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News
Blue Mountain Eagle
SCHOOLS
Continued from Page A1
Executive Director Jim Green
said he did not believe any
legislators would try to cut the
roughly $7.5 million in fund-
ing for the correction during
the session.
The educators also agreed
Measure 98, despite great in-
tentions, would cause prob-
lems, especially for small
districts, without legislative
fixes. The measure, approved
by voters in November, re-
quires districts to spend $800
per ninth- through 12th-grade
student on new programs to
improve graduation rates,
college preparedness and ca-
reer and technical education.
Districts were supposed to
SESSION
Continued from Page A1
Gov. Kate Brown
Brown, a Democrat, said
she’s focused on the next
two-year budget cycle but is
willing to discuss changes to
stabilize the state’s revenue
system for the long term.
“We are working on a
number of levels,” Brown
said. “I am continuing to
have informal conversations
with the business commu-
nity as well as labor about
how we close the deficit gap
for the short term. I am also
committed to having lon-
ger-term conversations about
how we close the structural
deficit.”
She said maintaining ac-
cess to health care for every-
one — despite the high costs
of expanding the Oregon
Health Plan — was “funda-
mental and foundational to
creating a thriving Oregon.”
To address the state’s
housing crunch, Brown said
rent control — not current-
ly permitted in the state —
needed to be discussed at the
Legislature.
Oregon Senate Leadership
Senate Majority Leader
Ginny Burdick, D-Portland,
predicted the 2017 session
will be the most difficult in
several years.
The Eagle/Sean Hart
From left, Rep. Greg Baretto, R-Cove, Sen. Ted Ferrioli,
R-John Day, and Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, listed to
feedback from education officals from across Eastern
Oregon at an education forum in the library at Grant
Union Junior-Senior High School in John Day Jan. 24.
receive $800 per student in
additional funding for the
programs, but with the state
facing a $1.8 billion budget
shortfall to maintain current
government service levels,
“We have a huge bud-
get challenge, a huge chal-
lenge with the transportation
package we are trying to get
through,” Burdick said. “This
is my 10th term, and I can’t
remember a more difficult
session than the one we’re go-
ing into.”
With a three-fifths major-
ity required to pass tax mea-
sures, Democrats will need
Republicans to push through
priorities for revenue reform
and passing a transportation
package.
Senate Minority Leader
Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day, re-
minded Democrats Thursday
that his party is urging certain
concessions for their votes.
Specifically, Ferrioli wants to
curtail costs associated with
the Public Employees Retire-
ment System and to roll back
the state’s low-carbon fuels
standard.
“Republicans are willing
to help, and we have been
reaching out, and so far, we
haven’t heard anything pos-
itive from the Democrats on
partnering on Oregon’s prob-
lems of PERS, transportation,
low-carbon fuels standard and
getting a handle on spending
so we can have real conver-
sations on revenue,” Ferrioli
said.
“We do not think kicking
the can down the road for
another legislative session is
prudent,” Ferrioli said.
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Shelley said the Measure 98
requirements would amount
to an “unfunded mandate.”
Shelley said the district has
already invested in career and
technical education but could
not use the funds to maintain
a current program.
“The million dollar ques-
tion in our district is how
do we create a new program
when we’ve already got a pro-
gram,” he said.
He said the district also
has high graduation rates,
and the requirements for new
programs for ninth- through
12th-graders would require
cuts to lower grade funding.
He said, if new programs
must be created, the programs
should be able to be created
at lower grade levels because
improving third-grade reading
levels, for example, improves
students’ graduation rates.
Julie Gurczynski, su-
perintendent of Prairie City
School, said the law “has a
great purpose,” but with only
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
12 full-time staff members
in the district, implementing
such programs is difficult.
“There’s got to be built
in some flexibility,” Witty,
the Baker superintendent,
said. “... What happened to
local control? It’s not as if
the school boards don’t un-
derstand their situations and
recognize where they need to
invest money to get the best
bang for their buck.”
Ferrioli said educators and
education advocacy groups
should push the Legislature
to allow smaller schools more
flexibility in implementing
the measure and for caveats,
such as an exemption from
graduation rate program re-
quirements for schools that
already have high graduation
rates.
MEETING
Continued from Page A1
picketers were lined up outside.
No one trying to attend was
harassed at the door. The atmo-
sphere was calm, orderly and
peaceful.
The crowd at the 2017
meeting was a mix of veterans,
former law enforcement, ranch-
ers and residents from across
the country who came to hear
speakers on the Constitution,
media and LaVoy Finicum’s
beliefs.
Burns resident Hunter Davis
said he attended the meeting to
learn about the Constitution
and the rights it granted him.
“The government doesn’t
want you to know about the
rights you have and what pow-
ers you have and how much
control you actually have over
them,” he said.
Grant County resident and
event organizer Jim Sproul said
470 tickets were sold before the
event and another 218 at the
door, at $15 each. He estimated
there were 650 in attendance, in-
cluding 250-300 locals.
“It was a fantastic event,” he
said. “We didn’t have any prob-
lems whatsoever. It was well
handled, well attended, and I
thought those folks did a really
good job of putting their point
across.”
ROADS
Continued from Page A1
Bentz said he hopes to
develop “a more thoughtful”
long-term plan to maintain
the state’s roads and bridges.
He said, in preliminary discus-
sions, the committee leaders
have identified possible com-
ponents of the package, in-
cluding how “mega projects”
are planned, how state taxes
and fees are allocated and
how projects are prioritized, as
well as how the package may
be funded, including gas tax
increases, tolling and targeted
tax and fee increases.
Last week, Bentz attended
John Day City Council, Grant
County Court and Southeast
Area Commission on Trans-
portation meetings to gauge
community needs from such a
package.
“At the end of the day, I
represent you,” Bentz said.
“What do you want me to do?”
County concerns
Members of Grant County
Court said they were open to
The Eagle/Rylan Boggs
More than 500 people attended “The meeting that never
happened” at the Grant County Fairgrounds Saturday,
Jan. 28. Speakers talked about the Constitution, property
rights and LaVoy Finicum’s life and beliefs.
•••
Speakers presented infor-
mation on a variety of topics
related to the role of govern-
ment.
Former Fox News radio
show host and investigative
reporter Kate Dalley said the
“mainstream media” lies and
is heavily influenced and infil-
trated by the federal govern-
ment. The federal government
is overreaching and using the
media to “keep the masses
asleep,” she said.
“They are crafting the
mainstream media to turn
patriots into terrorists. They
seek to discredit anyone who
stands up for their property
rights. They will turn the na-
tion against you. They will
imprison you. They will kill
you,” Dalley said. “Why? Be-
cause the government has to
control the land to control the
people.”
She applauded the Bundys
and the Malheur occupiers.
Dalley praised the occupation
and said the refuge occupiers
were peaceful.
“If you want to fear some-
one, if you want to fear a
movement, fear those seeking
to undermine your rights that
reside in the highest positions
of power in this country, fear
those that conspire to keep the
masses asleep, fear those that
seek to imprison patriot-lov-
ing Americans.”
Author Bill Norton and his
15-year-old daughter, Laine
Norton, spoke on the impor-
tance of property rights. Bill
Norton said the reason per-
sonal property is so important
an increase in infrastructure
funding, but County Judge
Scott Myers said he would
like the Oregon Department
of Transportation to use funds
more responsibly and elimi-
nate waste.
Roughly half of all funds
raised by transportation taxes
and fees go to ODOT, while
30 percent goes to the counties
and 20 percent goes to the cit-
ies, based on population.
Grant County Commis-
sioner Boyd Britton encour-
aged Bentz to pursue a higher
gas tax. The last increase in the
gas tax was 6 cents in 2009.
way to get to school.
At the end of the 2015 fiscal
year, John Day had $217,000 in
net working capital in its street
fund. Green said current fund-
ing allows the city to complete
about two projects every 10
years.
City concerns
John Day City Manager
Nick Green said he is not op-
posed to a gas tax hike to gener-
ate more funding for necessary
road projects, but he said the
impact would be minimal for
John Day.
In fiscal year 2015, the city
received $100,779 from the
current 30-cent tax on each
gallon of fuel sold. A 10-cent
increase to the tax would net
John Day an additional $33,000
annually. With this addition-
al funding, however, the city
would only be able to chip seal
one mile of its 13 miles of city
roads, Green said.
In 2009, John Day laid out
41 street improvement proj-
ects, but only one has been
completed. The next project,
scheduled to be completed
in 2019, will add sidewalks
to Canyon Boulevard, where
some children currently walk
on the shoulder of a state high-
Other concerns
While raising taxes is never
popular, additional pressures
make raising the gas tax even
less palatable.
The Low Carbon Fuel Stan-
dard — requiring distributors
to reduce the carbon content of
vehicle fuels by 10 percent over
the next decade — is anticipat-
ed to increase the cost of gas
between four and 19 cents per
gallon, according to Bentz, who
cited figures from the Depart-
ment of Environmental Quality.
He said Democrats might
also try to implement a cap
and trade program for carbon
emissions — where emissions
would be limited and allowanc-
es could be bought and sold —
which could drive up fuel costs
by another seven to eight cents
per gallon.
The combination of these
factors would leave little room
to increase the gas tax, Bentz
said.
Other considerations
Bentz said the average Or-
egonian drives 12,000 miles
per year and gets 21 miles per
gallon. This equates to each Or-
egonian paying an average of
$153 a year in gas tax, which
Bentz said is a good deal for the
eastern part of the state.
Similar to Measure 98, the
educators said a law meant to
improve educational support
for children with dyslexia
also has unrealistic require-
ments for smaller districts.
Shelley said the district wants
to provide the best education
possible for students with
dyslexia, but a requirement
to have a half-time dyslexia
specialist in each school does
not make sense for schools
such as Seneca with only 29
students.
“No doubt we should ser-
vice kids if they have dyslex-
ia in all our schools, but we
need to do it within reason,”
he said. “In a small district,
maybe one employee to ser-
vice the district, or perhaps
one employee of an ESD to
service a county.”
is that it is purchased with an
individual’s life and liberty.
“We are not anti-govern-
ment,” he said. “We love gov-
ernment. We love very clearly
defined boundaries, very clear-
ly limited government with
separation of powers. ... It’s
others who are trying to break
those boundaries down that
are truly the anti-government
folks.”
Attorney Garret Smith
spoke on the role of a consti-
tutional sheriff and claimed, if
one had been involved in the
events last year, the outcome
could have been drastically
different. He asserted the sher-
iff’s job is to represent the peo-
ple who elected him and stop
federal overreach.
Federal and state agencies
had become outlaws, Smith
said, and it fell to constitutional
sheriffs with the support of the
people to keep them in check.
He warned of the govern-
ment indoctrinating students
and advocated for those in at-
tendance to remember what
they learned during the meeting
and to study documents such
as the Constitution themselves.
“We need a revolution,”
he said. “Not a revolution of
arms, a revolution of thought,
a revolution of morality, a rev-
olution of community stand-
ing up and supporting each
other.”
Bentz said rural commu-
nities can most effectively use
funds by maintaining roads,
rather than letting them de-
teriorate to the point where
they must be rebuilt, which is
far more costly. In his district
in Eastern Oregon, however,
Bentz said 30 percent of city
streets are already beyond re-
pair in need of replacement and
the other 70 percent are in dan-
ger of being lost if not properly
maintained.
Green said The League of
Oregon Cities, an organization
representing cities across the
state, is calling for a substantial
increase in the gas tax, addition-
al funding for capital improve-
ment projects and an increase
in funding to the Special City
Allotment program. The Spe-
cial City Allotment program
distributes $1 million set aside
by ODOT specifically for city
street projects in communities
with populations under 5,000,
and Green said a substantial
increase could have a more sig-
nificant impact on the city than
a gas tax increase.
Increasing funding for the
program, however, will face the
same constraints as any other
program as legislators begin
work to try to overcome the
shortfall to balance the budget.
Bentz and other Republicans
have indicated they are willing
to discuss additional revenue,
through additional taxes, but
only if Democrats are willing
to discuss cost-saving measures
as well.
The legislative session be-
gins today.
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michal.madden@yahoo.com