LOCAL
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019
UNION
Continued from Page 1A
in economic development
and asset management.
• Marty McKeon, a retiree
who is an active community
volunteer.
The candidates were
interviewed together by the
council. All four of the candi-
dates said they enjoy living
in Union immensely.
“I love Union and the free-
dom we have,” McKeon said.
The candidate said she
likes that ordinances are
enforced in a way that resi-
dents don’t feel constrained.
McDowell said one of the
remarkable things about
Union is that it has no down-
side in terms of living space.
“I just love the town,” he
said. “I don’t know of a bad
spot in Union wherever you
live.”
The candidate said he
would like to see Union look
into getting a readily acces-
sible food bank established
with the help of a grant.
Hurd said he has gained a
lot of knowledge about how
cities operate through his
work experience at Lincoln
City. He wants to use what
he learned to help Union.
“I want to give back,” Hurd
said.
Jones said she would like
to see Union grow but not to
the point that it will lose its
small community charm.
“I want to see us gear up
just a little bit,” she said.
Mayor Leonard Flint told
the candidates after the
group interview that he was
impressed with them and
selecting one will not be easy.
“You have made the city
council’s job very diffi cult,”
the mayor said.
THE OBSERVER — 5A
The chosen candidate will
fi ll a vacancy created this
summer when Walt Brook-
shire stepped down because
he is making Cove his
new residence. Brookshire
recently sold the building his
business, the Union Drug
Co., operates in. He will
continue operating Union
Drug Co. in the building he
once owned.
Brookshire was appointed
to the city council about
2-1/2 years ago to fi ll a
vacancy. He was elected to a
four-year term in November
of 2018.
INQUIRY
Continued from Page 1A
and consequential confrontation with
the Republican president, injects deep
uncertainty into the 2020 election
campaign and tests anew the nation’s
constitutional system of checks and
balances.
Trump, who thrives on combat, has
all but dared Democrats to take this
step, confi dent that the specter of im-
peachment led by the opposition party
will bolster rather than diminish his
political support.
“There has been no President in the
history of our Country who has been
treated so badly as I have,” he tweeted
Wednesday from New York, where he
has spent the week meeting with world
leaders participating in the annual U.N.
General Assembly. “The Democrats
are frozen with hatred and fear. They
get nothing done. This should never be
allowed to happen to another President.
Witch Hunt!”
While Pelosi’s announcement adds
weight to the work being done on the
oversight committees, the next steps
are likely to resemble the past several
months of hearings and legal battles
— except with the possibility of actual
impeachment votes.
Her brief statement, delivered with-
out dramatic fl ourish but in the frame-
JUDGE
Continued from Page 1A
alcohol crimes who complete
a 18-month treatment pro-
gram through Drug Court,
now named Treatment Court,
can in some cases have their
charges dismissed or their jail
sentences reduced.
“He helped get a lot of
people off drugs,” West said of
Mendiguren’s work with Drug
Court, which since has been
renamed Treatment Court.
West said part of Mendig-
uren’s success in Drug Court
was due to his engaging
personality.
“He had a nice way of en-
couraging people,” he said.
Michelle Leonard, trial
court administrator for Union
and Wallowa counties, echoed
this sentiment.
“He was very compassion-
ate person,” Leonard said.
She said that in the court-
room Mendiguren was able to
connect with defendants and
make them feel like he could
INCREASE
“We wanted to give
members time to prepare
of the change.”
Continued from Page 1A
Sandra Ghormley, direc-
tor of member services,
said the increase was an-
nounced now
to give time
for members
to adjust.
“We wanted
to give mem-
Ghormley bers time to
prepare for the
change,” she said.
Providing safe and reli-
able service to its members
at competitive rates re-
mains a priority for OTEC,
according to the news
release, which stated that
the cooperative has limited
its cost increases to 0.95%
— Sandra Ghormley,
director of member
services on an upcoming
change to members’ bills
on an annual basis over the
past 15 years, while overall
infl ation has increased in
excess of 2% annually for
the same period.
OTEC is a not-for-profi t,
member-owned electric co-
operative that serves more
than 31,000 homes and
businesses in Union, Baker,
Harney and Grant counties.
Headquartered in Baker
City, OTEC has district
offi ces in La Grande, Burns
and John Day.
Stuck in a
payday loan?
Know before you owe
dfr.oregon.gov
J. Scott Applewhite/The Associated Press
Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, joins impeachment activists with a youth-led group,
By The People, to call for Congress to remove President Donald Trump from
offi ce, outside the Rayburn House Offi ce Building on Capitol Hill.
work of a constitutional crisis, capped
a frenetic weeklong stretch on Capitol
Hill as details of a classifi ed whistle-
blower complaint about Trump burst
into the open and momentum shifted
toward an impeachment probe.
For months, the Democratic leader
has tried calming the push for impeach-
ment, saying the House must investi-
gate the facts and let the public decide.
The new drive was led by a group of
moderate Democratic lawmakers from
political swing districts, many of them
with national security backgrounds and
relate to their struggles.
“He would tell them, ‘Ev-
eryone has things going on
in their lives, even judges,’”
Leonard recalled.
Steven Joseph, a La Grande
attorney who was a law part-
ner of Mendiguren’s before he
was elected judge, said that
while this is true, it never
infl uenced his court decisions.
“He had a high level of em-
pathy for those in the cross-
hairs of the law,” Joseph said,
“but that didn’t constitute a
hall pass for misconduct.”
Joseph said he was im-
pressed by how Mendiguren
never let politics or personal-
ities infl uence his decisions.
He said that in Mendiguren’s
mind “the law was the mas-
ter” and that proper applica-
tion of it was crucial.
Mendiguren, who grew up
in Ontario, was a graduate
of Gonzaga University Law
School and practiced law
in La Grande for about 17
years before he was elected a
circuit court judge of Union
serving in Congress for the fi rst time.
The freshmen, who largely represent
districts previously held by Republicans
where Trump is popular, risk their
own reelections but say they could no
longer stand idle. Amplifying their call
were longtime leaders, including Rep.
John Lewis of Georgia, the civil rights
icon often considered the conscience of
House Democrats.
“Now is the time to act,” said Lewis in
an address to the House. “To delay or to
do otherwise would betray the founda-
tion of our democracy.”
and Wallowa counties.
Leonard, who worked
in Mendiguren’s law offi ce
before he was a judge, noted
that during this time he was
among the Union County
lawyers serving as court-
appointed attorneys for those
who could not afford one.
Mendiguren was reimbursed
by the state but at a rate
much lower than what he
was making as an attorney
in private practice.
“He worked for a very
reduced rate,” Leonard said.
“He wanted to help those who
could not afford an attorney.”
Mendiguren was also
devoted to his wife, Delo-
res, and their two sons and
two daughters, and he was
involved in many community
organizations including the
Optimist Club, Cub Scouts,
the Elks Club and Our
Lady of the Valley Catholic
Church, of which he was an
active member. He was part
of the church’s theater group,
The Fourth Street Players,
that put on a dinner theater
production each February.
Zee Koza, director of the
dinner theater productions,
said Mendiguren was a
delight to have in the cast
each year.
“He was such a kind per-
son. He enjoyed performing
and he wanted everyone else
to have as good a time as he
was,” Koza said.
Playing golf and hunting
were among Mendiguren’s
hobbies. Those he played golf
with included Mike Craw-
ford of Enterprise. Craw-
ford was always struck by
Mendiguren’s interest in the
welfare of others.
“He (always) wanted to
know how you were doing. It
mattered to him,” he said.
Crawford recalled that
when Mendiguren was in
Wallowa County, he made a
point of visiting the father of
one of his best friends.
“Not everyone goes out of
their way to do something
like that,” Crawford said.
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Sheriff Boyd
Rasmussen
Union County Sheriff’s Offi ce:
Protecting and serving families,
It has been an honor to
schools, and communities serve as your Sheriff the
past 14 years and to guide
the good men and women
of the Sheriff’s Offi ce in
their service to you.
“I support Sheriff Rasmussen because he has established
Earning and keeping your
a team oriented office that works hard to support and
protect the youth and families of Union County.”
trust is important to me.
I look forward to standing
Greg M. Baxter
before you for re-election.
“We stand by our Sheriff in protecting
our County and citizens’ rights.”
“Sheriff Rasmussen has worked hard for the citizens of Elgin to en-
sure they have the law enforcement they need. He has often went
above and beyond the contract with the City of Elgin to do this!”
Brock Eckstein
Elgin City Administrator
Union County
Commissioners:
Oregon
State Representative
Elgin Mayor
Island City Mayor
Imbler Mayor
North Powder Mayor
Donna Beverage
Matt Scarfo
Paul Anderes
Greg Barretto
Allan Duffy
Robb Rea
Mike McLean
Mike Wisdom
To support the Rasmussen Re-Election Campaign contact Rita McMahan at ritamc@eoni.com.
Paid for by the Committee to Re-Elect Sheriff Boyd Rasmussen, Rita Mc Mahan Treasurer 1801 Highland, La Grande