THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2020
THE OBSERVER — 5A
SCHOOLS
Continued from Page 1A
playgrounds and fi elds, so
they will not come into con-
tact with students outside
their class and they will
not be where other children
have been.
Smith also noted classes
cannot share playground
objects, such as basketballs,
with other classes.
Mayes, like Smith, said
the process of making sure
students will be safe is
meticulous.
“I believe we have done
our utmost to make sure we
have covered all our bases.
We have gone over and over
the guidelines and have met
repeatedly with our admin
team to fi gure this all out,”
the Central principal said.
Smith said teachers have
known for weeks there was
a good chance the school
district would be able to
have K-3 students on-site
Dick Mason/The Observer
Island City Elementary custodial staff member Dale Read sanitizes a surface at the school
Thursday, Sept. 30, 2020. The La Grande School District is preparing for all of its K-3 stu-
dents to return to classrooms Monday.
starting Oct. 5.
“(The K-3 announce-
ment) was not a surprise,”
said Smith, who was La
Grande High School’s assis-
tant principal for two years
ATTACKS
Continued from Page 1A
make and vote on are bread
and butter things of the city,
the basic things for living,
those are the issues we are
taking care of. I do not vote
based on a party direction
either. I think of each issue
and make a decision on my
own.”
Dutto said it is important
to remember their posi-
tions on the council are
nonpartisan.
Howard said the person
who made the post had
not reached out to her or
any other councilors and
the claims he made are
unsubstantiated.
“I am discouraged to
read the Union County
Republican post,” Howard
said. “It supposedly rep-
resents my views without
having any idea of what
those views actually are.
To insert partisan politics
Clements
Howard
into a nonpartisan elec-
tion is not just unfortunate
— it distracts us from the
real issues that confront our
city. I hope that people of
all political persuasions can
come together to discuss
and debate civilly how we
might solve problems. La
Grande deserves as much.”
Hildebrandt suggested,
in his post, the city council
is working to defund the La
Grande Police department.
Dutto said there has
not been any conversa-
tion about defunding the
La Grande Police Depart-
ment, and the city recently
renewed its labor contract
with the police union for
another three years. The
city council gave a unan-
imous vote in favor of the
three-year collective
bargaining agree-
ment with the police
department that
went into effect July
1 and includes cost-
Dutto
of-living increases
of 2.5% in 2019-20
and 2% each in the next two
years.
The city allocated $2.77
million for the police
department in fi scal year
2020-21, according to the
city budget document, a
slight decrease from the
$2.79 million in the pre-
vious cycle.
“There has never been
a discussion of or consid-
eration for defunding or
taking any money away
from the police depart-
ment,” City Manager
Robert Strope said. “In
fact, the city’s agreement is
adding changes to benefi t
the police department.”
Another issue Hildeb-
randt raised is the assump-
tion the city councilors are
before taking his position
at Island City Elementary
in July.
in support of the rioting that
has occurred in Portland
and elsewhere.
“I suspect Mayor Steve
Clements, Nicole Howard
and Corrine Dutto (the 3
Democrats) on the council
would support Black Lives
Matter ‘protests’ if they
came to La Grande,” Hil-
debrandt wrote. “I’m also
fairly certain that they
would condone the 100
days of Antifa ‘protests’ in
Portland.”
Hildebrandt went on
to urge people to write to
the councilors and ask if
they would support or con-
demn Black Lives Matter
and Antifa protests in Port-
land should they come to La
Grande.
Dutto, Howard and Cle-
ments said they do not con-
done violence or looting.
Howard and Dutto said
they did not see any vio-
lence during the June pro-
test in La Grande, and they
welcome peaceful protest
Lawmakers approve money for wildfi re bills, housing aid
instead of the original $20
million, to start paying
suppression costs of the
wildfi res that have swept
through about 1 million
acres of forests since Labor
Day. As many as three
dozen fi res burned at once
across Oregon.
Prior to Labor Day, 2020
wildfi re suppression costs
were estimated at $31 mil-
lion, with the state on the
hook for about $24.5 mil-
lion after federal aid.
Offi cials have said the
costs of Oregon wildfi re
suppression will approach
$100 million. Though
about half that total will be
reimbursed by the Federal
By Peter Wong
Oregon Capital Bureau
ONLINE
SALEM — Oregon law-
makers approved money to
start paying wildfi re costs
and helping homeowners
rebuild, add workers to pro-
cess unemployment claims
and update technology and
expand capacity for corona-
virus testing.
They did so Friday, Sept.
25, during an Emergency
Board meeting that lasted
more than three hours. The
board’s 20 members handle
budget matters between ses-
sions of the full Legislature.
And Monday, Gov. Kate
Brown extended the state
ban on evictions from resi-
• To read a full ver-
sion of this story, go to
lagrandeobserver.com
dential rental units through
the end of the year.
Though the board has
met monthly since the 2020
session adjourned March
5 — and twice in August
— Friday’s session was the
fi rst after the board com-
mitted all of Oregon’s $1.4
billion share of federal
pandemic aid under the
CARES Act.
The board enabled the
Oregon Department of For-
estry to tap $75 million,
Emergency Management
Agency, State Forester Peter
Daugherty said his agency
will have to pay the bills
pending reimbursement.
“With this kind of a fi re
season, we have started
conversations with our fed-
eral partners about com-
pletely revamping the
approach we take with
the expected amount of
cost processing that we
are going to have to do,”
Daugherty said.
The agency had a
backlog of about $100 mil-
lion in costs from previous
wildfi res. It has whittled
that number down to
$44 million.
Smith said he was
impressed with the profes-
sionalism his staff demon-
strated this summer, noting
many teachers worked
hard to boost their online
teaching skills.
“Our staff has done a
great job of adapting. A lot
of our staff took classes to
get up to speed,” he said.
Fourth and fi fth graders
at the La Grande School
District’s elementary
schools will be missing
on Monday because state
COVID-19 standards for
their return have not yet
been met. Mayes said she
hopes they can be back at
school shortly.
“It is truly a bittersweet
situation because it feels
very awkward to not bring
back our fourth and fi fth
graders. We will certainly
miss them and hope they
join us soon,” Mayes said.
K-3 students will be
attending school on-site
Monday through Friday.
There will not be a stag-
gered start and the school
day will run from 8 a.m. to
1 p.m., according to a letter
La Grande School Dis-
trict Superintendent George
Mendoza wrote to school
district staff, parents and
community members.
If families of K-3 stu-
dents do not want their
child to return at this time,
they will need to visit with
their teacher and principal,
Mendoza wrote. Students
have the option of transi-
tioning to the La Grande
Learning Academy for
long-term virtual education.
Students who cannot
attend on-site because of
short-term illness, quaran-
tine or other medical situ-
ations will have access to
asynchronous learning from
their teachers. This means
instead of live instruction
they will receive lessons
via recorded videos, written
instructional materials and
other means.
as afforded by the freedom
of speech. Dutto said First
Amendment rights to free
speech still apply.
“I support having a pro-
test for whatever the issue
is,” she said. “It is the sup-
pression of speech that is
more frightening. That sup-
pression will run us down
the same road as North
Korea and Russia. So I sup-
port the freedom of speech,
just like I support the
right to bear arms. I was
impressed with the (local)
Black Lives Matter protest
and counterprotest across
the street and how it was
handled. I don’t support
violence or vandalism, but
protest is good.”
Clements echoed Dutto,
and added that in his posi-
tion as mayor he would do
everything he could to stop
a riot if it were to occur.
“People have a right
to peaceful assembly,
not to riot, loot or agi-
tate violence,” Clements
said. “The riots in Port-
land should never have
been allowed to persist. I
would not tolerate rioting
or looting here and would
use every power available
to the city to stop them
immediately.”
Dutto said her and other
councilors’ voting records
indicate where their prior-
ities are, not their political
party registration.
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MAYORS
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taught him to be diverse
in how to communicate.
Comfort also is a certifi ed
dental technician, which he
believes shows he has great
attention to detail.
Comfort said his desire
to serve his community
came from an experi-
ence in high school when
he attended an Amer-
ican Legion program
called Boys State, where
he learned about the dif-
ferent branches of govern-
ment. Through his work
on Island City’s budget
committee, he said, he has
gotten to know his local
government personally.
“The staff of Island
City is awesome,” Com-
fort said. “Great people
doing great things. Island
City is a great place, and it
is because of the relation-
ship between the mayor
and staff. I plan to con-
tinue to help them in any
way I can.”
He also said he hopes
to see more develop-
ment in Island City, and
with plenty of land avail-
able, he sees this as a real
possibility.
“It is my goal to lead
Island City into the
future,” Comfort said.
“Cultivating ideas from the
city council, staff and resi-
dents that will make Island
City a great place for fami-
lies and commerce.”
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