A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
Misinformation
about 911 ballot
measure
EO Media Group/Eric Mortenson
A worker guides a glulam beam into place Oct. 3 during construction
of the First Tech Credit Union headquarters building in Hillsboro. The
building, which will be five stories high and contain 156,000 square
feet of office space, is believed to be the largest U.S. structure so
far built using advanced lumber products such as cross-laminated
timbers and glulam beams, posts and flooring.
Wood construction
becomes sexy again
T
hese are exciting times
for the timber industry.
It’s been awhile since
that’s been the case in Oregon.
Government forest managers
and their political bosses
fi nally appear to recognize that
more effective management
of public forests is needed to
help prevent future wildfi res
and reduce their severity. Rep.
Greg Walden and Sens. Ron
Wyden and Jeff Merkley have
all stated their support for
legislation that accomplishes
those goals — rare agreement
between Oregon’s Republican
and Democrat leaders.
Beyond timber management,
however, are innovations that
promise new uses for timber
in construction. Among them
is “mass timber” that is used
in “tallwood design.” As an
example, a credit union in
Hillsboro is using glulam
beams to construct its new
fi ve-story, 150,000-square-foot
headquarters building.
Another building planned
for Portland will be 12 stories
tall and constructed of cross-
laminated timber, called CLT.
It will dwarf the seven-story
building in Minneapolis,
Minnesota, that is currently the
tallest mass timber structure in
the nation.
To explore the uses and
design possibilities of mass
timber, the University of
Oregon architecture program is
combining efforts with Oregon
State University’s forestry and
engineering programs to create
the Tallwood Design Institute.
In other words, wood
construction is sexy again.
Once relegated to home
construction and one- or two-
story projects, lumber was
seen as an excellent material
for relatively small structures.
Then came cutting-edge
projects such as the Metropol
Parasol in Seville, Spain. It
is among the largest wooden
structures in the world. Made
of laminated lumber coated
in polyurethane to protect it
from the weather, the ethereal
design of six interconnected
“mushrooms” soars 85 feet tall
and covers an area that is 490
feet by 230 feet.
Built in 2011, it shades the
entire city square and houses
a restaurant, museum, farmers
market and a walkway that
allows visitors a bird’s-eye
view of the historic city.
The future of mass timber is
nearly unlimited. Larger mass
timber such as CLTs made
by DR Johnson Lumber Co.
in Riddle, and mass plywood
panels made by Freres Lumber
Co. in Lyons, offer architects
and engineers possibilities that
didn’t even exist a few years
ago.
Better-managed forests,
combined with innovative
products, designs and
structures demonstrate that
the timber industry’s future is
brighter than it’s been in a long
time.
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).
• State Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario (Dis-
trict: 60), Room H-475, State Capitol, 900
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
P UBLISHED EVERY
W EDNESDAY BY
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.
• Pending Bills: For information on bills in
Congress, Phone: 202-225-1772.
To the Editor:
There is a lot of misinforma-
tion out there about the 911 ballot
measure, and last week’s letters to
the editor contained a few notable
examples. In the interest of fairness
please revisit these points that were
in last week’s LTE and cannot be
left to stand as true.
The city manager did not impose
a tax on the whole county. In fact,
he deserves kudos for lobbying for
the $420,000 grant money from the
state used to bridge us to 2019 and
bringing the statewide problem of
insuffi cient 911 taxes to the atten-
tion of the legislature from the per-
spective of our little corner of the
world.
Other points erroneously blame
the problem on the city of John Day,
and its employee benefi t packages.
The city has done the entire county
a favor over the last several years,
shouldering the burden of 911 dis-
patch costs when smaller towns
simply cannot pay their share due
to minuscule tax bases. Pointing to
the Public Employee Retirement
System as the problem is ridiculous.
That is determined at the state level,
and any reform on that funding is a
different fi ght entirely. We face the
same challenges in our schools.
The public employees that serve
our community, whether teachers,
police offi cers, dispatchers, etc., are
valuable assets, not burdens, and
are worth the cost, in my opinion, to
keep our communities safe, strong
and viable.
Let’s keep the focus of this elec-
tion on the facts – keeping 911 local
will improve outcomes in emergen-
cy situations, for both victims and
responders. I will be voting yes on
measure 12-69, rather than gam-
bling with the safety of my family
and neighbors, while potentially
sending dollars and jobs to another
county.
I hope you’ll join me.
Elaine Mezzo
John Day
Cartoon beneath
dignity of journalism
To the Editor:
I was disappointed upon seeing
the cartoon in the last issue of the
Blue Mountain Eagle. It is beneath
the dignity of serious journalism
that prides itself on reporting facts,
not engaging in gutter-sniping, divi-
sive politics.
I would hope to see our weekly
paper maintain a level of civility
not shown in a mean-spirited car-
toon such as this, which demeans
the offi ce of the presidency of the
United States. If this is all you
can put out, we will cancel our
subscription.
Walt and Agnes Hall
John Day
Local dispatch
center maintains
our independence
To the Editor:
One of the most attractive as-
pects of living in Grant County is
the fact that the majority of us cher-
ish our independence. One of those
aspects is our ability to respond to
emergency situations through our
local 911 dispatch center.
There are those who say the
proponents of keeping the dis-
patch center here in Grant Coun-
ty are fear-mongering, making
statements that if the service is
outsourced there will be no one to
answer your call. Nothing could be
further from the truth.
The real issue here is: Do you as
individuals want to have that emer-
gency call that could mean life or
death to a friend or loved one, or
perhaps a stranger in an automo-
bile accident on the road, answered
by a remote center or a person who
is knowledgeable and personally
invested in the well being of this
county and its citizens?
If you have ever personally ob-
served our local dispatchers here
on the job handling a real-time
emergency, you will know how
deeply their hearts, minds and
souls are invested in the critical
service they do so well.
I guess what I would say to the
naysayers is this: If the ambulance
is 15 minutes later because of
lack of knowledge of our area and
Granny doesn’t make it, oh well.
She lived a good life.
If little Johnny gets run over
out on the farm and is bleeding
profusely and emergency services
from afar are trying to determine
where the Hidden Valley Ranch
is and the time lost costs him his
life, I guess that’s just the price
we’ll have to pay for giving up our
independence.
What is that worth to you?
I am a property owner and a
taxpayer. I’m voting yes on 12-69.
Dan Maynard
John Day
Vote no on
pricey 911
To the Editor:
Vote no on pricey 911. The John
Day fi re and police dispatcher and
the 911 dispatcher are the same
person. It doesn’t matter which
number one calls; the same person
answers the phone.
So instead of dialing 911 and
paying for it, just put 541-575-
0030 on speed dial and call for
free. What difference does it make
if 911 gets moved to Condon or
Connecticut? We here in the val-
ley would still get our fi re and po-
lice emergency calls responded to
quickly and effi ciently.
Richie Colbeth
John Day
Dayville benefi ts
from beef donation
To the Editor:
I read with interest Carl Samp-
son’s article “Ranchers’ donations
feed area students.” Dayville
School also benefi ted this year
with a generous donation of beef
by the Mr. Jim Dovenburg’s Wid-
ow’s Creek Ranch and facilitated
by Mr. Trevor Faulkner.
It would be my hope that these
gentleman also get the recog-
nition for helping the Dayville
students.
Kathryn Hedrick
Dayville
Editor must provide
more information
To the Editor:
Sean Hart, editor of the Blue
Mountain Eagle, in an article Oct.
18 stated the sheriff met with “oc-
cupiers and the president of a mi-
litia group” in January of 2016.
There were only local people at
the meeting besides the three from
the refuge.
One can only read into the
statement there is an organized
militia with an elected leader here
in Grant County.
The editor must provide more
information on this “militia” and
its president. I hope this is not
“fake news” we hear so much
about.
Ron Ballard
John Day
Editor’s note: Sheriff Glenn
Palmer met in John Day with three
people who were occupying the
Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
Jan. 12, 2016. Palmer met in John
Day Jan. 15, 2016, with Brandon
Curtiss, president of the group 3%
of Idaho with the slogan “When
tyranny becomes law, rebellion
becomes duty,” which was provid-
ing a “security buffer” around the
refuge. The full article, “Groups
linked to Burns refuge meet with
Sheriff Palmer,” is available to
view online at myeaglenews.com
and was published in the Jan. 20,
2016, edition of the Eagle, which
is available to view at the Eagle
office.
Ballot measure
an effort to keep
dispatch local
To the Editor:
We would fi rst like to thank the
Blue Mountain Eagle, radio station
KJDY, the Chamber of Commerce,
and the Fire Hall Press for pro-
viding the voters of Grant County
information about Measure 12-69,
the 911 tax. This is a very complex
issue, and we urge every voter to
understand the issue thoroughly
before voting.
The bottom line: The ballot
measure is an effort to keep our
911 dispatch local and to provide
time to change the current state
funding for 911.
We urge you to vote yes on
Measure 12-69 and then begin
working on our state legislators and
governor to adequately fund 911
services in Oregon.
Kris and Roy Beal
Mt. Vernon
Small, temporary
dispatch tax ‘more
than worth it’
To the Editor:
After attending the forum re-
garding ballot measure 12-69
on Oct. 18, I am even more con-
vinced that this measure must
pass. Our local dispatch is a
significant advantage in seeing
better outcomes for medical and
other emergency situations, as
well as ensuring responder safe-
ty.
We’re already at a disadvan-
tage due to our remote location
and distance from advanced
help.
Why would we compound that
with increased response times
and less locally knowledgeable
and invested dispatchers?
When experts in their fields
of emergency medical response,
law enforcement, surgery, city
management and dispatch said
in no uncertain terms that re-
gionalized dispatch will increase
response times and decrease suc-
cessful outcomes, I heard them
loud and clear.
Dr. Thomas said that minutes
and seconds count, and any ad-
ditional time before help arrives
“adds up to bad outcomes.”
From a physician’s perspective,
he said this is a “no brainer” and
that “whatever system gets us
there as fast as we can is what
we should be doing.”
Furthermore, if we lose this
local service, we will never get it
back. We’ll be less safe and at the
mercy of their costs and manage-
ment quality.
Future negotiations with an
outsourced dispatch will likely
cost us more, as we’ll have zero
leverage and zero input.
This small, temporary tax,
which may never be implement-
ed and cannot extend beyond fi ve
years if it is, is more than worth it.
Our community needs this, just like
we need strong schools, our hospi-
tal and clinics, local police, etc.
Either we work together to
continue building a strong, safe,
viable community, or we watch
ourselves dry up and blow away,
one strand at a time.
When you live in a rural
area, it’s a short drive to see
plenty of examples of that very
thing. Please vote yes with
me, and keep our 911 dispatch
local.
Lindsay Rausch
Prairie City
L
etters policy: Letters to the Editor is a forum for Blue Mountain Eagle readers to express themselves on local, state, national or
world issues. Brevity is good, but longer letters will be asked to be contained to 350 words. No personal attacks; challenge the
opinion, not the person. No thank-you letters. Submissions to this page become property of the Eagle. The Eagle reserves the right
to edit letters for length and for content. Letters must be original and signed by the writer. Anonymous letters will not be printed.
Writers should include a telephone number so they can be reached for questions. We must limit all contributors to one letter per
person per month. Deadline is 5 p.m. Friday. Send letters to editor@bmeagle.com, or Blue Mountain Eagle, 195 N. Canyon Blvd.,
John Day, OR 97845; or fax to 541-575-1244.
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
P UBLISHER ............................... M ARISSA W ILLIAMS , MARISSA @ BMEAGLE . COM
E DITOR .................................... S EAN H ART , EDITOR @ BMEAGLE . COM
R EPORTER ............................... R ICHARD H ANNERS , RICK @ 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
O FFICE A SSISTANT .................... A LIXANDRA P ERKINS , OFFICE @ BMEAGLE . COM
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
Periodicals Postage Paid at John
Day and additional mailing offi ces.
POSTMASTER
send address changes to:
Blue Mountain Eagle
195 N. Canyon Blvd.
John Day, OR 97845-1187
USPS 226-340
Copyright © 2017 Blue Mountain Eagle
All rights reserved. No part of this
publication covered by the copyright
hereon may be reproduced or
copied in any form or by any means
— graphic, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, taping or
information storage and retrieval
systems — without written
permission of the publisher.
www.facebook.com/MyEagleNews
@MyEagleNews