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FORMER ENTERPRISE GIRLS BASKETBALL COACH LOOKS BACK ON 33-YEAR CAREER | SPORTS, A8
April 16, 2022
WEEKEND EDITION
$1.50
Transient
lodging
tax may be
in place
by July 1
At least 75% of the revenue
from the tax will be used to
promote tourism in Union
By DICK MASON
The Observer
UNION — Charlie Morden isn’t a fan
of a new transient lodging tax the city of
Union approved in March.
The city approved a 5% tax to be col-
lected anywhere people are charged
to stay for less than 30 days, such as
hotels, recreational vehicle parks and
bed-and-breakfasts.
Morden, the owner of the city’s lone
hotel, the Union Hotel, and the adjacent
RV park, said his room rates, which start
at $118 a night, are among the lowest in
the region but still are high in the minds of
travelers.
“There is resistance by the public to pay
more,” said Morden, who has not raised his
rates in three years.
Morden said the tax will
limit how much he can raise
his rates, while attempting
to keep up with infl ation.
Morden also said the tax
will ultimately reduce how
much money people coming
Morden
to Union have to spend in
the community. He said, for
example, that some lodgers
may be less likely to go
downtown and buy a meal in
a restaurant.
“There is only so much
money that people have to
Wiggins
spend,” he said. “You can’t
keep raising prices. Folks have a limit.”
City leaders are making arrangements
with the Oregon Department of Revenue
to have the state agency collect the city’s
5% tax. The city is trying to fi nalize that
by July 1, the earliest it can start collecting,
according to Union City Administrator
Doug Wiggins.
“The state has a system set up,” he said.
“We will be integrating with it.”
State law will allow Union to use up to
5% of the tax’s revenue to cover collec-
tion costs. Seventy-fi ve percent of the rev-
enue from the tax will have to be spent on
promoting tourism under state law, Wig-
gins said. Wiggins said the money could be
used to pay for additions designed to draw
in tourists, including the building of bike
paths or a welcoming center. It also could
be spent on building improvements at sites
that attract tourists, including the Union
County Museum and the Union Hotel.
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
Firefi ghter Luke Lucero’s turnout coat hangs on a utility door of a La Grande Fire Department ambulance inside the engine bay in La Grande on
Thursday, April 14, 2022. The city of La Grande has adjusted hiring practices in order to help the department fi ll fi refi ghter/paramedic positions.
Filling shortages
Fire department, law enforcement aim to address openings during diffi cult hiring period
By DAVIS CARBAUGH • The Observer
L
A GRANDE — Like nearly any local entity struggling to hire a full staff, the public safety
sectors within the city of La Grande have faced similar challenges.
While the city’s police and fire departments both have faced staff shortages during the
pandemic, hiring incentives and altered training programs have provided a positive trend in getting
back to full staff.
“I’m excited that we have
some new candidates,” La
Grande Fire Chief Emmitt
Cornford said. “It looks like
some good ones based on
the applications, so if we can
hire one or two that would
be great.”
The La Grande City
Council emphasized the
issue of recruiting and
retaining employees in the
public safety roles at its
2022 council retreat in Jan-
uary. In the council’s April
meeting, a professional
compensation survey was
approved to address this
issue moving forward.
Cornford and La Grande
Police Chief Gary Bell both
spoke at the La Grande City
Council meeting earlier this
month detailing the current
status of openings in the
departments.
The police department is
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group, File
Firefi ghters with the La Grande Fire Department respond to a structure fi re in the Oregon Department of
Transportation sign shop the morning of Monday, March 29, 2021.
currently down three offi cer
positions, but is in the pro-
cess of selecting new hires.
Bell stated the department
has made one conditional
off er to a candidate and is
in the late stages with a few
other candidates.
One new offi cer is cur-
rently in the police academy
and was due to graduate
April 14.
“We’ve had successes in
See, Hiring/Page A7
See, Lodging/Page A7
ELECTION 2022
State offi cials strive to rebuild trust in elections
Survey shows Oregonians
are sharply divided over
how to describe January
2021 attack on U.S. Capitol
By JULIA SHUMWAY
Oregon Capital Chronicle
SALEM — About one in fi ve
Oregon voters, including about
half of Republicans, believe voter
fraud changed the results of the
2020 election.
That’s one result of a February
survey from the Oregon Values
and Beliefs Center, a nonpartisan
public opinion research organiza-
tion, which also found that Orego-
nians are sharply divided over how
to describe an attack on the U.S.
Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
While a majority of Demo-
crats describe the incident as an
“attempted coup or insurrection,”
a plurality of Republicans called
it a “riot out of control” and voters
unaffi liated with either party were
split between those options.
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INDEX
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Crossword ....B2
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Nearly a quarter of Republicans
endorsed the false claim that the
violence was perpetrated by polit-
ical opponents of former President
Donald Trump, and 16% of Repub-
licans and 10% of other voters
claimed it was a reasonable protest.
Respondents were similarly
divided along partisan lines when
it came to questions about fraud
in the 2020 presidential election.
About 86% of Democrats sur-
veyed in Oregon agreed that there
was virtually no fraud or very
little fraud with no impact on the
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results, and a slim majority of
independents and other voters felt
the same way. Less than a third
of Republicans agreed with those
statements.
Instead, 49% of Republi-
cans said major fraudulent voting
changed the outcome of the elec-
tion. These survey results resemble
research that Reed College con-
ducted at the behest of the Oregon
Secretary of State’s Offi ce in
2020, which found a majority of
See, Survey/Page A7
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 46
2 sections, 14 pages
La Grande, Oregon
Email story ideas
to news@lagrande
observer.com.
More contact info
on Page A4.
Online at lagrandeobserver.com