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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (April 3, 2019)
New coach leads Dayville track and fi eld The PAGE A10 Blue Mountain EAGLE Grant County’s newspaper since 1868 Wednesday, April 3, 2019 State wants Gleason Pool land deal signed this year Property sale, grants would fund part of new pool cost 151st Year • No. 14 • 18 Pages • $1.00 BlueMountainEagle.com STATE OF THE CITY Two goals from last year’s address have been delayed The Eagle/Richard Hanners U.S. Rep. Greg Walden addresses questions and answers during a town hall meeting in the Mt. Vernon Community Center on March 30. By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle New developments are forc- ing a decision on the future of a public pool in Grant County, John Day City Manager Nick Green informed a crowded city council meeting March 26. Several of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department’s acquisition plans for 2019 fell through, so the state wants to move forward with its plans to purchase city parkland around the Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site along with the Gleason Pool and close the deal before July 1, Green said. Green explained that the city council met in execu- tive session with the John Day-Canyon City Parks and Recreation District to discuss pool issues. The city and the district will each appoint a per- son to lead negotiations with the state, he said. Green noted that the city has not fi nalized a decision to sell the Gleason Pool nor approved a design for a replacement pool. The parks and recreation district could continue to oper- ate the pool through the end of the 2020 season, he told the Eagle. Large grant In preparation for the new pool and the city’s future inte- grated park system, the coun- cil authorized Green to submit an application to the state for a 2019 OPRD Large Grant. The $653,453 grant would be used to pay for constructing a new parking lot on North- west Bridge Street near a pos- sible new pool site and grad- ing a level pad for the new pool. Rights-of-way would be acquired for a trail connecting the new parking area to a trail network that will run along the John Day River. Additional projects in the grant package would include building a bicycle-pedestrian bridge over the river at the new Hill Family City Park, devel- oping trails in the new city park and constructing ADA-com- patible restrooms and a drop- off parking lot at the north end of the bridge. The city has accomplished several tasks that will help sat- isfy the grant requirements, Green said, including acquir- Walden faces questions about border wall votes By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle Eagle photos/Richard Hanners Construction of John Day’s commercial greenhouses at the former Oregon Pine mill site was delayed by permitting and weather. Green outlines successes in address By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle It’s time for the city to take a new approach to the numer- ous projects related to its strategy for growth, City Manager Nick Green explained in his March 26 State of the City address, focus- ing on more collaboration and partnership-building. Green said he wanted to con- duct his address using Teddy Roo- sevelt’s “get to the point” style and Franklin Roosevelt’s fi reside-chat approach. Citing too much neg- ativity, too many dark and nasty allegations and so much tainted interaction online, he said it was time to fi ght back. Green said he’s working harder now than at any other job — add- ing that he is a “workaholic.” He commended city staff for all the hard work they’ve done and then proceeded to fact-check his prog- ress based on nine goals he set in his 2018 State of the City address. City staff had been reduced by one third by transitioning 911 dispatch out of city government, Green said, and he had completed most of the compensation analysis and adjustments for city staff. The local income survey needed for a federal government grant to help pay for a new wastewater treat- ment plant was completed, and the city qualifi ed for a $2.5 million John Day City Manager Nick Green delivers his state of the city address on March 26. federal grant. The city saved about $300,000 by consolidating loans for the industrial park and the West End Water System project, and the money was put to work complet- ing the fi re hall, Green said. An urban renewal district has been established as a way to promote new home construction. Financing for the new waste- water treatment plant was on track, as was development of the Oregon Pine mill site property, Green said. Just prior to his State of the City address, the council unanimously approved a notice of intent to award an engineering design contract for the new waste- water treatment facility to Ander- son Perry of La Grande. The engineering fi rm was the only bidder, and the price and scope of services will be deter- mined later. Key engineering con- straints may delay construction of the new treatment plant, including permitting for disposal of surplus Class 1 reclaimed water. Two goals from the 2018 State of the City address ran into hur- dles that caused delays, Green said. The city’s commercial green- houses were expected to be com- pleted by October 2018 but instead turned into the city’s fi rst painful lesson in permitting prob- lems, he said. A grand opening for the city’s new trail network will not take place in 2019 as expected and could be delayed for at least one year — more if a major river resto- ration project changes the path of the John Day River. Green said he’s trying to get the best deals he can on fi nancing for city projects. He said he walked away from a recent One Stop infrastructure fi nancing meeting where the state agencies made reasonable offers but the federal agencies did not. The city’s debt is not beyond the city’s ability to service it, See Address, Page A18 See Pool, Page A18 Rep. Greg Walden faced complaints about his two votes against President Don- ald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency during a town hall meeting at the Mt. Vernon Community Build- ing on March 30. Trump invoked the National Emergency Act after Congress did not approve funding levels he wanted for constructing a southern border wall. Six Grant County resi- dents asked Walden about the votes. One questioned his support for a border wall to stop illegal immi- gration and one asked him if he believed an emergency exists at the border with Mexico. Walden emphasized his past support for stron- ger border security, includ- ing his vote in favor of an earlier bill that would have provided $25 billion over fi ve years for a border wall, along with an increase in judges, agents and other resources. Trump didn’t provide suffi cient support for that earlier bill, Walden said, and the president changed his mind over wall funding after that. Trump’s use of the 1976 National Emergency Act is not the correct way to handle the funding issue, he said. Walden said he voted against Trump’s use of the act because he had sworn to uphold the U.S. Consti- tution and the separation of See Walden, Page A18 Two proposed amendments could dramatically change elections Campaign fi nance reform, voting age bills under discussion in Salem By Mark Miller Oregon Capital Bureau Two constitutional amend- ments next year could bring the most dramatic changes in a generation to how Oregon conducts its elections. But fi rst, they have to pass through the Legislature. The pathway for cam- paign fi nance reform looked relatively smooth until it hit a bump March 27. The Sen- ate Campaign Finance Com- mittee approved one proposal that would ask voters whether they want to limit campaign contributions in Oregon’s state and local elections. It did so without the support of the committee’s two Republi- can senators — including the legislation’s co-sponsor, Sen. Tim Knopp of Bend. Because of an Oregon Supreme Court decision in 1997, Oregon is one of a handful of states that does not limit campaign contributions. The Supreme Court ruled that Oregon’s constitutional right to free speech protects campaign donations and spending, effectively allow- ing unlimited donations into political campaign commit- tees. Additionally, so-called dark money groups, like Pri- ority Oregon, can spend freely without having to dis- close their contributors. Senate Joint Resolution 18 is one of several cam- paign fi nance-related pro- posals in the Legislature this year, but it’s the most funda- mental. It proposes amending the Constitution to explicitly allow the Legislature, initia- tive petitions, cities and coun- ties to limit campaign contri- butions. It would also allow them to require that cam- paigns and advertisements name their donors. The cost of a political campaign in Oregon has sky- rocketed over the past decade. Last year’s gubernatorial race saw more than $40 mil- lion raised and spent between the two major party nomi- nees, Democrat Kate Brown and Republican Knute Bue- hler. That’s well over twice as much as John Kitzhaber and Chris Dudley spent in 2010. Lawmakers like Knopp, co-sponsor Sen. Mark Hass, D-Beaverton, and Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland, the Sen- ate committee chair, want to rein in campaign spending. So does Brown, who pledged last year to reform Oregon’s campaign fi nance system. “The overall objective is to move to people-powered politics,” Golden said. The committee unani- mously agreed to amend Knopp and Hass’ resolu- tion to more closely resem- ble a similar House proposal. Local campaign fi nance lim- its that voters in Multnomah County and Portland have approved are grandfathered in, so they would become legally enforceable if the Constitution is amended. Knopp also offered an amendment applying cam- paign contribution lim- its evenly to all classes of donors. If the state or local government were to cap donations, the maximum amount would be the same See Elections, Page A18
