A4
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
OPINION
Solid ideas for
restructuring
PERS
A
new legislative
report underscores
that PERS could be
headed for more trouble.
The report from the Leg-
islative Fiscal Offi ce reaf-
fi rms that the Oregon Public
Employees Retirement Sys-
tem remains highly depen-
dent on investment income
for its fi nancial stability.
That is not a surprise. How-
ever, it should concern Ore-
gon offi cials, especially in
light of the current global
economic swings.
Our federal leaders are
not helping, with their trade
disputes and partial govern-
ment shutdown. Their lack
of fi scal leadership and polit-
ical cooperation adds to wor-
ries that the U.S. will fall
into a recession. Where the
nation goes economically, so
goes Oregon.
The legislative report is
based on a study last year
from the Pew Charitable
Trusts, which compared
state pension plans for fi s-
cal 2016. PERS had one of
the worst ratios of operating
cash fl ow.
On the other hand, PERS
is one of the better-funded
public pension plans. Cumu-
latively, state pension plans
amassed a $1.4 trillion defi -
cit, because they generally
are paying more in benefi ts
than they receive in pension
contributions. Poor invest-
ment returns also are factors,
although PERS has done rel-
atively well.
So PERS is not in dan-
ger of imminent insolvency,
it is in better condition
than many state funds but
it is more subject to market
volatility.
It should be of little com-
fort that PERS is not as bad
off as other public pension
funds. PERS’ unfunded actu-
arial liability forces schools
and local governments to cut
current jobs and services to
pay for pensions. The bur-
den can fall disproportion-
ately on rural Oregon, as is
detailed in the winter edi-
tion of The Other Oregon, a
quarterly magazine from EO
Media Group.
Rural Oregon also has
proposed solutions. Mark
Mulvihill, superintendent of
the InterMountain Education
Service District in Pendle-
ton, has proposed changing
state law to allow longtime
public employees to col-
lect both their pension and
their salary for several years
before retirement. Schools
and government agencies
would benefi t from retaining
good workers who were con-
sidering retiring, employees
would have more money in
the short term and they and
their employer would con-
tribute 6 percent of their sal-
ary toward paying down the
employer’s PERS liability.
The PERS burden is stag-
gering, and it’s growing
exponentially. For Clats-
kanie and Ontario — cities
on opposite sides of the state
— the burden is roughly the
equivalent of six times the
city’s annual payroll, accord-
ing to 2017 fi gures from
PERS.
That is why the Ore-
gon Business Plan said in
a report last month: “Fix-
ing PERS is Job 1, and it’s
doable.”
Among the plan’s recom-
mendations: Oregon should
again require that public
employees contribute 6 per-
cent of their pay to their pen-
sion, similar to what most
states do. Oregon could
move to a defi ned-contribu-
tion system, like a 401(k),
for future employees. The
state also could give current
employees a choice of stay-
ing with PERS or switching
to a 401(k).
All are solid ideas. All are
reasonable. Only one thing
is missing so far — leader-
ship from Gov. Kate Brown
and the Legislature.
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.
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Published every
Wednesday by
Prairie City FFA celebrates fall success
By Abby Winegar
For the Blue Mountain Eagle
As fall has come to an end, Prai-
rie City FFA would like to update
everyone with what has been
going on. We have had an amazing
fall. We have experienced some
once-in-a-lifetime opportunities
and made some amazing accom-
plishments, learning new things all
the time.
We started with traveling all
the way to Nashville, Tennessee,
where we got to do a lot of sight-
seeing and learned a lot about
Music City. We then traveled to
Kentucky where we went to Chur-
chill Downs to tour the facilities
and learn their culture, and we
even were able to watch a movie
about the history of horse races.
We loaded back up into our rental
rigs to head for Indianapolis. While
we were in Indianapolis, we got to
experience the sea of blue jackets.
As National Convention ended,
we had to say goodbye to our new
and old friends to come home to
prepare for Ag Sales and Job Inter-
view. We were proud to bring
home fi rst place overall at the Ag
Sales Career Development Event,
along with Shaelynn Bice placing
fi rst in job interview and Haley
Pfefferkorn falling close behind in
second place. Freshman member
Marcus Judd received top individ-
ual in the advertising practicum.
We went on to prepare for our
annual FFA auction. We want to
make sure everyone knows how
thankful we are for the support and
funding we have received from
this county. You helped make our
auction go off without a hitch.
We now are going on to pre-
pare for Parliamentary Procedure
and Public Speaking events. For
Parliamentary Procedure, we will
have one beginning team and one
advanced team — the teams have
yet to be decided. We are hoping
to send both teams to state.
Parli Pro is a contest to practice
running a formal meeting using
Robert’s Rules of Order; it also
involves debate. One of the top-
ics that they will debate is “Should
Oregon FFA support requiring a
commercial driver’s license for
hauling of agricultural products
or livestock?” There are 20 top-
ics. One will be drawn at random
for them to debate. They will have
three rounds on the fl oor where
they will get a chance to put their
skills to work, and they will have
one round in chair where the chair-
man and secretary do most of the
work. Shaelynn and Haley are
both working very hard research-
ing various ag-related topics, such
as should the USDA standard defi -
nition/requirements to label prod-
ucts for practices such as “grass-
fed” and “naturally grown”?
Abby Winegar is writing a pre-
pared public speaking paper on
holistic management. Maddy Way
is writing a paper that hits home
to many 4-H and FFA members of
our county. She is writing on the
PRRS disease. And Abbey Pfef-
ferkorn is also writing a topic
for sophomore public speaking.
Thank you, everyone, for riding
along on this fun and amazing road
we are on, and we hope that every-
one had a Merry Christmas and a
happy New Year.
Abby Winegar is the Prairie
City FFA reporter.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
me to use good judgment when
a crime, but you still have
Trump ‘tapped into with
dealing with dangerous items in my
the right to scream, “Lock her up”
the hate in America’ or “Hillary for prison.” Although own home. I certainly don’t wish
To the Editor:
I believe the main reason
Trump is president is he tapped
into the hate in America and
exploited it with lots of help from
Russia and faith-based Trump lov-
ers. Here is a partial list of what I
believe endears Trump to his vot-
ers. “Sad.”
They believe everything he
says. Everything else is fake news.
When someone disagrees with
Trump, Trump lovers just call them
names, threaten them or, as Trump
said, “knock the crap out of them
... I will pay for the legal fees.”
Makes them feel better, right?
When someone says something
that is true and has facts to back it
up and they don’t like it, they make
up their own facts. Makes them
feel better, right?
When the media reports a story
about Trump and has all those
darn facts to back it up that they
don’t like, they just start screaming
fake news. Makes them feel bet-
ter, right?
Mueller investigation — forget
about all the people indicted close
to the Trump campaign and some
going to jail — witch hunt, right?
Climate change — although 99
percent of scientists agree it is hap-
pening — fake news, right?
After several investigations by
Congress, the FBI and others, the
DOJ determined there was no evi-
dence to charge Hillary Clinton
Publisher............ ......................................Chris Rush, crush@eomediagroup.com
Editor & General Manager ...............Sean Hart, editor@bmeagle.com
Reporter ...................................................Richard Hanners, rick@bmeagle.com
Community News .................................Angel Carpenter, angel@bmeagle.com
Sports ........................................................Angel Carpenter, angel@bmeagle.com
Marketing Rep .......................................Kim Kell, ads@bmeagle.com
Administrative Assistant ..................Makenna Adair, offi ce@bmeagle.com
Offi ce Assistant .....................................Alixandra Hand, offi ce@bmeagle.com
there is no logical reason to keep
demonizing her, it’s better for Fox
News and others to point the fi nger
at Hillary for prison than Trump for
prison!
Let’s not forget Stormy and
Karen. Didn’t happen, right?
Here we go. Putin’s puppet in
the White House might be head-
ing for the big house. Russia on
the march in the Black Sea. China
laughing at tariffs. Voter fraud in
North Carolina — oh, darn, it’s
the Republicans. Massive defi cits.
Stock market crashing. Some farm-
ers will go under without a bailout.
Government shutdown.
Thank you, Trump lovers!
I hope this letter doesn’t offend
anyone, but if it does, “Oh well.”
Clifford Smith
Canyon City
Common sense
To the Editor:
Are you aware the term “com-
mon sense” is in the dictionary? It
is, and it is defi ned by Webster as
being sound, ordinary sense, good
judgment. That’s it. Short and to
the point. Judgment may also be
spelled “judgement.” Anyway, you
choose.
Common sense may not be so
common anymore. This letter is
written in reference to the article
about gun restrictions on the front
page of the Jan. 2 Blue Mountain
Eagle. Common sense should tell
1 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION RATES
(including online access)
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
Contributed photo
Students who participated in the 2018 FFA Strawberry Mountain
District Ag Sales and Job Interview, include, from left, top row,
Carson McKay, Abby Pfeff erkorn, Katie Hire, Hannah Wall, Damien
Milesi, Marcus Judd and CJ Camarena; bottom row, Jessi Nolan,
Shaelynn Bice, Haley Pfeff erkorn and Lucas McKinley.
Grant County .........................................$40
Everywhere else in U.S. .......................$51
Outside Continental U.S. ....................$60
Online: BlueMountainEagle.com
Subscriptions must be paid
prior to delivery
Periodicals Postage Paid
at John Day and additional
mailing offi ces.
POSTMASTER
send address changes to:
Blue Mountain Eagle
195 N. Canyon Blvd.
John Day, OR 97845-1187
USPS 226-340
Phone: 541-575-0710
any accidental harm on any friends
or family that may be living or vis-
iting there. Sound, ordinary sense
should tell me I am responsible for
any dangerous or hazardous item
of risk in my own home.
Now, that being said, let’s say
you have trouble sleeping due
to pain from an old back injury.
Because of the injury and result-
ing pain you use sleeping pills or
pain medication obtained by pre-
scription (legally) from your local
drug store. These items are in your
medicine cabinet in your home,
and your doors and windows are
locked.
Your local burglar doesn’t
care about your personal respon-
sibility concerning items in your
home. He or she doesn’t care
about responsibility at all. This
person breaks into your locked,
secured home and steals your
legally prescribed medications
and deals them illegally to some-
one on the street. The person
on the street dies from an over-
dose. Now enter common sense.
Who’s responsible? You or the
creep that broke into your home
and stole your medications?
Creep? Did I say creep? That
may be politically incorrect.
Excuse me for using my First
Amendment. That may be verbo-
ten. Did I spell that right? Any-
way, you choose.
Michael R. Christensen
John Day
Copyright © 2019
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.
facebook.com/MyEagleNews
@MyEagleNews