(Shared by Umatilla County Commission George Murdock.)
To: Public Officials
From: George Murdock
Subject: Weekly Public Officials Update – Providing Information, Advocacy and Commentary
Date: April 27, 2021 – Volume 53
Total Cases – 8,028
Deaths – 84
Recent Counts:
Week 1 – 333
Week 2 – 237
Week 3 – 155
Week 4 – 96
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Week 23 – 435 – (including 170 at EOCI & TRCI)
Week 24 – 466 (including 198 at EOCI & TRCI
Week 25 – 456 (including 154 at EOCI & TRCI)
Week 26 – 231 (including 68 at the prison)
Week 27 – 171 (including 24 from the Department of Corrections)
Week 28 – 191 (including 62 from the Department of Corrections)
Week 29 – 108 (including 7 from the Department of Corrections)
Week 30 – 53 Note: The total count was 123 including two from adults in custody and 68 old cases
Week 31 – 80 (including seven from the Department of Corrections)
Week 32 – 49 (including 2 from the Department of Corrections)
Week 33 – 59 (including 4 from the Department of Corrections
Week 34 – 43 (including 3 from the Department of Corrections)
Week 35 — 27
Week 36 – 33
Week 37 – 54
Week 38 – 60 (including 1 from the Department of Corrections)
Medical Report
Its official, Umatilla County will move back to high on Friday, April 30 after enjoying a number of weeks at moderate during which time restaurants and small businesses got a modest reprieve from the pandemic. Now they have three days to find an outlet for their inventory.
Although we have been deeply concerned about the impact on restaurants who continue to be disproportionately picked on during the pandemic, our complaints have mostly fallen on deaf ears. The only bright news is that our weather is getting better and outside dining with be increased from 50 to 100.
We have learned from contact tracing that Umatilla County has a path to getting back to a semblance of normal but almost half of our residents have no will to be involved – at least in terms of getting a vaccination or in some cases wearing a mask, distancing, and avoiding gatherings.
Results from our contact tracing of new infections reveals that almost without exception new infections occur among individuals who haven’t started the vaccination process. From that point on it is a personal choice as to whether or not we have a better chance of having events like the Fair, Round-Up and Happy Canyon.
For a county that is struggling to emerge from an economic disaster, getting a shot is a small price to pay for a $65 million boost to our economy.
In the end, the decision regarding whether or not to get a vaccination is an individual one. So too are the consequences – to the individual, those with whom they come in contact, to our local businesses, and to the possibility some of the events we enjoy most might not happen in 2021.
The Governor still hopes for a June opening for Oregon but we are definitely going in the wrong direction. For two week, Oregon has led the nation in the rate of new infections. The newest metric is the rate of hospitalization and as of yesterday, Oregon passed the magic threshold with a 37.4% increase and elimination of the warning week.
Metro area hospitals are being asked to delay elective surgeries.
The Governor is putting together a business relief package for businesses hit by this move to extreme risk, in addition to other business supports. This will need legislative approval that they will be working on this week and more information will be forthcoming.
The Governor is also opting to extend the statewide emergency declaration another 60 days despite pleas from counties to return local control.
Umatilla County made the New York Times on Monday being recognized for the highest increase in hospitalizations in the nation. Our count went from zero to four – an increase of 400%.
Umatilla County’s numbers continued to show a modest increase last week going from 54 to sixty with one case from the DOC. A rolling two-week average would have the County in the high risk range.
At the moment, the Health Department is undertaking a vaccine hesitation information project in hopes of getting more individuals to take the shot.
Members of the Budget Committee concluded the development of the County’s preliminary budget last week. Committee members include the three commissioners as well as Beth O’Hanlon of Pendleton, Jeff Leber of Umapine, and Marie Linnell of Hermiston.
The Committee approved a permanent tax rate of $2.8484 and a total budget of $123,715,835. Final approval for the budget, which is balanced, will take place in June.
The preliminary budget shows very little new hiring – a planner and two new dispatch staff members funded by 911 funds. Funding is more fluid in Public Health based upon status and needs for COVID. Right now the staff in Public Health has basically doubled since last March, but that includes contact tracers and vaccination teams. On the other side of COVID, whenever that appears, we will likely be left with just a few new permanent staff. Our increased numbers in Public Health are basically paid for by special stimulus and COVID emergency grants, as are all of the new positions we have already added although hopefully having experience a Public Health crisis, perhaps the will of the state to address their share of the funding equation may also gain legs. Right now local and federal funds are the primary source.
State Stimulus Dispersal
The State of Oregon will receive $2.6 billion from the federal American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA). That money has a wide variety of uses within the state, including backfilling lost revenue for agency services and other statewide projects. However, it won’t come close to meeting the requests made by legislators last week.
The 90 members of the House and Senate were asked to create a list of ready-to-go, one-time projects within their districts. When members returned their lists, over $30 billion in requests were submitted for consideration.
If the state opted to direct 100% of the ARPA dollars to these projects, it could only fund about 7% of them. Regardless of the total allocation, the application process for funding will be highly competitive.
Unemployment
Commissioner Dorran shared a report with me noting a very light improvement in employment that was sent out by the Oregon Employment Department:
Umatilla County’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage point in March, to 5.7%. Ranked among Oregon’s 36 counties, Umatilla County placed 14th in March, tied with Baker. Over the year, Umatilla County’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose by 1.7 percentage points. Umatilla County’s nonfarm employment total rose to 27,680 in March, an increase of 260 jobs. Private industry rose by 190 jobs in March to reach 20,850, while government climbed to 6,830, an increase of 70.
Emergency Drought Declaration
At their regular board meeting last week, commissioner adopted an emergency drought declaration for Umatilla County after reviewing information from a variety of sources. As the discussion transpired, it was pointed out that Union County had already been declared a disaster area by the USDA and that Umatilla, Baker, and Wallowa Counties were declared as contiguous.
The discussion also included significant disparities across the county from extreme risk in the western portions of the county to a fairly average snowpack and moisture level in the Blue Mountains. The lack of rain at a critical time for crops was also included in the discussion.
Mental Health
When I first campaigned for office, public safety was the number one concern on the minds of voters. That was also a time when we had seven road deputies and in one reported instance, our equipment was so mediocre that one afternoon one of our deputies was chugging up Rieth Ridge at 55 miles per hour with the lights on and sirens blaring while normal traffic zipped by in the left lane.
Today, including our sergeants who also work road shifts, we have 20 people patrolling the county. We hope for a time when we can afford a few more, but the visibility of our Sheriff’s Department in all corners of the county is much-improved. In fact, we can see 24-7 coverage within reach as well as the possibility we will someday get there.
Now, when all three commissioners are on the stump, mental health is the number one priority at every forum. That was a message received by all three commissioners when they were campaigning and with the closure of the Blue Mountain Recovery Center and now Aspen Springs we are even more limited when it comes to alternatives for handling a mental health crisis situation. That’s not the only mental issue on the docket, but it’s one of the most critical.
In response, for the last few weeks, a group of thirty individuals, have been participating in a program entitled Rockit, a pilot program funded by a private grant. Umatilla County was provided the opportunity to choose a post-COVID recovery program. In our case, we decided on an issue that was a problem before COVID, was exacerbated during COVID and which remain a problem post-COVID.
The Rockit program was designed to lay a foundation for further work and a new design. A new direction is still in its infancy but two of the three commissioners were part of the Rockit study and the subject of mental health, is one of three target areas which are part of the budget process.
For my part, I am a strong supporter of Justice Reinvestment, the program put in place as an alternative to more prisons. It has proven very successful and if the Legislature leaves it alone and funds it adequately it will continue to be a viable alternative to more prisons. At the moment, there seems to be a political desire to dilute the justice system and eliminate consequences.
When the state decided to cut back on mental health beds, they turned their focus back to the local level but without an alternative. It would seem obvious there should be a companion program which in our case could look something like a Mental Health and Substance Abuse Reinvestment Program.
The group which took part in the Rockit study identified the assets we already have in our community to address mental health and suggested some potential steps forward. Several things the group is aware of and which have some momentum include:
- Putting out a request for proposals to oversee mental, drug, and alcohol abuse programs in the county.
- Identifying effective strategies for addressing the intersection between law enforce and reducing the role of law enforcement in addressing mental health crisis situations and replacing them with specialized programs or personnel.
- Assuring that equity is a part of the discussion surrounding mental health and substance abuse.
- Identifying all of the entities currently available in the county that can play a role in this effort.
Each of the participants in the workshop committed to doing something in the next thirty days. As we have more time to reflect and consider possibilities we will be able to begin framing more comprehensive plans for next steps
Editorial Content & Opinion
Power is Intoxicating.
Fourteen months ago, Oregon and the rest of the world were attacked by an unknown enemy we came to call Coronaviris or later simply COVID-19 or just COVID.
While it started in the Far East, it arrived on our shores very quickly.
In late February I traveled to Washington, D. C. to plead our case for funding relief from the floods that were ravaging our county. On March 1, I received a call telling me the first confirmed case of what we now simply call COVID had been confirmed in Umatilla County.
I really didn’t know much about the pandemic but I was pretty sure I needed to make a hasty return home.
As I look back now, it is fascinating to realize the extent of our naivety and how much we have learned. even though we are still in the wilderness of understanding. What we do know is that COVID has turned our world upside down.
Our children were kicked to the curb as schools were shuttered and a program was patched together which mostly illuminated the educational opportunity difference between the haves and have nots, despite valiant efforts by our educators. We have discovered the absence of broadband and access to on-line learning, we have come to appreciate the value of in-person interaction between a teacher and a student, and yes we have been reminded that having our children in a school setting provides much more than basic instruction and valuable eyes upon them which can reveal a myriad of issues.
Our economy was suddenly upended as people were sent home to work from their kitchens and millions found themselves unemployed.
A degree of government oversight was imposed without a great deal of resistance as the nation succumbed to elements of control that in retrospect seem amazing when we reconsider the willingness with which we complied. Certainly, as a health emergency, some of that was critical for our own protection.
In Oregon, an emergency was declared fourteen months ago and fourteen months later, we are still under a long series of executive orders. Each week our Governor holds press availability to share with Oregonians the current state of guidelines and control.
Even Oregon’s Legislators raise questions about their lack of involvement in such a demanding level of state control, but nothing changes.
And each week, Oregon’s counties point out that ordinarily emergency declarations are short-lived and responsibility generally returns to the local level as soon as evidence of stability, oversight and response can be put into place. We have seen this firsthand with massive flooding and wildfires.
COVID oversight continues to linger as a contradiction to our history of emergency declarations and a trust in the capacity of local government to step up and respond.
Every day, the State of Oregon reminds us that authoritarian control is hard to relinquish even though it is wrapped in a cloak of taking care of us. That is dangerous rhetoric.
With COVID oversight, individual states are permitted to make sweeping determinations that impact every aspect of our lives with or without regard to science.
The Oregonian reported that in 49 of the 50 states runners can perform without masks. A couple of weeks ago, Maggie Williams, an 800-meter runner from Summit High School in Bend, plunged face first onto the track at the end of a race when she reportedly ran out of oxygen. When she regained consciousness she discovered she had pitched forward over the finish line and set a new school record.
I’m no medical authority but I have to wonder who suggested it would be safe for teenagers to run as fast as they can with artificially-impaired breathing capacity?
As noted earlier, 49 other states, including neighboring Washington, don’t agree. Despite attempts to cite science as the foundation for decisions which control our lives, our well-being and our economy, too many inconsistencies suggest politics invariably prevail at the end of the day.
Note – While no explanation was provided, OHA announced yesterday afternoon the rule is being lifted. Apparently some newr scientific or medical data has just emerged.
COVID has introduced a new element into our lives and we may not even realize it. In a nation that prides itself as the foundation of history’s greatest experiment in personal freedom and thought, we need to make sure we aren’t being led down the path of ideological subjugation.
And very likely, we are being led by those who have become intoxicated with a level of power that, like the legendary genie, isn’t willingly being fitted back into the bottle.
