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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (March 8, 2017)
A8 State Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, March 8, 2017 Audit: ODOT contracts still subject to gamesmanship Agency has long recognized problem, but done little to fix it By Nick Budnick Capital Bureau A decade ago, state in- vestigators found that Ore- gon Department of Trans- portation contracting had become a cynical sport for one highway construction company — the executives there submitting low bids, then wagering over ways they could subsequently in- crease project costs to boost profits. While that case is old history, a new state audit of ODOT suggests that its contracting system remains vulnerable despite a decade of warnings from the de- partment’s own employees of contractor gamesmanship and fraud. The audit released Mon- day by Secretary of State Dennis Richardson found that ODOT fails to employ methods to track “unbal- anced” bids, meaning those with unrealistic line-item amounts meant to boost profits. More than 90 percent of Capital Bureau file photo An audit released Monday by the Secretary of State’s Office says Department of Transportation contractors often lowball bids to win contracts, then inflate costs through contract change orders. all ODOT-run projects com- pleted from 2011 to 2015 in- cluded unbalanced bids, and a quarter of those later fea- tured cost overruns, auditors found. Significantly, the report echoes the criticisms of a re- cent $1 million consultant’s review of ODOT meant to address concerns by the Leg- islature. The consultant’s study noted ODOT’s frequent contract overruns and said that compared to other large agencies that contract out construction work, ODOT’s contracting was “worst in class.” The new audit comes as state lawmakers weigh whether to approve new fees and taxes on Oregonians, such as a gas tax hike, which will be spent on hefty road and bridge contracts meant to address a backlog of un- met needs. The Secretary of State auditors’ critique of ODOT bidder gamesmanship did not come as news to Direc- tor Matt Garrett, who has run the department for more than a decade. In fact, the new audit’s findings are strikingly sim- ilar to those of a 2008 re- port on unbalanced bidding issued by ODOT’s inter- nal auditors — suggest- ing that the same issues remain. In 2008, the ODOT au- ditors said new software to track unbalanced bidding could save millions of dol- lars for a relatively minor upfront cost. ODOT’s response to the latest audit — which makes a similar recommen- dation about software — closely echoes the depart- ment’s response a decade ago. It questions the audit’s methodology, but agrees with the recommendation to closely track line items in the bid through to project completion. Nick Budnick is a report- er for the Pamplin Media Group’s Portland Tribune. Oregon Republicans are optimistic about party’s prospects By Claire Withycombe Capital Bureau Apparently buoyed by the victory of President Donald J. Trump and Oregon Secretary of State Dennis Richardson, Oregon Republicans conven- ing in Salem Friday and Sat- urday were optimistic about opportunities for the GOP in the Beaver State. Richardson’s election se- cured the party’s first state- wide elected office since 2002, resulting in something of a victory lap vibe at the an- nual Dorchester Conference. While Republicans lead a solid majority of state legis- latures, Oregon is one of 12 states where Democrats are in charge in both chambers, compared to 32 states where Republicans have control of both chambers. Senate Minority Leader Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day, noted in remarks Friday night that one Oregon Senate seat flipped in the last election from Democrat to Republi- can. Sen. Alan DeBoer, R-Ash- land, won a special election to finish the last two years of the term of the late Sen. Alan Bates, D-Medford, who died in August. DeBoer won the Capital Bureau/Claire Withycombe U.S. Rep. Greg Walden poses for a photo at the Dorchester Conference Saturday with Promise King, executive director of the Oregon League of Minority Voters. Republicans attending the annual political conference were optimistic about the party’s chances to expand its fortunes in the Beaver State. race by just under 400 votes, according to the Oregon Sec- retary of State’s Office. Salem physician Bud Pierce, the 2016 Republican gubernatorial candidate who lost to Democratic Gov. Kate Brown, said he was feeling optimistic about the future of the Republican party in Ore- gon. Pierce, who is on the board of directors of Ore- gon’s League of Minority Voters, moderated a panel of speakers, that included Promise King, executive di- rector of the league, about including people of color in state politics and campaigns. Asked by a reporter wheth- er he sees a conflict between his party’s aim to include mi- nority groups and the rhetoric of President Trump — who has been prone to making gross generalizations about minority groups, including immigrants from Mexico — Pierce said he was waiting to see what action the president takes. “Let’s see if he can give a legal status to 11 million people,” Pierce said. Pressed about the likelihood of such a reversal by the president, Pierce said: “Well see, you know, it was unlikely that Nixon would go to China.” Pierce points to the state’s lack of affordable housing as one example of what he calls the “failures” of the Dem- ocrats’ policies in Oregon that he believes could attract more voters to the right. The Legislature is de- bating proposals to ban rent hikes and no-cause evictions, and many Republicans at the conference advocated instead for loosening up the state’s land use restrictions to en- courage more development and housing supply. Pierce said he believes Republicans may benefit from the growing number of voters in the state who are not affiliated with any polit- ical party. Many new voters have been registered recently through the state’s new auto- matic voter registration law, which registers voters as un- affiliated unless they desig- nates a political party. “Can we become the nat- ural place for the unaffiliated votes?” Pierce asked. “May- be they won’t call themselves Republicans, but maybe they’ll do it.” Lawmakers back away from controversial farm property tax bill Legislation would have effectively raised taxes on farmland, machinery By Mateusz Perkowski Capital Bureau Intense opposition by Or- egon’s farmers, ranchers and forestland owners has appar- ently convinced lawmakers to back away from altering key property tax provisions affecting agriculture and for- estry. Machinery used for ag- riculture and forestry is ex- empt from property tax as- sessments while property dedicated to producing crops, livestock and timber is less heavily taxed than other real estate. Under the original lan- guage of House Bill 2859, the property tax exemption for equipment and the farm use assessment for land would expire in 2024 unless renewed by lawmakers. I found Dad’s remote in the fridge again. …I’m beginning to get worried. IT’S NOT LIKE HIM. The proposal evoked alarm in Oregon’s natural resource community, which turned out in full force at a March 1 hearing to argue that creating a “sunset” for these provisions would financially destabilize farming, ranching and forestry. By the end of the hearing, the overwhelmingly negative testimony against HB 2859 seemed to have the desired effect on members of the House Revenue Committee. “I’m pretty convinced putting a sunset on these things that are very long- term assets doesn’t make any sense,” said Rep. Phil Barn- hart, D-Eugene, the commit- tee’s chair. At the beginning of the hearing, Barnhart said the bill was drafted in response to an audit from Oregon’s Secre- tary of State’s Office, which called for periodic review of existing property tax exemp- tions and tax credits. In light of the objections to HB 2859, though, Barnhart said he thought the sunset provisions related to natural resources should be eliminat- ed from the bill. The suggestion drew no objections from other com- mittee members, so Barnhart said they would only consid- er the remaining provisions of HB 2859 related to eco- nomic development and oth- er issues. “I think you should con- sider all of what I just said means that you win,” Barn- hart told the audience, to en- thusiastic applause. Farmers, ranchers and for- estland owners at the hear- ing emphasized that natural resource industries were al- ready highly uncertain due to the weather and volatile markets. Landowners said they shouldn’t also have to con- tend with the possibility their property taxes may rise dra- matically every six years, which is the period of sunset review established under HB 2859. 541-620-4255 Bread of Life WE CAN HELP. Call us with questions about aging and Alzheimer’s. 1-855-ORE-ADRC March 11th marks six months since John Day Taxi was born. I had driven taxis in New Jersey and loved doing it. But I was getting half-baked, stale and crusty; I figured I’d better quit the bologna and get cooking so I started my own company. We weren’t sure what to charge to go to Prairie so I put prices on slips of paper and put them in a hat. 7 1/2 was pulled out. That’s how that fare was decided. Being the new guy on the block I get the crumbs and I understand that; I’m sandwiched between service and fraternal organizations who like to pick up their own people. The golf course has kids driving their members home from events and the airport loans cars to pilots for coffee can donations so I’m toast there. Even the police take people home from bars at night sometimes; nice, but it slices into my bottom line. Low cost subsidized People Mover gets the bulk of the business if one can fit into their schedule, are going on their route or are leaving town. I took a man to Fossil for $400 but I didn’t like it; my regulars depend on me to get them to work or to appointments; I don’t want to burn them; they’re not my fares, they’re my friends; I’d walk a mile picking up litter for them, I’d be a heel to leave them, not for the whole loaf. HelpForAlz.org OREGON DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES PROGRAM Richie Colbeth/ Owner/Operator 05366 “In the orchard business, we need to plan long term,” said Bruce Chapin, a hazel- nut producer near Keizer. Marsha Carr, a forestland owner near Monroe, said her annual property taxes would rise from about $1,000 to more than $25,000 under HB 2859. Carr said her family har- vests timber in small patches of five to seven acres, which preserves habitat for wildlife and songbirds. “That would have to change to pay the taxes,” she said. “We would have to cut larger areas.” Farmers rely on special- ized equipment but they often operate it for only a month or less per year, un- like other industries where machinery creates revenues year-round, said Roger Bey- er, a lobbyist for the Western Equipment Dealers Associa- tion and several crop organi- zations. If property taxes were imposed on farm machin- ery, it would destroy demand for machinery, he said. “It would simply dry up and go away.” Landowners also testified that property would unfairly be taxed at the maximum as- sessed value if the farm use assessment was allowed to expire. Oregon’s land use system would still prevent landown- ers in farm zones from build- ing homes or other high-val- ue structures on their property, even if it was taxed as if such construction was possible, opponents said. Mark Simmons, a ranch- er from Elgin, said the farm use assessment is part of a “grand bargain” between land use restrictions and property taxes. While it’s currently tough to raise cattle on Simmons’ property, it could be a “gold mine” for development, he said. “It’s mostly rocks and cheatgrass,” he said. “Some of those rocky hills with cheat grass have a view.” State Rep. Greg Barreto, R-Cove, referencing relative- ly recent political shifts in Michigan and Wisconsin, told conference attendees he be- lieves Oregon could become a red state. “I think there’s a lot of hope in Oregon,” Barreto said. “But a lot of these other states, they didn’t just change from blue to red accidentally, there was some pain that went on.” Barreto referred to eco- nomic woes in those states and continued: “If we’re not careful in Oregon, there’s going to be some pain in Oregon, when we talk about PERS, when we talk about Medicaid, when we talk about bills that we can’t afford to pay right now, we will feel some pain.” U.S. Rep Greg Walden, R-Hood River, Ore., called on Republicans to stay involved. “You need to fight back,” Walden said, when asked by an attendee if conservative groups were organizing to attend town halls. “If you be- lieve in why we run, if you believe in the policies we’re trying to implement, you have to help us fight back, you have to be there shoulder-to-shoul- der with us.” L EGISLATIVE B RIEFCASE Bill would use phone fund to pay for rural broadband State Rep. E. Werner Reschke, R-Klamath Falls, says he lives “at the end of the internet.” Reschke’s district is lo- cated in south central Or- egon, which has compara- tively low use rates when it comes to high-speed in- ternet, according to a 2014 survey conducted by the state’s public utility com- mission. A bill before the Oregon Legislature would allow a fund currently dedicated to ensuring access to land- line phone service in un- derserved areas to be used to provide access to high- speed internet. The definition of broad- band changes as technology accelerates. These days the Federal Communications Commission’s standard for minimum download speeds is 25 megabits per second. In 2014, Oregon’s Pub- lic Utility Commission conducted a study on the issue. While 85 percent of people in Portland used broadband, only 67 percent did in eastern Oregon and 69 percent in south central Oregon. Businesses evaluate in- ternet speeds when choos- ing locations; some small communities in Eastern Oregon want to encourage economic development by luring young people work- ing in the tech sector else- where to work remotely and enjoy the perks of ac- cess to outdoor recreation. The city of John Day even has an internet task force, which is studying ways to bring faster and more affordable internet to the area. Grant County has an average download speed of 10 megabits per second.
