
100% of the shots you don’t
take.”
Unfortunately, this is not an
isolated incident. Our council
has shown again and again that
it is not deserving of the power
it wields. In addition to ignor-
ing massive public outcry, they
have a penchant for sneaking
important issues through using
technicalities in procedure and
eliminating any opportunity
for public comment.
On April 12, with a relatively
mundane agenda, Guyer again
made a motion to reverse a
previous city council decision.
This time it was on the quiet
zone, where council had voted
to send the issue to the citizens
for a vote. With the support
of Alderson, Spriet and Dam-
schen, Guyer forced another
issue through council that de-
nied the public the opportunity
to weigh in on an important
topic.
As I write this, yet another
pressing issue has come to
light. On June 25, social me-
dia got hold of the city’s plan to
eliminate police service in the
city between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m.,
ostensibly for staffing issues
and to save money by reducing
overtime. The public outcry
was swift and in stark opposi-
tion to the plan as one would
expect.
First Cannon guts the fire
department and now he’s going
after the police. By June 27, the
city posted a notice about how
this was all a big misunder-
standing and that this was just
one of many proposed sched-
ule changes that “. ... need to be
addressed in a slow, methodi-
cal, and open discussion with
council.”
In an email to the Herald,
Cannon stated that “the idea
that you would call police and
nobody shows up is an out-
right fabrication.” And yet, in
the same article Chief Ty Duby
stated that “calls to the emer-
gency dispatch center would
be forwarded to the city police
department’s on-call supervisor
(note: it says “on-call,” not “on
duty”), who would then de-
cide, based on circumstances,
whether to call in an officer to
respond.” The fact that the on-
call officer will decide if anyone
will respond is a direct contra-
diction to Cannon’s statement.
You can call 911 and the offi-
cer can decide not to respond!
You can interpret that how you
will, but as an insider who has
worked with Cannon closely
for the past 18 months, I can
tell you that he is backpedaling
after the public outcry.
On June 28, at another coun-
cil meeting, Chief Duby fell
on the proverbial sword and
stated that the police schedul-
ing fiasco was all a mix-up and
that Cannon was not to blame.
He stated that 24/7 coverage
is “ideal” and that if we can
“get there” that would be great.
What the chief did not say is
there will be 24/7 police cover-
age no matter what. The reason
he didn’t say that is simple: they
are planning on reducing po-
lice coverage. This means that
schedule changes are coming
and that those who will ulti-
mately decide how they look
are the very people who have a
history of ignoring your voice,
aka Cannon and city council.
So here’s the deal, Baker City.
If you’re tired of politicians and
bureaucrats destroying your
public safety, one fireman and
one cop at a time, you need to
do something. If you believe
that Cannon can’t be trusted
based on the examples listed
above, it is time to rally.
On July 14 at 7 p.m., a meet-
ing will be held at the Baker
County Conference and Event’s
Center, “Small Meeting Room”
(2600 East St.) in Baker City.
The topic of this meeting will
be the recall of all eligible coun-
cilors who participated in the
destruction of the fire depart-
ment, and the ultimate dis-
missal of Jonathan Cannon.
This is a nonpartisan issue, and
is not being sponsored by any
group or political party. This
letter, the cartoon on this page,
and the flyers many of you will
find in your mailboxes over the
next week are the doing of one
man: me. Why am I doing this?
Because I believe in democracy
and the fair and equal represen-
tation of “the will of the people”
by those in power. I believe that
this council has done irrepara-
ble damage to this community
and it is up to us, the citizen, to
hold them accountable.
For those of you on the
fence, or that believe a recall is
costly or unobtainable, I offer
you this: We only need an esti-
mated 680 signatures to make
this happen. Without these
steps, this city will continue
to bleed public safety profes-
sionals. We must send a clear
message that council’s purpose
above all else is to protect and
serve our interests. If we fail to
do so, council will continue to
make decisions for you like the
benevolent overlords they have
become. Ladies and gentlemen,
it’s time to fire the Cannon!
Casey Husk is a firefighter/
paramedic with the Baker City Fire
Department.
CONTACT YOUR PUBLIC OFFICIALS
President Joe Biden: The White House, 1600
Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C. 20500; 202-456-
1111; to send comments, go to www.whitehouse.gov.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley: D.C. office: 313 Hart Senate
Office Building, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C., 20510;
202-224-3753; fax 202-228-3997. Portland office: One
World Trade Center, 121 S.W. Salmon St. Suite 1250,
Portland, OR 97204; 503-326-3386; fax 503-326-2900.
Baker City office, 1705 Main St., Suite 504, 541-278-
1129; merkley.senate.gov.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden: D.C. office: 221 Dirksen Senate
Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-5244;
fax 202-228-2717. La Grande office: 105 Fir St., No. 210,
La Grande, OR 97850; 541-962-7691; fax, 541-963-0885;
wyden.senate.gov.
U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz (2nd District): D.C. office: 1239
Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C.,
20515, 202-225-6730; fax 202-225-5774. Medford
office: 14 N. Central Avenue Suite 112, Medford, OR
97850; Phone: 541-776-4646; fax: 541-779-0204;
Ontario office: 2430 S.W. Fourth Ave., No. 2, Ontario, OR
97914; Phone: 541-709-2040. bentz.house.gov.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown: 254 State Capitol, Salem,
OR 97310; 503-378-3111; www.governor.oregon.gov.
Oregon State Treasurer Tobias Read: oregon.
treasurer@ost.state.or.us; 350 Winter St. NE, Suite 100,
Salem OR 97301-3896; 503-378-4000.
Oregon Attorney General Ellen F. Rosenblum:
Justice Building, Salem, OR 97301-4096; 503-378-4400.
Oregon Legislature: Legislative documents and
information are available online at www.leg.state.or.us.
State Sen. Lynn Findley (R-Ontario): Salem office:
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 office: 900
Court St. N.E., H-475, Salem, OR 97301; 503-986-1460.
Email: Rep.MarkOwens@oregonlegislature.gov
in Council Chambers. Councilors Jason Spriet, Kerry
McQuisten, Shane Alderson, Joanna Dixon, Kenyon
Damschen, Johnny Waggoner Sr. and Dean Guyer.
Baker City administration: 541-523-6541. Jonathan
Cannon, city manager; Ty Duby, police chief; Sean Lee,
fire chief; Michelle Owen, public works director.
Baker County Commission: Baker County Courthouse
1995 3rd St., Baker City, OR 97814; 541-523-8200.
Meets the first 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 Durflinger, 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
Baker City Hall: 1655 First Street, P.O. Box 650, Baker
Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m. Council Chambers,
City, OR 97814; 541-523-6541; fax 541-524-2049. City
Baker City Hall,1655 First St.; Chris Hawkins, Andrew
Council meets the second and fourth Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Bryan, Travis Cook, Jessica Dougherty, Julie Huntington.
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