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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 20, 2016)
A4 Opinion Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, July 20, 2016 Few excuses not to vote O regon has led the way in eliminating cumbersome and overly restrictive processes for getting citizens registered to vote. Versions of the state’s automatic voter registration system ought to be extended nationwide. U.S. Sen s. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer have introduced legislation to compel states to move to vote by mail. Oregon’s homegrown system of voting by mail deserves universal adoption. We should make it as convenient as possible for people to exercise a citizens’ right , not erect an obstacle course in their path that discourages all but the most engaged from participating. Any election-related innovation brings meaningless chatter about the potential for introducing fraud into the process. Disenfranchised felons and non citizens might, under this theory, slip a vote in for someone who they perceive as being more amenable to their concerns. Such a worry is quaint to the point of nearly being amusing. Meanwhile, it remains to be seen whether Oregon’s most recent innovation — nearly universal voter registration — will make a difference in voter turnout or who gets elected. The choice by political parties to restrict who votes in partisan primary elections means that unaf¿ liated voters are left on the sidelines at that vital stage in the process. Only 18.7 percent of automatically registered voters turned in ballots in the Oregon May primary, well below the overall voter turnout of 53.7 percent, while 76 percent of automatically registered voters that month were unaf¿ liated, The Oregonian reported. Keeping people from voting is a key way in which elections are rigged by the powerful and the political consultants who do their bidding. Voting in sufficient numbers is the main way that citizens have a sense of control over their destiny. In Oregon at least, there remain very few excuses not to vote. L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR Please vote no on recall To the Editor: I think recalls should only be used when the person has commit- ted a proven crime or gross negli- gence. Removing someone from of¿ ce on vague accusations and rumors is highly irresponsible and just downright bad behavior. I have seen nothing presented that could be considered factual or criminal. I think this current recall is not so much about Boyd Britton as it is about a group of people wanting a change in the county government and not wanting to wait for the nor- mal election cycle for that to hap- pen. In my opinion, most of the ac- cusations used against Boyd are just opinion and are nothing we should be going through a recall for. I have known Boyd for a long time, and I feel he always puts the interest of the county ¿ rst. While he has not always voted as I would have liked, I see no reason to recall him from of¿ ce. In fact, some of the things he has worked on and advocated for are seeing some very good success, and the county is doing better eco- nomically than we have for a long time ² sustainable À ows of wood products and jobs to be had in many different kinds of businesses are available. With the exception of the ¿ res of last summer, times are good in the county, and Boyd along with many others had a big hand in mak- ing that happen. Please join me and stand up for what is right and vote no on the recall. Dave Hannibal Mount Vernon Britton gracious in disagreement W HERE TO W RITE GRANT COUNTY • Grant County Courthouse — 201 S. Humbolt St., Suite 280, Canyon City 97820. Phone: 541-575-0059. Fax: 541- 575-2248. • Canyon City — P.O. Box 276, Canyon City 97820. Phone: 541-575-0509. Fax: 541-575-0515. Email: tocc1862@centu- rylink.net. • Dayville — P.O. Box 321, Dayville 97825. Phone: 541-987-2188. Fax: 541- 987-2187. Email:dville@ortelco.net • John Day — 450 E. Main St, John Day, 97845. Phone: 541-575-0028. Fax: 541- 575-1721. Email: cityjd@centurytel.net. • Long Creek — P.O. Box 489, Long Creek 97856. Phone: 541-421-3601. Fax: 541-421-3075. Email: inIo@cityoÀ ong- creek.com. • Monument — P.O. Box 426, Monument 97864. Phone and fax: 541-934-2025. Email: cityofmonument@centurytel.net. • Mt. Vernon — P.O. Box 647, Mt. Vernon 97865. Phone: 541-932-4688. Fax: 541-932-4222. Email: cmtv@ortelco.net. • Prairie City — P.O. Box 370, Prairie City 97869. Phone: 541-820-3605. Fax: 820-3566. Email: pchall@ortelco.net. • Seneca — P.O. Box 208, Seneca 97873. Phone and fax: 541-542-2161. Email: senecaoregon@gmail.com. SALEM • Gov. Kate Brown, D — 254 State Capitol, Salem 97310. Phone: 503-378- 3111. Fax: 503-378-6827. Website: www. governor.state.or.us/governor.html. • Oregon Legislature — State Capitol, Salem, 97310. Phone: (503) 986-1180. Website: www. leg.state.or.us (includes Oregon Constitution and Oregon Revised Statutes). Blue Mountain EAGLE P UBLISHED EVERY W EDNESDAY BY • State Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario (Dis- trict: 60), Room H-475, State Capitol, 900 Court St. N.E., Salem OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-1460. Email: rep.cliffbentz@state. or.us. Website: www.leg.state.or.us/bentz/ home.htm. • State Sen. Ted Ferrioli, R — (District 30) Room S-223, State Capitol, Salem 97310. Phone: 503-986-1950. Email: sen. tedferrioli@state.or.us. Email: TFER2@aol. com. Phone: 541-490-6528. Website: www. leg.state.or.us/ferrioli. • Oregon Legislative Information — (For updates on bills, services, capitol or messages for legislators) — 800-332-2313. WASHINGTON, D.C. • The White House, 1600 Pennsylva- nia Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20500; Phone-comments: 202-456-1111; Switch- board: 202-456-1414. • U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D — 516 Hart Senate Of¿ ce Building, Washington D.C. 20510. Phone: 202-224-5244. Email: wayne_kinney@wyden.senate.gov Website: http://wyden.senate.gov Fax: 202-228-2717. • U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D — 313 Hart Senate Of¿ ce Building, Washington D.C. 20510?. Phone: 202-224-3753. Email: senator@merkley.senate.gov. Fax: 202- 228-3997. Oregon of¿ ces include One World Trade Center, 121 S.W. Salmon St., Suite 1250, Portland, OR 97204; and 310 S.E. Second St., Suite 105, Pendleton, OR 97801. Phone: 503-326-3386; 541-278- 1129. Fax: 503-326-2990. • U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R — (Second District) 1404 Longworth Building, Wash- ington D.C. 20515. Phone: 202-225-6730. No direct email because of spam. Website: www.walden.house.gov Fax: 202-225-5774. Medford of¿ ce: 14 North Central, Suite 112, Medford, OR 97501. Phone: 541-776-4646. Fax: 541-779-0204. To the Editor: I am writing to support Boyd Britton as our county commissioner. I have worked with and around Boyd for years and have found him to be a die-hard advocate for the people of Grant County. Boyd works hard at his commissioner role, putting much needed heart and soul into the posi- tion. I will be the ¿ rst to admit that I have not always agreed with Boyd, however have always found him to be gracious in disagreement. In spite of not always being in agreement with Boyd, I can say he has always been doing all he can to put his best foot forward. I appreciate and ad- mire that about Mr. Britton. Let’s keep him around. Mike Billman Canyon City ‘How about we look at the man, the position and the whole record’ To The Editor: We all should try to ¿ nd positive ways to deal with life’s problems. Giving employees encourage- ment coupled with constructive criticism rather than a good old butt chewing seems to get better results. Exchanging ideas with a spouse and working through differences rather than being hardheaded and stubborn seems to make life so much more ful¿ lling and enjoyable. Asking ourselves how can we constructively build a better commu- Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper P UBLISHER ............................... M ARISSA W ILLIAMS , MARISSA @ BMEAGLE . COM E DITOR .................................... S EAN H ART , EDITOR @ BMEAGLE . COM A DMINISTRATIVE A SSISTANT ........ K RISTINA K REGER , KRISTINA @ BMEAGLE . COM C OMMUNITY N EWS .................... A NGEL C ARPENTER , ANGEL @ BMEAGLE . COM S PORTS ................................... A NGEL C ARPENTER , ANGEL @ BMEAGLE . COM M ARKETING R EP ....................... K IM K ELL , ADS @ BMEAGLE . COM O FFICE M ANAGER ..................... L INDSAY B ULLOCK , OFFICE @ BMEAGLE . COM nity and make positive contributions instead of tearing at the very fabric of what makes this country great. We all have a voice and a vote. Perhaps some of the folks in Grant County should reevaluate their motives directed toward get- ting rid of things or people they don’t like and agree with. That’s the morally cheap and easy way. Get rid of the commissioner. After all, he works his butt off for all of us and can’t please everybody, so let’s give the sel¿ sh few their way, be- cause Boyd didn’t vote the way they wanted on some very tough issues. Boyd Britton puts in long hours trying to live the dream. He also puts in countless hours doing his best to improve this county and the livelihood of its citizens. Unlike the petitioners, he doesn’t have a lot of spare time on his hands to make his case. As far as I’m concerned, he al- ready has. Common sense decisions in the face of some pretty hostile in- put from disgruntled citizens. How about we look at the man, the position and the whole record. I’m voting no recall. Simple as that. Dan Maynard John Day Recall petitioners should provide facts To the Editor: Recall elections take money out of taxpayers’ pockets, and that’s a big responsibility. A public peti- tion to recall a duly elected of¿ cial should be backed by clear, speci¿ c, detailed, publicly available facts. As the Eagle’s reporting shows, the people who ¿ led the petition against County Commissioner Boyd Brit- ton are not providing those facts. It’s way past time for the people who ¿ led the petition to explain ex- actly what they mean by each point of it. Vague charges that petitioners “can’t explain at this time” aren’t enough. If they can’t explain them- selves a few days before ballots come out, when are they going to explain? There should be time for their evidence to be seen, exam- ined and discussed in public before people vote. This is serious public business, yet the people who set it in motion offer nothing to back up their claims. Full details for each of those charges should have been available to citizens and reporters the minute the petition started circulating, if not sooner. Where are those details? They should: Show us dates. Show us times. Show us votes by date. Show us how they can prove a ma- jority of the county’s residents want another expensive investigation. Show the exact dates upon which the commissioner failed to recuse himself, with reference to the court minutes. Show us exactly what they mean by “misrepresentation.” If the petitioners show no evi- dence, wise voters will assume they have none. Since they are already disrespecting the First Amendment by stonewalling the newspaper of record for Grant County and then ¿ ling a baseless complaint against a reporter for the state’s most re- spected newspaper for the crime of politely requesting facts, they are making a good case for the argu- ment that they are wasting our time 1 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION RATES (including online access) Grant County .....................................$40 Everywhere else in U.S. .....................$51 Outside Continental U.S. ....................$60 Subscriptions must be paid prior to delivery MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION Email: www.MyEagleNews.com Phone: 541-575-0710 and money without cause. I urge Grant County’s citizens to vote no on this recall. Janine Goodwin Prairie City ‘Vote no on the recall’ To the Editor: We would like to voice our support for County Commissioner Boyd Britton and encourage a no vote on the recall. Boyd has prov- en to be a positive and productive part of the county court and our community as a whole for many years. This recall effort is being spearheaded by a vocal minority of Grant County residents who would like it to appear as though they are representing the majority, which is simply not true. As an elected of¿ cial, a county commissioner will never be able to please everyone all the time, but Boyd is a good man to have on the county court. His decisions and actions have the best community and county interests in mind. He is not divisive and he has tried and succeeded many times in bringing diverse and sometimes opposing interests together. He is fair in his business and supports many pro- grams and projects in the county with generous donations of time, money and expertise. Again, we support Boyd Britton as county commissioner. It’s time to move toward healing and reconcil- iation in Grant County and Eastern Oregon. Vote no on the recall. Mat and Jennifer Carter Seneca Emry supporters use faulty logic To the Editor: An open letter to those who still support Michael Emry: You could be a misled person who is rightfully angry about the ¿ re in Canyon City or a small business own- er in Dayville or even a recently elect- ed low-level of¿ cial in Grant Coun- ty. I had hoped that with the killing of police of¿ cers in several different states you would realize the danger to police. A small business owner in Dayville said, “I will have to wait un- til I hear his side of it,” ignoring the fact he confessed to wanting to use a .50-caliber Ma Deuce (Browning M2 machine gun) on police here in Grant County. The recently elected of¿ cial said in a meeting he “did nothing to hurt me” and — polling each attendee to get the same result, save from two people there — was using the same logic as: “A person committing sex crimes had done nothing to him or his family, so why is he such a bad guy?” This guy is right where he be- longs and hopefully will stay for a long while. He threatened to use that weapon at the standoff but could not smuggle it in. He tried to sell it here, not telling anyone it was stolen. If you support this guy, you deserve neither respect, business or to hold an elected position in this county. Marc O’Dell Dayville Periodicals Postage Paid at John Day and additional mailing ofÀ ces. POSTMASTER send address changes to: Blue Mountain Eagle 195 N. Canyon Blvd. John Day, OR 97845-1187 USPS 226-340 See LETTERS, Page A5 Copyright © 2016 Blue Mountain Eagle All rights reserved. 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