Rep. Greg Smith’s House Bill 2797 would add two commissioners to the Port of Morrow, to be appointed by the governor, as with the Port of Portland. His rationale is that the port has become too successful to be run by locals and outside “experts” are needed.

Aside from the gross insult to the current board and its electors, Smith’s proposal misses important distinctions between the ports.

The Port of Portland was established in 1891 by the Oregon Legislature. Its commissioners have always been appointed by the governor and approved by the Legislature. Its responsibilities now include a major international airport, four marine terminals and six industrial parks. The Port of Portland has an annual budget of about $3 billion.

By contrast, the Port of Morrow was established in 1958 by a group of motivated Morrow County citizens, and its first board of commissioners represented every community in the county. The second-largest port in Oregon, its annual budget approaches $500 million. This “big industry,” as Smith puts it, has grown entirely under the auspices of elected commissioners from within our county. (Full disclosure: My husband was appointed to the board last year.)

One has to wonder what Smith’s actual motivation is in wanting to cede local authority to state control. Voters of House Direct 57 should not let it happen.

Lea Mathieu

Ione

Those historians at Pendleton City Hall have decided the city is over-dependent on the Pendleton Round-Up and in desperate need of a more diverse economy if it expects our city to flourish. Increased tourism is their answer to the city’s woes.

Their latest initiative is to ban any new lighted signs and eliminate what the city refers to as light pollution, light that’s reflected up instead of down, in an attempt to make stars more visible. However, absent the neon glitz of a tourist town such as Reno, Nevada, or Nashville, Tennessee, Pendleton more resembles a ghost town once the sun sets, an unintended consequence of their program and counterproductive. I don’t personally believe visitors come here simply to stargaze.

In the past, the city manager, his management staff and the city council were more interested in promoting empty buildings on Main Street by subsidizing the Pendleton Downtown Association and the Pendleton Chamber of Commerce than the economic well-being of the entire city. If you haven’t yet heard, we’re losing another business, our cancer center is closing. When’s the last time you’ve heard a city councilor start a sentence with, “In my ward …”? The usual topic, no matter the ward, concerns Main Street.

We’ve started a new year with a new mayor and city council. Perhaps they’ll give as much or more credence to the community at large as they do the unelected management at city hall. Their surveys, much like political polls, just don’t accurately reflect the views of the public.

Rick Rohde

Pendleton

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