42nd President of the United States Bill Clinton Visits Baker City
By Brian Addison
Local Democratic leader Peggi Timm excitedly placed calls around town Friday evening announcing that the 42nd President of the United States of America Bill Clinton had confirmed a stop in Baker City along the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign trail.
President William Jefferson Clinton arrived at about 12:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon and spoke for almost an hour to a crowd of about 750 people. Timm shared a VIP seat joining President Clinton on the steps of the Baker County Courthouse with Baker City Community Developer Jennifer Watkins. Baker County Commission Chairman Fred Warner Jr. had the honor of introducing President Clinton to the crowd gathered on the Baker County Courthouse east lawn. As President Clinton greeted the crowd he mentioned a tie to Jennifer Watkins’ family; Clinton said that her grandfather had been a great help in his election to Governor of Arkansas.
Baker City Staff And Councilors Comment On Streets, Sewer Pipes, Proclamations And Give Congratulations
By Brian Addison
Near the end of each meeting of the Baker City Council, time is set aside on the agenda for councilors and city staff department heads to make comments. The topics brought up on Tuesday evening ranged from concerns over the equity of street maintenance dollars in the city to the Main Street west alley wastewater line work to congratulations for accomplishments of local students.
Councilor Dennis Dorrah started his comment by saying that he has spoken to people who live on streets that are not paved. “What about us? We pay taxes too. How come there isn’t more street maintenance on our streets?” said Dorrah relaying the questions he’s heard from citizens.
“Do we have any idea if they’re getting equivalent return from their taxes?” Dorrah asked city staff. Dorrah then asked for Public Works records that would indicate the amount of maintenance dollars spent on both paved and gravel streets in the city.
Becker Construction Company Alleges Baker County
Violated Contracting Law
By Brian Addison
Baker County Commissioners received a Letter of Dispute filed by Michael Becker Construction Company against Baker County over the awarding of the contract for the Holcomb Park Comfort Station contract. In the letter, Becker officially protests Baker County’s contracting practices alleging Commissioners violated Oregon state law (ORS 279B.410).
Becker’s complaint alleges that Baker County Commissioners violated the Oregon statute on two separate instances: Becker alleges, “they (Baker Co. Commissioners) attempted to negotiate the bid by using all bidders rather than the low bidder and secondly they did not award the project to the lowest responsive/responsible bidder.”
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