OPINION READER’S FORUM
Founded in 1906
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2020
A4
EDITOR’S DESK
We owe our veterans more than we have given them
his week we celebrate Vet-
erans Day, honoring those
who have served our country
through military service.
While the parades and other events
are a nice thank you, and a good
opportunity to educate
the next generation on
the sacrifi ces veterans
have made, the holiday
feels like meager thanks
for what we have been
given in return.
Jade
According to the U.S. McDowell
NEWS EDITOR
Department of Veterans
Affairs, in 2019 about
4.7 million U.S. veterans — 25% of
all veterans — had a disability that
stemming from their service to our
country. Others made different sac-
rifi ces, whether it was missing the
birth of their child while deployed or
losing friends to war. All entered mil-
itary service knowing they could lose
their life as a result.
It seems, in the face of such sac-
rifi ce, that veterans should be set up
for life with medical care, jobs and
other basic needs. Instead, they often
worse off than the general public —
more likely to be homeless, more
likely to be unemployed, more likely
to die by suicide.
As a country, we’ve made prog-
ress in our treatment of veterans.
While words of thanks may feel hol-
low, there was a time they weren’t
even given that. When I interviewed
Artie Keller Jr., a Vietnam veteran in
T
Hermiston Herald, File
Echo student Kenneth Troxell shakes hands with Pendleton veteran Thomas Tangney during a
Veterans Day parade in Echo in 2018.
Irrigon, in 2018, he described to me
what it was like to hear people jeer-
ing and screaming “baby killer” at
him as he was wheeled off an air-
plane on a stretcher with a hole in his
leg that left him using a cane for life.
But our system as a whole is still
lacking. In 2014, investigative report-
ing revealed that Veterans Affairs
hospitals in some states were falsi-
fying data to hide the fact they were
unable to come anywhere close to
meeting the mandates put in place
about how quickly veterans must
receive care. Some veterans died
while waiting months to see a doctor
about urgent health needs.
Since then, new improvements
have been made to the VA system
and new laws have been passed on
behalf of veterans, but it can still be
diffi cult to get care. Some well-in-
tentioned laws have been unfunded
mandates that sound good on paper
but haven’t had the funding to fully
make them a reality. In 2019, the VA
reported it had about 49,000 jobs
unfi lled across the country, mostly
medical positions. One reason cited
for the struggle to fi ll those positions
is that those qualifi ed for them would
get paid more working in the private
sector.
I’m not an expert in the pros and
COLUMN
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
Decriminalizing drugs affects livability
hough cliché to say, it is
true, elections do have
consequences.
I write these words for the sole
purpose of asking our community
to understand the repercussions
of Ballot Measure 110 as it relates
to local law enforcement. I do not
write it as a political statement as
I am appointed, not
elected. If elected, I
would have written
this before the vote.
Since
my
appointment
in
2012, a goal of the
Hermiston Police
Jason
Department
has
Edmiston
been to focus on the
livability of people who choose
to call this incredible commu-
nity home. As stated specifi cally
from our goals, “a focus on those
issues which impact the livabil-
ity of the citizens we serve will
high priority. This includes noise
complaints, animal complaints,
controlled substance enforce-
ment, and all code issues includ-
ing areas of blight consistent with
the Broken Windows Theory of
policing.”
During the 2017 Oregon leg-
islative session, we saw the fi rst
major movement toward decrim-
inalizing controlled substances,
such as heroin, cocaine and meth-
amphetamine. That degrada-
tion equates to hindered criminal
investigations due to the arduous
legalities involved with applying
for and receiving a search war-
rant signed by a judge. Contrary
T
to crime shows on television,
investigations must be slow and
methodical and resources in East-
ern Oregon are limited.
I would argue the majority of
law enforcement offi cers across
our nation understand the signif-
icance of taking away one’s lib-
erty and, though our criminal jus-
tice system may not be perfect,
we appreciate the fact we are all
innocent until proven guilty. With
additional hoops to navigate and
knowing there is little account-
ability on the front end, human
nature comes into play, and many
times, the path of least resistance
is often the choice offi cers work-
ing with dwindling resources
make.
What this means on our streets
is an 85% reduction in drug
enforcement over 15 years when
looking at our 935 drug-related
charges in 2004, versus the 140
drug-related charges in 2019. I
used 2004 as a measure because
that is when meth labs threat-
ened the livability of our resi-
dents. People today still call us
when their neighbor is outside
smoking marijuana, or atypical
foot and vehicle traffi c coming
and going from a suspected drug
house is occurring. While that
may adversely impact a caller’s
livability, there is next to noth-
ing law enforcement can legally
do. With continued decriminal-
ization of controlled substances
(now comparable to minor traffi c
violations), these calls for service
are not going to get better for our
residents.
Ballot Measure 110, on the
surface, appears to be a great
move toward getting people into
treatment. But, the realist in me
cannot help but think about the
absolute “kicking of the can”
that has taken place in our state
specifi c to mental health, home-
lessness, addiction, and crime
in general. Haphazard spending
decisions by the Oregon Legisla-
ture have forced police offi cers to
become social workers trying to
solve medical issues in the fi eld.
Daily calls for service involving
people in crisis or under the infl u-
ence are the new norm. Yet, East-
ern Oregon receives next to no
state resources and Ballot Mea-
sure 110 may further affect the
livability of our residents, espe-
cially if Salem continues to for-
get about us.
Our department likes hiring
offi cers who want to live here
and raise their families here.
But, we cannot fi x every social
ill thrust upon us without signif-
icant resources and changes in
laws from our elected leaders at
our state capitol. We are the only
profession in the world trying
to put ourselves out of business,
but continued declines in liva-
bility through decriminalization
will keep us busy even on those
calls where our options are lim-
ited. For that, we apologize to our
residents on the front end.
———
Jason Edmiston is chief of the
Hermiston Police Department.
U.S. PRESIDENT
DONALD TRUMP
STATE REP. GREG SMITH,
DISTRICT 57
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
whitehouse.gov/contact/
———
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Email: Rep.GregSmith@state.
or.us
———
U.S. SENATORS
RON WYDEN
221 Dirksen Senate Offi ce Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
La Grande offi ce: 541-962-7691
•
Printed on
recycled
newsprint
VOLUME 114 • NUMBER 40
Andrew Cutler | Publisher • acutler@eomediagroup.com • 541-278-2673
Jade McDowell | News Editor • jmcdowell@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4536
Jeanne Jewett | Multi-Media consultant • jjewett@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4531
Audra Workman | Multi-Media consultant • aworkman@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4538
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STATE SEN. BILL HANSELL,
DISTRICT 29
900 Court St. NE, S-423
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Email: Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us
———
JEFF MERKLEY
313 Hart Senate Offi ce Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton offi ce: 541-278-1129
———
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
GREG WALDEN
185 Rayburn House Offi ce
Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
La Grande offi ce: 541-624-2400
GOV. KATE BROWN
160 State Capitol
900 Court Street
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
Email: www.oregon.gov/gov/
Pages/
share-your-opinion.aspx
———
MAYOR DAVID
DROTZMANN
180 NE Second St.
Hermiston, OR 97838
ddrotzmann@hermiston.or.us
SPEAK UP
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cons of the specifi c reforms that have
been suggested for veteran health
care, but it seems clear the system
needs work.
It also seems clear that improve-
ments to other systems in this coun-
try — mental health care, addiction
treatment, affordable housing, acces-
sibility, etc. — can disproportionately
benefi t veterans, who are overrepre-
sented in those categories.
So as you celebrate Veterans Day,
think ahead to what you might do
beyond the holiday.
You might consider voicing sup-
port to your elected offi cials for addi-
tional funding for veterans services,
or specifi c legislation. Or you might
contribute to local nonprofi ts, such
as Desert Rose Ministries, the Herm-
iston Warming Station or the Agape
House that help homeless residents.
You could write letters to veterans
who have been without visitors in
local nursing homes since the pan-
demic hit. Or help out a veteran you
know personally.
You can also share resources avail-
able for veterans. The national Vet-
erans Crisis Line available to all vet-
erans, service members and their
families is 1-800-273-8255 (or text
838255 or visit veteranscrisisline.net
for an online chat). Umatilla County
Veterans Services can be reached at
541-667-3121, or the names and con-
tact information of individual staff
can be found at co.umatilla.or.us/AD/
veterans.html.
It is the policy of the Hermiston Herald to correct errors as
soon as they are discovered. Incorrect information will be
corrected on Page 2A. Errors commited on the Opinion page
will be corrected on that page. Corrections also are noted in
the online versions of our stories.
Please contact the editor at editor@hermistonherald.com or
call (541) 564-4533 with issues about this policy or to report
errors.
SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Letters Policy: Letters to the Editor is a forum for the
Hermiston Herald readers to express themselves on local,
state, national or world issues. Brevity is good, but longer
letters should be kept to 250 words.
No personal attacks; challenge the opinion, not the person.
The Hermiston Herald reserves the right to edit letters for
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Letters must be original and signed by the writer or writers.
Anonymous letters will not be printed. Writers should include
a telephone number so they can be reached for questions.
Only the letter writer’s name and city of residence will be
published.
OBITUARY POLICY
The Hermiston Herald publishes paid obituaries. The
obituary can include small photos and, for veterans, a
fl ag symbol at no charge. Expanded death notices will be
published at no charge. These include information about
services. Obituaries may be edited for spelling, proper
punctuation and style.
Obituaries and notices may be submitted online at
hermistonherald.com/obituaryform, by email to obits@
hermistonherald.com, by fax to 541-276-8314, placed via the
funeral home or in person at the Hermiston Herald or East
Oregonian offi ces. For more information, call 541-966-0818 or
1-800-522-0255, x221.