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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 3, 2019)
A18 NEWS Blue Mountain Eagle Court Continued from Page A1 judge’s duties due to illness or injury, as shown by an affidavit from one or more licensed medical doctors. The pro tem judge would serve until the elected judge was able to return to work or the term of office expired. Both the elected judge and the pro tem judge would receive regular compensa- tion during that time. Kerr told the county court June 26 that the court lost leadership during the flood emergency, and she called for a county ordinance establishing a procedure for filling a judge’s seat during an emergency that would rely on a local decision. Kerr said the state stat- utes were vague and dif- ficult to follow during an emergency. She acknowl- edged that Myers had expe- rienced similar situations in the past as a county commis- sioner, but “two wrongs do not make a right.” Kerr said no law prevents the county from establish- ing such an ordinance. She said she wanted to keep this decision in the hands of the local county court and not a governor who was “hunting down Republicans,” as Gov. Kate Brown had ordered Oregon State Police to bring back senators who left the state during the legislative session. Billy Jo George backed up Kerr by noting that the people’s concern is who the governor may choose to put in Myers’ place. Frances Preston said, if the state statute remains the established procedure, then she wanted a docu- ment filed in the county’s Human Resources office stating that the governor’s office should be contacted quickly if a judge becomes incapacitated. Jim Spell responded to George by saying only a small percentage of county residents have spoken on this issue, and he preferred to continue following state statute. Shannon Adair said she agreed with Spell. Court debate Commissioner Jim Ham- sher, who took the lead as the senior commissioner during the flood emergency, announced at the beginning that he was recusing himself from the pro tem and com- pensation issues. Commissioner Sam Palmer said under current law two members of the court can appoint a new member to fill an absence, but they cannot appoint a temporary member. Palmer, who is a regis- tered nurse, noted that the federal Health Insurance Por- tability and Accountability Act of 1996 protects the pri- vacy of patients and makes it difficult for county offi- cials to determine if a judge is incapacitated. Palmer said Myers did a good job of keeping the court informed, but his concern was not knowing when was the correct time to contact the governor’s office during an emergency. Citing County Counsel Jim Carpenter’s opinion let- ter on the matter, Myers said he was not convinced there was a need to create a county ordinance to change the pro- cess established in state stat- ute. He recalled seeing county commissioners or judges in other counties become inca- pacitated or die and how the governor’s office responded immediately. It was fine for the senior commissioner to take over leadership of certain com- mittees or boards in a judge’s absence, Myers said. He recalled “dozens” of times when the Grant County Court was down to two members and still was able to perform its duties. Myers noted that his wife and the court’s former administrative assistant, Lau- rie Wright, kept the court apprised of his health condi- tion. He said he worked on court business while in the hospital using his iPad and worked on court business in his office in the courthouse while recuperating after sur- gery. Nobody needed to per- form the duties of county judge during his absence, he said. Myers’ motion to con- tinue relying on state stat- ute instead of creating a new county ordinance passed 2-0 with Hamsher recused. Court compensation Palmer said he asked that discussion of compensating Hamsher for his extra work during the spring flood to be put on the court agenda. He said the idea originated with his constituents. Myers opposed the idea of compensating Hamsher or any elected county offi- cial for performing extra work on principle. Elected officials understood they may work 10 hours one week and 70 hours another, he said. Compensating one person for extra work was a decision that could impact all county workers, he said, and that was a “rabbit hole” he didn’t want to go down. Justice of the Peace Kathy Stinnett also spoke against the compensation idea. Many officials work more than 40 hours per week, she said, and volunteers work without pay at all. She noted that the county website com- mittee worked 140 hours. Elected officials should be the last to ask for com- pensation for extra work, and any benefit provided for one person must be provided to everyone, Stinnett said. She acknowledged that she didn’t think county commission- ers should be paid only one- third of a full-time salary, but that’s just the way it’s done. The idea of compensating elected officials didn’t seem ethical, and she didn’t like the feel of it, Stinnett said. She noted that, in her posi- tion as a justice of the peace, she needed to take extra steps to avoid the appear- ance of impropriety. Hamsher responded sev- eral times to Stinnett’s com- ments, noting that when she needed help at justice court she came to the county court and requested a part-time clerk. He also noted that she is budgeted for 40 hours per week while he receives 13 1/3 hours per week. Hamsher noted that, on top of his county commis- sioner duties, he serves as the mayor and city manager of Prairie City without com- pensation — not even a free water bill, he added. Hamsher also said he didn’t like his ethics being questioned and felt insulted by Stinnett’s remarks. Adair noted that she is an unpaid John Day city councilor and opposed the idea of compensating Hamsher for extra work. She also expressed con- cern that the county court’s decision could affect city councils around the county. Discussion on the com- pensation matter ended without a motion or a vote but may be brought back at another date. Wednesday, July 3, 2019 Rally Continued from Page A1 Jay Bennett led a tour group of 85-plus riders through Logan Valley Fri- day on the Cowboy Lunch Ride. Their destination was the Wayne Smith Ranch in Silvies Valley where Prairie City res- ident Tobe Zweygardt organized a meal for the group. Bennett said he started the event as a way for the riders, many coming from bigger cities, to connect with the locals. He said it’s a popular ride that sells out every year. Zweygardt, who’s been organizing the meals for 11 years now, said the rid- ers visit a different ranch in Grant County each time. He said the money raised from the $15-a-plate lunch is donated to the Grant County Stockgrowers Association. “It’s a real educa- The Eagle/Richard Hanners The BMW Riders of Oregon held their Chief Joseph Rally at the Grant County Fairgrounds in John Day on June 27-30. tional thing for the rid- ers, because every ranch is different,” he said. “A ranch foreman gives a lit- tle spiel after the meal — it’s informative for the bikers. It gives them a chance to take a ride in the county before they have a lunch.” “These BMW peo- ple are great people,” he added. “We really enjoy them, and some of the same people keep coming back for years.” The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Bruce Choy of Redwood City, California, arrives at the Chief Joseph BMW Rally Thursday afternoon at the Grant County Fairgrounds in John Day, the 41st event sponsored by BMW Riders of Oregon. Bill Continued from Page A1 “The opposition knows this but has chosen to sow fear in the hearts and minds of rural Oregonians through a campaign of distortion and misinformation.” Opponents, including the 11 Republican senators who fled the state last week to prevent a vote on HB 2020, say the cap-and-trade plan’s urban supporters simply don’t understand their rural counterparts. “Part of governing is including all of Oregon, not just Multnomah County, in what is going to be included in legislation,” said Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend. Andrew Miller, a major Republican donor and chief executive officer of Port- land-based Stimson Lum- ber Co., framed HB 2020 in more colorful terms. “It’s a ‘screw-you’ to rural Oregon so that peo- ple in urban Oregon can feel good about saving the planet,” Miller said. Oregon is often described as a “blue state,” one that favors Democrats. But that belies the reality that Ore- gon, like many Western states, contains sharp polit- ical contrasts. Oregon’s few major cit- ies and their suburbs hold the bulk of the population and, therefore, its voter base and political power. They are overwhelmingly “blue” in contrast to the largely “red” counties of Eastern Oregon and the Oregon coast. But dividing the state neatly into Portland and everything else and assign- ing each to ends of the political spectrum is an oversimplification. As of January, Oregon had 969,106 registered Dem- ocrats, 701,392 registered Republicans and 911,387 voters who were not affili- ated with a party. And some of the state’s rapidly growing regions, such as Bend and Hood River, are becoming more liberal. But one statewide survey suggested views on climate change were driven more by politics than geography. The Portland firm DHM surveyed Oregonians in March about whether Ore- gon “should do more to address climate change.” Eighty-five percent of Democrats said yes, com- Oregon Capital Bureau/Claire Withycombe Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena, speaks on the Senate floor Saturday, June 29. pared to 25% of Republicans and 53% of nonaffiliated voters and those registered with other parties. By area, 64% of respon- dents in the Portland area agreed, compared with 58% in the Willamette Valley and 44% in the rest of the state. “There’s been a misin- formation campaign,” said Brad Reed, spokesman for Renew Oregon, a coali- tion of special interests that supported a cap-and-trade program. Reed said that campaign portrayed the pollution costs and restrictions proposed as destroying rural economies, riling areas of the state. Backers of cap-and-trade said rural Oregon would have benefited in a way that opponents downplayed, obfuscated or ignored. “This bill is a massive, massive investment in rural Oregon. I mean, tens of millions, hundreds of mil- lions of dollars a year will be going to rural Oregon for the next 30 years, the way this bill was designed,” said Dylan Kruse, lobbyist for Sustainable Northwest. Sen. Arnie Roblan, a Coos Bay Democrat, said such views don’t account for the challenges of life in rural Oregon. “They have to drive far- ther and farther because the mills are farther and farther away,” said Roblan, who opposed the cap-and-trade plan. Even supporters of HB 2020 like Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland, acknowledge it’s a tough sell. Golden is one of three Democratic senators who live outside the Willamette Valley and represent largely rural constituencies. He said he understands the concerns he hears in his sprawling southern Oregon district. The timber industry there was decimated by the spot- ted owl decision and other shifts, both political and economic, in the late 20th century. But cap-and-trade is dif- ferent, he insisted. Some timber companies supported HB 2020, which exempted the industry from regulations. Others did not, includ- ing Miller’s Stimson Lum- ber. Miller believes that while some businesses and groups would prosper under cap-and-trade, others would suffer. “It’s all about picking political winners and los- ers,” Miller said. Similarly, while cap- and-trade had the support of some farmers, the Oregon Farm Bureau was opposed. Jenny Dresler, lobby- ist for the Oregon Farm Bureau, said cap-and trade didn’t address businesses’ concerns that cost increases would drive them under. “I don’t know that it’s urban versus rural as much as it’s understanding some of the pressures in different sectors in Oregon’s econ- omy,” she said. Oregon’s farmers com- pete with growers in other states, and even in other countries. Neighboring Idaho doesn’t have anything like the regulations and fees included in HB 2020, Dresler pointed out. Analysts said the bill would have immediately resulted in higher fuel costs, something opponents zeroed in on. Rep. Lynn Findley, R-Vale, worried that the increased cost of fuel, for example, could make Ore- gon farmers less competitive. “In my district, you take a farmer in Ontario that grows onions,” Findley said. “When he sells his onions, he sells them on an open market with growers from Idaho, and if the farmer from Oregon has to pay 22 cents a gallon more for fuel, his operating costs are up. … The guy from Idaho whose fuel is 22 cents a gallon cheaper, his cost of produc- tion is less, but they’re sell- ing the same product to the same people.” It’s not just farmers and loggers, either. Higher fuel prices affect urban and rural Oregon differently. While Portlanders might complain about sitting in traffic not experienced in places like Coos Bay and Ontario, most of the dis- tances they travel are short, and to get to some appoint- ments, they can walk, bike, or take the bus or light rail. In places where the pop- ulation density is low, like Findley’s district — which is roughly the size of South Carolina — it’s a different story. “The people that don’t have those expenses say, ‘Well, you have to reduce your car driving,’” Findley said. “(But) you have to be able to live and eat. You go to a doctor, you drive 150 miles. … It’s a different set of rules.” In some circles, the rheto- ric grew heated. “There are people who do not see life the way we do in rural Oregon, and they’re aiming to change that, including retooling the entire economy around green jobs,” said House Republican Leader Carl Wilson in a recent interview with Grants Pass radio sta- tion KAJO. “That, I tell you, is a disaster in the making.” Claims like that frustrate Golden, a mild-mannered PBS host who was elected to succeed Republican Alan DeBoer last year. “Again and again, you hear how this bill will destroy rural Oregon — crush people’s lives,” he said. “I really hope before people believe that, they look at the bill. … My only anger about this, really, is the way that the flames are getting fanned by people who know better.” No Matter how big or small your trophy was or if you just want to share a hunting adventure, send or drop off your best hunting photos or stories to 195 N Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845 • kim@bmeagle.com Your photos could be published in this year’s EAGLE HUNTING JOURNAL Please have them to the Eagle by August 8.
