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Wyden: Rural areas won't be left out of economic stimulus
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 STIMULUS PACKAGE TALKS: U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (far right) met with local officials Wednesday to talk about federal funding that may soon become available for local infrastructure. Others in the picture include (from left) Union County Commissioner Steve McClure, La Grande City Councilor Steve Clements, La Grande City Manager Robert Strope, La Grande School Superintendent Larry Glaze, local contractor Mike Becker and La Grande School District Plant Operations Manager Gary Howland. The Observer/BILL RAUTENSTRAUCH It will, at least, if Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has anything to say about it. “Wall Street got a $700 billion bailout, and now it’s time to help Main Street,” Wyden said during an appearance Wednesday at Greenwood school on Spruce Street. “On my watch, we’re not going to let rural areas become sacrifice zones.” Wyden met with local officials who hope to get a piece of the economic stimulus package Congress is poised to approve after Barack Obama is sworn in as president.The federal money will be used to rebuild roads, bridges and other infrastructure. According to the plan, the projects will create family-wage jobs and buck up a sagging economy. “These kinds of projects really have a big economic multiplier. People get paychecks, eat in restaurants, buy retail. The money basically circulates quickly into the economy,” Wyden said. Local projects weren’t discussed in detail during the meeting, though officials in attendance had plenty of questions and comments. La Grande School Superintendent Larry Glaze told Wyden about the failure in November of a school bond measure. The money would have been used to upgrade buildings throughout the school district. Glaze expressed hope that some of those improvements might qualify for federal money. Wyden didn’t rule it out. “I’m very hopeful the stimulus will include infrastructure other than roads,” he said. He added it is important that proposed projects are ready to go. Those that have already been through the planning process have the best chance of securing funding, he said. “You should do everything you can to tie your requests to something that’s shelf-ready,” he said.
 gathering input: Sen. Ron Wyden, D.-Ore., pictured here with Gary Howland of the La Grande School District, left, and local contractor Mike Becker, fields a question during Wednesday’s meeting at Greenwood School. The Observer/BILL RAUTENSTRAUCH The city and the county jointly plan a $2.5 million improvement project on South 12th Street that would include widening of the road and construction of gutters, curbs, bike paths and sidewalks. In addition, the city has drawn up plans for major improvements to Spruce Street. The entities hope both projects qualify for stimulus money. But City Manager Robert Strope expressed some concern that government red tape would hold up funding approval. “Our big concern is the ability to get a project ready quickly with all the strings that are attached,” he said. Wyden acknowledged that permitting an environmental review and other requirements pose problems. He said he is committed to streamlining processes. “Let’s operate under the assumption we’re going to clear out this administrative sticky paper as quick as we can,” he said. County Commissioner Steve McClure suggested that the projects with the best chance of funding will be ones that aren’t controversial. “We’re probably going to have to pick projects that don’t have a big environmental piece,” he said. Wyden pledged his help in keeping projects moving forward. “When I see a bottleneck, I’m going to be picking up the phone and beating on the doors of the agencies,” he said. La Grande was one of four stops on Wyden’s tour of the state this week. Others included Baker City, Ontario and Klamath Falls. He said he will do all he can to see that input he gathers on his trip will be heard in Washington, D.C. “It’ll be a message for Obama, live from La Grande,” he said.
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