A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
The hole in
Brown’s budget
T
here is a gaping hole
in Gov. Kate Brown’s
proposed budget,
released last Thursday.
Brown’s fi nancial road map
for Oregon has nothing to say
about the Public Employees
Retirement System (PERS)
and its burgeoning costs to
local governments and school
districts.
To propose a fi nancial plan
for Oregon and omit PERS
is a bit like offering a battle
strategy and leaving out
ammunition costs.
In a nutshell, the PERS
challenge is about an unfunded
actuarial liability of more
than $20 billion. To close
that gap, school districts and
local governments will face
extraordinary budget strains.
For some school districts, the
new PERS payroll burden will
mean dismissing teachers in
order to pay the retirement
liability of those retired from
the profession.
Once more Gov. Brown has
failed us. Fortunately there are
legislators who are willing to
think about solutions that will
pass constitutional muster.
The proposal most actively
being discussed would
invite three constituencies
to participate in a solution:
public sector employers,
PERS members and Oregon
taxpayers.
It is a realistic coalition of
shared sacrifi ce.
The greatest political
advances in history have
occurred when a leader goes
against his or her native
values to break new ground.
President Richard Nixon, the
arch anti-Communist, opened
diplomacy with what was then
called Red China. President
Lyndon Johnson, a Southerner,
passed landmark Civil Rights
legislation.
For there to be a
breakthrough and a remedy on
PERS, a similar act of courage
must come from Oregon
Democratic leaders, because
they are most beholden to the
public employees unions.
Gov. John Kitzhaber
did that in 2013. Kitzhaber
proposed PERS reforms,
which the Legislature enacted.
Elements of that package were
subsequently thrown out by the
Oregon Supreme Court.
Gov. Kate Brown seems
to lack the courage to take up
that fi ght and win new ground.
Leadership on PERS must
come from someone or some
group in the statehouse. To
ask local governments and
school districts to strip services
because of a fl awed pension
system is unacceptable, yet it
is the current predicament that
looks to only get worse in the
future.
G UEST C OMMENT
Why I want to hunt
By Jeff Barnard
To the Blue Mountain Eagle
Over the course of 33 years
living in Oregon, I have caught
salmon and steelhead with bait,
lures and flies, rowed whitewa-
ter big and small and backpacked
through wilderness where a herd
of elk thundered across my trail.
But I have never hunted.
Now that I am retired, I want to
change that.
This is something I have wanted
to do since I was a kid.
Hunting was not a tradition in
my family. I did persuade my par-
ents to let me buy an Army surplus
1903 Springfi eld. The .30-06 rifl e
cost about $20, and my plan was
to sportsterize it to hunt for deer.
I got part-way through the pro-
cess, but never even fi red it until a
couple years ago, after a gunsmith
fi nished it for me. My father nev-
er hunted, there was no uncle who
had ever hunted and I moved away
from the few friends who grew up
to hunt. With no mentor, there was
no hunting for me.
I moved to Oregon in 1983 to
take a job as southern Oregon
correspondent for The Associated
Press, based in Grants Pass. Rais-
ing a family, I barely had time to
teach myself to fish, let alone to
hunt. But that changed when I re-
tired last October.
In trying to understand why I
want to do this, I have been read-
ing a lot. I have found it is not that
unusual. Tovar Cerulli, author of
the book, “The Mindful Carnivore,
A Vegetarian’s Hunt for Suste-
nance,” has even coined a term for
this condition: “Adult Onset Hunt-
ing.”
I have killed plenty of fi sh. But
I am less certain about killing a
warm-blooded mammal — some-
thing with big brown eyes that can
look at me and focus. People tell
me they felt a combination of re-
morse and elation at their first kill.
Do I really want that?
With all the anti-hunting sen-
timent out there, defenses of
hunting abound. Hunting con-
trols wildlife that damage crops
and keeps populations at a point
the diminishing habitat can sus-
tain. Hunters take true responsi-
bility for the meat they eat. Guns
and ammo sales generate serious
money for restoring wildlife hab-
itat and helping non-game spe-
cies headed for extinction. Since
1937, the Pittman-Robertson Act
has drawn a surcharge on guns
and ammunition that goes to
states for wildlife conservation
and hunter safety. Ironically, the
surge in sales of assault weapons
and pistols is generating record
amounts of money for conser-
vation. This year, the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service distributed
$695,141,699 nationally, accord-
ing to the website. Oregon’s share
was $15,457,600.
But what motivates me is more
in line with the late Spanish phi-
losopher Jose Ortega y Gasset,
who concluded that “The hunter is
the alert man.”
Similarly, natural history writ-
er Pete Dunne writes in his es-
say, “Before the Echo,” that as a
birdwatcher, he is part of the au-
dience watching the great play of
the natural world. But as a hunt-
er he is on the stage, one of the
actors.
Fishing demands alertness and
attention to detail. But I want to
see and feel what comes from the
hunt.
Jeff Barnard wrote for The As-
sociated Press for 35 years, 33
of them based in Grants Pass.
Since he retired last fall, he has
been writing a blog about teach-
ing himself to hunt for the Or-
egon Department of Fish and
Wildlife.
Mutual understandings in marriage
By Brianna Walker
To the Blue Mountain Eagle
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: info@cityofl 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 Offi 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 Offi ce Building, Washington D.C.
20510?. Phone: 202-224-3753. Email:
senator@merkley.senate.gov. Fax: 202-
228-3997. Oregon offi 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 offi ce: 14 North Central, Suite 112,
Medford, OR 97501. Phone: 541-776-4646.
Fax: 541-779-0204.
Waiting to get my trailer of wa-
termelons unloaded, I sat in the
shade and listened to a radio pro-
gram about failing marriages and
how to fix them.
Several wives had even admit-
ted to hiring detectives to follow
their husbands. The melons were
unloaded before the program was
over, but as I got in the pickup
to continue on my deliveries, I
couldn’t help but think what would
happen if I was to hire a private
detective to follow my husband.
I think the only thing the pic-
tures would prove would be that he
didn’t really use the coupons that
he said he had. And maybe of him
feeding the lunch I packed to the
dogs while he hit Taco Bell.
Marriage really isn’t that diffi-
cult; it’s just a matter of coming to
mutual understandings. He has to
remember which hand towels are
for every day use, and which are
for (in the words of my husband)
“the better people who visit my
wife’s home.” And I have to keep
my mitts off his shop towels; he
says I use too many, and I never
bring the roll back.
The only time that understand-
ing wears thin is when we’re pack-
ing for trips. And it doesn’t matter
if it’s an overnight trip or a two-
week vacation, this seems to be the
packing formula:
I pack my stuff,
the kids’ stuff and
make
arrange-
ments for the pet
care. Meanwhile,
my husband has
clipped his toe-
Brianna
nails.
Walker
Then I clean
out the food in the
fridge that might die in our ab-
sence and straighten up the house,
because if something happens, I
don’t want the neighbors to know
we’re slobs. And while I’m dump-
ing the garbage, I see that my hus-
band has found a chore entirely
unrelated to our trip, and deeming
it the utmost importance, insists it
must be completed before depar-
ture: something like organizing
the sockets in his toolbox, chang-
ing the filter in the heater, sorting
through the pile of magazines in
the end table or calling some long
lost relative he hasn’t talked to
since last vacation that he sudden-
ly needs to talk to now.
Then I will call the family
to say goodbye and give them a
rough itinerary (just in case), ask
friends or neighbors to keep an eye
on the house and pack the pickup
with some last-minute toys and
books for the kids.
And before I make my last
trip out of the house, my hus-
band is standing beside the ve-
hicle asking why I’m not ready
yet?
I remember when I was little
and would spend a weekend with
my grandparents. My Grandma
would be scurrying around getting
ready all us grandkids ready for
church, and my Grandpa would be
sitting in the car honking the horn.
When I was little, I found it funny.
I must say, with age and under-
standing, it’s a lot less funny than
it used to be.
One of the marriage tips in the
radio program I’d been listening
to said, “Before you assign blame,
take a breath and ask your partner
for his perspective.”
His perspective?
I didn’t know how he wanted
the sockets, so that was a job he
needed to do. I would have thrown
away the wrong magazine — such
as the Fastline — so that was also
a job he needed to do.
And he’s never heard me vol-
unteer to clip his toenails — al-
though he’d be willing to let me,
if I was that upset about it. And
as far as me packing all the kids’
stuff? Well I was doing such a
great job, why interfere with
perfection?
AHHHH!!! Take a breath, take
a breath. I think I’m going to dou-
ble my coupon clipping, just to
give him a few more opportunities
to feel guilty about throwing them
away!
Brianna Walker occasionally
writes about the Farmer’s Fate for
the Blue Mountain Eagle.
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