NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
A12
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Judge
Continued from Page A1
Cramer said it was an
awesome experience to
work with his father, and
the firm usually had three or
four attorneys. When Cra-
mer’s father started to con-
sider retirement, there was
a need for another circuit
court judge in the Eastern
Oregon area.
At this time, Harney
County was part of Malheur
County’s judicial district,
and Grant County was with
Baker County.
“Everybody sort of rec-
ognized that there was a
need for another judge,
and different people were
advocating for an addi-
tional judge,” Cramer said.
“I know I advocated for
forming a new judicial dis-
trict, but I really think credit
should go to Sen. Gene
Timms who helped create
the 24th Judicial District.”
Grant and Harney coun-
ties comprised the new
district, and Cramer was
elected the first judge.
“I hadn’t really thought
about being a judge, and it
wasn’t a lifelong thing that
I just always wanted to be a
judge, but I was encouraged
to run,” Cramer said. “The
more I thought about it, it
seemed like a way to serve
the public.”
Making tough
decisions
Cramer knew the types
of cases he would work on
and knew that the position
required making many deci-
sions. He talked to other
judges about ensuring he
made the right decisions.
“I think I had a good
sense of what it would take
to make decisions, but I
think I am a certain person-
ality where certain cases are
hard to let go because you
really don’t feel there’s a
great decision to make and
you are struggling to make
the best decision in a diffi-
cult circumstance,” Cramer
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
Grant County Judge Scott Myers and Circuit Court Judge William D. Cramer Jr. talk to each
other at Cramer’s retirement party on Jan. 2.
said. “A lot of judges told
me, ‘Look, you’re going
to be making 35 decisions
a day, and you’re going to
get better at it, and you are
going to be able to make
those decisions.’”
Cramer quickly learned
there was more to the
administrative aspect of
running a court than he orig-
inally thought. Fortunately,
Cramer said he had a superb
trial court administrator,
Tammy Wheeler, who does
most of the necessary day-
to-day administration in the
court.
However, as the only
circuit court judge in the
24th district, he served on
all statutory committees,
which most districts usu-
ally delegate out among
multiple judges available.
He is also on call 24/7 to
do search warrants, protec-
tive orders and other after-
hours responsibilities. Cra-
mer also has two offices that
he is trying to keep open in
the two counties.
“There’s been a slow
process of going down to
Salem and being involved
in all kinds of statewide
committees to try to advo-
cate for, not just my district,
but Eastern Oregon in gen-
eral,” Cramer said. “I’ve
served on the Court Reengi-
neering and Efficiencies
Workgroup committee that
required me to travel and
be a part of the group, but
it was pretty important and
it did lead to an increase of
staff, which was necessary.”
Cramer said the National
Center for State Courts con-
ducted a study on case loads
in the state.
“They found out that
I was the second-busiest
judicial district in the state,
depending on the year,”
Cramer said. “Now we are
not quite as busy, so we are
now pretty much full time
for a judge, but even though
I am not quite as busy as
I used to be, I still feel
busy because of the travel
between the two counties.”
Technological shifts
Technology has helped
Cramer fulfill his goal
of being present in both
counties.
“It’s always been import-
ant for me to be here (in
Grant County) as much
as I can, and we do have
excellent video conferenc-
ing available,” Cramer said.
“We were one of the first
courts to get video confer-
encing, and we got it long
before any urban areas
did. I give credit to Judge
(Frank) Yraguen of Mal-
heur County who got that
initiated, but then we really
followed through and have
sort of been the example for
the state in some of those
areas.”
Cramer said, for long
hearings, he is less inclined
to use video conferencing
because, if witnesses are
called, seeing them in per-
son helps him observe their
body language and have a
sense by what’s going on in
the courtroom.
He said video conferenc-
ing saves taxpayers travel
costs when handling events
such as arraignments and
sentencing.
“Grant County deserves
to be represented just as dil-
igently as Harney County,
and I have family that live
here, and that was a com-
mitment I made that I would
be here and be the judge
for Grant County,” Cramer
said.
Impactful experiences
A family coming back
together in a healthier way
than what caused them
to appear in court is an
incredibly gratifying expe-
rience for Cramer to wit-
ness, but he said this is
rare because the situation
is usually pretty bad once
it reaches court. Adoption
ceremonies, when done
right, are also powerful for
Cramer.
“It does not happen a lot,
but I have seen victims give
forgiveness in a very pow-
erful way in the courtroom,”
Cramer said. “I know it’s
got me to the point to where
I can hardly speak when I
watch them giving grace
to a person that does not
deserve it. It lets me know
they are going to move past
it in a positive way, and it
promotes healing.”
Now that Cramer is
retired, he is thankful the
community gave him a
chance to serve, and he
never took their trust lightly.
Cramer expressed great
appreciation for his staff.
“I just really appreci-
ate the positive atmosphere
they provide and the desire
they have to do the best
job for the public, and also
a special thanks to Tammy
Wheeler,” Cramer said.
Cramer now carries the
responsibilities of a senior
judge, which means he can
be sent throughout the state
for temporary assignments.
Cramer also plans to travel
to visit his grandchildren in
the U.S. and several that are
in Spain, and he plans to see
more of this country and its
national parks. In time, Cra-
mer plans to get involved
with the community but
not immediately following
retirement.
Cramer’s last day as an
elected official was Dec.
31, but for now, Cramer
will continue his work as
judge in Grant and Harney
counties until a decision
is made about the vacancy
or when a new judge is
elected.
“To the extent that
there’s people of faith, they
should be praying for the
next judge that comes in
because they’ll have the
same concerns that I do
of never having enough
information and really try-
ing to make the best deci-
sion,” Cramer said. “Give
them some grace to make
adjustments and to learn
and to move forward on
the job.”
Put our
expertise
to work
for you.
Continued from Page A1
and the majority party to
refer cap and trade to the
people.”
Despite a slew of mod-
ifications to the climate
change program, which was
initially proposed last year,
Republicans say that Dem-
ocrats refuse to accept their
amendments. They now
insist the plan be put before
Oregon voters.
Rep. Mark Owens,
R-Crane, said in a statement
Tuesday his first priority is
to represent his constituents
in Salem.
“The voters have spoken
— they have strongly and
consistently opposed this
cap and trade policy and I
stand by them without ques-
tion,” he said.
In the House, one Repub-
lican did show up Tuesday
morning: Rep. Cheri Helt,
R-Bend, a self-described
moderate.
In a statement, Helt
said she wanted to vote for
“common ground climate
legislation” and would stay
behind “in hopes we can dig
deeper, try harder and reach
further to find a policy that
works for all Oregonians.”
“I believe in moderate,
bipartisan policy making,
as do the people I serve in
Bend,” Helt said. “The cur-
rent cap and trade plan …
isn’t balanced: going too far
in raising the cost of living
for working families while
doing little for our environ-
ment. I am a no vote. Sadly,
partisan polarization has
pushed the Capitol to this
moment once again.”
House Speaker Tina
Kotek, D-Portland, said in
a written statement that she
had “routinely reached out
to Republicans in a genu-
ine effort to hear their ideas
and compromise where we
can.”
“My door is always
open,” Kotek said. “For
now, they have chosen to
walk off the job. We may
disagree on policy, but
one thing is for sure — we
can’t reach consensus if the
Republicans don’t show up
for work.”
Although
Democrats
have lamented that walk-
outs represent a breakdown
of the legislative process,
Drazan lobbed the same
criticism back at them, say-
ing they “have not had an
interest in respecting the
legislative process and
have repeatedly refused to
compromise.”
“Each and every amend-
ment we offered on cap and
trade in committee has been
rejected,” Drazan said in a
statement. “I had remained
optimistic up until yes-
terday that a compromise
could be reached. Unfor-
tunately, our attempts to
achieve a bipartisan con-
sensus that would take into
account the views of all
Oregonians were denied.”
Oregon Capital Bureau’s
Sam Stites and the Blue
Mountain Eagle contrib-
uted reporting.
Water
Continued from Page A1
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“It was always known
there was going to be a reg-
ulatory mechanism, but
there was always a desire
that this is not always a top-
down directed program, but
also a little bit from the bot-
tom-up as well, and I ques-
tion whether or not that has
been lost,” he said.
On March 5 private
landowners will have their
opportunity to learn more
about the program and share
their thoughts and concerns.
ODA Strategic Imple-
mentation Area Program
Lead Brenda Sanchez will
be the guest speaker at the
Grant Soil and Water Con-
servation District annual
meeting at 6 p.m. March 5 at
the Grant County Municipal
Airport.
Sanchez said one good
thing about the program is
that ODA is on a long-term
schedule with the SIAs,
which is being implemented
statewide.
“We’re in all areas of the
state, and we are here to tell
ag’s story,” Sanchez said.