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BAKER CITY
Opinion
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news@bakercityherald.com
Thursday, November 17, 2022 • Baker City, Oregon
EDITORIAL
New city council
will be busy
from the start
T
he newly constituted Baker City Council will be
busy. Although final election results likely won’t
be released until Nov. 30, based on preliminary
totals, and the number of ballots that could still be
counted, it’s pretty certain that when 2023 dawns, just
three of the seven current councilors will still be in office
— Jason Spriet, Johnny Waggoner Sr. and Dean Guyer.
Waggoner and Guyer, based on preliminary results,
were elected Nov. 8 to four-year terms. Spriet is in the
middle of a four-year term.
Of the four other incumbents, Joanna Dixon declined
to run for reelection, and Kenyon Damschen, who was
on the ballot, wasn’t among the top four.
Mayor Kerry McQuisten is resigning later this month
because she’s moving outside the city limits and will
no longer be eligible, per the city charter, to serve as a
councilor.
Shane Alderson was elected Nov. 8 as chairman of the
Baker County Board of Commissioners, and since he
can’t hold both positions simultaneously, he’ll be leaving
the council at the end of the year.
Spriet, Waggoner and Guyer will be joined in January
by newcomers Matthew Diaz and Beverly Calder. Diaz
received the most votes Nov. 8, and based on preliminary
results, Calder, a former councilor, finished fourth. That
means she’ll serve a two-year term. Diaz, Waggoner and
Guyer will serve four-year terms.
Among the first tasks for these five councilors will be
to appoint replacements for McQuisten and Alderson.
The city charter delegates that authority to remaining
councilors.
Although the charter doesn’t prescribe how the coun-
cilors should go about assembling a group of potential
appointees, the five councilors do have some attractive
options — the four candidates who were also on the Nov.
8 ballot and have significant support among city voters.
Katie LaFavor received 1,779 votes (51 fewer than
Calder, based on preliminary results), Joe Johnson had
1,734, Damschen 1,328 and Donald Frank Cody 1,160
votes.
Once the council is up to its usual complement of
seven, the group will need to address the financial chal-
lenges that City Manager Jonathan Cannon outlined
during a special meeting of the city budget board Nov. 9.
Cannon said he’s concerned about the city’s ability to
maintain the current budgets for the police and fire de-
partments based on projected revenues and expenses
over the next several years.
Although the trends are troubling, the new council
should not act rashly. City residents have already seen the
fire department’s capacity substantially reduced, from
16.25 full-time equivalents last year to 10.5 for the cur-
rent fiscal year, which started July 1. That was due to the
council’s unfortunate, and unnecessary, decision earlier
this year to have the fire department cease ambulance
service as of Sept. 30.
(The city has been replaced by Metro West, a private
ambulance company.)
Unless the city can find new revenue sources for its
general fund, which includes both the police and fire
departments, there are limited options for curbing ex-
penses. The police and fire departments, even with the
significant cuts in the fire department, account for about
54% of the general fund expenses.
But the financial trends aren’t solely negative.
The beginning working capital in the general fund —
money the city uses during the early part of the fiscal
year, before property tax revenue begins to arrive — has
increased from $1.19 million in 2019-20 to $2 million for
the current fiscal year.
That doesn’t mean the city has almost $1 million read-
ily available, of course — the city needs to maintain the
working capital, and $2 million is not an unreasonable
amount.
But the increase in that part of the general fund also
means that councilors shouldn’t feel pressure to make
dramatic cuts immediately.
They will have important discussions, however, both
this winter, when Cannon hopes to reconvene the bud-
get board, and in the spring of 2023 when councilors will
adopt a budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
— Jayson Jacoby, Baker City Herald editor
OTHER VIEWS
Sending troops to Haiti would
make a bad situation worse
A
Editorial from Bloomberg Opinion:
lready the poorest
country in the Western
Hemisphere, Haiti is on
the brink of social collapse. At
least 40% of the country’s 11.5
million people are suffering
from acute hunger. Gang war-
fare and rolling antigovernment
protests have blocked the distri-
bution of food, fuel and water. A
cholera outbreak has killed doz-
ens and sickened many more.
Surging murders, kidnappings
and rapes have caused tens of
thousands to attempt to flee,
compounding the region’s mi-
gration crisis.
At the request of Prime Min-
ister Ariel Henry, the U.S. and
its regional partners have been
exploring a possible armed in-
tervention to restore stability
and deliver humanitarian aid.
They should think twice. Haiti’s
rich neighbors must do more to
help, but sending foreign troops
into such a chaotic environment
risks an even greater disaster.
Haiti has long suffered from
lawlessness, drug trafficking
and corruption, in addition
to a string of devastating nat-
ural disasters. Those chronic
sources of instability have been
exacerbated by a political crisis
sparked by the assassination last
July of then-president Jovenel
Moise. At least 40 suspects have
been arrested in connection
with the crime, but the inves-
tigation has failed to resolve
whether government officials
were involved. (Despite allega-
tions that Henry was in contact
with a suspect in the case, he has
denied any involvement.)
Meanwhile, Henry has re-
fused to set a timetable for new
elections, adding to public anger
over food shortages and rising
gas prices and further weaken-
ing the government’s authority.
It’s estimated that gangs control
more than half of the country,
including its main ports.
Last month, the U.S. co-
drafted a resolution seeking
United Nations authorization
for an international security
mission to Haiti.
In hopes of limiting the in-
volvement of U.S. troops, Presi-
dent Joe Biden’s administration
has proposed that a “partner
country” lead the effort. Possi-
ble candidates include Mexico
and Canada.
The U.S. and its partners
have an interest in preventing
Haiti’s collapse. But under the
current conditions, any foreign
military intervention would
likely do more harm than good.
There’s little chance the opera-
tion would remain limited and
“carefully scoped,” as the U.S.
intends; a previous U.N. peace-
keeping mission to Haiti lasted
13 years and was ridden with
scandals.
Attempts to secure ports,
roads and warehouses to enable
the flow of humanitarian relief
will inevitably produce clashes
between foreign troops and
heavily armed local gangs. And
because the international force
would be acting on behalf of a
government that lacks popu-
lar legitimacy, its ability to earn
the trust and cooperation of the
Haitian people would be com-
promised from the start.
Better to focus on building
the capacity of Haitians them-
selves. The State Department
has pledged $48 million in
assistance this year to Haiti’s
14,000-person national police
force, which is a good start. The
U.S. should expand similar pro-
grams that have shown promise,
such as a joint effort with France
to train anti-gang SWAT teams,
and press partner governments
to increase contributions to a
U.N. fund focused on bolstering
Haitian law-enforcement capa-
bilities. More humanitarian re-
lief should be provided directly
to government agencies with a
proven record of distributing
funds effectively.
In response to Henry’s re-
quest for an international se-
curity mission, meanwhile, the
Biden administration should
rule out putting U.S. boots on
the ground, but offer to deploy
additional maritime assets to
Haiti’s ports to curb drug and
arms smuggling. In return,
Henry should commit to hold
new elections; bring opposition
groups into the government;
and work with business leaders,
labor unions and other civil-so-
ciety groups to develop plans
for an orderly democratic tran-
sition.
The world can’t ignore the
suffering of the Haitian people
— but it’s imperative that out-
siders avoid making a bad sit-
uation worse. Sustained diplo-
matic engagement and security
assistance, not military inter-
vention, holds the best chance
for success.
COLUMN
What Republicans can learn from Texas
BY CYNTHIA M. ALLEN
F
ORT WORTH, Texas — If you were
a foreigner who knew nothing about
American politics and you looked at
the electoral map after the Nov. 8 midterm
elections, you might not think it was a disas-
ter for Republicans.
The map of U.S. House races, in particu-
lar, looks mostly red, except for the typical
blue strongholds along the coasts.
As of this writing, there are several races
waiting to be called and the GOP is ex-
pected to have a majority, albeit a small one.
Even New York, one of the country’s most
populous and most politically progressive
states, now looks mostly red — a wave that
didn’t reach the governor’s mansion, but
came as close as anyone has in decades.
Of course, we know that the anticipated
red wave never materialized. Despite the
nationwide discontentment with the state
of the economy and the rise in crime, most
voters seemed oddly satisfied with the status
quo — which, in many places, isn’t good.
Pundits will be unpacking that one for
quite some time.
But there were bright spots for conserva-
tives; the Lone Star State being one of them.
Indeed, if there was a gradient electoral
map, Texas would be a deeper shade of red
than it was last election cycle.
It could be a function of the massive in-
flux of disgruntled Californians, frustrated
by their former state’s restrictive COVID
policies and frightening spike in crime.
Texas is attractive to people looking for eco-
nomic opportunity and personal freedom.
I’ve yet to meet a California transplant
(and I’ve met A LOT) who didn’t come here
to start a business or seek a better environ-
ment for their children; they all voted Re-
publican this cycle. Maybe all the California
progressives are shoring up Austin? Clearly,
some of them are helping to keep Tarrant
County red.
But to give credit where it’s due, Beto
O’Rourke, the Democrats’ three-time great
hope, failed to generate anywhere near the
kind of enthusiasm he did in his campaign
for Senate in 2018.
I’d wager that’s because his opponent this
time around was a serious, able and gener-
ally well-liked governor.
I’ve yet to meet a California
transplant (and I’ve met A LOT) who
didn’t come here to start a business
or seek a better environment for their
children; they all voted Republican
this cycle. Maybe all the California
progressives are shoring up Austin?
Clearly, some of them are helping to
keep Tarrant County red.
Gov. Greg Abbott beat him handily by
double-digits. As my colleague wrote, three
times is not the charm for O’Rourke. If he
doesn’t realize that it’s time for him to stand
down, some benevolent member of his
party needs to tell him so.
With O’Rourke at the top of the ticket,
there seemed a substantial enthusiasm gap
among Texas voters whose desire to turn
the state blue — and whose promise of a
pro-abortion wave — seemed to fizzle.
The congressional delegation looks much
the same, except for the flip of the 34th Dis-
trict, which Republican Rep. Myra Flores
won in a special election less than a year ago
but lost Tuesday.
So does the leadership in Austin, which is
as red as it ever was. Even embattled Attor-
ney General Ken Paxton won handily.
As for the Dobbs decision to overturn
Roe v. Wade, only in states with ballot ini-
tiatives on abortion — Michigan, Vermont
and Kentucky, which either enshrined
“abortion rights” or attempted to restrict
them — did the issue seem to make a differ-
ence in turnout.
But “abortion rights” notably wasn’t a big
motivator in Texas, the state often assailed
as having the most restrictive abortion laws
in the nation.
Not even O’Rourke’s creepy TikTok
shimmy for “women’s rights” seemed to
move the needle in his direction. Shocking,
I know.
Then there was Florida, the one state
in which a red tsunami actually broke the
shore.
While Gov. Ron DeSantis’ massive vic-
tory (20 points!) is in part due to his cha-
risma and political skill, he ultimately won
for many of the same reasons as Abbott and
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp: competence.
Notably, all three also kept varying
amounts of distance from President Donald
Trump.
Analysts will spend the next several
months unpacking the reasons why so
many Americans chose the status quo in-
stead of change.
In Texas, the status quo is a good thing
for conservatives.
Most of this election’s lessons — as count-
less conservatives have already noted — will
have to do with candidate quality and the
need for the GOP to cut ties with Trump
once and for all.
But Republicans should look not just at
where they failed but also where they suc-
ceeded. Texas is one of those places. And af-
ter the Nov. 8 election, it’s a good place to be.
█
Cynthia M. Allen is a columnist for the Fort Worth
Star-Telegram. Readers may send her email at
cmallen@star-telegram.com.