A6
NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, September 28, 2022
Candidates pass on E. Oregon event
By ANDREW CUTLER, DAKOTA
CASTETS-DIDIER
and PHIL WRIGHT
EO Media Group
LA GRANDE — An eff ort to host
a gubernatorial candidate forum at
Eastern Oregon University for rural
residents appears to have fi zzled out,
according to the organization behind
the eff ort.
Jennifer Groth, director of policy
and partnerships for Rural Develop-
ment Initiatives, said in an email that
the lack of a television sponsor for an
event on the La Grande campus was
ultimately what torpedoed the eff ort.
“Our initial hope with this pro-
posal was to ensure that the gubernato-
rial candidates could hear directly from
rural voters and that rural voters could
hear directly from the candidates,” she
said. “And so we thought this would be
an opportunity to do that. I’m assuming
there are other ways to connect those
folks to one another, but that was our
hope. And so, of course, we’re disap-
pointed that it didn’t come to pass.”
The eff ort, Groth said, began fol-
lowing the primary when the fi eld was
set with Republican candidate Chris-
tine Drazan, Democratic candidate
Tina Kotek and unaffi liated candi-
date Betsy Johnson. Groth said Rural
Development Initiatives proposed to
all three campaigns a series of virtual
town hall meetings to represent diff er-
ent regions around the state, culminat-
ing in an in-person event on the campus
of Eastern Oregon University.
“We talked to the diff erent cam-
paigns, and Tina Kotek’s campaign
came back and said we could propose
to do three virtual town halls, one for
each candidate, and then participate in
the culminating event at Eastern Ore-
gon University,” she said.
There was initial interest from Dra-
zan’s campaign, Groth said.
“They basically told me, ‘Just let
us know what’s happening, keep us
in the loop, and we’ll let you know if
we decide to participate.’ So I’ve been
keeping them in the loop but I haven’t
heard much from that campaign.”
Groth said Johnson’s campaign staff
indicated pretty much throughout early
conversations that their interest was
focused on televised opportunities to
hear from the candidates as opposed
to other types of formats because they
thought that would reach the broadest
number of Oregonians.
“So we fi rst tried to arrange for
livestreaming, which we could do with
the resources that we had,” she said.
“We went back to the campaigns and
said that this is the option we can pro-
Yasser Marte/East Oregonian
Democrat Tina Kotek, left, Republican Christine Drazan, center, and unaffi liat-
ed Betsy Johnson, the leading candidates for Oregon governor, are not coming
to Eastern Oregon for a public debate in front of local voters.
vide as a livestreaming option for the
event. But Betsy Johnson’s campaign
was actually interested in the television
sponsor.”
Groth said if candidates are truly
interested in representing the entire
state, then appearances in Eastern Ore-
gon should be included.
“I’m concerned that hosting these
events along the I-5 corridor or in more
major metropolitan areas doesn’t get
(rural) voices into the conversation, and
so the issues that are of concern to those
particular regions of the state don’t nec-
essarily get addressed as part of the
media coverage of the race,” she said.
Campaigns give their reasons
Jennifer Sitton, communications
director for the Betsy Johnson for Gov-
ernor campaign, said Johnson “wel-
comes every opportunity to debate her
fellow candidates and wants to ensure
that as many Oregonians as possible
are able to hear directly from the candi-
dates, which is why we are prioritizing
televised debates.”
Sitton said the Johnson campaign
had assumed broadcasting facilities in
the Tri-Cities would be willing to host
a gubernatorial debate, despite being
north of Oregon’s border in Washing-
ton. Sitton explained the Johnson cam-
paign was unclear on why that opportu-
nity hasn’t arisen.
In July, all three candidates partic-
ipated in an Oregon Newspaper Pub-
lishers Association debate that was
livestreamed online rather than tele-
vised. Sitton explained that debate was
a special circumstance as the ONPA is
a “statewide newspaper association and
the traditional fi rst debate for guberna-
torial candidates.”
Katie Wertheimer, communications
director for Tina Kotek’s gubernatorial
campaign, said Kotek hadn’t rejected
the idea of an Eastern Oregon debate
and had attended the Eastern Oregon
Economic Summit in June, which fea-
tured all three candidates.
“We’re not aware of any debate
invitations from other Eastern Oregon
media outlets,” Wertheimer explained.
“Back in June, Tina agreed to
eight joint forums and debates across
the state, and ultimately all three can-
didates agreed to fi ve,” Wertheimer
said, listing the Economic Summit in
Hermiston, as well as other debates or
forums in Welches, Bend, Medford and
Portland.
John Burke, communications direc-
tor for the Drazan campaign, said there
was only one debate proposed in East-
ern Oregon and the campaign “had
some concerns with the format.” Burke
did not comment on the nature of their
concerns.
“Christine has spent more time in
Eastern Oregon than any of the candi-
dates running for governor,” he said,
“and will continue to campaign hard
to earn the votes of rural residents from
now until Nov. 8.”
Northeastern Oregon party
chairs react
Annette Lathrop, speaking as chair
of the Wallowa County Republican
Party, said she does not see much value
to a debate in Eastern Oregon because
her county is isolated and few would
have access to it. A debate at EOU, she
said, likely would profi t La Grande and
Pendleton more.
“There are debates, and for people
tuned into that, they are available,” she
said. “We can access those debates.”
She also said candidates are busy
and only human, and there is only so
much they can squeeze into a day of
campaigning. She said the candidates
don’t need to physically come to East-
ern Oregon for voters to learn about
them.
Union County Republican Party
Chair Allen Duff y, however, said it’s
a shame the gubernatorial candidates
don’t hold a debate open to the public
in Eastern Oregon.
“I understand that three counties in
Oregon can decide who’s governor,” he
said, “but that leaves the rest of us won-
dering who our candidates are.”
He said Drazan has visited Eastern
Oregon several times, Kotek is fi rmly a
leftest Democrat but Johnson presents
some questions as a former Democrat
now running without a party, and a pub-
lic debate “would give people here an
opportunity to see who she is.”
Rural voters get campaign ads, liter-
ature and propaganda, he said, but com-
ing out to Eastern Oregon in person
means voters here can see just where
the candidates stand.
“If you really want to be true and
honest to the voters, come out and have
a debate,” Duff y said.
And a debate could fi re up grass-
roots campaigning — knocking on
doors, making phone calls, talking to
people about candidates and issues.
“That’s what we do out here in
Eastern Oregon,” he said. “Grassroots
campaigning.”
Mark Peterson, co-chair of Umatilla
County Democrats, said he has seen
statewide candidates operate this way
for years.
“People really feel like they are
being ignored out here,” he said.
Statewide candidates tend to pay lip
service to rural Oregon, Peterson said,
and focus their campaigns on Oregon’s
population centers from Portland south
to Eugene. He said that could be why
Johnson has some traction in Eastern
Oregon.
She seems to be popular here and
could be working on getting rural Ore-
gonians to back her to make up for what
she may not get in the metro areas.
But he said she has a lot of ground
to cover there. Recent polling shows
Kotek and Drazan each winning about
30% of the vote while Johnson trails at
about 20%.
‘A long shot’
Tim Seydel, EOU’s vice president
for university advancement, said the
school explored a couple of options,
including Oregon Public Broadcasting
or using the school’s resources to lives-
tream an event on the internet.
“That was kind of a long shot to see
if OPB might be able to do it,” he said.
“But based on the capacity to be able to
do it again, it’s one of the challenges of
being in a rural area.”
Seydel said the school continues to
explore options, in case an 11th hour
reprieve presents itself.
“It’s too bad we couldn’t come, we
couldn’t get them to come to Eastern,
to be here,” he said. “We were hoping
to engage with students and area com-
munities and other schools, but unfor-
tunately it doesn’t look like we’ll get
that shot this time around.”
Granite Hill
Road gets an
upgrade
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
GRANITE — The drive from
Sumpter to Granite looks diff erent
than it did a few months ago.
Feels diff erent, too.
Smoother.
Two separate projects, one
involving the highway and one
in the forest that borders it, have
transformed the trip.
The work is confi ned to the
9-mile stretch from Blue Springs
Summit, west of Sumpter, to
Granite.
Crews are repaving the two-
lane highway, which is part of the
Elkhorn Drive Scenic Byway and
also known as the Granite Hill
Road. Work started earlier this
summer and is scheduled to be
fi nished in November of this year,
according to the Federal Highway
Administration.
The cost is $6,328,000.
The Grant County Road
Department did some of the work,
and the FHA awarded a con-
tract to Marcum and Son LLC of
Redmond.
Meanwhile,
workers
on
both sides of the highway have
been cutting trees and stacking
the limbs into piles that will be
burned, possibly starting in late
2023.
The thinning work is part of the
Ten Cent project, which includes
sections of the Wallowa-Whitman
and Umatilla national forests, said
Kendall Cikanek, ranger for the
Wallowa-Whitman’s Whitman
District.
The Ten Cent project dates
to 2017. It includes 23,990 acres
on the Umatilla National For-
est, and 13,810 acres on the
Wallowa-Whitman.
Its chief goal is to reduce the
risk of wildfi res spreading rapidly
by creating fuel breaks, particu-
larly along roads. These “defen-
sible spaces” are areas where
fl ames are less likely to climb into
the crowns of trees, and where fi re
crews can concentrate their eff orts
to stop a blaze.
Cikanek said the strategy is
similar to what the Forest Ser-
vice has employed in the East
Face project along the Elkhorn
Mountains from near the Anthony
Lakes Highway north to the La
Grande area.
MT. VERNON
PRESBYTERIAN
Community Church
SUNDAY SERVICE..............9 am
SUNDAY SERVICE..9 am
541-932-4800
EVERYONE WELCOME
Redeemer
Lutheran Church
Come Worship with us at
627 SE Hillcrest, John Day
2 Corinthians 5:17
Every Sunday in the L.C.
Community Center
(Corner of Second & Allen)
Contact Pastor Ed Studtmann at
541-421-3888 • Begins at 4:00pm
Grace Chapel (EMC )
154 E. Williams St.
Prairie City, Oregon
541 820-4437
Pastor Robert Perkins
Sunday School (all ages)
9:30-10:30
Sunday Worship
10:45-12:00
John Day Valley
Mennonite
Church
Meeting every Sunday
at Mt. Vernon Grange Hall
Sunday School ................................ 9:30 a.m.
Sunday Morning Worship ............. 10:50 a.m.
Pastor Leland Smucker
Everyone Welcome • 541-932-2861
1 st Sunday Worship/Communion ...................10am
3 rd Sunday Worship/Communion/Potluck.....4:30pm
2 nd , 4 th & 5 th Sunday Worship..........................10am
Sunday Bible Study .....................................8:45am
For information: 541-575-2348
24/7 Inspirational Christian
Broadcasting
Tune into KSPL 98.1 FM
For more information,
call 541 620-0340
St. Thomas
Episcopal
Church
Join us on Facebook
live Sunday 10am
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CHURCH OF THE
NAZARENE
59357 Hwy 26 Mt. Vernon
Sunday School ............................9:30 am
Sunday Worship Service.......... 10:45 am
Sunday Evening Service............ 6:00 pm
Children & Teen Activities
Celebration of Worship
SMALL GROUPS CALL FOR MORE INFO
Thursdays 6:30pm
Youth: 0-6th Grade
Weekdays: Sonshine Christian Schoo l
Pastor Randy Johnson
521 E. Main • John Day • 541-575-1895
www.johndaynazarene.com
Sundays 5:30pm
Youth: 0-6th Grade
Midweek Service
Jr./Sr. High
Youth Connection
Wednesdays at 6:30pm
Overcomer’s Outreach
Mondays at 6pm at
LWCC
A Christ-Centered, 12-Step
Recovery Support Group
Pastor Sharon Miller
541-932-4910
www.livingwordcc.com
JOHN DAY
UNITED
METHODIST
CHURCH
FIRST CHRISTIAN
CHURCH
johndayUMC@gmail.com
126 NW Canton, John Day
Food Pantry Friday 3-4PM
Sunday School ..................... 9:45 am
Sunday Worship ...................... 11 am
Fox Community Church............. 3 pm
Sunday Evening Bible Talk......... 6 pm
Saturday Men’s Study ............... 6 pm
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Full Gospel- Come Grow With Us
Sunday Worship • 9AM
(541) 575-1326
541-575-1202 Church
311 NE Dayton St, John Day
Pastor Al Altnow