OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
A4
Wednesday, July 1, 2020
Oregon
taxpayers
deserved better
T
he COVID-19 virus
outbreak put unex-
pected pressure on
an array of state and federal
agencies, and in at least one
case, the compression created
leaks that sprouted into wide
fissures.
Take the Oregon Employ-
ment Department’s fail-
ure regarding the Pandemic
Unemployment Assistance
program as an example.
The federal program —
rolled out in March — was
just one of a series of relief
packages created to help plug
the unprecedented gaps cre-
ated by the COVID-19 virus
epidemic. Essentially, the pro-
gram was an expansion of
employee insurance that cov-
ered self-employed individu-
als and contract workers.
Oregon, though, didn’t
even begin accepting Pan-
demic Unemployment Assis-
tance applications until late
April. The Oregon Employ-
ment Department did not
have a phone number for
those seeking the Pandemic
Unemployment Assistance
until this month, and while it
added more phone lines, call-
ers were still expected to wait
more than an hour and a half
for assistance.
That isn’t the most trou-
bling piece of the whole equa-
tion, though. That’s because
instead of processing the
claims in a rapid manner —
or even in a slow, but method-
ical fashion — the OED
admitted recently it had a
backlog of more than 70,000
unprocessed claims. That, in
turn, means that thousands of
Oregonians who qualified for
help didn’t get it.
The Oregon Employment
Department also proclaimed
it would roll out a new pro-
gram, dubbed FOCUS PUA,
to better focus resources and
staff to clear out the backlog
of unprocessed claims. The
state estimates it can admin-
ister 5,000 claims in the first
week of the program and that
its weekly processing num-
bers will grow by 2,500 per
week thereafter, enabling the
state to overcome the current
backlog of PUA claims within
six or seven weeks.
The state is also apparently
cooperating with Google to
build a web-based PUA appli-
cation system. That system is
expected to roll out in early
July.
All of that, of course, is
good news.
What remains troubling,
however, is the failure of a
critical state agency to handle
this specific program in a pro-
fessional manner. Some lat-
itude can be given when the
problem is framed against the
abrupt disarray created by
the COVID-19 virus and the
governor’s subsequent order
to close the state to stop its
spread. Tried and true meth-
ods, after all, were disrupted
when the state’s civil ser-
vants were ordered to work
from home. That type of sud-
den disorder created new
challenges for civil servants
everywhere.
Yet, the state began to open
in mid-May. While the wheels
of bureaucracy were always
slow, for the employment
department to have dropped
the ball — creating a massive
backlog — on this specific
problem is shocking.
Oregon taxpayers deserved
a better accounting on this
issue. They didn’t get it. Law-
makers — including locally
elected state senators and rep-
resentatives — should be ask-
ing why.
GUEST COMMENT
Elbow grease goes a long way
C
urbside appeal does not just
apply to houses. It’s the first
impression customers have
of your business, and especially
during this tough economic time,
anything a business owner can do to
attract and keep customers is more
important than ever.
The first step in making sure your
business is inviting is to step outside
and, using your critical eye, scan the
entire area. Often a business owner
or manager uses a side or back
entrance and neglects to pay atten-
tion to the front of the store.
Do you have cracks in your side-
walk with grass growing up in
between? If you don’t want to use
chemicals, give your local exten-
sion agent or nursery a call and find
out what natural options there are.
Is your sidewalk swept and regu-
larly hosed off? Check to see if your
entry is free of cobwebs and that
your front door and knob are clean
— maybe even consider repainting
your door an eye-catching color.
Look at your signage. It is faded
or worn, and can it can be easily
seen while driving or walking by?
Check to see if there are too
many flyers in your window and
whether they are outdated. Hav-
ing a designated spot inside will
give organizations a place to adver-
tise their event or other informa-
tion and will leave your windows
clear so customers can see what you
have to offer or enjoy your display.
Communities must work together
F
EAGLE
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cleaner?
Are objects in your window dis-
play covered with dust or faded by
the sun? When was the last time you
changed it? Shoppers are looking for
what’s new and different and are not
going to be drawn in by the same
old stuff.
Have you planted, weeded and
watered your flowers? Is your flag
faded and tattered or properly lit?
Make certain your days and
hours of operation are clearly posted
and that you adhere to them. It
doesn’t make customers very happy
to find a note saying, “I’ll be back in
10 minutes or closed for vacation.”
As shoppers venture out, feel-
ing safe is of utmost importance to
them. Post your COVID-19 pol-
icy on your front door so customers
know what to expect and what your
efforts are to keep them safe. Many
businesses are providing hand sani-
tizer near the front door and request-
ing customers use it when enter-
ing and exiting. Some are providing
masks. Be certain you are following
the mandatory safety guidelines for
your type of business. Clean often,
paying special attention to door-
knobs, the counter and pin pads on
debit card machines — doing this in
front of customers so they can see
you are paying attention to cleanli-
ness is not a bad idea.
Finally, you may want to con-
sider joining a downtown associa-
tion or banding together with other
business owners in coming up with
a plan inviting other shops in the
area to participate in keeping their
store fronts spiffed up. Everyone
will benefit, and customers will have
a reason to come in and spend their
money.
In closing, please note: Eastern
Oregon University Small Business
Development Center will be hiring a
limited-duration, part-time business
adviser for Grant County. It will be
for 20 hours per week at a little over
$30 per hour, and the position will
last until March 31, 2021. If you
are interested in applying, submit a
resume, cover letter and three pro-
fessional references. The success-
ful candidate will have a minimum
of five years business and/or lend-
ing experience. Please send applica-
tion materials to the email address
listed below.
Greg Smith is the director of
the Eastern Oregon University
Small Business Development Cen-
ter, which provides free, confidential
business advising. For more infor-
mation, call 541-962-1532 or email
eousbdc@gmail.com.
GUEST COMMENT
By Quint Studer
Blue Mountain
Greg Smith
This may lessen the
chances of them
reading the flyer
and walking on by.
Speaking of seeing
through your win-
dows, can you? Or
is it time to break
out the window
reedom, independence, self-suf-
ficiency: These are great and
glorious concepts. We cele-
brate them this time of year, whether
we process it that way or not, because
they’re so deeply ingrained in our
image of America. We see ourselves
as a nation of rugged individualists:
seizing the bull by the horns, charting
our own course, walking alone into
the forest with an ax slung over our
shoulder.
Yes, it’s a romantic notion. But
it’s not an accurate one. America is a
nation of small, tight-knit communi-
ties and always has been. The more
we cooperate, share, defer to others
and work together, the more success-
ful we are. Today, as citizens, busi-
nesses and civic leaders seek to come
back from a public health and eco-
nomic crisis, that spirit of community
is more important than ever. It holds
the key to our survival.
I’ve spent much of my career trav-
eling from one American community
to another. Some are bustling larger
cities. Others are quiet small towns.
What they all have in common is the
burning desire to revitalize them-
selves: to become more vibrant, pros-
perous, livable and loveable than they
are right now. And as I’ve worked
with these diverse groups of Ameri-
cans, I’ve seen a theme emerge: Those
communities that work together, win
together.
When citizens and leaders come
together, put their self-interest on
the back burner and work as a team,
things get done. When they don’t,
nothing gets done.
The more you think about the
myth of the self-reliant early Amer-
ican, the less likely it seems. Our
ancestors must have huddled together
in small groups and worked to protect
each other from a harsh and unfor-
giving environment. They must have
joined forces, shared what they had
and leaned on each other when times
were tough.
And on the larger stage, our
nation’s founders had to work together
in a similar fashion to bring America
into being. They were working toward
independence as a new nation, but
they had to rely on interdependence to
get there. And as leaders of communi-
ties of all shapes and sizes and demo-
graphics and political persuasions, we
can all learn a lot from them.
Here are four big “history les-
sons” we should all heed as we seek to
reopen, recover, rebuild and continue
making our way on journey toward
vibrancy:
Set aside your self-interest and cre-
ate something that works for every-
one. Lots of different professions,
industries and interests were present
at the birth of America. Cabinet mak-
ers weren’t fixated only on the wood
industry, nor silver smiths on the silver
trade. Everyone was fired up to con-
tribute to something bigger than them-
selves. They bought into the overar-
ching mission, and weren’t bogged
down by endless debate over the
short-term costs of their plan.
In other words, don’t be overly
concerned with your own wellbeing.
Setting aside your own short-term best
interests may accomplish far more for
everyone in the long run. Because a
rising tide lifts all boats, this includes
you.
Don’t let ideological differences
stop you from achieving something
tangible. Despite bitter disputes and
differences of opinion, a group of peo-
ple with little in common other than
their shared determination that change
was needed were able to get mobi-
lized and get something done. While
there was much to be decided about
the way things would function in the
new nation, they all recognized that
there wouldn’t even be a new nation
if they didn’t set aside their disagree-
ments and move the ball down the
court.
It’s important to know what mat-
ters. Don’t let petty disputes about
how things should get done sabotage
the greater task at hand.
Don’t be constantly trying to steal
the spotlight from each other. It’s OK
to let someone else be “the one in
charge.” No one complained that John
Hancock’s signature was bigger than
theirs, or that so-and-so got to sign the
Declaration before they did. (OK, it’s
possible, but we can see by the doc-
ument that resides in the National
Archives that it got done anyway!)
The founders kept their focus on the
ambitious mission of standing up to
one of the most powerful authorities
in the world: the king of England.
When we try to make it about our-
selves, we can get off track and let
our self-absorption derail the project
or initiative. Keep the greater goal in
mind and stay focused on that.
Don’t wait on the government to
“fix it.” Instead, join together and
take bold action at the local level. The
changes desired by American colo-
nists weren’t coming from Great Brit-
ain. And so, in the summer of 1776
delegates from each of the Thirteen
Colonies took it upon themselves to
challenge British authorities and make
change happen — their way.
Citizen-powered change is the
most powerful change. If it’s to be,
it’s up to you and me, not government
agencies. (Local governments tend not
to have the budget to drive fundamen-
tal change, and due to election cycles,
officials come and go. Many won’t
be around to see long term projects
through.)
Yes, early communities needed
each other, and that drove a lot of
their interactions. We went through
a period of time where we started to
believe we didn’t need each other,
and that clearly isn’t true. We now
realize that working together is the
only way we can make our cities and
towns thrive.
No one is saying America’s found-
ers were perfect. They were far from
it, as we are. But one thing they got
right was the knowledge that they
needed to work together for a com-
mon cause. Teamwork is a powerful
force. We couldn’t have built a nation
without it, and we can’t build a better
community without it either.
Quint Studer is the author of
“Building a Vibrant Community: How
Citizen-Powered Change Is Reshap-
ing America” and founder of Pensac-
ola’s Studer Community Institute. For
more information, visit vibrantcom-
munityblueprint.com and studeri.org.