A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Adopt-A-
Highway
A
fter receiving
complaints about an
Adopt-A-Highway
permittee, the Eagle reached
out to John Eden at the Oregon
Department of Transportation
for some answers.
Eden looked into the
situation, and ODOT will be
rolling out some changes to
improve the program in our
district.
Previously in the district,
which includes Malheur and
most of Grant and Harney
counties, Adopt-A-Highway
volunteers have been allowed
to remain in the program by
picking up litter along their
designated stretch of roadway
twice per year. Eden said long
winters and wet springs led to
that number, when other areas
of the state were required to do
so more often.
However, as a result of a
statewide effort to decrease
trash along highways, all
new and renewed Adopt-A-
Highway permits in the district
will require at least three litter
pickup events per year. The
pickups will be verified by the
local maintenance office to
ensure compliance.
The complaints received
by the Eagle focused on John
Day Taxi, which has a permit
on Highway 26 just west of
John Day, but Eden said the
business operated by Richie
Colbeth appeared to be in
compliance with the program.
Eden said John Day Taxi
applied to be in the program in
January 2017 and completed
its first verified cleanup in
April 2017. Colbeth said he
and his crew picked up litter
four times in 2017.
Going forward, Colbeth
will be required to report the
pickup operations to Eden
directly, who will verify the
work with the maintenance
manager in John Day. The
permit is set to expire in
February 2019, and Eden
said he will review the permit
with the district manager at
that time before a renewal is
offered.
Eden also said some people
may have misconceptions
about the Adopt-A-Highway
program and what it is
intended to do.
“In all fairness to the John
Day Taxi folks, I have learned
that stretch of highway is a
portion of the route taken by
most to the local landfill, so
part of the problem may be
folks not covering or securing
trash that is being hauled to the
dump,” Eden said. “I would
also reiterate that the Adopt-
A-Highway program is not
intended for the permittee to
clean the roadside every time
a piece of trash falls along the
highway. It is intended to give
folks an opportunity to help
the community and the state
by volunteering a few times a
year to perform an organized
cleanup.”
Eden visited John Day and
inspected Adopt-A-Highway
permit sites. He said he saw
trash in John Day Taxi’s area
but also in an area adopted by
Community Corrections east
of town.
“If there is a legitimate
concern for the trash,” he
said, “it is my humble opinion
that the best results would
come from pitching in to
help pick up litter all over
town or remind folks to cover
their loads when going to the
dump.”
Eden said there are a variety
of opportunities for people
who’d like to help. People can
join one of the current Adopt-
A-Highway groups or adopt
their own section of highway.
Another program Eden
said has worked in other
communities is SOLVE, which
started as a beach cleanup and
has expanded into a volunteer
operation in which people
can create their own events:
https://www.solveoregon.
org/create-your-own-event. If
everyone pitches in, a lot could
be accomplished.
It sounds like progress is
being made regarding Adopt-
A-Highway and litter, and we
hope to see it continue.
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
Rand went above
and beyond
To the Editor:
There’s an aspect of Officer
Damon Rand’s accomplishments
that’s been overlooked. He accept-
ed the responsibility of searching
for my missing nephew, Farren
Stanberry.
Back in June 1980, my mom,
Beulah Harrison, and I dropped
Farren off at the old Joaquin Mill-
er campground.
He wound up in San Francis-
co and disappeared. After an ex-
haustive, fruitless search involv-
ing DNA evidence, he went as
far as he could go, but at least he
tried.
Sandra Colbeth
John Day
If guns kill people,
forks make people
fat
To the Editor:
If guns kill people, do forks
make people fat? They both have
to be loaded, and action has to be
taken before they are harmful.
I have lived in Long Creek
my entire life and have had many
opportunities to hunt, especially
with my dad and brother, but nev-
er once did I ever see a gun just
jump out of a vehicle and shoot an
animal.
Perhaps this could work as an
alibi for poachers but not a legal
hunter. The gun has to be aimed
and the trigger has to be pulled by
a person.
Nancy Morgan
Long Creek
County court made
hurried broadband
decision
To the Editor:
After reading your article
“Court signs on for broadband,” I
have come to the conclusion that
our county court just got rolled
over by the ever-aggressive city
of John Day.
The statement for passing was
“Improve the lives of residents in
the county.”
This was a hurried decision
by the county court to appease a
special interest, and the two vot-
ing members need to reconsider
and take all of the residents of this
county into consideration. In the
past couple years, they seem to put
special interest groups ahead of the
citizens.
We all will be paying for this,
and if we pay 60 percent of the li-
ability, then the county should be
the leading figure.
What you did was create yet
another government entity ac-
countable to no one.
There was no cost figured into
it, antiquated method of delivery
and, last but not least, the county
should not be in competition in a
private-run utility.
Satellite delivery is going to
be the future in internet and cell-
phones. Overhead lines are a thing
of the past.
The city of John Day has tak-
en action to get every grant, bond
and community funding possible
to fund its Seattle agenda. Not
once, other than public safety,
have I heard them cut funding to
balance a budget.
Like the county, I still haven’t
seen any actual business model
for this “Schumer” gateway proj-
ect to be successful, and with all
these grants only come more un-
funded mandates.
This, in turn, is their own whin-
ing reason for a budget-control
issue. Like the 911 levy attempt,
they went another route on the in-
ternet and were successful.
Maybe it is time to get a coun-
ty political action committee to
oversee a way to guide the county
court.
This way the rest of the county
will have a say in decisions. And
as a person who has voted to elect
both court members who voted
yes, I will not vote for them this
fall, and I hope this encourages
others to vote Judge Myers out.
Maybe we can reverse this action,
as we can leave this intergovern-
mental “agreement.”
Robert Pereira
John Day
Ogden for BOLI
commissioner
To the Editor:
Oregon voters should pay
close attention to the May primary
election for commissioner of the
Bureau of Labor and Industries.
A very important choice will be
made in this non-partisan race. I
hope voters will support Lou Og-
den.
Lou has been mayor of the city
of Tualatin for the last 24 years.
His balanced and fair leadership
has brought business and indus-
trial development providing thou-
sands of jobs and over a billion
dollars of investment by the pri-
vate sector.
He wants to lead BOLI as the
driver for skills training and ap-
prenticeship programs that will
put employees into living-wage
jobs and provide high school grad-
uates an alternative to college.
Lou is an insurance broker,
farmer, husband and father. He
has the vision, experience and
proven record of leadership nec-
essary for the job.
Gary Wilhelms
Portland
Free trade
To the Editor:
Free trade has been our pol-
icy goal since World War II. To
achieve this goal, the United
States made favorable trade deals
first with Europeans and Japanese,
then with “third world” countries.
We held most of the world’s gold
reserves and most of the intact in-
dustry.
Over time, we exchanged gold
for Arab oil; purchased low-tariff
cheap foreign goods instead of our
own highly regulated and union-
priced products; and invested in
multi-national corporations while
closing our manufacturing.
Nearly $1 trillion more is going
out than coming in. The elites who
own these multi-nationals also
own our national debt and bene-
fit from government tax, spending
and borrowing. Who owns the ca-
ble news networks?
The same elites who own these
multi-nationals gave $33 billion
to the Clinton Foundation and
dictate fake news! They would
control world economies, soci-
eties and governments! Trump
is challenging these powers
that be!
Michael F. McCarthy
Hayward, California
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