News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
A3
Questions raised about
marijuana tax funds
county account, she said.
“The counties can decide
who receives the funds and
how they are spent, however
(state law) is clear on what
they need to be spent on,”
Lindsay told the Eagle. “I
recently found out that the
funds had been released to
the counties, hence the meet-
ing with Grant County.”
Complex and
evolving law
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
EO Media Group/Antonio Sierra
Weston Mayor Jennifer Spurgeon speaks to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Rep. Greg
Walden at a meeting on rural broadband in Weston Saturday. John Day City Manager
Nick Green is at Walden’s right.
FCC chairman rolls
through Eastern Oregon
By Antonio Sierra
EO Media Group
The recent repeal of net
neutrality has raised hackles
across the U.S., but Ajit Pai
and Rep. Greg Walden found
a mostly friendly audience
Saturday in Eastern Oregon.
Pai, the lightning rod
chairman of the Federal
Communications Commis-
sion, was in the midst of
an 1,800-mile tour of rural
communities in Oregon,
Washington, Idaho and
Montana to discuss the “dig-
ital divide” between rural
and urban communities.
Walden, who oversees
the FCC as the chairman of
the House Energy and Com-
merce Committee, joined
Pai as he stopped in Herm-
iston, Pendleton and Weston.
According to Walden,
Pai was likely the first FCC
chairman to visit Eastern Or-
egon. The last stop of the day
was at Weston’s Memorial
Hall, where Pai and Walden
spoke with local elected of-
ficials and representatives
from communication corpo-
rations.
While Pai was there to
discuss how rural commu-
nities could gain access to
broadband internet services,
the conversation did touch
on the FCC’s recent repeal
of net neutrality.
Net neutrality is a rule
that requires internet service
providers to treat all internet
traffic equally, regardless of
how much they pay or where
they are located.
With the repeal having
gone into effect on June 11,
Pai shot back at some of his
critics.
In both an interview be-
fore the meeting and in his
discussions during the meet-
ing, Pai said the sky hadn’t
fallen since net neutrality
ended 12 days prior and the
“fear mongering” coming
from “grandstanding politi-
EO Media Group/Antonio Sierra
Protestors Vickie
Hendricks, Sue Petersen
and Colleen Blackwood
wait for Rep. Greg Walden
to arrive at the Umatilla
County Sheriff’s Office in
Pendleton.
cians” opposed to the move
was overblown.
Walden backed him up,
saying the communication
technology had benefited
from the FCC’s “light touch”
approach in the past, and the
old policy was hampering
expansion into rural areas.
Weston Mayor Jennifer
Spurgeon said improving
her city’s internet access has
been a personal “pet proj-
ect.”
Spurgeon said the idea
of net neutrality isn’t rele-
vant in her city, because her
town’s internet access is al-
ready inconsistent and slow.
“Out here, we’re still in
dial-up mode,” she said.
A real estate apprais-
er who works from home,
Spurgeon said she recently
tried to upload real estate
photos onto her computer.
After they failed to load a
few times, she went to lunch
in the time it took them to
publish.
Weston wasn’t the only
town that local officials re-
ported having problems.
John Day City Manager
Nick Green said his city has
already received $2 million
from the Oregon Legisla-
ture to build fiber lines to
rural John Day, but the town
needs another $3 million to
get the project done.
With John Day being
a $40,000 market at best,
Green said a private com-
pany voluntarily extending
broadband to John Day was
unlikely.
“If it’s not publicly
owned or publicly available,
we’re screwed,” he said.
While the audience most-
ly nodded in agreement with
one another, not everyone in
Eastern Oregon was a fan of
Walden and Pai’s policies.
Walden and Pai spent the
first two legs of the trip vis-
iting Mirasol Family Health
Clinic in Hermiston to talk
about tele-health and the
Umatilla County Dispatch in
Pendleton to talk about gaps
in 911 coverage. They were
greeted at the latter by five
activists dissatisfied with the
pair.
Standing in the Umatil-
la County Sheriff’s Office
parking lot, the protesters
focused most of their ire on
Walden.
They carried a sign that
stated “WALDEN SOLD
YOU OUT” and Colleen
Blackwood fashioned “Vote
McLeod-Skinner” apparel
out of tape and a jean jacket,
referring to the Hood River
Republican’s Democratic
opponent this November.
Among the hashtags on
the protest sign was “#Net-
Neutrality.” Protester Sue
Petersen wasn’t keen on the
repeal.
“For rich people, they
love it,” she said.
When Walden’s car rolled
into the parking lot, their
signs and voices elicited a
wave and a smile from the
10-term congressman before
he was quickly escorted into
the building.
Attention Grant County Veterans:
How state tax revenue
from marijuana sales is dis-
tributed to cities, counties and
mental health providers in
Oregon generated more ques-
tions than answers during the
Grant County Court’s June 13
meeting.
Community Counseling
Solutions Executive Director
Kimberly Lindsay empha-
sized that she was not there to
tell the court how to spend its
share of the tax revenue, but
she also said she wanted the
money spent on drug abuse
treatment and not prevention.
CCS, the contract provider
for mental health services in
the county, has been dipping
into its reserves to maintain
its drug abuse treatment pro-
gram, but that was not sus-
tainable, Lindsay said.
Commissioner Jim Ham-
sher disagreed with Lindsay’s
interpretation of the state’s
marijuana law and read a por-
tion of the statute to the court.
The county had discretion on
how to spend the marijuana
tax revenue it received, he
said.
While no decision was
made and the court agreed to
seek more information, Judge
Scott Myers assured Lindsay
that CCS would get the fund-
ing it needed for drug abuse
treatment.
Complex law
State law authorizing the
distribution of marijuana
tax revenue is complex and
evolving.
A Mental Health Alco-
holism and Drug Services
Account was established in
the state’s general fund in
2017 for the purpose of dis-
tributing a designated portion
of marijuana tax revenue to
grants for alcohol and drug
abuse prevention, interven-
tion and treatment and to reg-
istered sobering facilities.
As a result of a state bud-
get shortfall in 2017, howev-
er, general fund dollars were
removed from the Oregon
Health Authority’s Health
Systems Division and re-
placed with marijuana tax
revenue.
According to a May 2017
memo from Chris Norman
at OHA’s Health Systems
Division, marijuana tax rev-
enue allocated to the Oregon
Health Authority was ear-
marked for the Mental Health
Alcoholism and Drug Ser-
vices Account.
“However, instead of the
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
Community Counseling
Solutions executive
director Kimberly Lindsay
listens to the Grant County
Court discuss marijuana
tax revenue during their
June 13 meeting.
funds going directly to the
community mental health
programs (as they had previ-
ously), the programs would
need to work with their local
county to access the funds,”
Lindsay told the Eagle.
In April this year, Nicole
Corbin at OHA’s Health
Systems Division informed
Lindsay that each county in
Oregon should have received
three quarterly payments
from the Mental Health Al-
coholism and Drug Services
Account.
According to Grant Coun-
ty Treasurer Julie Ellison,
the county has received three
marijuana tax payments
from the state. The first two
totaled $15,175, and those
funds were provided to Blue
Mountain Hospital on behalf
of the Community Health
Needs Assessment group’s
Substance Abuse Commit-
tee. The third payment was
for $18,362 and remains in a
61000
Monday - Thursday
7am- 6pm
Friday 8am - 5pm
Did you know Grant County Veterans
Services Officer is available to assist
YOU in applying for all VA benefits
you may be entitled to?
Mendy Sharpe FNP
Apppointments
available
See your Grant County Veteran Services
Officer today for more information,
located at Grant County Court House.
Every other Monday in John Day at
Blue Mountain Hospital
61002
Katee
Hoffman
New law
A new law signed by Gov.
Kate Brown on April 3 estab-
lishes an Oregon Marijuana
Account separate and distinct
from the state’s general fund.
The Department of Revenue
will distribute funds from the
account on a quarterly basis as
follows:
• 10 percent to cities that
have not banned marijuana
sales, with 75 percent of that
share based on each city’s
population and 25 percent
based on the number of mar-
ijuana industry licenses.
• 10 percent to counties
that have not banned marijua-
na sales, with 75 percent of
that share based on each coun-
ty’s population and 25 percent
based on the number of mari-
juana industry licenses.
• 40 percent to the State
School Fund.
• 20 percent for mental
health treatment or for alco-
hol and drug abuse preven-
tion, early intervention and
treatment as provided for in
the 2017 Mental Health Al-
coholism and Drug Services
Account.
• 15 percent to the Oregon
State Police.
• 5 percent for purposes
related to alcohol and drug
abuse prevention, early inter-
vention and treatment.
According to Corbin, the
new bill will allow OHA
to provide money directly
through intergovernmental
agreements between counties
and mental health providers
without having to go through
the Mental Health Alcoholism
and Drug Services Account.
10am-4pm Monday-Friday • 541-620-8057
170 Ford Rd. • 541-575-1311
530 E. Main, Ste. 5, John Day, OR
65198
NOTICE OF FILING DEADLINE
FOU CITY OF JOHN DAY
2018 ELECTION FOU MAYOU OU COUNCIL POSITIONS
Notice is hereby given, under the provisions of Ordinance 94-79-5,
adopted June 28, 1994, the filing deadline for persons wishing to run for
City Mayor or City Council (3 open positions) must be submitted to the
City of John Day at 450 E Main St, by 4:00 p.m., Friday, August 17, 2018;
to be elected during the November 6, 2018 election.
Candidate Filing Form and Nominating Petitions may be picked up at City
Hall during working hours, 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., Monday – Friday or from
the City’s website at www.cityofjohnday.com.
Nominating Petitions shall contain at least twenty-five signatures of
qualified electors residing in the city that are registered to vote.
541-523-6377
541-963-6577
541-573-6377
If a nominating petition is not used and an individual wishes to declare his
or her candidacy for city office, a fee of $50.00 must be paid to the City of
John Day by the filing deadline.
541-576-2160
60997