A4
OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, January 5, 2022
OUR VIEW
Breaking the
stalemate on
police funding
shows leadership
N
o one was happy when the John Day City Council
decided to suspend the operations of the city’s police
force in mid-October. But we have watched with grow-
ing dismay as the weeks have passed with no visible progress on
the question of how to pay for law enforcement services in the
city limits.
So we were gratifi ed to be able to report that, at long last, city
and county offi cials have begun to talk to each other about how
to do just that. As you can read in this week’s Eagle, City Coun-
cilor Gregg Haberly and County Commissioner Sam Palmer,
in consultation with Sheriff Todd McKinley, have initiated dis-
cussions about what it would take for the Grant County Sher-
iff ’s Offi ce to fi ll the void left by the suspension of the John Day
Police Department — and who’s going to pay for it.
It’s hard to dispute the unanimous judgment of the City
Council that John Day is just too small to support a professional
police force any longer. The department’s budget exceeded the
city’s general fund revenues by at least 50%. After low voter
turnout doomed an operating levy in August, the department’s
fate was eff ectively sealed.
But McKinley’s offi ce has been unfairly forced to shoulder
the burden of providing law enforcement coverage for John Day
residents since the Police Department shut down – a heavy load
for an agency that has just four patrol deputies to police Ore-
gon’s seventh-largest county. It is only reasonable to expect that
the city should provide some funding to help the Sheriff ’s Offi ce
hire more deputies.
The City Council has expressed support for the idea of trans-
ferring a three-year, $375,000 federal grant to the county for
that purpose, although it’s not yet clear if the grant rules will
allow that. That’s not enough to pay for the three extra deputies
McKinley says he needs, at a minimum, to provide adequate law
enforcement protection.
The city has already proposed giving the county $300,000 a
year from its general fund — 100% of John Day’s annual prop-
erty tax revenues — for law enforcement. But that off er came
with a catch: in exchange, the city wants an equal amount from
the county road fund for street improvements in John Day.
That off er appears to be a nonstarter. As Palmer put it, “The
policing and roads that (City Manager Nick Green) asked for are
two diff erent things, and we’re going to keep them two diff erent
things.”
All of these things are matters for negotiation. The important
point here is that, after a two-month standoff , the city and county
are talking about a matter of vital importance not only to the cit-
izens of John Day but all Grant County residents. We commend
Gregg Haberly and Sam Palmer for their leadership in getting
these long-delayed talks started.
THE FARMER’S FATE
Unanswered bedtime prayers
P
ushing his plate away after
supper, my husband yawned
and sing-songed:
“Now I lay me down to sleep…
I pray my wife will rub my
feet…”
I snorted and made an exagger-
ated smirk:
“and if I don’t, make no mis-
take...” I frantically searched the
rhyming drawers of my brain, but
to no avail. Give and take, back-
ache, deep fake, disk brake, bull
snake… “OK, you got me. I’ve got
nothing!”
He pushed his hands behind his
head, gloating in being able to best
me on a wordplay. I kept racking
my brain furtively for some kind
of a reply — but I still had noth-
ing. I am usually really good at
thinking on my feet, but right now,
if my brains were dynamite, there
wouldn’t be a big enough explosion
to blow off my hat.
I shrugged and gave my best
“whatever” look.
The next night, while getting
ready for bed, my husband quietly
repeated his “prayer.” Followed by
something mumbled about hoping
it’s answered this time…
“Maybe you should take a les-
son from Garth Brooks and be
thankful for unanswered prayers?”
He rolled his eyes at me, and
muttered some disparaging remark.
But I couldn’t hear him, because
my mind was furiously rewrit-
ing lyrics. I drifted off to sleep that
night while the parody swirled
round and round my head:
It wasn’t quite the foot rub, that
I had pictured in my dreams
There was no
time for ointments,
no balms, salves,
liniments or creams.
Instead out came
the grinder, the
belt sander and the
Brianna
Dremel tool
Walker
She fl ashed a
wicked grin as I
pushed away the footstool!
And as she walked away, I
looked at my toes
still tired and sore, callused and
achy, but intact I suppose.
Sometimes I’m thankful, for
unanswered prayers
just think what might have
happened, with my feet in her
crosshairs?
So just because my prayers
weren’t answered, doesn’t mean
she don’t care…
Some of my wife’s greatest gifts
— are unanswered prayers.
I always keep a notepad on
the nightstand next to the bed, in
case inspiration hits in the night.
The next morning I was very
excited to sing the midnight lyrics
to my husband. To say he wasn’t
impressed would be an under-
statement. Regardless, I was quite
pleased with myself, and caught
myself humming the song jauntily
throughout the day. I should have
remembered that pride goeth before
destruction and a haughty spirit
before a fall — but instead I went
blissfully throughout the day, feel-
ing like I had come out on top of
our word match.
Later that night, after having
gotten the last of the bedtime sto-
ries, teeth brushing and last min-
ute glasses of water taken care of, I
headed to bed — and to my prideful
destruction.
The nightstand lamp was on and
my husband was sitting at the foot
of the bed with a foot sander and
lotion. I raised an eyebrow, expect-
ing a second verse that would outdo
mine. Instead he smiled with inno-
cent mischief:
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray my wife will rub my feet.
But if she doesn’t it’s OK
Marriage is a give and take.
Her feet are sore, they work all
day
I’ll rub hers fi rst, mine can wait.
If this was a Hallmark movie, I
would have been moved to tears,
picked up the lotion and the credits
would have rolled while he fi nally
got his long-awaited foot massage.
But this was more of a Robin Wil-
liams-style movie — so I pulled
off my socks and fl opped happily
across the bed to enjoy the foot mas-
sage he’d been asking for all week.
I assuaged the twinge of guilt that
kept tickling, by telling myself he’d
end up with a nice tub of Working
Feet cream in his stocking — better
than the coal in mine.
Now as we each lay down to
sleep
which spouse will rub the oth-
er’s feet?
Which one will ease the other’s
stress?
I’d like to say me — but he’s the
best. Amen.
Brianna Walker occasionally
writes about the Farmer’s Fate for
the Blue Mountain Eagle.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Opposing the pool,
diff erent take on
‘miser’
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
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To the editor:
In the Dec. 22 issue of the BME I
found two unfortunate statements.
On page A2, the fourth paragraph
mentions that “Morris was the lone
person to speak in opposition to the
project at the (John Day) Planning
Commission’s Nov. 9 public hearing.”
I applaud his courage to stand
in opposition of this railroading by
the city manager/City Council and
the passive acceptance of the Plan-
ning Commission. Shame on me for
not being in attendance at this meet-
ing where everyone who gave testi-
mony were pro this big-city pool. The
nay-sayer was not allowed to speak.
Democracy in action, John Day style!
Grant County communities that
were asked to support a taxing district
to pay for the pool said no. Yet here
we are. It seems as if we don’t have
much say. Or any say, for that matter.
As a former small town with
appeal, it seems as if we are trying to
be like Bend. We need to attend City
Council meetings and voice our opin-
ions. We voted these people in; make
them do their job of listening to us and
moving in the direction we want!
Also, BME, your “Out of the Past”
history articles would be great if they
were correct. The “75 years ago” arti-
cle, which was written in 1946, spoke
of a “miner” who was a “miser.” He
was neither.
His census records put him in
Susanville in 1900 to 1940. He owned
a farm/ranch and was called a “stock
rancher” in one census. I believe he
lived by his brother Nelson (Nels).
Both had immigrated to the U.S. in
1881 from Sweden.
He had likely saved up for the
stocks and bonds he had in his pos-
session and rather than being miserly,
he took the box with him, unsure if
he would ever be able to return home.
They were his money in the bank, so
to speak. He died at the Fletcher home
in Mt. Vernon in February 1949 and
is buried at the Canyon City Ceme-
tery. The reporter was overboard back
in the day!
Marsha Christensen
John Day
John Day projects
cause for concern
To the editor:
First off , I would like to thank all
the readers locally and in Burns who
believe the city of John Day has gone
awry in its fi nancial responsibility as
well as the failure to provide the needs
of its citizens. The Dec. 14 City Coun-
cil meeting was no exception.
First off is the parking lot area to
relieve Main Street of larger vehi-
cles. The city management chose to
make yet another purpose for it (with-
out going to council) in the naming
of it and other amenities added other
than parking. The whole concept was
changed and one council member and
the president of the Chamber of Com-
merce give the lecture of a lifetime to
the leaders.
Just like all the mayor’s projects, it
was never designed before they started
construction, the designs just keep
changing without the permission of
the councilors. Most of the times the
councilors just accept the eye candy
projects and a lust for free money as to
the funding.
Regarding a loan application from
Business Oregon for the URA pro-
gram, I noticed in the estimated cost
for the 100 house development proj-
ects. In the explanation for discus-
sion was the line: “Additional funding
received from the loan will be for con-
tingency and debt service.” This $2.3
million will be repaid in part by with-
holding money from other taxing dis-
tricts in the county.
Some of this money will be used
for debt service. That is the defi ni-
tion of living beyond your means and
should not even happen. This money
is provided to private contractors, of
course after the city’s management
fees.
Finally, the question come up from
the city asking their auditor: Is there
any money being set aside for a slush
fund? (paraphrasing) What the ques-
tion should have been, “Is there any
money being moved on a regular
occasion to cover shortfalls”. Also, I
believe the community development
fund is a slush fund they have created.
Bob Pereira
John Day