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