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BAKER CITY
Opinion
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Thursday, November 10, 2022 • Baker City, Oregon
EDITORIAL
Striking a balance on
enforcing camping,
parking limits
“R
easonable” and “unlimited” are among the
words that Baker City Police Chief Ty Duby
used in a recent press release outlining the
department’s effort to enforce rules for camping on public
property and parking recreational vehicles on city streets.
Those two adjectives illustrate the challenge that confronts
police here and in so many other places around the state and
country as they deal with an increase in the number of home-
less people.
The city has imposed limits, as it should, on where people
can live and how long they can park vehicles including motor
homes and trailers.
But as Duby noted, the police department is also striving to
be reasonable in enforcing those limits.
Which is to say, they’re trying to treat people with dignity
and respect.
As they should.
Yet compassion for people who lack permanent shelter
must be balanced with the government’s obligation to resi-
dents whose circumstances are more fortunate.
Duby acknowledged that enforcing rules is not always
straightforward.
“Multiple cities in Oregon have been overwhelmed dealing
with transient camping that has littered their city with make-
shift shelters, garbage, hazardous waste and caused public
outcry,” he wrote. “In our best effort to protect Baker City cit-
izens, both with and without homes, the City of Baker City
has adopted Ordinance 3383 that regulates camping in Baker
City. This ordinance offers reasonable accommodations but
does not allow unlimited encroachment of public and private
properties.”
A longtime city ordinance requires recreational vehicles, in-
cluding RVs, utility trailers and boats, that are parked on city
streets to be moved within 72 hours.
There’s a legitimate reason for this restriction. Snowplows
and street sweepers can’t do their work as effectively if their
route is blocked by vehicles.
Ordinance 3383 is much newer, passed by the city coun-
cil this May. It deals more specifically with an issue that has
become a more visible in the past couple years — homeless
camps.
Ordinance 3383 regulates camping on public property.
The ordinance bans overnight camping in city parks, in-
cluding the Leo Adler Memorial Parkway path along the Pow-
der River, as well as in several other specific public properties,
including within 150 feet of any school, preschool or childcare
center, or at the Baker Heritage Museum at 2480 Grove St., the
Baker County Courthouse, Sam-O Swim Center, the YMCA
gym on Church Street and the YMCA Fitness Center on Poca-
hontas Road.
The ordinance also states that if someone is living in a vehi-
cle, it must be moved at least every 24 hours and for at least the
distance of a city block.
The ordinance bans camping on public property in resi-
dential zones, while camping would be allowed, from 8 p.m.
to 6 a.m. daily, on public property in the general-commercial,
general industrial and light industrial zones.
The ordinance applies only to public property. People are
not allowed to camp on someone’s private property, at any
time, regardless of the zone.
Although the parking and camping ordinances are separate,
they do at times overlap, since some homeless people live in a
vehicle.
That situation can cause problems beyond the aforemen-
tioned conflict with snowplows and street sweepers.
Duby said the city recently had a travel trailer moved after
finding that a sewage hose from the trailer had been placed in
a nearby hole. This poses a health risk besides the obvious aes-
thetic problem.
Although some people likely would prefer that police treat
homeless people and camps as they do vehicles that exceed the
parking limits, it’s not so simple. People have to be somewhere,
after all.
And beyond the logistical challenge of constantly rousting
people from their camps, there is also a legal hurdle.
In 2021 the Oregon Legislature, prompted by a federal court
decision in an Idaho case, passed a law stating that cities and
counties with ordinances regulating camping on public prop-
erty must ensure those ordinances are “objectively reasonable
as to time, place and manner with regards to persons experi-
encing homelessness.”
Baker City’s ordinance 3383, which allows limited camping
on public property, reflects the state law.
None of this is simple, or ideal.
Prohibiting homeless camps in Geiser-Pollman Park, for in-
stance, is an obvious, and necessary, restriction.
But dealing with homeless camps on private property,
which isn’t subject to ordinance 3383, can be difficult if, for in-
stance, the property owner doesn’t object.
Nonetheless, the city council was wise to pass the ordinance,
and Duby is acting appropriately in trying to enforce it to the
extent possible.
— Jayson Jacoby, Baker City Herald editor
COLUMN
Remembering the Korean War on Veterans Day
E
ach year, our nation sets aside Veter-
ans Day to remember all the men and
women who have defended our lib-
erty through their honorable military service.
American cities big and small celebrate with
ceremonies across the nation to honor their
service and their sacrifice.
We are proud to note that even in the wake
of devastating and destabilizing world events
like the COVID-19 pandemic, celebrations
that honor our nation’s veterans were among
the first to return to full strength. The value
that we as Oregonians and Americans place on
honoring and showing gratitude toward those
who have served and sacrificed to protect our
freedoms and way of life is immense.
This year, while the Oregon Department of
Veterans’ Affairs continues to honor all vet-
erans of all eras, we are paying tribute to one
particular era of our veteran community: Ore-
gon’s Korean War veterans. Though this war is
referred to as the “Forgotten War,” we in Ore-
gon have never — and will never — forget the
extraordinary and heroic veterans who fought
for freedom in the Korean War.
This theme has a personal significance
for me. My father fought as a Marine during
the Korean War, where he earned the Purple
Heart. After I was commissioned as a second
lieutenant in the Army and asked for my first
tour of duty to be in South Korea, my father
shared the only thing he ever said to me about
his combat experiences there. He half-joked
that if I ever traveled near the DMZ, I would
surely see his fingernails where he desperately
attempted to dig a deeper foxhole as enemy ar-
tillery rained down on his Marine unit.
Of course, my own experience of being sta-
tioned in the Republic of Korea was vastly dif-
ferent, thanks to those courageous men and
women who fought during the Korean War. In
fact, I enjoyed my first tour in Daegu so much
that several years later, I served a two-year tour
in Korea. The Korean people are wonderfully
gracious and kind. Whenever I was in uniform
outside the military base, older Koreans who
remembered the war would sometimes ap-
proach me and thank me as a representative of
the American military.
In 1950, our nation was weary of war after
years of global conflict. Yet, 1.5 million Amer-
icans — including 60,000 Oregonians — left
their family and friends and their homes to
KELLY
FITZPATRICK
help defend our nation’s friends and allies
halfway around the world, in a place they had
never been and on behalf of a people they had
never met.
Together with men and women from 20
other nations, they joined shoulder to shoul-
der with the brave people of South Korea to
defend their independence, to safeguard other
Asian nations, and to protect the freedom that
remains our greatest gift. All those who fought
in the Korean War endured terrible hardships
— deadly cold, unbearable conditions, an en-
emy of overwhelming numbers, and the threat
of brutal imprisonment and torture.
But their courage never wavered — not
when they were defending the perimeter at
Busan, braving the tides at Inchon, confront-
ing the world’s fastest fighter jets in Mig Alley,
enduring hand-to-hand combat on Heart-
break Ridge and Pork Chop Hill, or even fight-
ing their way back from the infamous Chosin
Reservoir. In September of this year, I had the
privilege of speaking at an Honor Flight of
Portland, Oregon, send-off event for 24 hon-
ored veterans — 19 of whom served in the
Korean War. It was an honor to meet them,
shake their hands, hear some of their stories,
and wish them well as they prepared to fly
across the country to visit the fabulous memo-
rials built in our nation’s capital to honor and
remember their service and sacrifice. They set
a standard of valor and perseverance that may
be equaled, but will never be surpassed in the
annals of American history.
The men and women who served in the Ko-
rean War set themselves apart not only by their
courage and sacrifice, but by their unity and
dedication to one another. It was just before
the Korean War, in 1948, that President Harry
S. Truman issued Executive Order 9981 —
abolishing discrimination based on race, color,
religion or national origin in the United States
Armed Forces.
When war broke out in 1950, our country
— for the first time in its history — entered the
fray with a fully integrated and desegregated
military. These proud service members of all
races, ethnicities and backgrounds joined the
people of 20 other nations and South Korea to
fight this war.
Earlier this year, we also observed the 73rd
anniversary of the establishment of the Ko-
rean Augmentees to the US Army (KATUSA)
program. It was started as a spoken agreement
between President Seungman Lee and U.S.
General Douglas MacArthur. At that time,
the U.S. Army needed a military force that
had the proper knowledge of the geography of
Korea, and the ability to distinguish South Ko-
rean allied troops from North Korean enemy
troops and communicate better between U.S.
soldiers and Korean soldiers. Therefore, some
men were drafted as KATUSAs, and others
voluntarily applied. After training, they were
assigned to U.S. military units. During the
Korean War, nearly 44,000 KATUSA soldiers
fought for South Korea with U.S. forces. They,
too, are heroes, and we honor them today.
This program continued after the Korean
War, and KATUSA soldiers would spend 18
months with the U.S. Army learning an oc-
cupation and would then return to the ROK
Army to train others. The program remains
active today and is a symbol of the ongoing
friendship and mutual commitment between
the Republic of Korea and the U.S.
I was fortunate to have KATUSA soldiers
in my organization during both of my tours in
Korea. They were among the most dedicated
soldiers I have had the honor of serving with.
Finally, on this day, we remember and give
thanks for the 40,000 Americans who paid the
ultimate price in the fight for freedom and in-
dependence during the Korean War. Among
their number were nearly 300 Oregonians
whose names are inscribed on the Oregon
Korean War Memorial in Wilsonville. Simi-
larly, we give thanks for the more than 11,000
KATUSAs who went missing or were killed in
action.
The world is a better place because of these
men and women. Our duty as a nation and
people is to remember and honor them, and to
always strive to live up to the ideals for which
they served and sacrificed.
█
Kelly Fitzpatrick is the director of the Oregon
Department of Veterans’ Affairs and Governor
Kate Brown’s policy advisor on veterans’ issues. She
is a retired Army officer. Her military awards and
decorations include multiple awards of the Meritorious
Service Medal, the Southwest Asia Service Medal and
the Army Parachutist Badge.
OTHER VIEWS
Public health officials need better messaging
EDITORIAL FROM
THE LOS ANGELES TIMES:
Heading into the third winter
since COVID-19 emerged in the
U.S., public health leaders have
an abundance of information
about the deadly virus. How it
spreads and how to stop it. What
they haven’t yet figured out is
how to communicate this infor-
mation effectively.
For weeks, public health lead-
ers have been encouraging peo-
ple to get the latest booster shot.
But only a minuscule number
of people have heeded the rec-
ommendation, with about 9%
of Los Angeles County residents
getting the updated shot, slightly
higher than the national average.
Clearly, the guidance isn’t get-
ting through, but it doesn’t have
to be that way. Health specialists
should remember that trusted
voices are at the heart of any suc-
cessful information campaign.
Mixed messages about the
coronavirus from top policy-
makers throughout the pan-
demic haven’t exactly inspired
confidence. The House Select
Subcommittee on the Coronavi-
rus Crisis last month released a
report detailing how the Trump
administration downplayed the
risk of the pandemic to the point
of attacking scientists provid-
ing accurate information. And
there have been recent blunders.
Rochelle Walensky, head of the
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, downplayed mask-
ing earlier this year even as the
agency was recommending this
as a preventive measure. Pres-
ident Joe Biden’s statement in
September that the pandemic
is over was widely lambasted as
premature and counterproduc-
tive. These high-profile missteps
have muddied communication,
but policymakers can move for-
ward by taking cues from suc-
cessful public health campaigns
that have helped reduce COVID
infection rates in the past.
Officials should consider
making tailored efforts to reach
specific communities. For in-
stance, they should once again
send “promotoras” into Latino
communities disproportion-
ately affected by the coronavi-
rus. These Spanish-speaking
community health workers have
proved to be trusted messen-
gers, and helped inform Latinos
about the importance of testing
and vaccinating at the height of
the pandemic. Latinos in June
2020 were five times more likely
to die from COVID-19 than
white people, according to a
KFF analysis.
The disproportionate effect of
the coronavirus on Latinos and
other people of color prompted
state policymakers to allocate
$17.3 million to more than 110
community-based organiza-
tions focused on underserved
communities in California. Tar-
geted vaccination campaigns
have proved effective, helping
reduce Latino death rates. Also,
outreach efforts should focus on
other communities still suffer-
ing a disproportionate number
of COVID-related deaths, in-
cluding lower-income, Pacific Is-
lander and Black people.
Policymakers should also
consider reviving health cam-
paigns creating awareness about
the higher risk of coronavirus
transmissibility in certain sec-
tors such as food service and
retail industries, which get bus-
ier during the holiday season.
The COVID Workplace Out-
reach Project was another effort
to address the dangers faced by
workers in these industries. Such
messaging can help remind em-
ployers, workers and the public
of the importance of vaccinat-
ing, testing and masking to help
prevent illnesses and keep busi-
nesses running smoothly.
Gov. Gavin Newsom
has called for an end to the
COVID-19 state of emergency
on Feb. 28, 2023, but indicated
that certain measures such as
vaccination and testing efforts
will continue through the winter
to maintain low levels of infec-
tion. The newly created state Of-
fice of Community Partnerships
and Strategic Communications
should use some of the $65 mil-
lion allocated in the state budget
for these targeted campaigns,
considering that achieving
health equity is one of the agen-
cy’s chief goals.
The tiny percentage of peo-
ple getting booster shots in-
dicates there’s much room for
improvement in public health
campaigns. The holiday season,
which has come with surges of
COVID cases the past two years,
requires public health leaders to
step up their messaging to the
public.