Letters to the Editor for Aug. 28, 2009

Why the fear of a public option?

To the editor:

Lost amongst all the shameful lies, hysterical vitriolic ranting and selfishness of many who oppose President Obama’s very modest health care reform proposals are the faces of your neighbors whom you shun and turn away from by denying them access to affordable health care. Neighbors whose jobs carry no health benefits or who suffer the debilitating effects of chronic diseases and pre-existing conditions, many genetic in origin that go untreated  and worsen because for-profit insurance companies refuse to offer coverage at any price.

Under the current system, if you are born with an inherited disorder like Crohn’s disease, muscular dystrophy, or multiple sclerosis, all very expensive to treat, you are an uninsurable pariah; which is precisely why we need a nationwide nonprofit public option run as an insurer of last resort for those who cannot afford insurance or who are gravely ill and uninsurable.

It’s bizarre too that many screaming the loudest against the public option as a devious socialistic plan to subvert the nation are themselves blithe recipients of federal largess in the form of Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid. Let’s be consistent folks: Social Security is paid for only 50 percent by your contributions, your employer kicks in the other half and if you work in a low-paid job your final benefit will exceed your total contributions several times over i.e. Socialism. On Medicare or Medicaid? Just look in the mirror to see a “socialist” as the taxpayer is picking up 90 percent of your medical costs.

So I wonder what is it that really disposes some people to believe the grossly preposterous lies spewed out by the radio talk-show shills for the big insurance companies? What gnawing angst of the soul or deep irrational fear of a black president induces you to a warped belief that he is out to kill grandma with “death panels?” I think we all need to take a deep breath and look to our “better angels” for inspiration.

John Harmer

Baker City

Recall wastes time, money

To the editor:

Saturday my wife and I went to the park to take in the Farmers Market and the show-and-shine. When we got there we saw many people we knew, and lots of out-of-towners.

The day started out very pleasant until I saw the table asking people to sign a petition for recalling council members. I do not think this was the time nor place for doing this.

Baker had people from all over the Northwest visiting and partaking in this event and to enjoy the weekend. What a shame we have to push our views on unexpecting visitors.

I feel all this time and money could be spent on the kids (building a bigger skate park, for one) in town and not on this recall. Many of the people we saw in the park felt the same way.

Bill Uttenreuther

Baker City

Council didn’t vet Brocato properly

To the editor:

In 2007, when City Council hired Steve Brocato to be Baker City manager, it appears to have taken at face value everything Brocato put into his application. 

It shouldn’t have.

Brocato reported that from 1997 to 1999 he was president of the leasing division of shipping container giant Cronos Group, a “$1 billion” company, “directing over 100 employees.” 

Then-mayor Jeff Petry gushed, “If he can run a big company, he can run a small city.” 

But, Brocato left out a few things. 

Such as, before 1997, he held much-lower level employment at Cronos, supervising at most 3 or 4 employees. 

Such as, during his short tenure as president, the company’s financial performance, in my opinion, was dismal.

Such as, in 1999, the man who appointed Brocato president, Cronos chairman Stefan Palatin, was fired for bilking the company out of millions of dollars and subsequently served several years in an Austrian prison.

Such as, within a week of Palatin’s ouster, Brocato “resigned” as president of the leasing division, according to a trade publication.

After a career of nearly 20 years, Brocato never again worked in the container business. Why? 

So, what did Brocato do during the 8 eight years between 1999 and being hired as Baker City manager? He says he was a “contractual and financial consultant.”  But his resume lists not one reference of persons to contact.

Did the City verify Brocato’s employment during those eight years? When I asked interim city manager Tim Collins about the City’s pre-hiring investigation of Brocato, he said the City cannot disclose that information “without an order to do so.”

In a recent letter to the editor, city councilor Milo Pope said people should be asking four city councilors why they voted to fire Brocato. 

Well, they can’t. And Pope, an attorney, should know that.

The same rule that requires personnel files be kept confidential, keeps councilors from publicly discussing their reasons for firing Brocato. 

But a court order is not the only way Brocato’s personnel file can be made public.  Brocato himself could authorize Baker City and other employers to disclose confidential information. 

How about it, Steve?

Gary Dielman

Baker City