The Dalles City Council met last night, and one of the highlights was a legislative report from Oregon House District 52 Representative Jeff Helfrich. He noted several projects in Wasco County that were funded in the last legislative session, including a package to support the new aviation maintenance training program planned by Columbia Gorge Community College.
Councilor Dan Richardson asked what steps were being taken to correct Measure 110, which not only appropriated funds for drug treatment but decriminalized all hard drugs.
Helfrich said that the legislature had set up a task force to bring proposals back for review:
“They’re going to be looking at a variety of things those fixes could look like include recriminalization of those drugs. The Oregon Legislature can, and I believe must, act on what some of the recommendations look like. We’ve seen the actions of it, and it’s not just a Portland problem. You see it here in The Dalles; you see it everywhere. And as a police officer, I got to see firsthand what drugs do to people, how it affects their lives, how it affects family members, and the horrors that can happen with that.”
He also added this thought:
“My hope is we can come up with a fix in this short session. I’m not going to hold my breath, because it can’t be a partisan issue. It’s a bi-partisan issue. It’s not about party; it’s about helping people that need the help, it’s also holding accountability for that.”
Helfrich, who was recently chosen as Republican leader in the Oregon House of Representatives, said he thought it was in part due to his willingness to reach across the aisle to work for the common good.
Councilors also approved creating a two-person Information Technology department in response to the city’s growth and the increasing danger of hackers. In 2020, Tillamook County had all its computer systems locked up by ransomware, and paid $300,000 to get the decryption keys, after estimating that it would take $1 million and a number of months to recreate the digital data from paper records and other sources.
And Lisa Farquharson of the Chamber of Commerce announced a special free training for volunteers on the boards of local nonprofits:
“Google granted us a community grant, which is paying for a specialized training in The Dalles. This training is open to all of our nonprofits. It’s totally free to any nonprofit. It’s on October 19, and it’s only two and a half hours from 9 to 11:30.”
That training will take place in the meeting room at Columbia Gorge Community College. For more information, contact The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce.