(Shared by Umatilla County Commissioner George Murdock.)
To: Public Officials
From: George Murdock
Subject: Weekly Public Officials Update – Providing Information, Advocacy and Commentary
Date: May 11, 2021 – Volume 55
Total Cases – 8,130
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)
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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)
Week 39 – 60
Week 40 – 52 (including 1 from DOC)
Medical Report
Several days after putting fifteen Oregon counties in extreme risk, Governor Brown lifted those restrictions and returned them to high because of a reduction in hospitalizations. In the meantime, $20 million was authorized in emergency aid to help them through the difficulties.
When it was determined those difficulties would only last three days, Commissioner Shafer asked if any of the $20 million would be available to Umatilla County which has been closed more than every Oregon County except one. He was advised to provision had been made for that development.
Governor Brown had announced updates to county risk levels under the state’s public health framework to reduce transmission and protect Oregonians from COVID-19. With the statewide seven-day average increase for hospitalized COVID-19 positive patients dropping below 15 percent, Oregon no longer meets the statewide metrics for the Extreme Risk level.
Effective Friday, May 7, 15 counties returned to High Risk. In total, 24 counties will be at High Risk, four at Moderate Risk, and eight at Lower Risk. Umatilla County remained at high and is not impacted by the declaration.
Umatilla County continues to rank last in vaccinations per capita despite multiple efforts to offer shots and up the rate. At the moment, roughly 24% of our residents are vaccinated although that includes 31% of those eligible for the shot due to age.
It is somewhat disconcerting these numbers do not include several large groups that would make a difference—most of the 5,000 people who took advantage of shots at Yellowhawk, potentially thousands who went to the VA Center in Walla Walla, and anyone else who got a shot in Washington. With Benton, Franklin, and Walla Walla Counties on our border and the medical destination of many residents, we might be in better shape than it appears but still way short of where we need to be.
At a time when Umatilla County was in desperate need of vaccine, people were actively seeking alternatives which accounts for the high number of shots given elsewhere.
What is even more concerning is information out of Salem suggesting regulations will be relaxed by county based upon the vaccination rate. While every effort will be made to attempt to develop a more accurate count for Umatilla County, the fact remains that at this moment, we are one of the lowest in Oregon in vaccinations per capita and despite a wide variety of strategies including making note of the fact we could be jeopardizing our major events.
As we have made clear, getting a vaccination is an individual choice but it seems the consequences of not doing so are becoming more pervasive. When we make the choice not to get a vaccine, we are helping make other choices as well.
Vaccinations
Due to the decreasing number of people utilizing the drive-through clinics, the County will soon be moving their operations to the County Health Offices. Two more remote clinics will be help in Milton-Freewater and some clinics at special events, but the demand and the number of outlets for shots, no longer warrants the regular clinics which consume a great deal of staff time.
Stimulus Funds
We have received information suggesting the first half of our ARA funding is slated to arrive within a week. As a result, at Wednesday’s Board meeting we modified our budget to include an additional $7.5 million – roughly equal to the first half of our payment.
To date there has been limited discussion of the potential new funding except for the fact we will not use the money to balance the budget or to hire additional personnel. ARA funding is a one-time payment so we are avoiding any proposed expenses that would have to be sustained in the future.
We do intend to use a portion of the money to restore lost revenue and to address infrastructure as well as some of the other provisions outlined in the measure. Deferred maintenance is a major issue for government agencies because when there are shortfalls and budgets need to be balanced, it is a can that is easy to kick down the road. In addition, it is not something glitzy, politicians can point to. Only a limited number of people celebrate the fact the county is replacing boilers, roofs, floors, sidewalks, HVAC systems, controls, paint, windows, and so on.
Experience has shown that input regarding how to spend unanticipated revenues, addressing deferred maintenance rarely comes up.
Instead it is much more exciting to look at fancy new programs and amenities that don’t necessarily represent being good stewards of our buildings and grounds. As a matter of practice, every year when the county budget is being built, one of the fundamental commitments is to funding maintenance projects that have been included on a management timetable that goes several decades into the future.
While we are well aware we have the legal authority to let these things slide and eventually propose a bond issue, we are also pragmatic enough to understand the prospects of such a bond issue actually passing is not something we are foolish enough to hang our hat on.
I am reminded of a Greek Proverb which tells us “a society grows great when old men plant trees under whose shade they shall never sit.”
Baker City Resolution
We have been getting a number of calls from people encouraging the County to take a stand “like Baker City did.” Admittedly the Baker City resolution about standing up to the Governor is fundamentally no different than actions taken by cities and counties and trade associations across Oregon.
Admittedly they got a great deal of publicity and national attention but it is important to carve away the rhetoric and find the meat. According to reports, about 100 people came to the Council asking for some sort of special resolution. In response they passed a strongly-worded resolution blaming Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s COVID-19 restrictions for creating an economic, mental health and criminal activity crisis in the city. The City Council approved Resolution 3881 by a 5-2 vote on March 23 but the action has drawn widespread interest in just the past week or so and landed Mayor McQuisten on FOX News. She had drafted Resolution 3881 in consultation with City Manager Jon Cannon and the city’s attorney.
Her mission was a hope the message would spread across the state and maybe others would follow suit. Umatilla County, for example has sent numerous similar messages of its own pointing out the same problems, has joined with the Eastern Oregon Counties Association, Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association, and others to make clear the same message that came from Baker City.
The Baker City resolution blames Brown’s executive orders during the pandemic for pushing “businesses to the brink of permanent closure, creating a fiscal emergency and a devastated local economy.”
The resolution also contends that the governor’s orders, including face mask mandates, “are actively creating division and unrest with the increased potential of physical violence within our community as those of one opinion are encouraged by it to impose their opinions over the free will of those of another in a physical way.”
What is typically lost in translation is the fact things don’t look all that different in Baker City. People assume from the passionate and rebellious language and all of the sabre rattling, that Baker City is wide open and why doesn’t Umatilla County have the guts to follow suit? An article in the Baker City Herald revealed that the city’s resolution acknowledges that the city can neither legally ignore state mandates, nor protect from state sanction, any businesses that flout the rules.
Just last week we shared that same guidance which was provided to us by our legal counsel.
More on Emergency Powers of the Governor
This from our friend Rep. Mark Owens, a former Harney County Commissioner:
“Creating a system of checks and balances…or trying to
Over the last year, many of you have asked why legislators aren’t doing more to curtail the Governor’s executive orders. As I’ve shared in our virtual town halls and other messaging, I’m working hard within the means available to do so.
(Note: Every bill regarding limiting or curtailing the long-running imposition of record-setting emergency powers has been strongly supported by Rep. Bobby Levy).
I’ve co-sponsored a bipartisan bill, House Bill 2243, that would give the Legislature oversight on Governor Kate Brown’s emergency powers and the COVID-19 response. Yesterday, House Republicans brought this bill to the House Floor.
The motion narrowly failed: 27 for, 28 against.
I’ve Chief Sponsored two additional bills to limit the states of emergency and emergency powers:
- HB 2020: Establishes durational limits for states of emergency declared under certain statutes.
- HB 3153: Modifies laws relating to duration and termination of states of emergency and emergency powers under certain statutes.
I’m also supportive of HJR 18 introduced by Rep. Werner Reschke (R-Klamath Falls) that would terminate the state of emergency relating to COVID-19.
It’s important to understand that in order for bills like this to pass, you need a majority of legislators to vote in favor. Unfortunately, as we are seeing, even with bipartisan support, there aren’t enough legislators who agree that the governor having sole-authority to put extreme measures in place is not the way this state should be governed.
We will continue to advocate for this legislation, and any other means by which it is possible.
Forum with Representative DeFazio
Thursday the Association of Oregon Counties held an on-line forum with Congressman Peter DeFazio who chairs the Housing and Infrastructure Committee.
In light of the fact he is from Oregon and heads a committee dealing with a critical topic I figured it would be well to sit in because while the topic at face value is very popular there is also an assumption based on tradition it is mostly about roads and bridges. In actuality, the current version, while in the trillions of dollars, dedicates about six percent to roads and bridges.
As a result, there has been partisan pushback from those who would very likely be on-board with roads and bridges. I won’t go into the full gamut of proposals but it does include broadband but also a broad array of other considerations and social programs that are limiting bi-partisan support.
Our infrastructure is aging and while there are other topics in the massive bill that would also be valuable, we are hopeful having such a wide array of progressive wishes included does not undermine its passage.
On a somewhat related note, I saw a headline indicating the budget for the Department of Agriculture was going up 22 percent. In an agricultural county, that could mean a lot. Again, titles are misleading. As I scanned for relevant inclusions, I couldn’t’ find anything directly related to farms, ranches, crops, livestock, or farmers in general.
The crux of the new investments focus on climate change, broadband, wildfires, and nutrition programs.
Redistricting
We continue to follow the redistricting journey in Oregon although to date, not a great deal is happening. With a new sixth congressional seat in the mix, there will be some changing of the political landscape.
As we have noted several times, we don’t anticipate too much impact in the far reaches of the state where we happen to live. It takes 706,000 people for a district and we have traditionally had to rely on Bend and Southern Oregon to make up the numbers.
Currently, three of the five districts include parts of Portland. Guidelines for redistricting include consideration of similarities. For this reason, there has been some discussion about why the Pearl District is included in a district that largely includes northwest Oregon. Instead, there is interest in creating a district that extends along the Oregon Coast although it would take some communities deeper into the Willamette Valley to provide the necessary numbers.
Those pushing for the district representing Eastern Oregon are carefully watching what happens on either western end – Medford to the south and Hood River to the north. The greatest potential pushback would occur if the northern boundaries were to be extended toward Portland.
Press Conference
The Governor is planning a major press conference this afternoon. Due to the fact the information is embargoed, we are not able to speculate beyond the fact we anticipate she is again likely to comment on how soon Oregon can be opened and the relationship between that subject and vaccination rates.
