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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (July 15, 2020)
NEWS WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2020 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9 Lopez now says he regrets writing racist letter By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR After confessing to police that he penned a racist let- ter he originally claimed to have received anonymously, Jonathan Lopez now has a more direct message to any- one the letter harmed: He is sorry. “I wanted to apologize and take responsibility,” he said. The letter in question was full of racist slurs, anti-im- migrant language 9, Lopez said as the and violent threats, days went by he stating that there is “wasn’t feeling too no room for “people good” about it and like you” in Amer- decided to confess. ica. He originally Hermiston Police posted it to social Chief Jason Edmis- Lopez media and gave a ton said Lopez had copy to the Herm- volunteered the iston Police Department, confession and police had claiming he had found it in not previously found any his mailbox on June 24. But proof that he had written on July 6, he confessed to the letter himself. He also writing it himself. expressed frustration that In a discussion with the the investigation into the let- Hermiston Herald on July ter had taken up department resources during a time when Umatilla County was dealing with multiple homi- cide investigations. Lopez said the experience has been a painful process, but he knows he brought it upon himself. “It hasn’t been easy,” he said. “I’ve been harassed by a lot of people, more than anything, which I under- stand. I don’t expect pity.” He said as he had reached out to apologize to groups, such as the Uma- tilla County Board of Com- missioners, where he had recently run for election, there were also people who had told him that they hoped he was able to learn from his mistakes. He said he hoped that no one would use the incident to discount instances of real racism, a problem which he said he was attempting to highlight when he wrote the letter. On July 8, he sent out another letter, this time signed by him and addressed to “esteemed Umatilla county commissioners, lead- ers, representatives, law enforcement, community members and all residents” apologizing for his actions and any hurt caused. “With the most deepest sincerity of what’s left of my heart and life. I would like to apologize for my wrongful doings,” he wrote. “The let- ter written by me came from a dark low place. It should have never been written.” Greg Smith reviews special session in virtual town hall He was a yes vote on House Bill 4207, which would maintain a public Protests and COVID-19 records database on police were at the forefront of the discipline and require law conversation during a virtual enforcement agencies to town hall hosted by Rep. check it during the hiring Greg Smith, R-Heppner, on process. Smith said while July 9. he believes most Smith started the police offi cers do town hall by pro- a “fabulous job,” viding a recap of he also believes some of his votes that when an offi - on bills relating to cer does not do their both issues during job appropriately, the Oregon Legisla- there should be a Smith ture’s recent special transparent process session, before ask- for the public and ing for questions and feed- the media to access those back from the audience par- records. ticipating by video. He also voted yes for Sen- “I know there’s a lot of ate Bill 1604, which restricts frustration in the state of arbitrators from overturn- Oregon and in the commu- ing discipline meted out to nity right now, and if I’m police offi cers, if the arbi- going to serve you appropri- trator also fi nds that miscon- ately in the legislature I need duct did occur. to know what you’re think- Smith voted no on House ing,” he said. Bill 4208, which restricts use On police reform bills of tear gas only to incidents introduced during the special that have been declared a session, Smith explained his riot. Smith said he wanted to thinking in supporting some make sure law enforcement but not others. had the tools they needed. By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR “While I fully believe all citizens have a right to First Amendment rights — pub- lic speech, open speech, free speech and the right to assemble — I don’t believe they have the right to riot, to loot, to have criminal mis- conduct, to be thieves and break into stores,” he said. He was also one of only fi ve no votes in the House on House Bill 4203, which bans police use of choke- holds except in cases where use of deadly force would be authorized. Smith referenced an inci- dent in 2014 when a drunk driver hit his family’s vehi- cle while they were traveling home from a state wrestling tournament. When the driver fl ed the scene, Smith chased him down and held him until police arrived. He said he had to use “every ounce of physical assistance I had to control this person.” “It really left an impres- sion on me of what our law enforcement folks go through every day, and so in no way did I want to sec- ond guess those hard work- ing men and women who protect us in how they han- dle those most diffi cult situ- ations,” he said. Smith said he voted in favor of Senate Bill 1603 expanding rural broadband, despite the fact that many Republicans voted against it because it included a new cellphone tax. He said a statewide cellphone tax would generate most of its revenue from residents of the metro area and then spend that money in the rural parts of the state. “If we can allow Portland and Beaverton and Gresham to assist in developing rural broadband in Condon or Heppner or Umatilla or Irri- gon I’m in favor of that,” he said. Smith also discussed the economic impacts of COVID-19. He said he was greatly concerned about the projected $2.7 billion defi - cit for the biennium, and the state will have diffi cult choices ahead about where to make cuts. He addressed the local projects that have been put on hold after a steep drop in lottery revenue stopped the sale of $237 million in bonds to pay for capital proj- ects. Two of those projects include the $1 million men- tal health-focused renova- tion of the Umatilla County Jail, expansion of the Port of Morrow’s early learning center and Blue Mountain Community College’s Farm II, which will include an indoor arena and classrooms in Pendleton. “What we don’t know is how long they will remain on the shelf,” Smith said. He said the funding could merely be delayed while the state waited to achieve the required debt-to-reve- nue ratio for the bond sale to proceed. He said the governor could also choose to prioritize fi nding fund- ing for the projects that are farthest along, or state lead- ership could simply “wipe their hands” of the projects and make everyone start over on lobbying for fund- ing in the future. When constituents brought up concerns about help for small businesses and individuals affected by COVID-19, Smith said he had initially felt understand- ing as the Oregon Employ- ment Department struggled to process the initial wave of unemployment applica- tions from a pandemic they hadn’t foreseen, but the time for being understanding has passed. “After four months, the fact that we still have folks here in District 57 that have still not seen their bene- fi ts, that’s unacceptable,” he said. When asked his posi- tion on mandating vaccines for COVID-19 when one is available, Smith said that he and his wife have vac- cinated their children and would strongly encourage everyone to vaccinate their own children. 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