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A few odds and ends

by Tryan Hartill

Is the D.A. a Dept Head or not?

The County needs some kind of legal ruling on this. Not only has this created all kinds of confusion over the last few weeks, but they are opening themselves up for trouble down the road. The Sheriff is in the same boat here. Having an elected official running a Dept “if they want to”, with another Government body controlling the money, is a small problem now and could be a major problem in the future. And the voters need to know whether they are electing a Dept. Head or not, when they send in their ballots. And also, the extra work the D.A. does for the county needs to be put on paper and in a contract. It’s not fair to anyone to have someone in Government “volunteering” to do more work and then getting “tipped” for it, even if Heather Reynolds says it’s OK.

Gas Tax

Next Monday is the first public comment for the gas tax. I think this will be a good deal for local tax-payers:

1. If the estimate on the amount of gas used is correct, (highly doubtful) because half of the money would come from visitors.

2. If the City shows a line-by-line expense chart that shows where the current gas tax money is going and where the new tax money will go.

3. If the City plans out the first few years of the tax. Which roads are the highest priority and how much will each one cost. No doubt there will be some “pet-projects” that the individual Councilors will push for down the road. Let’s make sure this doesn’t happen for at least 3 years.

4. If the cost of implementing the tax is revealed and factored in.

Port Westward Gas-Fired Plant

The Plant will be coming online in the next couple a days. More power to the system means cheaper rates! Er…wait a sec….what now? The Oregon Public Utility Commission is recommending that all 775,000 PGE customers pay an extra 2.8% on their bill because the cost of producing the power is more expensive?..Huh?

Pioneer House

I know I’ve been bringing this up a bunch lately, but it is a very important part of our community. They are doing a clean-up/repair event over the next 3 days. If you only have an hour, stop by and offer to help and take a tour. Hours are 10-4 and there will be a BBQ 11-5 on Saturday.

Immigration Raid

I am in support of the raid that happened in Portland yesterday. But I hope that the people that were scamming the system the most (the hiring agency, the food company) get the book thrown at them and the workers let off. Some kind of reform bill will probably pass, but will it even matter? Is the current immigration situation around the country that bad that we need to start rounding people up? My answer to both questions is “I don’t think so”.

Going out of Business Sale!

In a sign that the Critters in Salem are running out of things to regulate, they are now regulating how long a business can run a “Going out of Business Sale”. The Bill also says that you can’t have a “going out of business sale” and open up the same business in the local area. And these people want annual sessions? Oh goody!

Google can be so mean!

Over the last 2 days I’ve had my name searched in Google and referred to NCO 8 times. And guess what article Google sent all 8 people to? Yep…. Drunken Photos.

Update

Jeff Hazen has a new post up about having video of the Clatsop Commission meetings on the web. I think this is an excellent idea. The costs may be a bit up front, but once everything is in place, they should be minimal. Hopefully other counties that do it will have some tips and cost estimates.

Someone over at the KAST forum suggested using a Senior next year to do stories on NCO. I think this would be a great idea for someone looking into a Jounalism Major. Maybe a Senior project for someone even. Anyone have any comments to add or contact info for who I would get in touch with at the Highschool?

Jun 13, 11:46 pm | Tryan Hartill
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9 comments on this article (post your own)

1 On Jun 14, 06:20 am, Walter Richards wrote:

RE: DA contract with county

I am not “employed” by the county in any way and therefore I don’t have contract. In fact under Oregon law it is illegal for me to contract to do any legal work except as the District Attorney.

This is a direct quote from Josh in response to my opinion piece earlier. So (IMO) it looks like he could be contracted by the county as a department head, as long as it didn’t involve any “legal work”.

RE: Immigration raid

From what I’ve heard, the raid wasn’t so much because of illegal workers … but because of a “ring” of them selling fake IDs. Since those fake IDs are basically Identity Theft … I think everyone involved, both the sellers and buyers, should at least be charged with those felonies and either locked up or deported.

2 On Jun 14, 07:44 am, THartill wrote:

But who was buying them? Sounds like nobody.

The undercover agent posing as a un-documented worker was offered the documents by the staffing company and a factory boss. I see no reason to charge the workers with felonies. (Unless there are other crimes committed)

3 On Jun 14, 08:03 am, Walter Richards wrote:

From what I’ve heard, a couple dozen of the illegals were using stolen SSNs. I believe that’s a felony.

Even if an illegal wasn’t using a phony ID, since s/he’s here illegally … deport them. I’m tired of the bullshit that we can’t do without illegals. If Americans truely won’t do the job (which I think is rare), there are people trying to get here legally.

As to “breaking up families” or making them unsure of being able to earn a living … since when is that a reason not to enforce the law, or punish someone for breaking the law? How many Americans in prison have families that they supported? Should we now turn all of them loose?

Also – note the irony of how certain people call for a “living wage”, but then support illegals working here which drives wages DOWN.

4 On Jun 14, 08:05 am, Walter Richards wrote:

From what I’ve heard, a couple dozen of the illegals were using stolen SSNs. I believe that’s a felony.

Even if an illegal wasn’t using a phony ID, since s/he’s here illegally … deport them. I’m tired of the bullshit that we can’t do without illegals. If Americans truely won’t do the job (which I think is rare), there are people trying to get here legally.

As to “breaking up families” or making them unsure of being able to earn a living … since when is that a reason not to enforce the law, or punish someone for breaking the law? How many Americans in prison have families that they supported? Should we now turn all of them loose?

Also – note the irony of how certain people call for a “living wage”, but then support illegals working here which drives wages DOWN.

None of which is to say that I don’t support also punishing the employer(s). But when two sides commit a crime, BOTH should be punished.

5 On Jun 14, 11:43 am, THartill wrote:

What about the cost?

We have seen this with the Drug War. How much do we spend on fighting drugs every year? It has done nothing! Zero Zip! Except employ Government workers.

Same with deporting people. How many billions will we have to spend every year? 50? 100?

Cost/Benefit just isn’t there.

And workers involved were working AND paying a bunch of taxes they will never see.

6 On Jun 14, 12:42 pm, Walter Richards wrote:

And workers involved were working AND paying a bunch of taxes they will never see.

So what if they were working? Plenty of criminals work, and we still punish them for committing crimes.

Define “will never see”. Do they have kids in school? Are they getting the same police/fire protection as the rest of us? Do they use the same roads? Are they getting any kind of government assistance? At the least, it sure seems like they’re getting more than their share of representation in our government – considering that they aren’t citizens.

As to the Cost/Benefit comparison:

The “war on drugs” can correctly be called an illegal war. There is no Constitutional authority for it. (Why do you think prohibition needed a Constitutional Amendment?) So any Cost/Benefit ratio there is moot.

On the other hand, the government does have Constitutional authority both to protect our borders and set immigration policy. And nowhere does the Constitution talk about Cost/Benefit ratios. So again, moot point. Either the gov’t is going to enforce its existing laws, change them, or ignore them.

Current policy is to take the third option, but that violates one of the basic philosophies of our country. IE; Equal treatment under the law. When that principle is blatantly violated on such a grand scale … people will naturally wonder why they aren’t allowed to violate laws they don’t agree with. And it’s a good question that deserves better answers than “Because I say so” or “Do as I say, not as I do” or “But these people are special”.

Still worried about the cost? Then pay for it by transferring some of the billions of dollars spent on unConstitutional programs/agencies.

7 On Jun 14, 01:16 pm, THartill wrote:

They are not ignoring them…they are “half-assing” them. Sometimes enforcing them and sometimes not.

But obviously they do have constitutional authority to “fight drugs”...the proof is in the pudding.

It’s the “Eye of the beholder” when it comes to Constitutional Authority.

I thought the Iraq war was against Constitutional Authority, but 70% of the country disagreed with me at the time.

8 On Jun 14, 01:35 pm, Walter Richards wrote:

But obviously they do have constitutional authority to “fight drugs”...the proof is in the pudding.

No. You only have proof that they are claiming that authority, and that nobody has the power to stop them. In other words, they say they do AND they have the biggest guns. If I carry an AK-47 into a camp of unarmed pacifists and say I have authority to decide who lives or dies … even though nobody there has the power to stop me, I don’t actually have that authority.

To outlaw alcohol, a Constitutional Amendment was needed. What Amendment was added after prohibition, that authorizes the government to outlaw drugs?

So regardless of the government’s claims, or the fact that they have the biggest arsenal, they still lack Constitutional authority. Which is a demonstration of what the Constitution says our government is, and what politicians have made it.

9 On Jun 14, 01:42 pm, Walter Richards wrote:

It’s the “Eye of the beholder” when it comes to Constitutional Authority.

No. There are plenty of writings from the Founders on what the Constitutional powers are, and what they aren’t.

Even the Constitution itself is plain to anyone using simple logic.

For instance, the 10th Amendment. Well, reading that, it should be obvious that there are powers the federal government specifically has, and anything else is left up to the states and people. It even says “specifically” in the Amendment. Not “implied” or “interpretted”. Thus, logically, the Constitution doesn’t imply any powers on the federal government. So any court ruling that says it does, is itself in violation of the Constitution.

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