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NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Court
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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.