I would like to address the integrity of one of the candidates running for governor. Last year, allegations were made against the La Grande football team and the officials who officiated the game. These allegations were later found to be unfounded by the OSAA investigators. When the allegations were first made, the leadership of the Oregon House, then House Speaker Tina Kotek, House Majority Leader Barbara Smith Warner and Rep. Janelle Bynum, were very quick to jump on the bandwagon and call La Grande, as a whole, racist.

Is this the type of governor Oregon needs, one who jumps to conclusions and uses unfounded allegations to further her agenda? I agree that racism has no place on the football field, but neither do false accusations whether made by parents or politicians.

The La Grande football team and the officials were cleared of any wrongdoing, but nothing was ever said about the Gladstone parents who made the false allegations. Where was Tina Kotek when the truth came out? I still hear people say, “Oh, La Grande, that racist community.” I am not sure who’s worse, parents who make false accusations in the heat of the battle to defend their team, or politicians who use the false allegations to further their political agenda.

Joel Hasse

La Grande