2A — THE OBSERVER
THuRSday, JunE 11, 2020
LOCAL/REGION
Daily City of Union adopts $4.8 million budget for 2020-21
Planner Two summer part-
J
TODAY
Today is Thursday, June
11, the 163rd day of 2020.
There are 203 days left in
the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On June 11, 1776, the
Continental Congress
formed a committee to draft
a Declaration of Indepen-
dence calling for freedom
from Britain.
ON THIS DATE
In 1770, Captain James
Cook, commander of the
British ship Endeavour, “dis-
covered” the Great Barrier
Reef off Australia by running
onto it.
In 1947, the government
announced the end of sugar
rationing for households
and “institutional users”
(e.g., restaurants and hotels)
as of midnight.
In 1962, three prisoners
at Alcatraz in San Francisco
Bay staged an escape, leav-
ing the island on a makeshift
raft; they were never found
or heard from again.
In 1993, the U.S. Supreme
Court unanimously ruled
that people who commit
“hate crimes” motivated by
bigotry may be sentenced to
extra punishment; the court
also ruled religious groups
had a constitutional right to
sacrifice animals in worship
services.
In 2007, Sen. Larry Craig,
R-Idaho, was arrested at
the Minneapolis-St. Paul
International Airport in a
restroom sex sting. (Craig,
who denied soliciting an un-
dercover police officer, later
pleaded guilty to disorderly
conduct and paid a fine.)
LOTTERY
Megabucks: $2.5 million
4-11-18-33-38-44
Mega Millions: $20 million
1-5-9-10-23—22 x2
Powerball: $20 million
1-17-38-68-69—PB-18 x2
Win for Life: June 8
7-22-67-70
Pick 4: June 9
• 1 p.m.: 4-6-5-9; • 4 p.m.: 2-3-0-4
• 7 p.m.: 5-4-3-3; • 10 p.m.: 2-1-5-6
Pick 4: June 8
• 1 p.m.: 6-5-4-0; • 4 p.m.: 4-6-3-6
• 7 p.m.: 5-1-0-9; • 10 p.m.: 5-0-1-0
TODAY’S QUOTE
“Forgetfulness is a form
of freedom.”
— Khalil Gibran, Ameri-
can poet and artist (1883-
1931)
time positions cut
By Dick Mason
The Observer
UNION — The Union
City Council voted Monday
to adopt a total budget of
$4.8 million for 2020-21,
down about $200,000 from
the present budget.
The spending plan will
allow the city to main-
tain its programs and staff,
with the exception of two
part-time summer posi-
tions, which have been cut.
The employees in the posi-
tions did general labor, said
Doug Wiggins, Union’s city
administrator.
The upcoming budget is
down because it includes
a $650,000 grant for the
installation of sidewalks
for the Safe Routes to
School program. All of the
grant money was spent in
2020-21, which means that
none of it remained for the
2020-21 budget.
Wiggins said the city’s
budget is in solid condi-
tion but there are reasons
for concern because of
the COVID-19 pandemic,
which crippled Oregon’s
economy when many busi-
nesses were shut down.
An indication that more
residents are struggling
financially in Union is that
an increasing number of
residents are late in paying
water and sewer bills. Wig-
gins said many are now
three months late. He said
when people fall this far
behind it becomes increas-
ingly less likely the money
will be collected. To help
residents deal with the poor
economy, Wiggins noted,
the city previously waived
late fees for water and
sewer bill payments and
Joseph abandons law enforcement
contract with Wallowa County
City officials unhappy with code and
ordinance issues, not patrols
J
By Bill Bradshaw
EO Media Group
JOSEPH — The Joseph
City Council voted unan-
imously to terminate the
city’s contract for law
enforcement services with
Wallowa County, saying
the county is in breach
of contract. The council
met at the Joseph Com-
munity Center for the first
time June 4, after a two-
month hiatus because of
COVID-19 restrictions.
The three-year contract,
signed in November 2018,
is composed of two major
parts: police patrol duties
by the Wallowa County
Sheriff’s Office, and code
and ordinance enforcement
by the Wallowa County
Circuit Court.
Council members and
Mayor Teresa Sajonia
emphasized they were sat-
isfied with the sheriff’s
portion of the contract, but
the court portion made it
appear the code and ordi-
nance enforcement didn’t
exist.
“This contract would
not even have passed
without the ordinance-en-
forcement clause,” Sajonia
said. “Our ordinances
mean nothing. We’re going
to be a city of no rules.”
Larry Braden, city
administrator, said the
codes and ordinances most
often violated have to
do with junk or wrecked
vehicles or uncontrolled
weeds and grass within
city limits. When it’s
determined a property
owner is in violation, the
owner is called, then vis-
ited and informed they
have 10 days to remedy the
problem. After that, the
owner is fined $500 a day
until remedied.
Sajonia again empha-
sized it’s not the sheriff’s
office patrol efforts that
are a problem.
“It’s about the prosecu-
tion end of it,” the mayor
said.
Braden said often
when property owners are
informed they are in vio-
lation of an ordinance, it
is usually because they
were unaware of it and
they are more than willing
to remedy the problem.
But some property owners
simply don’t care, he said.
Sajonia told of at least
two places on Main Street
that have been notified of
violations four times and
still haven’t corrected the
problems.
Councilwoman Pearl
Sturm asked Braden what
the county commissioners
had to say about the city’s
complaints. He said the
commissioners are willing
to work things out.
“But the district court
won’t even hear the cases,”
Braden said.
He said he thinks Dis-
trict Attorney Rebecca
Frolander was not aware
of the ordinance and code
enforcement portion of
the contract. She was not
a signatory to the 2018
contract.
Frolander said that
while she was not a party
to the contract, her office
is short-staffed and doesn’t
have time for the extra
load required to prosecute
municipal code and ordi-
nance violations.
“We don’t have the time
to handle the prosecution
of crimes and violations
we have as it is,” she said.
disconnection fees.
Wiggins also said the
gas tax revenue Union and
all cities receive from the
state may decline because
people are traveling less
due to the pandemic and the
poor economy. The Oregon
Department of Transpor-
tation is tracking gas tax
receipts and reporting
they are down, Wiggins
said. This could reduce the
money Union has avail-
able for street and sidewalk
work, which gas tax rev-
enue funds.
In other action at Mon-
day’s meeting, the council
voted to award Pioneer
Consulting Group of North
Carolina a contract to con-
duct a study of the city’s
water and sewer rates. Wig-
gins said the city wants to
determine if its rate struc-
ture needs revision. He said
the city last evaluated the
rate structure more than 10
years ago.
Pioneer Consulting
Group was the low bidder
for the project at $24,500.
Wiggins said Pioneer Con-
sulting officials indicated
they will travel to Union in
the process of conducting
the study.
Stolen giraffe is back
By Sam Anthony
EO Media Group
BAKER CITY — On
the night of May 29, a
metal giraffe disappeared
from the sidewalk outside
Mad Habit Boutique in
downtown Baker City.
The 5-foot-tall statue
seemingly walked off
on its own (or, for those
without an active imagina-
tion and a belief in “Night
at the Museum”-esque
phenomena, was stolen
and carried away), and
was nowhere to be found
on the morning of May 30.
On June 3, police
located the giraffe at
Mount Hope Cemetery.
The giraffe, which
has an estimated value
of $2,000, has since been
returned to its family — it
was one of three giraffes
— beside the store.
Police Chief Ray
Duman said he suspects
the thief or thieves might
have been intoxicated, and
what seemed like a good
idea at the time didn’t
seem so wise when they
sobered up. He said he
thinks they dumped the
giraffe when they realized
how conspicuous it was.
Chelsa Mitchell, who
owns Mad Habit Boutique
and the giraffes, said her
Photo by Sam Anthony/EO Media
Group
The giraffe on the right,
stolen May 29, was found
June 3 and reunited with
the two other sculptures
in front of the Mad Habit
Boutique in Baker City.
son was happy to have the
giraffe back.
“My son Knox is very
happy to have it back
since it’s the one that’s
supposed to represent him
as the older of the two
giraffe children,” Mitchell
said.
Duman said police are
reviewing images from
cameras on the street
where it was stolen, and
hope to identify the sus-
pect or suspects.
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