BAKER CITY HERALD • SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2022 A5
OREGON
‘People are mad’: Portland votes
on voting to overhaul city hall
BY CLAIRE RUSH
Associated Press/Report for America
Dick Mason/The Observer, File
Faster and more widespread testing for chronic wasting disease in deer is now possible due to a new part-
nership between the Oregon Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at Oregon State University’s Carlson College
of Veterinary Medicine and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
State, lab partnering to boost testing
for chronic wasting disease in deer
The Observer
CORVALLIS — Faster and more widespread
testing for chronic wasting disease in deer is now
possible due to a new partnership between the
Oregon Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at Or-
egon State University’s Carlson College of Veter-
inary Medicine and the Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife.
Chronic wasting disease is spread through an-
imals’ waste and saliva, and infected animals can
be contagious for months or years before showing
symptoms. It is incurable and affects members of
the cervidae family — deer, elk and moose.
The disease has not been detected in Oregon yet,
but it has been found in deer just a few miles east
of the border in Idaho, so Oregon wildlife officials
say it’s only a matter of time and they want hunters
to be aware.
To prepare for the disease’s arrival, the Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife and the Oregon Veter-
inary Diagnostic Laboratory received a one-year
grant to enable testing for chronic wasting disease
in Oregon, rather than sending samples out of state
to other national animal laboratories, which offi-
cials say can lead to long wait times.
Currently, the Oregon Veterinary Diagnostic
Laboratory does not have the capacity to test for
prions, the infectious proteins that cause the dis-
ease by altering the way proteins are folded in cells
within the animal’s central nervous system.
“We’re going to have to acquire the equipment
and the expertise to test for these prions. It’s going
to be a challenge for us, but that’s what we’re here
for,” said Kurt Williams, director of the laboratory
at OSU. “I think it’s super important for the state of
Oregon and all of us interested in the outdoors. For
both hunters and non-hunters — this is something
we ought to be doing here in Oregon.”
There is no evidence that the disease affects
humans or spreads to livestock, Williams said,
so at this point, the concern is for the health of
the deer, elk and moose populations in the state.
Chronic wasting disease is a “spongiform enceph-
alopathic” disease, akin to mad cow in cattle and
Creutzfeldt-Jakob in humans, named for the holes
it causes within an animal’s brain. It is uniformly
fatal and there is no vaccine. Infected animals lose
their ability to eat and find proper nutrition, so they
gradually waste away.
Most of the grant is focused on fieldwork, which
includes testing more deceased animals, as well as
outreach and education among hunters in the state,
said Colin Gillin, state wildlife veterinarian with the
Department of Fish and Wildlife. Trained biologists
will collect samples of lymph nodes and brain stem,
where prions are located in infected animals.
As soon as the first case is detected in Oregon,
Gillin said the state will likely hold an emergency
hunting season within a defined area around where
the infected animal was found to reduce the num-
ber of infected animals and limit the spread of the
disease.
“We’ll remove a statistically significant number
of animals that are susceptible so we can get a high
enough sample size to figure out the real percentage
of animals that have the disease,” Gillin said. “The
goal is to reduce the density such that the nose-to-
nose contact of deer in that area will be a lot less.”
PORTLAND — Portland’s
official slogan is “The City
That Works,” but after a tu-
multuous few years, many res-
idents feel the city is anything
but that.
Homelessness and gun vi-
olence are surging and parts
of downtown are struggling,
unable to recover from the
coronavirus pandemic and
the racial justice protests that
gripped the city in 2020.
Now voters are deciding on
a ballot measure that would
completely overhaul City Hall.
The proposal would scrap a
century-old commission form
of government that Portland
is the last major U.S. city to
use, and also implement a rare
form of ranked choice voting.
The campaigns on these
questions have been emotional,
reflecting different visions
of Portland’s future: one that
maintains the city’s reputation
as a testing ground for unique
ideas and upholds its unofficial
slogan, “Keep Portland Weird,”
and another that sets uncon-
ventional methodology aside in
a quest for stability.
Portland is known for its
progressive politics. But many
residents now think it’s on the
wrong track, thrusting matters
of municipal bureaucracy into
the political spotlight as out-
side funding pours in.
Pollster John Horvick has
observed the shift in the hun-
dreds of voter focus groups
he’s conducted over the last 15
years.
“In 2007, 66% of Portlanders
on average that year thought
the city was headed in the right
direction. Now, it’s about 10%,”
said Horvick, senior vice pres-
ident of DHM Research. “Peo-
ple are really upset with the
way that the city is going.”
Reforming Portland’s char-
ter has been on the ballot be-
fore, but has always failed.
Under city law, a 20-person
commission must convene ev-
ery 10 years to review it.
The most recent charter
review process kicked off in
Mark Graves/The Oregonian, File
Thousands of Portland high schoolers skipped class and marched
into downtown to Portland City Hall Sept. 24, 2021, as part of a global
climate strike.
2020, as protests over the po-
lice killing of George Floyd
erupted nightly on Portland’s
streets and a nationwide reck-
oning with racism prompted
conversations about making
government more account-
able and equitable. The char-
ter commission held public
meetings and contracted with
a local group, the Coalition of
Communities of Color, for 18
months of listening sessions.
The result is Measure 26-
228, which would get rid of
the unique commission form
of government, under which
city council members act as
administrators of the city’s
various bureaus, and replace
it with the more common
mayor-council system. It
would expand the City Coun-
cil to 12 members, with four
multi-member districts each
represented by three coun-
cilors, and add a professional
city administrator. And it
would implement a form of
ranked choice voting known
as single transferable vote.
The changes were intended
to make City Hall more in-
clusive, but no other U.S. city
uses this specific voting sys-
tem for multi-member dis-
tricts in city council elections
— a point opponents have
seized on.
“Portland really has a his-
tory with experimenting,” he
said. “Now, it seems like people
are intent on experimenting
with democracy itself.”
Under the single transfer-
able vote system, ballots are
counted in rounds with city
council candidates only need-
ing 25% of the vote to win.
If a candidate exceeds that
threshold, their surplus votes
are transferred to the next
candidate ranked on each vot-
er’s ballot. If no candidate re-
ceives 25% in the first round,
the one with the fewest votes
is eliminated and their votes
are transferred to the next pre-
ferred candidate on each vot-
er’s ballot.
Supporters of the measure
have been pointing to a pub-
lic radio video to help explain
the process, which would run
the rounds instantly using
elections software. They say it
could boost voter turnout and
make government more repre-
sentative.
The measure has been en-
dorsed by local chapters of the
NAACP and the American
Civil Liberties Union.
Portland United for Change,
the political action committee
working to pass the measure,
has received tens of thousands
of dollars in contributions
from national groups that ad-
vocate for ranked choice vot-
ing, such as FairVote and Unite
America.
Critics have denounced the
outside spending and claim
the measure is too complex at
a time when many voters are
questioning the integrity of
America’s electoral systems.
SHANE ALDERSON
FOR
Proud to Welcome
BAKER COUNTY COMMISSION CHAIR
Samuel Capra, MD
to Baker City
My family has called Baker County home since 1935. We are enjoying raising our young daughter in this
beautiful community surrounded by small town values.
I promise to work hard for all citizens, do the work that needs to be done and
to provide the vital services taxpayer deserve.
I want to be your Baker County Commission Chair to mend the relationship
between Baker County and Baker City and other small cities and jurisdictions.
Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Surgeon
If your life has been disrupted by a bone, joint or
muscle problem, Dr. Capra is here to provide the
necessary surgical and non-surgical treatment
you need here locally – compassionately,
collaboratively and with the highest level
of quality care.
Whether you’re a student-athlete
with a torn ACL or an active adult
who wants to return to golf, Dr.
Capra and his team of athletic
trainers and physical therapists
have you covered. They will tailor
a recovery plan that is right
for you, to get you back to
performing at your best.
Treating injuries related to:
Ligament sprains/tears
Shoulder
Tendon or muscle strain
Hand
Elbow
Tendinitis
Hip
Knee
Fractures
Foot
Ankle
Sports/activity injury
Saint Alphonsus
Orthopedics
3325 Pocahontas Rd.
Baker City, OR 97814
Phone: 541-524-8000
I pledge to:
Our calling is you.
• Work hard to to maximize fire and ambulance service throughout Baker County
• Continue to support local law enforcement agencies to reduce crime and hold
offenders accountable for their actions
• Be a strong supporter for water issues and other matters facing our local agricul-
tural producers
• Work to protect jobs at Ashgrove Cement and other mining entities
• Continue to work with all local entities (Chambers, Baker City Downtown,
Interpretive Center, local Museums, Economic Development Committee, etc.) to
provide resources to enhance our local tourism industry.
• Advocate and work with State and Federal agencies to provide affordable work-
force housing in our community.
• Work hard to bring traded sector jobs to our County that provide family wage
jobs for working families.
• Work with local entities to make sure that we have affordable day care for fami-
lies with working parents
I am not beholden to any special interest groups and will bring honest and open
communication to the County Commission. Please vote for Shane Alderson for Baker County
Commission Chair.
Paid for by Committee to elect Shane Alderson