STRIKE
Continued from Page 1A
“Anything less than (a
raise of) 3% is taking away
the buying power of employ-
ees,” Hickerson said.
Bargaining sessions
are set for Sept. 23 and 24
at Portland State Univer-
sity. They may be the last
ones prior to a strike, but
Hickerson said the SEIU
bargaining team will be will-
ing to participate in future
bargaining sessions.
“We are not walking away
from the table,” she said.
“We will meet on any date
if there is a conversation to
be had.”
Tim Seydel, Eastern’s
vice president for university
advancement, said EOU
offi cials are hoping for the
best but also preparing for a
strike. He said that should
there be a strike, EOU will
continue holding classes and
providing all of the same
services it does now for
students, keeping its offi ces
open and holding all sched-
uled on-campus events.
He said EOU wants the
best for its classifi ed staff,
whom he describes as “very
valued employees.”
According to an SEIU
news release, 95% of the
state’s 4,500 student
services workers at public
universities voted to strike
Sept. 30 if a settlement is
Dick Mason/Observer fi le photo
Members of the Eastern Oregon University chapter of
SEIU Local 503, the union representing student services
workers, participate in a rally Aug 5.
not reached. Hickerson said
that at EOU, where fall term
classes begin Sept. 25, at
least 90% of the university’s
student services employees
voted for the strike date.
Should there be a strike,
workers will be assisted by
a union hardship fund that
would provide employees
with up to $400 a week, said
Jay Parasco, a spokesman
for SEIU 503.
EOU President Tom
Insko, in an email sent to all
Eastern employees Wednes-
day afternoon, said he has a
feeling of optimism.
“As we open the new
academic year, and despite
ongoing conversations
around a possible strike, we
continue to be optimistic an
agreement that supports
EOU employees and stu-
dents can be reached. Our
KIRBY
Continued from Page 1A
since I was very young,” Kirby said. “I
grew up in a law enforcement family.”
Kirby’s father has been a deputy
sheriff with the Baker County Sheriff’s
Offi ce for about 20 years.
“I grew up really respecting police
offi cers, what they do, what they go
through to accomplish their goals and
to keep people safe,” Kirby said. “This
is a great way to be part of the depart-
ment and show the department and
community my work ethic and the kind
of person I am and my integrity.”
Kirby is taking over the position
previously held by Cassie Cribbs, who
left to take a supervisory role in the
police department’s 911 dispatch center
earlier this year. Before Cribbs, Cherie
Keating was the city’s code enforce-
ment offi cer, retiring in 2018 after
serving 22 years with the police
RULING
Hassinger said.
According to the EPA web-
site, there were four primary
reasons for the repeal. First,
the EPA and the Depart-
ment of the Army (the agen-
cies, as the website refers to
them) concluded that “the
2015 rule did not implement
the legal limits on the scope
of the agencies’ authority
under the Clean Water Act
as intended by Congress and
refl ected in Supreme Court
classifi ed employees are an
integral part of the univer-
sity and their contributions
toward our shared success
are valued and appreciated,”
Insko said.
He noted that the state’s
universities have boosted
their offer to student
services workers in recent
bargaining sessions.
“This new proposal is
intended to recognize the
meaningful value our clas-
sifi ed staff contribute to this
institution,” Insko said.
The public universities
are offering cost-of-living in-
creases that would total 4%
over two years, plus incre-
mental wage step increases
that total 9.5% over two
years, said Di Saunders, a
spokesperson for the public
universities.
She explained that
increases are provided to
classifi ed employees each
year for satisfactory or bet-
ter job performance. More
than 70% of the university’s
classifi ed staff qualify for
annual step increases. These
are employees who are not
at the top of their wage
scale, which takes 10 years
to reach.
Saunders said those who
have “topped out” and no
longer qualify for step in-
creases have been offered a
one-time $750 bonus by the
state under proposed terms
of the contract.
According to the SEIU
news release, the union is
seeking a 6.25% cost-of-liv-
ing increase spread over two
years and a modifi ed wage
scale. The union is asking for
the lowest step of the wage
scale to be removed and a
new top step added.
Hickerson said it would only
be fair to add another step for
those who have topped out,
since they have been working
for 10 years or more in the
university system.
“These workers are loyal,”
she said.
These workers, like all of
their colleagues, are bracing
for possibly the fi rst student
services employees strike at
Oregon’s public universities
since 1995.
“We are prepared for the
worst but hoping for the
best,” Hickerson said.
DEQ
Continued from Page 1A
base fee is then multiplied
by one-tenth and added to
the base after being multi-
plied by the scoring of other
factors.
The DEQ considers if
the business in question
has had previous citations
and if they were handled
— this was B&K’s fi rst
citation and therefore
this factor received a zero
value. It also considers
whether the violation
was a single or ongoing
occurrence. Because this
violation involved alleged
multiple instances of oil
being dumped, this factor
received a value of four.
The DEQ also considers
the “mental state” of the
violators, and in this case
B&K received a 10 for al-
legedly telling the employ-
ee to dump the oil where it
cannot be seen.
The score for the ac-
tions taken to correct the
violation was negative two
because efforts were even-
tually made to minimize
the effects of the violation,
as B&K had met with Steve
Rich Environmental Con-
struction to discuss cleaning
“DEQ issued this
penalty because the
used oil you generate
may be harmful to
human health and the
environment when
released.”
— Oregon Department
of Environmental Quality
to B&K Auto Salvage
of La Grande regarding
an alleged oil spill and
mislabeling of oil. The DEQ
fi ned B&K Auto Salvage
more than $9,200.
up the contamination. The
salvage company was also
given a fee of $458, the
approximate dollar value
of the benefi t gained and
the costs avoided or delayed
as a result of noncompli-
ance, according to the letter.
This totaled to the $9,258
penalty.
“DEQ issued this penalty
because the used oil you
generate may be harmful to
human health and the en-
vironment when released,”
the letter said.
— Contact Sabrina
Thompson at 541-963-
3161 or sthompson@
lagrandeobserver.com.
“I grew up really respecting police offi cers, what they do, what they go
through to accomplish their goals, and to keep people safe. This is a
great way to be part of the department and show the department and
community my work ethic and the kind of person I am and my integrity.”
— Cody Kirby, La Grande Police Department’s new code enforcement offi cer
department, according to a press re-
lease from LGPD.
Kirby has been spending his fi rst
couple weeks in training for the more
physical aspects of the job, such as learn-
ing how and when to use force. He also
said he has a lot of ongoing book learning
to do as he goes through binders full of
different codes that he will need to know.
“It will be an ongoing process,” Kirby
said. “I am not going to walk up to your
door without knowing what I am talk-
ing about.”
Kirby believes this position offers
him a healthy work/life balance. He
cases.” The agencies also
did not consider and accord
due weight to the policy of
Congress in the CWA to
protect the responsibilities
and rights of the states to
prevent, reduce and elimi-
nate pollution and to plan
the development and use of
land and water resources.
The repeal of the rule also
prevents interpretations of
the CWA that push their
constitutional and statu-
tory authority. Lastly, they
concluded that the rule’s
distance-based limitations
Continued from Page 1A
THE OBSERVER — 5A
LOCAL
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2019
said he sees the police department as
family and can go to them when he
needs. He also said he doesn’t work
weekends, which gives him time to
do some of the things he enjoys like
hiking, playing guitar and camping.
However, he understands more than
anything that the code enforcement
offi cer has an important role in the
La Grande community.
“One of the things that makes life
worth living is serving others,” Kirby
said. “To have the tools and ability to
help people on a daily basis is a very
motivating factor for me.”
had procedural errors and a
lack of record support.
The repeal of the rule will
return water jurisdiction
back to their pre-2015 clas-
sifi cations.
R.D. James, Assistant
Secretary of the Army for
Civil Works, fi rst signed the
fi nal rule on Sept. 5 with the
EPA administrator, Andrew
R. Wheeler, signing it on
Sept. 12. The EPA is submit-
ting it for publication in the
Federal Register, which will
be used for compliance once
published.
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