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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 19, 2020)
NEWS MyEagleNews.com Wednesday, August 19, 2020 A3 Chamber president unhappy with new TRT proposal from John Day New option would give John Day 6% and chamber 4% of room taxes collected in city By Rudy Diaz Blue Mountain Eagle The city of John Day’s third alternative plan for the transient room tax ordinance raised concerns from the Grant County Chamber of Commerce president. The third proposal would raise the TRT rate, a tax charged on travelers at lodging facilities, to 10% for lodging establish- ments within the city limits of John Day. The current TRT rate for the county is 8%. The three options would only apply to operators in the city of John Day and not to other cities in the county. The options previously presented were the city add- ing its own rate of up to 4% on top of the county’s, or the city replacing the coun- ty’s rate with its own 8% rate. The cur- rent county rate supports operations at the chamber. In the new proposal, the 10% would be divided up into three parts: 4% dedi- cated to the city’s Community Develop- ment Fund for tourism and tourism-re- lated facilities; 4% remitted to the Grant County Chamber of Commerce to pro- mote regional tourism; and 2% held in the city’s general fund for general govern- ment operations. The city’s legal counsel is currently reviewing the proposals. The Eagle/Rudy Diaz Sherrie Rininger was installed as pres- ident for the Grant County Chamber of Commerce July 16. “This is what we decided we would offer, and if it was declined, we decided that we would go after all of it,” said Councilor Steve Schuette. Grant County Chamber of Commerce President Sherrie Rininger said she is not sure how the chamber board feels about the proposal because they just saw it, but she said she is unhappy and feels like this will open the doors for other cities to do the same. She said she is under the impres- sion that the city cannot override a county ordinance, which the new proposal would do. “That is going to cause a can of worms, and that will make the chamber go away,” Rininger said. “You got Prairie City spaces, Airbnb’s and all these things all over the place, and if they start pulling theirs, we can’t do our job.” John Day City Manager Nick Green said the city has been trying to communi- cate that its needs have not been met when it comes to tourism and tourism-related facilities. Rininger asked Green when a city rep- resentative last came to the chamber for assistance. “If you need signs for things, if you asked us, we’d be willing to do something like that,” Rininger said. Green said that’s where he thinks the priorities are diverging between the chamber and the city with the city focus- ing on infrastructure investment on Main Street. Reninger said the chamber has a $20,000 line item in its budget set for proj- ects like that this fiscal year. Another work session will be scheduled between John Day, the chamber and hotel operators on a date to be determined. “So we’re going to attempt to compro- mise and find a negotiated agreement,” Green said. “While no one is going to be super happy, we hope that we can achieve some mutually beneficial outcomes. I think part of this conversation is we need to decide what kind of community we are going to be and how we’re going to invest in our mutual priorities, or we will have to go at it alone and that’s not what the coun- cil wants to do.” Legislative leaders OK COVID-19 relief funds over objections of half of lawmakers By Gary A. Warner Oregon Capital Bureau The Oregon Legislature’s most powerful panel approved a plan to use federal funds to buy $105 million of personal protective equipment, despite objections from over half of all lawmakers. “I feel like I have been beat over the head on this issue over and over and over again,” said Sen. President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, who presided over the of the Legislature’s Emer- gency Board on Monday. Courtney chaired the some- time tense one-hour meeting of the board, a panel of 20 legisla- tive leaders and key lawmakers from both chambers and both parties that can make decisions while the Legislature is not in session. The Emergency Board on Monday approved a plan to purchase $105 million in equip- ment to distribute to counties and cities. The approval came despite a letter signed by 47 of the Leg- islature’s 90 lawmakers call- ing for the money to go directly to local governments to spend on their COVID-19 priorities instead of having the agenda dictated by the state. Among those signing were at least 18 Democrats. The letter said that the state has made only $200 million available to local governments through a reimbursement pro- gram controlled by the state. “By keeping a dispropor- tionate amount of the funds, the state has created inadequate resource distribution with sig- nificant statewide inequities,” the letter said. The letter supports an earlier letter from a coalition of 17 civic groups, including the Oregon Business Alliance, Bend Cham- ber of Commerce, League of Oregon Cities and the Associa- tion of Oregon Counties. Oregon received about $1.63 billion in coronavirus relief funds. Under the federal directive, some local govern- ments received their allocations directly — about $247 mil- lion was sent to Portland, and to Washington and Multnomah counties. Other local governments were to receive $625 million, with the federal directive say- ing the money should be allo- cated to local governments on a per capita basis. Instead, the Legislature and Gov. Brown have controlled the process. About $200 mil- lion was put into a state-run account in which local gov- ernments could apply for allocations. “In short, they are getting short-changed,” said Senate Minority Leader Fred Girod, R-Stayton, a member of the Emergency Board. While the $105 million expenditure was the official reason for the meeting, the underlying tension was over the opinion of many lawmak- ers that Gov. Kate Brown, House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, and Courtney were rushing spending through the process with little consulta- tion with other lawmakers. Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scap- poose, said that the Emergency Board was being “reduced to a rubber stamp for expenditures decided somewhere else” for deals hammered out before they even came to the Emergency Board. “We are pushing through items we spent a billion dollars on without any testimony or even time for thoughtful analy- sis,” she said. Most Republicans and some Democrats said the allocation of federal dollars so far seems tilted in favor of the Portland area. Rep. Greg Smith, R-Hep- pner, said he respected the efforts of legislative leaders and wished that they had worked more “arm-in-arm” with local governments. While wishing there was a way to vote yes, Smith said he was receiving strong signals from his Eastern Oregon district that the process had been unfair to local govern- ments east of the Cascades. “I represent five counties, multiple, multiple cities,” Smith said. “I am representing doz- ens and dozens of officials who have all expressed to me to vote no today.” Democrats who supported the allocation said the process was the best way to leverage state buying power to help local governments. Eagle file photo The John Day City Council meets in July. Councilors opted against enacting a panhandling ordinance. City opts against panhandling ordinance Councilors cited the cost, lack of a problem and First Amendment protections By Rudy Diaz Blue Mountain Eagle John Day city councilors decided not to draft an ordi- nance or resolution against panhandling after receiving a letter from business own- ers expressing concerns. The letter signed by 15 business owners sent to the city council states they are concerned about a possi- ble problem of panhandling facing John Day in the near future. They said they would like to see something put in place to prevent panhandling or begging on the streets of John Day. “We feel that if we are proactive in this we can have something in place should it become an issue,” the letter states. A family recently pan- handling on the intersec- tion of highways 395 and 26 is what prompted business owners to bring their con- cern to the city. “Etc. A Unique Bou- tique” business owner Sherry Rininger, who submitted the letter to the council, said the panhandling family fit the description of an all-points bulletin that went out shortly after they panhandled in John Day because they were scamming people in other cities as well. “The people I spoke to ... don’t want to see that in John Day,” Rininger said in a interview with the Eagle. “Maybe it’s not an issue now, but let’s not let it become one.” Rininger said she would like to see the city establish an ordinance or resolution so panhandlers avoid beg- ging for money on the street corner and are directed to resources that can help them out. “I’m all for helping these people that are legitimate, and we are a very generous community, but it’s a shame to see people try to take advantage of that generos- ity,” Rininger said. Councilor Dave Holland expressed concerns with the plan because of the cost involved with ordinances and legal fees and the lack of the problem. He said it would be a waste of money because John Day does not have the homeless population where panhandling typically occurs. Councilor Elliot Sky brought up the legal chal- lenges that cities have faced when attempting to deal with panhandling because the First Amendment pro- tects Americans’ right to free speech, which includes asking strangers for money. Another problem he had was with the idea of fines or punitive measures against those in poverty. Councilor Shannon Adair suggested sending a let- ter to business owners from the city saying what can be legally done in this situation, information from John Day Police Department Chief Mike Durr on panhandling in the city and the process for an ordinance since this is an issue that business owners expressed concerns about. “We can revisit it if it becomes an ongoing prob- lem here. We can always write an ordinance in the future,” Sky said. “I don’t see the need to write an ordi- nance preventively because we can always revisit the topic.” HELLO, JOHN DAY COMMUNITY FIRST COMMUNITY CREDIT UNION HAS ACQUIRED THE UMPQUA BANK BRANCH LOCATED IN JOHN DAY, OREGON. The new name speaks directly to First Community’s focus to provide the people in our communities with solutions to help them succeed financially. Because where we live, community always comes first. 150 W MAIN STREET | JOHN DAY | 833.920.1080 MYFIRSTCCU.ORG S165199-1 S199536-1
