A14
NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wyden
Continued from Page A1
actually labeled as “rivers,”
with most being identifi ed
as streams, gulches, draws
or unnamed tributaries.
The AFRC and other
opponents have argued this
is a misuse of the Wild and
Scenic Rivers System —
though Wyden countered
that intermittent streams are
not only valid for protection
under the law, but necessary
for watersheds.
“I’ve come to think that
there’s almost a transpor-
tation analogy here that’s
appropriate,” Wyden said.
“You don’t manage traffi c
just by building highways.
You need connecting streets,
alleyways and sidewalks.
The same, in fact, applies to
most river systems.”
Approximately 2 mil-
lion Oregonians, or nearly
half the state’s total popula-
tion, depend on intermittent
streams for clean drinking
water, Wyden added.
The bill also requires
the U.S. Forest Service
and Bureau of Land Man-
agement to assess wild-
fi re risks in each wild and
scenic river corridor. The
agencies would then have
up to six years to develop
mitigation plans, working
with local, state and tribal
governments.
The bill would create a
$30 million per year fund
to restore and rehabilitate
riparian areas that do burn
in a wildfi re, Wyden said.
“What I see the River
Democracy Act doing is
creating a multiple-use tool-
box so we have this array of
tools and we can build on
existing law,” Wyden said.
Supporters of the bill
did speak during the vir-
tual town hall, including
representatives of the Nez
Perce Tribe and Confeder-
ated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation.
Kat Brigham, CTUIR
chair, said she is pleased
with the River Democracy
Act, and that it reinforces
stream restoration already
undertaken by the tribes.
“It moves us closer to
what we are working toward
— building, protecting and
enhancing cold, clean water,
not only for our fi rst foods,
but for ourselves,” Brigham
said.
Others, however, say
their questions remain
unanswered.
In a memo released
shortly after the meeting, the
AFRC pushed back against
the bill, arguing wild and
scenic designations would
impose restrictions on forest
management and actually
increase wildfi re risk in the
protected stream corridors.
The bill would also “dra-
matically increase manage-
ment costs and complexity
on-the-ground, create con-
Wednesday, September 8, 2021
fl icts between user groups,
and distract and overload
federal agencies already
overwhelmed by cata-
strophic wildfi re manage-
ment and response,” the
memo states.
Prior to the town hall,
the Eastern Oregon Coun-
ties Association sent a letter
to Wyden outlining similar
concerns related to public
access, fi re prevention and
property rights.
Going forward, Wyden
said that, while people may
have diff erences of opinion,
he hopes to keep the lines
of communication open to
answer questions and pro-
vide feedback.
“I’m committed to get-
ting this right,” he said.
Workers
Continued from Page A1
have to compete against fed-
eral unemployment benefi ts,
an increase in household
income from federal stimu-
lus funds and retirements.
Just ask Robin Clement,
co-owner of Monkless Bel-
gian Ales in Bend. Clem-
ent and her husband opened
their pub just four months
before the pandemic shut it
down to reduce the spread
of COVID-19.
Fast forward to July
when tourism season in Cen-
tral Oregon hits a high note
and the state is reopening as
COVID-19 cases wane, the
Clements are scrambling to
get enough workers to keep
the brew pub open six days
a week.
In an interview with an
out-of-town worker recently
seeking a lead prep cook
position, Clement said she
made an off er on the spot
to the worker. The applicant
dined with his family for
dinner that night.
But the next day, he told
Clement he took another
position because it off ered
slightly more money and a
leadership role, something
the small pub couldn’t off er,
she said.
“It was really disap-
pointing, but par for the
course. He was one of the
few interviews that I set
up who actually showed,”
Clement said. “2020 was
a cake walk compared to
2021. Customers have little
grace. Their patience is thin.
It’s been hard dealing with
expectations.”
Only 32,500 eligible
workers statewide are sit-
ting out of the labor mar-
ket waiting for the pan-
demic to lift, who may have
health concerns or child
care issues, said Gail Kru-
menauer, Oregon Employ-
ment Department econo-
mist. And another 12,000
workers statewide, who had
been in the leisure and hos-
pitality industry, now are
working in the transporta-
tion/warehousing and deliv-
ery sector because of higher
wages and benefi ts, Kru-
menauer said. The average
wage for leisure and hospi-
tality in Oregon is about $14
an hour, but in transporta-
tion/warehousing it’s $18 to
$20 an hour.
“That’s a tough spot to be
in. The hiring is 1 1/2 times
greater than we’ve ever
seen,” Krumenauer said.
EO Media Group/Dean Guernsey
Co-owners of Sparrow Bakery in Bend, Whitney, left, and Jessica Keatman with their sons Brooks and Abel are at the Scott
Street bakery location, which is closing due to a worker shortage.
“This spring we had 98,000
job vacancies. That’s a lot of
what is fueling the worker
shortage.
“That’s a perfect storm: a
lot of things happening all at
once and it makes it hard for
employers. Everyone’s hir-
ing. “
Layer these events on
top of one another and mix
in pent up demand for buy-
ing and traveling, and the
demand on goods and ser-
vices increases, which in
turn increases demand on
the need for more workers,
Krumenauer said.
“Expanded
benefi ts
helped families in Cen-
tral Oregon and nation-
wide keep food on the table
and a roof over their heads
when workers lost their
jobs through no fault of
their own during this public
health pandemic,” U.S. Sen.
Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, said
in an email. “Research has
repeatedly debunked the
baloney that benefi ts dis-
couraged work.
“What’s clear in my con-
versations with Oregonians
all over our state is that the
lack of child care, hous-
ing costs, the unique chal-
lenges of service industry
work and other factors are
what’s really keeping many
people from returning to the
workplace.”
The
unemployment
rate in July was 5.6% in
Deschutes County, lower
than the double-digit rates
at the height of pandem-
ic-related closures, but still
above February 2020 when
it was 3.3%, according to
the Oregon Employment
Department monthly unem-
ployment fi gures. Crook and
Jeff erson counties too have
“THERE’S NO DOUBT THAT (THE FEDERAL
BOOST OF THE UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE)
IS CONSTRAINING THE SUPPLY OF LABOR. BUT I
DON’T THINK IT IS TO A SIGNIFICANT DEGREE.”
—Damon Runberg, Oregon Employment Department regional economist.
seen their unemployment
levels return to near-nor-
mal levels in the months fol-
lowing the business closures
imposed to slow the spread
of the virus.
Crook County’s unem-
ployment rate was 7% in
July, compared to 4.4% in
February 2020. And Jeff er-
son County’s unemploy-
ment rate was 6.5% in July,
compared to 4.1% in Febru-
ary 2020.
Statewide the unem-
ployment rate was 5.2% in
July, just slightly below the
national unemployment rate
of 5.4%.
“There’s no doubt that
(the federal boost of the
unemployment insurance)
is constraining the supply
of labor,” said Damon Run-
berg, Oregon Employment
Department regional econo-
mist. “But I don’t think it is
to a signifi cant degree.
“The labor market will
likely ease some as we
move into the fall, but that
will be more a refl ection of
a reduction in job vacan-
cies rather than a massive
infl ux of workers who lost
their federal unemployment
insurance benefi ts.”
Child care could poten-
tially get worse if the Bend
Park & Recreation District
isn’t able to hire 20 more
workers for its after school
programs. It takes about 90
employees working part-
time hours to run the 14
programs in elementary
schools, said Julie Brown,
district community relations
manager.
The district has posted
hiring signs everywhere,
even on the vehicles, posted
ads on social media, held
job fairs with on-the-spot
hiring and even raised the
hourly pay, she said.
“We’ve worked all sum-
mer long struggling to
recruit the new employ-
ees needed,” Brown said.
“These things typically pro-
duce the results. This situa-
tion feels diff erent.”
In letters to parents, the
parks and recreation dis-
trict asked for referrals from
parents, she said. There are
1,000 children signed up
for after-school care when
school starts Sept. 8 in Bend.
“We’ve never experi-
enced this before,” said
Brown. “We off er training
skills for those who want
to do this job. Most of our
workers are in their 20s, but
we do have people working
in these jobs in all ages.”
Nearly 18 months past
the initial business restric-
tions imposed to curb the
spread of the virus, Ore-
gon has regained two out of
every three jobs lost in the
spring of 2020, Krumenauer
said. Just in the leisure and
hospitality sector alone, the
state added 7,100 jobs in
July, she said.
At the Monkless brew
pub, Clement said she hopes
that after the federal unem-
TIME TO PLAN
for next year.
Bank of Eastern Oregon
offers Operating Lines of Credit
and term loans on Equipment and Land.
JOHN DAY
PRAIRIE CITY
BURNS
200 W. Main Street
(541) 575-1862
BOB QUINTON
178 N.W. Front Street
(541) 628-7040
BOB QUINTON
293 N. Broadway
(541) 573-2006
LAURA GEORGES
Ag/Commercial Loan Officer
Ag/Commercial Loan Officer
Ag/Commercial Loan Officer
Specializing in Agricultural & Commercial Loans.
S257498-1
Member FDIC
ployment subsidy subsides,
she’ll be able to take on a
full complement of staff .
She needs to fi ll about seven
positions, and that’s keeping
her from opening her busi-
ness seven days a week.
Clement said the pub has
not been able to operate at
full capacity since the shut-
down in March because of
staffi ng issues. And if sum-
mer hires leave or wait staff
leave because they don’t
want to wear a mask, she
might have to consider clos-
ing for lunch or limiting
more service.
“It’s challenging as an
employer,” Clement said.
“The worries I had in 2020
were if we were going to
make it because we were
a new brew pub. This year
we have an unprecedented
number of customers and a
lack of staff that continues
to get worse.”
Sparrow Bakery’s owner
Keatman said she thinks
the stress of the pandemic
is wearing thin on workers
who have to face customers
daily. With the average age
of service industry workers
at about 19 to 24, Keatman
said, she sees anxiety at lev-
els she’s never seen before.
“Workers in this age
group don’t have a secure
fi nancial situation, and
they’re trying to fi gure
things out,” Keatman said.
“They’re trying to fi gure
things out. Being at work
sucks.”
Police
Continued from Page A1
“I don’t want to look at them
guys (patrol offi cers) two years from
now and say we don’t have jobs,”
Haberly said.
Relationship between the
county and the city
Green said in agenda documents
for the Aug. 24 meeting that Grant
County “has an unfortunate history
of not honoring their commitments
or agreements.” Examples included
failing to follow transient lodging tax
ordinance requirements, not provid-
ing in-kind contributions for street
projects after committing to do so
and breaching a contract for man-
aging planning services in the city’s
urban growth area.
“I have no confi dence based
on their track record than any law
enforcement agreement we make will
be upheld or enforced by the current
court, nor is it likely that we would
receive the coverage we pay for, as
the sworn law enforcement offi cers
will respond to calls wherever they
are needed regardless of whether a
city is paying for additional coverage
or not,” Green said in the agenda.
At the meeting, Grant County
Sheriff Todd McKinley called on
John Day’s elected offi cials to set
aside their diff erences with the
county and begin working on a transi-
tion plan as the city moves to dissolve
the John Day Police Department by
the end of the year.
McKinley said the county is wait-
ing for the city to reach out and that
it is in “their ballpark” to start those
discussions by getting on the county
court’s agenda.
John Day City Councilor Shan-
non Adair said she does not lump
the county and the sheriff ’s pffi ce
together.
She said she has a “signifi cant
issue” with the county court and that,
in her opinion, one of the reasons
the city and the county have not had
a meeting is because the county has
ignored the city’s request.
McKinley asked the council if
they had reached out to the county
about the specifi c topic of working
out a law enforcement agreement
between the county and the city. John
Day Mayor Ron Lundbom said no.
Lundbom said, given the city’s
past relationship with the county and
what, in his opinion, was a history of
reneging on their agreements, it did
not give the city a “warm, fuzzy feel-
ing” about working with the county.
Maynard told the city council that
they owe it to the citizens of John
Day to at least try.
McKinley said to give up on
talking to the county would be akin to
him giving up on fi ghting crime.
County Commissioner Sam
Palmer told the Eagle that he has
never had a bad relationship with the
city of John Day. However, he said a
contentious county court session with
the city back in May that ended with
an unidentifi ed caller calling County
Judge Scott Myers an expletive led to
part of the breakdown.
He said Green’s agenda docu-
ments blaming the county for break-
ing contracts and not being trust-
worthy have not helped the two
entities mend the relationship.
He said the county would try to
help, but so far, it looks like it’s been
a one-way street where if a project
or an improvement is going to ben-
efi t the city, then they want it, but, if
it’s not going to help the city, then the
narrative is that the county does not
uphold contracts and are unwilling
to meet — made out to be the “bad
guy.”
Green said in an email last week
that Palmer and McKinley plan to
meet with John Day’s Public Safety
Committee, but the date had not
been determined.