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