NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
Sen. Findley fends oﬀ criticism for
not walking out on gun legislation
Eastern Oregon
leaders say
constituents should
give feedback to
Democrats
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
State Sen. Lynn Find-
ley, R-Vale, batted away crit-
icism during a virtual town
hall Wednesday for not walk-
ing away from the legislative
session last month to block
proposed gun legislation that
would ban handguns from
the Capitol and other state
buildings.
Senate Bill 554, approved
in a 16-7 vote over the objec-
tions of Republicans, would
also allow local governments,
school districts and univer-
sities to set their own rules
expanding gun prohibitions.
Findley said he stated
many times the speciﬁ c rea-
sons why he did not walk out.
He said SB 554 did not have
an emergency clause in the
bill, which is a provision that
would make it operable right
away if signed by Gov. Kate
Brown and make it harder for
The bill would create pen-
alties if guns are not stored
properly and require own-
ers to report stolen guns, and
help facilitate lawsuits against
owners whose improperly
stored ﬁ rearms are stolen and
used to cause injuries or prop-
erty damage.
Findley said HB 2510
was scheduled for a vote on
the House ﬂ oor, but it was
canceled.
Owens said the reason for
that is Democrats in both the
House and the Senate oppose
each other’s bills. He said they
are trying to ﬁ gure out the
next step.
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
He said Democrats were
Clockwise from top left, Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane, Sen. Lynn Findley, R-Vale, and Rep. Daniel Bon- trying to add an amendment,
ham, R-The Dalles, during a virtual town hall April 21.
which would blend the two
concepts of SB 554 and HB
opponents to refer the change trade bills because they had
“They’re not making their 2510.
to voters.
emergency clauses on them. voice known to the opposi-
He said they do not know
Additionally, Findley said Findley said, during those ses- tion,” he said. “I’m getting what the end product of the
walking out of the session sions, the Republicans told kicked by the people that want bill will be. Owens said,
would not have killed the bill. the Democrats they would not to see more gun laws on the because the proposed legisla-
He said lawmakers are consti- have walked if they removed books, and I’m getting kicked tion is unconstitutional, it may
tutionally required to pass a the emergency clause.
by the people that support me be struck down by the courts.
budget and would have been
Rep. Daniel Bonham, and the view that I have.”
“Some of these bills we all
called back to Salem for a spe- R-The Dalles, said the people
Findley said House Bill consider bad, especially the
cial session, and the ﬁ rst item who oppose gun control leg- 2510, known as the “safe-stor- ones that come at our consti-
on the agenda would have islation had not emailed the age bill,” would require Ore- tutional rights,” Owens said,
been SB 554.
Democrats who support those gonians to lock their guns “but we are in a tough position
He said the Republicans measures. He said the process when not in use and is “clearly where we are getting attacked
walked out on recent cap and has been “beyond frustrating.” unconstitutional.”
from both sides.”
City of John Day budgets for assistance
from Grant County for Fourth Street repairs
Without $400,000
from county, city
would have to
seek a loan to cover
25% match
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
The John Day City Council
continues to seek assistance
from Grant County to help
cover the cost of the Fourth
Street repairs.
The city council and bud-
Eagle ﬁ le photo
get committee approved the
city’s budget for ﬁ scal year John Day is seeking county assistance to repair Fourth Street after spring ﬂ ooding in 2019.
2021-2022, which includes
anticipating $400,000 from 2019, is $1.6 million, accord- deﬁ cit through reductions
Councilor Paul Smith said
the county to cover the match ing FEMA’s scope and cost elsewhere,” Green said. “The the council has gone to the
cost of a $1.2 million grant report.
way we got to that deﬁ cit and county several times ver-
from the Federal Emergency
FEMA will cover 75% of not a larger one is we zeroed bally and through emails with
Management Agency.
the cost with a 25% match out street maintenance. If we no response from the court
The budget approved by required, $398,281, accord- have to take out a loan to do regarding the Fourth Street
the budget committee will be ing to a letter sent to the the Fourth Street repairs proj- repairs.
published in the Blue Moun- county from Green on April ect, we have zero dollars in
“The ﬁ rst time we pre-
tain Eagle on May 28 with a 1.
our street maintenance bud- sented the project it was in
notice of a public hearing on
Green said, if the county get for (ﬁ scal year 2021- October during a study ses-
June 8, which will be the last declines to help, the estimated 2022) and a deﬁ cit.”
sion at the airport, and they
hearing for ﬁ nal review and $400,000 loan for 25 years
The council’s and commit- indicated at that time they
adoption of the budget.
with 3.5% interest results in a tee’s decision to have the bud- were willing to work with
“If the county declines this service obligation of $23,200 get account for funds from us,” Green said. “We have not
request, we will need a loan annually.
the county means that if the
for this amount to complete
With the debt obligation, county does not provide the
the project,” John Day Man- Green said the budget will money, both groups will meet
ager Nick Green said in the not balance and there will be again in July to create a sup-
budget message.
a deﬁ cit in the Street Fund for plemental budget for the loan.
The estimated cost to the upcoming ﬁ scal year of
The window for the proj-
repair Fourth Street, which $11,865.
ect to be constructed is July
was damaged by ﬂ ooding in
“We’ll have to correct that 15 to Aug. 31 this year.
had any correspondence since
then on this subject.”
Councilor Shannon Adair
said they needed other resi-
dents who are not on the city
council to talk with the Grant
County Court about the project.
“I said this over and over,
but Fourth Street serves as an
arterial to the Grant County
Regional Airport, and I will
emphasize ‘Grant County,’”
Smith said. “We’re in this
together.”
Councilor Elliot Sky said, if
there are problems between the
city and the county, they need
to tell the city so the problem
can be addressed and ﬁ xed.
“I think they need to be
reminded of the water and the
ﬁ ber that’s going into com-
munities that are not ours ...
and remind them that the way
this community was created in
the ﬁ rst place by ranchers and
farmers and business owners
working together,” Green said.
“We’ve moved away from that
into this weird, internecine
conﬂ ict between government
agencies that makes no sense at
all. Personalities may be a part
of the problem, but we need to
get over it.”
A3
OTEC
to hold
annual
meeting
virtually
May 15
Blue Mountain Eagle
Due to ongoing restric-
tions related to the COVID-
19 pandemic, Oregon Trail
Electric
Cooperative’s
2021 annual meeting will
be held virtually on Satur-
day, May 15, at 10:30 a.m.
Three positions on the
OTEC board of directors
are up for election. Elec-
tion results for Position 4
(Union County), Position
5 (Baker County) and
Position 6 (Grant County)
will be announced during
the annual meeting.
Board President Char-
lene Chase will conduct
business as necessary,
and Chief Executive Oﬃ -
cer Les Penning will pro-
vide an update on the state
of the cooperative.
Election ballots have
been mailed. Return using
the prepaid colored enve-
lope by May 7. Read the
instructions on the ballot
carefully. Ballots can be
dropped oﬀ at the secure
drop boxes located at local
OTEC oﬃ ces no later than
May 14 or at OTEC head-
quarters in Baker City on
May 15 before 10 a.m.
Included with the ballot is
a voter’s guide with can-
didate proﬁ les. Candidate
proﬁ les and other elec-
tion details also appear on
otec.coop/annual-meet-
ing-board-elections and
will be included in the
May issue of Ruralite.
Members voting by
mail will be entered to win
one of three $100 energy
credits. The winners will
be announced during the
annual meeting. All mem-
ber-owners are entitled to
vote in the election.
Members can view the
annual meeting virtually
on May 15 on the home-
page of otec.coop or on
OTEC’s Facebook page.
Members who do not
have access to a computer
will be able to call in to
listen to the annual meet-
ing. The toll-free call-in
number is 1-877-309-
2073. The access code is
798-185-293.
For questions on the
annual meeting or about
the election, call OTEC’s
communications oﬃ ce at
541-524-2858 or email
communications@otec.
coop.
Nurture Nature
Between Prairie City & John Day
541-820-3329
9am-5:30pm, Sunday–Friday
Trees | Roses | Shrubs | Hanging Baskets | Bedding Plants | Perennials
SATURDAY, MAY 15
10:30 A.M. VIRTUAL
BUSINESS MEETING
 
   
   
    
WATCH THE
LIVESTREAM AT
WWW.OTEC.COOP
OR AT
FACEBOOK.COM/
OTECOOP
CALL IN INFORMATION:
1-877-309-2073
ACCESS CODE:
798-185-293
S241021-1
S238888-1
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