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A6 State Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Bend businessman Sam Letter: Women at Capitol stand up against harassment Carpenter to run for governor By Paris Achen By Paris Achen Capital Bureau Capital Bureau One hundred and thirty women have signed a letter standing up against and cast- ing light on harassment and sexism at the Oregon Capitol. Spearheaded by Rep. Jodi Hack, R-Salem, and Portland Democrats House Speaker Tina Kotek and Jennifer Wil- liamson, the letter is modeled after one circulated in Sacra- mento following accusations of widespread sexual harass- ment in the California state- house. “Oregon has more women in political leadership than any other state, and that has made a positive difference,” the letter by Oregon lawmak- ers states. “But it’s still not enough. As women working in the halls of our democrat- ic institutions, we want to empower women to speak up without fear when they have been harassed, bullied, or de- humanized.” The letter coincides with an Oregon landing page on the “We Said Enough” web- site. California lawmakers created the website last week to encourage women to tell their stories of harassment and unwanted advances. About 150 women signed the California letter. Circulation of the Oregon letter follows accusations by Sen. Sara Gelser, D-Corvallis, and another unnamed female senator earlier this month that Sen. Jeff Kruse, R-Roseburg, repeatedly inappropriately touched them. Kruse has de- nied the allegations to at least two Oregon newspapers. Gelser’s revelation has sparked other women who work at the Oregon Capitol to come forward with other instances of subtle sexism and harassment, as reported Oct. 25 by Oregon Public Broad- casting. The letter urges lawmakers and others at the Capitol “to create a culture where it is ex- pected that people (both men and women) will speak up when it is happening in front of them, and ensure that it is safe to report it when it hap- pens in private.” The Legislature will hire an outside consultant to ex- Sam Carpenter, a busi- nessman from Bend, an- nounced Wednesday he will challenge Rep. Knute Bue- hler for the 2018 Republican nomination for governor. “I confidently predict an enormous political and eco- nomic turn-around for Ore- gon as we leave behind the current failed progressive far-left leadership of Gov. Kate Brown, and move for- ward to an executive branch that is laser-focused on serv- ing the people of Oregon through a smaller, much more efficient government machine,” Carpenter said in a statement. Carpenter, 67, is billing himself the conservative choice against the more moderate Buehler, also from Bend. The primary is in May. His campaign motto is styled after that of President Donald Trump’s: “Make Or- egon Great Again.” “Yes, I share President Donald Trump’s vision of a society truly in tune and serving the needs of regular Americans, not the needs of the intertwined cabal of big government, big business, and big finance,” Carpenter said. “I’ll fight to put the power back where it belongs, File photo Oregon State Capitol. amine its per- sonnel poli- cies, the House Majority office confirmed Fri- day. Women Sara who signed the Gelser letter include existing and former Democrat and Repub- lican lawmakers, legislative staffers and lobbyists. “Changing the culture of any institution starts at the top and that’s ultimately what this letter is about,” William- son said. “We are commit- ted, as a bipartisan group, to improving the culture of the Capitol and ensuring that it is a positive work environ- ment for everyone. That starts by ensuring individuals feel empowered to come forward with issues. This isn’t about politics – it’s about making this institution better.” Rep. Julie Parrish, who signed the letter, said she hopes the letter sparks dia- logue about incidents that have stayed largely private until now. “Oregon has a larger seg- ment of elected women than other states — and in recent years, we have seen an up- tick in female lobbyists, but politics is still a male-driven industry,” said Parrish, a Re- publican from West Linn. A reminder to respect boundaries is “a good check for everybody,” she said. “Ev- ery woman’s threshold for what she thinks is appropri- ate or inappropriate is going to be different, but hey, if she says no, back off, listen to her. She means it.” Senate President Peter C o u r t n e y, D-Salem, im- posed “un- precedented” sanctions against Kruse Oct. 20, in re- Jeff sponse to the Kruse allegations that Kruse contin- ued to touch the two senators after he was asked not to. As punishment for that and for Kruse’s habit of smoking inside the Capitol building, Courtney ordered the remov- al of Kruse’s office door and stripped him of his committee assignments, which weakens his power to influence legis- lation. The door was removed early Friday. Gelser first hinted at the al- legations in a tweet in which she asked a Republican Sen- ate aide if he would ensure members of his caucus don’t inappropriately touch or grope female lawmakers or staff in the Capitol. Gelser made an informal complaint that Kruse had touched her in- appropriately in March 2016. At that time, Courtney fol- lowed protocol and reported the allegation to Legislative Counsel Dexter Johnson and Employee Services Manager Lore Christopher. Johnson and Christopher told Kruse to stop touching women at work, Courtney’s letter stated. Gelser told The Oregonian that Kruse’s be- havior didn’t stop. Courtney also has report- ed the latest accusations by Gelser and the other female senator to Legislative Counsel and Employee Services, and those offices are conducting a fact-finding inquiry. Contributed photo Bend businessman Sam Carpenter announced Wednesday that he will seek the GOP nomination for governor. Carpenter is billing himself as the more conservative choice, contrasting himself with moderate Rep. Knute Buehler. in the hands of Oregon’s cit- izens.” Buehler, an orthopedic surgeon, is known for spear- heading significant pieces of bipartisan legislation, includ- ing increasing access to con- traceptives. The two major reproductive rights organiza- tions — Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America — nevertheless, have backed Brown. He de- clared his run for governor in early August. Rebecca Tweed, Bue- hler’s campaign manager, said she had no comment on Carpenter’s announcement Wednesday. Carpenter told the Pam- plin/EO Capital Bureau in August that he was consid- ering a campaign for gov- ernor but was waiting to see if any candidates with Trump-minded agendas made a bid. If no one else he could support stepped up, Carpenter said he would seek the position. The winner of the GOP primary will face off with Gov. Brown, who is seeking her second and final term as the state’s chief executive. Brown’s campaign ad- viser Thomas Wheatley said Carpenter’s “entrance into the race will add a lot more sizzle to the Republican pri- mary.” Court rules health care ballot title is unclear By Claire Withycombe Capital Bureau The Oregon Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the ballot title on the refer- endum on the state’s health care funding scheme must be clearer. Three Republican law- makers — state Reps. Julie Parrish of Tualatin/West Linn, Cedric Hayden of Roseburg and Sal Esquivel of Medford — want to re- peal parts of a state law that requires health care provid- ers and insurers to pay as- sessments to the state for its Medicaid program. The three had argued that the ballot title approved by a legislative committee in Sep- tember didn’t fully or clearly explain the effects of the po- tential repeal. A ballot title is the official written material that voters see. In Oregon, a ballot title includes a caption, summary and statements that explain the results of a “yes” and a “no” vote. The court found that the caption needed to explain the assessments with more detail or describe them as “taxes,” and explain that insurers were allowed to increase cer- tain premiums under the law. The “yes” and “no” vote result statements, the court determined, should also be changed to better explain the direct effects of the measure. The court also said that the statement and the summary should not address an open legal question — whether or not temporary assessments on hospitals would be de- layed or removed altogether as part of the referendum. The ballot title “no” state- ment currently says that a part of the law that the peti- tioners want to repeal would merely be delayed, due to how the referendum petition was written. That’s a matter of legal interpretation, the court said, and added it should be re- solved at a later time, in the event that voters vote “no” and the partial repeal is suc- cessful. The court did reject some of the petitioners’ arguments. For example, the court found it was appropriate to include, as ballot title writ- ers did, that the revenues went toward health care for low-income individuals and families, and “stabiliz- ing reinsurance premiums” through a reinsurance pro- gram. Parrish had previously raised questions about the process used to write the materials that the Supreme Court said on Wednesday should be changed. Separate legislation had created a committee of four Democrats and two Repub- licans to write the ballot ti- tle for the healthcare refer- endum, although typically the Attorney General does that. The Blue Mountain Healthcare Foundation would like to thank everyone who attended and supported the Annual Meeting, Dinner & Auction on October 21st at the John Day Elks Lodge. With the help and support of this amazing community, we were able to raise over $25,000 to put toward upgrades at the Blue Mountain Care Center. 541-523-6377 541-963-6577 541-573-6377 541-576-2160 18304 1 . Losing the department may mean critical loss of response time for police, fire, medical and other first responders. 2 . Local dispatchers have the community connections to help residents with life-threatening health issues and accidents. Losing them will impede emergency communications. 3 . Outsourcing our dispatch services results in forfeiture of state-funded equipment, loss of investment in high-level, specialty training, and less local control. A special thank you to each of our sponsors for this year’s event! Hutch’s Printing The Dowdy Family The Blue Mountain Eagle The Law Office of Robert Raschio Gary & Virginia Miller Blue Mountain Hospital Auxiliary Bank of Eastern Oregon Central Oregon Radiology Gardner Enterprises Triangle Oil Len’s Drug Chester’s Thriftway Oregon Trail Electric Co-op Doug’s Motor Vehicle Repair Dan & Chris Cronin Ed Staub & Sons Gateway Financial Advisors - Ansel Krutsinger Oster Professional Group Loop Ranch Greg & Melody Jackson Southworth Brothers Mary Ellen Brooks Iron Triangle Les Schwab Health Tech NFP 21445 21263
