A4
OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, May 26, 2021
Bills should
not be used
as political
pawns
I
n the end, it is a shame that
a few Oregon lawmakers
were forced to resort to a
little-known, and hardly used,
rule to get a bill that addresses
criminal sexual contact off the
ice and moving in the Legis-
lature.
The legislation, Senate Bill
649 — also known as Bai-
ley’s Bill — boosts penal-
ties for criminal sexual con-
tact with an underage victim
if the off ender is the victim’s
teacher. The existing law
delivers harsher penalties to a
coach caught in the same sit-
uation as a teacher. The bill,
named after Weston-McE-
wen student Bailey Munck,
received easy approval in the
Oregon Senate before it trav-
eled to the House where, for
reasons not clear, it stalled
at the House Judiciary
Committee.
The chair of the committee,
Rep. Janelle Bynum, D-Clack-
amas, “indicated” she was not
going to give the bill a hear-
ing, which prompted nine
members of the judicial com-
mittee to invoke House Rule
8.20. The rule stipulates that,
if a majority of committee
members request a hearing in
writing, the chair must set up a
hearing within fi ve days.
After invoking the rule,
public hearings were held May
18 and May 24.
Bynum’s reluctance to
move the bill may be con-
nected to political brinkman-
ship, where it was going to
be used as a bargaining chip
regarding other legislation.
Hopefully, that is incorrect. If
it is not, then that should give
readers — not to mention vot-
ers — pause.
A bill that addresses a sub-
ject as sensitive as crimi-
nal sexual contact should not
be regulated to a mere chess
piece on broader political
chess board.
The lawmakers who pushed
for the hearing should be
lauded. Sen. Bill Hansell,
R-Athena, and Sen. Kathleen
Taylor, D-Milwaukie, who
navigated the bill through the
Senate, also deserve praise.
Bailey’s Bill should not
have ended up stuck in limbo
in a committee of the House.
The bill, once it reached the
House, should have been acted
on immediately.
That it was not is troubling.
The broader issue, though,
is appropriate punishment for
those who prey on our chil-
dren. This bill will fi x a glar-
ing hole that seemingly gives
instructors a lighter pun-
ishment when they, in fact,
should receive the same pen-
alty as coaches. It will close a
dangerous loophole.
The other key piece of the
bill is it has wide, biparti-
san support. Currently, such
unity among lawmakers is
rare and when it occurs should
be advanced as quickly as
possible.
This time lawmakers did
the right thing, and voters
should be pleased.
GUEST COMMENT
Returning to normal
I
am a 75-year-old veteran. I was
raised, and spent most of my
adult life, rural counties, includ-
ing the past 25 years on Starr Ridge.
On May 19, Coff ee Time broadcast
an interview with Bill Newman. I
don’t normally get involved in pol-
itics but was compelled to respond
to that interview. Bill’s primary con-
cern seemed to be the governor’s
handling of the COVID-19 epi-
demic. He claimed it made no sense.
I would like to address Bill’s
claim to have reached our to the
community for anyone who might
support the mandates of the gover-
nor. I would ask how did you reach
out? Did you announce the meet-
ing on the radio or in the paper so
people would know? Either of those
would have reached me, yet I knew
nothing of the meeting.
As to the raising and lowering of
local restrictions, they are not arbi-
trary. The CDC has set guidelines
based on cases per thousand pop-
ulation. Unfortunately, our popu-
lation base is so small that one or
two cases, plus or minus, over any
given time period can dramatically
aff ect the level of restriction. And
why the restrictions, anyway? Why
shut down or limit in-person din-
ing? Why wear masks and maintain
social distancing? And most impor-
tantly of all, why get vaccinated?
Bill off ered in response a website
at Johns-Hopkins where one could
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mal until the disease is under con-
trol. And how best do we control the
spread of the virus? Get vaccinated.
Since the introduction of vaccina-
tions, the rate of spread if the dis-
ease has decreased by 90%.
Finally, I must address a num-
ber of dubious statements Bill made,
the fi rst relating to his attempt to
fi nd a proponent of the mandates.
He claims he could muster no
attendee from the school district or
the local government (Ron Lund-
bom excepted.) The basic story he
received from “everyone” was “that
the state government was threat-
ening to close the schools and stop
highway funding if someone even
spoke out.” That is a pretty seri-
ous accusation. Hist story would be
more plausible if he had attached
a few names of the “everybody”
he had talked to. He also claimed
that Doctor Fauci was making mil-
lions off the vaccine. On what does
he base this? Has he seen the doc-
tor’s fi nancial statements? Even the
internet has not yet dared such an
accusation.
Bill is right about one thing. We
need to work together to return our
country to its robust past. Get vacci-
nated. Wear a mask. Respect social
distancing. The sooner we under-
stand this the sooner everything will
return to normal.
Robin Roberts
resides in Canyon City.
GUEST COMMENT
Tough love
A
Blue Mountain
compute the probability of dying
from COVID. He claims the com-
puter gave him a one in a million
chance of dying from COVID-19.
But this isn’t about you, Bill. This is
about us. All of us. And it isn’t just
about dying, though that is horrifi c
enough in itself, it is about getting
infected, because infected people
transmit the disease. And the infec-
tion rate is much higher than one
in a million. With a population just
over 250 million and over 33 mil-
lion infected, that works out to one
in seven, not one in a million. And
all these people are contagious. So
are the uncounted thousands (mil-
lions?) that have the virus but show
no symptoms.
The fi rst concern of the CDC is
to stop the spread of the disease.
To do that they must consider not
just the death rate but the infection
rate. The problem is the virus can be
transmitted by people who show no
signs of it. All of the steps they have
taken have been for that goal. To
stop the spread of the virus.
I think the aspect of the restric-
tions that most concerns the average
person on the street is the crippling
eff ect on our local economies. But
it is not the mandates and restric-
tions that have crippled our econo-
mies. It is the disease itself and its
high level of contagion. You want
the local business to return to nor-
mal? We cannot get back to nor-
t a May 19 meeting at Grant
County Fairgrounds, we
heard about Project Turn-
key, which had been quietly pro-
moted by Community Counseling
Services, Families First, other social
service bureaucrats and a behind-
the-scenes steering committee. The
project focused on Dreamers Lodge,
at the center of John Day on North
Canyon Boulevard, as a transitional
housing project. Project residents
would have been persons on parole,
veterans and those coming out of
the criminal justice system, and to
accommodate residents transitioning
from Meredith House, the domestic
abuse facility in John Day.
Project proponents stressed
“local” residents, but it’s a fact that
people are sent to or come to Grant
County from other places for social
services, mental health care, wel-
fare benefi ts, low-income hous-
ing and as a place where they can
safely receive unemployment bene-
fi ts because of limited employment
options or jobs for which they are
qualifi ed. Sticking to “local” criteria
would be challenging, especially to
meet occupancy quotas. And where
would these people transition to
with such limited housing here?
How sensible would it be to
place at-risk women and children
(domestic abuse victims) next to
parolees, and those with drug addic-
tion — which seemed to be the main
intended Project Turnkey residents?
And it’s almost laughable that this
came at a critical time when the city
of John Day is uncertain if it can
support a police department.
The million-dollar grant that
was abandoned was taxpayer
money with strings attached to peo-
ple somewhere else holding fl exi-
ble strings. Any project of this type
would result in signifi cant property
tax revenue loss.
On short notice, I, along with
more than 350 people, signed a peti-
tion to say no to this eff ort, which
was presented to project organiz-
ers. The petition addressed to Grant
County governments stated “We
Demand No Homeless Transitional
Living Project in John Day Neigh-
borhoods and Business Districts.”
We are told to be sensitive, com-
passionate, reach out. We heard
from individuals and businesses
doing just that; and we heard from
those who have been helped by
that support. I know for a fact that
churches are quietly helping people
in need. Grant County people as a
whole continue to be very generous.
A bigger question begs: Where
do we draw the line? When does
helping someone become co-en-
abling? Most, if not all, of those
who would be housed at a transi-
tional housing facility are already
receiving fi nancial help and various
support services. There are some-
times circumstances beyond some-
one’s control, but for the most part,
it’s a vicious cycle of bad behavior,
poor life choices, being a danger to
themselves and the general public,
and continued government depen-
dency. Consideration for pets and a
place to garden — non-essentials —
seems excessive. It’s time for tough
love. For those who really want to
succeed there’s already an active
safety net with social service per-
sonnel seeking to and confi dent that
they can help.
Where did all these desperate
problems come from? Concern-
ing the current drug epidemic on
our doorstep, everyone should ask
themselves:
Who supports or voted to legal-
ize marijuana?
Who voted for a Grant County
dispensary (John Day specifi cally)?
Who voted to tie the hands of
law enforcement and courts to
lessen consequences and penalties
associated with possession and use
of hard drugs like cocaine and her-
oin? And now meth is said to be
the biggest drug problem in Grant
County!
Decisions like this have contrib-
uted immensely to this huge prob-
lem. Now we have it. There is no
easy answer. Expanded social ser-
vices and transitional housing
can’t fi x it, and may even open the
door for bigger problems for this
community.
Heather Swank
is a John Day resident.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Not enough time
for research
To the Editor:
I am a long time resident and busi-
ness owner here in John Day. I voted
no on repurposing Dreamers Lodge
into a transitional living facility. There
is some rhetoric being passed around
that is simply not true. I can speak
for many of us that voted no. We are
not people who are selfi sh and uncar-
ing. In fact, it is quite the contrary. We
care about the community! That is
why I was so passionate to pause this
project. The majority of us were liter-
ally informed at the last minute. We
did not have time to research the proj-
ect for ourselves or fi nd out specifi cs.
Many of us learned more at the meet-
ing and then immediately a vote was
held. It was brought up that evening,
Mosier’s Furniture was just informed
that day. They are in close proximity
to the proposed project and were not
informed in a timely manner.
I was not entirely opposed to what
Community Counseling Solutions is
wishing to accomplish. However, the
location was an issue to the neigh-
bors in the residential area, and the
area businesses had reservations. In
the future, I hope that the community
may have adequate time to ask ques-
tions and be a part of the solution. We
have a compassionate community.
On many occasions, we have gone
above and beyond to help our fellow
citizens.
Katrina Page
John Day