A4
OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
Clarno
gets it
right again
O
regon Secretary of
State Bev Clarno
rejected two initia-
tive petitions in December
because they included more
than one topic. It’s the sec-
ond time recently she’s told
would-be petition sponsors
they must stick to the state’s
single-subject rule, which
says petitions must be limit-
ed to only one change.
Clarno won the first case,
which involved three pro-
posed initiatives, in Marion
County Circuit Court in late
November, though the ruling
is being challenged in the
Court of Appeals.
Clarno recently tossed out
Initiative Petitions 48 and
49 for the same reason she
denied the earlier pair.
The two measures are
roughly identical. Each
would require that all elec-
tricity sold in Oregon be
from renewable sources
and carbon-free resources.
That is, presumably, what
really matters to the folks
at Renew Oregon, who are
pushing the bills at least in
part to make their goals law
no matter what the 2020
Legislature does.
Unfortunately, the mea-
sures don’t stop there. They
include all sorts of rules on
working conditions, the sorts
of things that are the result
of labor negotiations, not
a statewide vote. The rules
cover everything from pre-
vailing wage requirements
to mandatory participation in
apprenticeship programs and
proof the utilities have a his-
tory of obeying existing state
and federal wage and hour
laws. And, during the switch
to 100% renewables, utili-
ties would be charged with
working to see that everyone
benefits from the switch.
They are, in other words,
multifaceted proposals that
deal with multiple subjects.
And that, the state consti-
tution says in several places,
is not the way the system
works. The state constitution
clearly says that “a proposed
law or Amendment shall
embrace one subject only
and matters properly con-
tained therein” [Article IV,
Section 1 (2)(d)].
That’s not particularly
ambiguous language, in
Clarno’s view. The only
judge to rule on the issue so
far has seen it her way. With
luck, a new round of judges
will agree.
BUILDING BLOCKS
Big guns versus small guns
B
ig guns have a specific pur-
pose and usefulness as do
small guns. Similarly, big
chain corporate businesses have
their specific purpose and useful-
ness as do small businesses.
Small businesses have a big
impact on the U.S. economy
through job creation and innova-
tion. According to the Small Busi-
ness Administration, small busi-
ness is defined as a privately
owned corporation, partnership or
sole proprietorship widely mea-
sured by having fewer than 500
employees.
As of Nov. 4, 2019, the SBA
reported there are nearly 30 mil-
lion small businesses in the U.S.
employing 47.8% of U.S. work-
ers. Oregon small businesses
employed 852,983, or 55% of
the private workforce, creating
37,592 net jobs. Businesses with
fewer than 20 employees expe-
rienced the largest gain, adding
22,203 net jobs in 2016, accord-
ing to the Census Bureau. South-
ern and Eastern Oregon, and more
specifically Grant County, are
alive because geographically our
small businesses employ less than
500 employees. We are the “Lit-
tle Guns.”
Can you imagine not having
“Little Guns” available? Imagine,
for a moment, living without your
downtown and local businesses.
Think about the impact of just one
business closing, or one business
opening, in Grant County. For
$5,000. “Costco focuses on sup-
porting charitable programs and
community activities in the mar-
kets where we do business. All
501©(3) nonprofit organiza-
tions focusing on children, edu-
cation, and/or health and human
services are eligible to apply for
consideration, regardless of their
distance from our locations, but
are very competitive.”
The building blocks of Grant
County are the “Little Guns”
made up of small businesses
employing you and your spouse,
teens, college students, grand-
children and your neighbors
in Grant County. They are the
entrepreneurs who have grit,
compassion, perseverance and
heart for Grant County. Yes,
heroes of our time, serving and
working hard for families, non-
profit organizations and the com-
munity as they provide jobs,
goods and services, and dona-
tions to Grant County schools,
health care, 4-H, fire depart-
ments and other local community
fundraisers.
When you support the “Lit-
tle Guns” — the small businesses
in Grant County — you are mak-
ing a big impact on our commu-
nities’ economic sustainability,
growth and existence. Economic
development starts with you as
the consumer.
Dorothy Nestlerode is a Grant
County resident, mother and local
author.
every dollar spent
at a small busi-
ness in the U.S.,
approximately
$0.67 stays in the
local community.
In addition to dol-
Dorothy
lars spent, local
Nestlerode
businesses donate
hundreds or thou-
sands of products and money
to local community fundrais-
ers and events. Where would all
the schools, nonprofit organiza-
tions and family crisis fundrais-
ers be if there were no baskets,
or guns, or gravel, or money —
goods and services — donated
by Grant County businesses?
This is where the “Little Guns”
become the “Big Guns” and the
“Big Guns” become the “Little
Guns” or non-existent guns.
The facts are “Big Guns”
donate to communities, but the
communities must meet specific
requirements or guidelines. “At
Amazon, we are committed to
ensuring all children and young
adults, especially those from
underrepresented and under-
served communities who reside
in areas where we have a physi-
cal presence, have the resources
and skills they need to build
their best and brightest futures.”
Costco and Walmart/Sam’s Club
offer grants through annual
grant applications. Walmart
2019 grants range from a mini-
mum of $250 to a maximum of
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
WHERE TO WRITE
GRANT COUNTY
• Grant County Courthouse — 201
S. Humbolt St., Suite 280, Canyon City
97820. Phone: 541-575-0059. Fax:
541-575-2248.
• Canyon City — P.O. Box 276, Canyon
City 97820. Phone: 541-575-0509.
Fax: 541-575-0515. Email: tocc1862@
centurylink.net.
• Dayville — P.O. Box 321, Dayville
97825. Phone: 541-987-2188. Fax: 541-
987-2187. Email:dville@ortelco.net
• John Day — 450 E. Main St, John
Day, 97845. Phone: 541-575-0028.
Fax: 541-575-1721. Email: cityjd@
centurytel.net.
• Long Creek — P.O. Box 489, Long
Creek 97856. Phone: 541-421-3601.
Fax: 541-421-3075. Email: info@
cityoflongcreek.com.
• Monument — P.O. Box 426,
Monument 97864. Phone
and fax: 541-934-2025. Email:
cityofmonument@centurytel.net.
• Mt. Vernon — P.O. Box 647, Mt.
Vernon 97865. Phone: 541-932-4688.
Fax: 541-932-4222. Email: cmtv@
ortelco.net.
• Prairie City — P.O. Box 370, Prairie
City 97869. Phone: 541-820-3605. Fax:
820-3566. Email: pchall@ortelco.net.
• Seneca — P.O. Box 208, Seneca
97873. Phone and fax: 541-542-2161.
Email: senecaoregon@gmail.com.
SALEM
• Gov. Kate Brown, D — 254 State
Capitol, Salem 97310. Phone: 503-378-
3111. Fax: 503-378-6827. Website:
governor.state.or.us/governor.html.
• Oregon Legislature — State
Capitol, Salem, 97310. Phone: (503)
986-1180. Website: leg.state.or.us
(includes Oregon Constitution and
Oregon Revised Statutes).
• Oregon Legislative Information —
(For updates on bills, services, capitol
or messages for legislators) — 800-
332-2313.
• Sen. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario – 900
Court St. NE, S-301, Salem 97301.
Phone: 503-986-1730. Website:
oregonlegislature.gov/Bentz. Email:
Sen.CliffBentz@oregonlegislature.gov.
• Rep. Lynn Findley, R-Vale – 900 Court
St. NE, H-475, Salem 97301. Phone: 503-
986-1460. Website: oregonlegislature.
gov/findley. Email: Rep.LynnFindley@
oregonlegislature.gov.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
• The White House, 1600
Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington,
D.C. 20500; Phone-comments: 202-
456-1111; Switchboard: 202-456-
1414.
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Published every
Wednesday by
‘Our government
is fundamentally
altered’
To the Editor:
The Hillsdale College Impri-
mis tells us that today the form
of our government is fundamen-
tally altered — the Constitution
has been largely replaced with an
alternative form.
This alteration is based on the
fact that the great majority of our
laws at the federal level are not
made by Congress, as is com-
monly claimed and dictated by
law, but by the people we elect
delegating the work to some-
one else. Actually, they delegate
it to many people, collected in
about 150 independent executive
agencies.
These agencies make a very
great number of laws, and there
is no ready way for the people to
correct those laws. It is made to
appear that the authority of those
developments have taken a new
and dangerous turn because they
are set along partisan lines and
possibly by foreign interests and
United Nations dictates. We know
that because the people in law
enforcement and intelligence at
the federal level have said so.
We need to understand this
when it becomes time to vote.
Judy Kerr
Canyon City
A landmark gone
To the Editor:
Saw the smouldering remains
of the tennis shoe tree Jan. 2 on
Highway 26, about milepost 88.
It has been the source of smiles
and pictures by visitors for years,
but someone decided to torch it. It
took some effort to drive up there
and do that. Too bad the person,
or persons, who did this couldn’t
direct their efforts to something
good. Pretty sad.
Mary Brown
Prairie City
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.
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Mountain Eagle, 195 N. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845; or fax to 541-575-1244.
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MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
who hold these unelected offices
is made legitimate by the fact that
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ple who are elected.
The “unelected” give them-
selves authority by passing
amendments to the rules, laws
and directives, such as adding
more to the Code of Federal Reg-
ulations (CFRs) to give more
authority or to “clarify,” add-
ing “supplements” to manuals or
handbooks, leaving interpretation
to all levels of “unelected” all the
way down to a local level.
As of 2013 there were 175,496
pages, with 50 titles in the CFRs,
which contains current, in-force
rules and regulations promulgated
by the departments and agencies
of the federal government.
Those who founded our nation
and the thinkers upon whom
they drew believed that such an
arrangement would destroy the
accountability of the govern-
ment to the people, and therefore
destroy the ground of government
by consent. In recent years these
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