A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
Public pay
initiative could
cut both ways
A
proposed ballot measure
for 2020 would force
Oregonians to have a
serious discussion about the
role of public employees.
A self-described government
watchdog group called Priority
Oregon wants public employees
throughout the state to have
similar pay and benefits to what
private employees receive.
On Tuesday, the business-
oriented group filed the initial
paperwork for its proposed
constitutional amendment that
would mandate “Equal Pay for
Equal Work.”
Priority Oregon, which
does not disclose its funders,
has been a sharp critic of
Democratic Gov. Kate Brown
and Democratic legislative
proposals.
The assumption is that
public-employee compensation
would decrease, freeing tax
dollars for other uses. But the
ballot measure could cut both
ways.
The proposal raises a
fundamental question: Should
public and private employees
be equally compensated? If so,
the governor, city managers
and school superintendents
— even legislators — could
argue for hefty pay raises
when compared with private-
sector equivalents. CEOs and
boards of directors make far
more in the corporate world.
Government IT professionals,
and certainly many lawyers and
doctors, could make more.
The larger issue is that an
unwritten social contract has
governed public compensation
for generations. The private
sector involves greater risk
of success or failure, and
thus the potential financial
rewards are greater. In contrast,
public employees generally
have experienced greater
job security, although that is
lessening. In exchange for that
security, they have received
lower salaries but good
benefits. If that social contract
is to be changed, society’s
expectations must change as
well.
Priority Oregon contends
that Oregon public employees
generally have much better
pensions, more paid time
off and lower health-care
premiums than most private-
sector employees. That is
accurate.
Salary is a different matter.
Scads of statistical studies have
been conducted, but all they
have proved is the difficulty
of comparing public and
private pay for “similar” jobs.
In conducting those analyses,
numerous assumptions are
made about what constitutes
a comparable job as far as
duties, working conditions and
qualifications. That explains
why practically any group can
find a salary study to support its
particular viewpoint.
For decades, Oregon has
struggled, and failed, to find
definitive answers. It would
be expecting a lot of future
legislatures to “Establish
criteria to guide public
employers’ determinations of
when an employee’s job is like
or comparable to the job of
an individual in Oregon who
is not employed by a public
employer,” as required by the
proposed ballot measure.
The proposal is a long
way from reaching the 2020
ballot, if it does. But it raises
intriguing questions.
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@cityoflongcreek.
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.
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
P UBLISHED EVERY
W EDNESDAY BY
• 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).
• Oregon Legislative Information —
(For updates on bills, services, capitol or
messages for legislators) — 800-332-2313.
• Sen. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario – 900
Court St. NE, S-301, Salem 97301. Phone:
503-986-1730. Website: www.oregonlegis-
lature.gov/Bentz. Email: Sen.CliffBentz@
oregonlegislature.gov.
F ARMER ’ S F ATE
Racing through VBS
By Brianna Walker
To the Blue Mountain Eagle
To be sure of hitting the target,
shoot first, and wherever you hit,
call it the target. That has seemed
to be my mantra this last week. I
love vacation Bible school.
My husband and I have been
VBS leaders for nine years now,
and we usually love it. Creating
the program, designing the craft,
finding tangible daily demonstra-
tions — the only thing that would
make it better would be if they
scheduled it in the winter!
Sometimes I think VBS ac-
tually stands for “very busy sea-
son.” Jotting down ideas from
the swather cab, lining up helpers
from the semi truck, organizing
the demonstrations from the trac-
tor, it was finally planned out —
or perhaps I should say the bull’s-
eye was set up, but we weren’t
going to be too hasty about calling
it the target yet.
Our theme was “Racing from
Egypt to Canaan,” exploring the
many “pit stops” the Israelites
had along the way. To help set
the scene, we used a semi-load of
straw bales to create Mount Sinai
and the walls of Jericho.
For the Red Sea, we made a
straw pool lined with black plas-
tic — I couldn’t decide if Moses
would have been proud or ap-
palled.
With our background complet-
ed, it was time to focus on the
stage area. Bringing the racing
theme to the forefront, we set up
racing slicks, checkered flags, a
side by side, four-wheelers and
dirtbikes — both in adult and
youth sizes. To complete our pro-
gram, the kids’ craft would be to
build a soap box car.
T minus five days, the bull’s-
eye was set up, the gun leveled
— but just before the trigger was
squeezed, our music crew had a
family emergency and canceled.
Days of frantic scrambling
paid off, and now our sights were
readjusted to the
new target. The
scope was dou-
ble-checked —
just to be sure. A
deep breath in,
the trigger finger
Brianna
tightened — and
Walker
our first night-
time demonstra-
tion bailed — just hours before
the program was to start.
My husband scrolled diligently
through his phone trying to find
a Plan B or Plan C or even Plan
O. But at 5:55 and a few seconds,
our program starting at 6, we just
closed our eyes and pulled the
trigger — the target being what-
ever we hit.
With no racing device to show
the expecting kids, we did what
any farmer would do: We brought
out floor jacks, impact drivers and
tire irons and let the kids pretend
they were in “the pits” changing
tires. All except the really little
kids, who just took rides up and
down on the jacks.
As the week progressed, our
target seemed to readjust daily.
Horse rides turned into horse-pow-
ered ATV rides, and group leaders
changed faces as people either got
sick or headed off to attend wed-
dings.
Partway through the week,
a cousin from central Oregon
brought her five kids to come, stay
and attend the craziness. We dis-
covered real quick how different a
family of four is, versus a family
of seven.
First off, I don’t have enough
dishes. Secondly, I should buy
more plastic cups and less glass
ones. And, third, when you have a
large family, meals are much more
of a production.
I’m no Julia Child in the kitch-
en — yet I’ve never felt as bum-
bling as Mrs. Doubtfire. We’ll
eat throughout the day as hunger
strikes. Although, if I was com-
pletely honest, I must say that
I usually think about food after
someone’s stomach begins growl-
ing. Our house functions best as a
do-it-yourself bed and breakfast. I
discovered, though, that a family
of seven requires a bit more plan-
ning. It seemed that, no sooner
had the last breakfast dish been
washed and put away, that my
cousin was planning lunch and
then supper — although I am sure
there must have been time in be-
tween.
My cousin is a great planner
when it comes to meals. I, on the
other hand, will look in the cup-
boards, pull out some random in-
gredients and food is served. All I
really need is cheese or black pep-
per — that’s practically like duct
tape and baler twine in my kitch-
en. They can fix anything. My
cousin gave me a couple of looks,
that my self-consciousness took to
mean “what kind of grandmother
will you make if you don’t enjoy
cooking?”
As VBS wore on, we sang
songs, built our soap box cars, got
to climb in race cars, pretend to be
horses as we ran through the bar-
rels and watch motocross racers.
On Sunday, our VBS finale, we set
up a track to race the cars we had
worked all week to build. There
were tunnels, hair-pin curves and
corners lined with tires.
I felt that we had shot a pretty
decent target after all — even if
it wasn’t what we had been aim-
ing for in the original sight. Just
then, a friend steps up and pats my
shoulder.
“I don’t know how you come
up with these ideas — it’s amaz-
ing.”
My cousin’s face flashed be-
fore my eyes, looking at me with
despair at my lack of meal plan-
ning skill.
I smiled at my friend, “Well, I
will be the grandmother that pro-
vides crafts and activities, but asks
her grandkids to bring the food!”
Brianna Walker occasionally
writes about the Farmer’s Fate for
the Blue Mountain Eagle.
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
‘A win for justice’
To the Editor:
I support Rep. Greg Walden
for his efforts and success in
which he lobbied the White
House for the pardon of Dwight
and Steven Hammond. The Ore-
gon Cattlemen’s Association and
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke
also supported the Hammonds.
It seems that the Obama ad-
ministration was overzealous in
going after the Hammonds.
The Hammonds are not terror-
ists; they’re ranchers. They know
how to take care of the land be-
cause it’s their livelihood. That
administration obviously did not
understand ranching or even the
West for that matter.
The Trump administration
knows and appreciates ranching
communities and what they can
provide.
I also agree with what Greg
Walden said about President
Trump’s decision for the pardon.
He said the decision was “a win
for justice, and an acknowledg-
ment of our unique way of life in
the high desert, rural West.”
Patty Trost
Unity
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 ............ ..................... C HRIS R USH , CRUSH @ EOMEDIAGROUP . COM
E DITOR & G ENERAL M ANAGER ... 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 H AND , 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 offices.
POSTMASTER
send address changes to:
Blue Mountain Eagle
195 N. Canyon Blvd.
John Day, OR 97845-1187
USPS 226-340
Copyright © 2018 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