8 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2016
Local
5J: Dalton explains food bids Sumpter
BY SAMANTHA
O’CONNER
Samantha@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Jessica Dalton has begun
her sixth year working the
Food/Non Food Bids, Milk
Bids, and Produce Bids
for the Baker County 5J
School District.
“Because it’s federal
money that runs the pro-
gram, we’re reimbursed
from all the meals we
served, it’s on its own, and
so we have to send out for
bids on anything that’s
over a certain amount of
money,” said Dalton. “On
my milk, food, and non-
food, I send out invitations
that opens it up to any
vendor that could supply
us with those products can
submit a bid. After they
are all submitted, I review
them and take into consid-
eration deliver, shipping
costs, customer service,
price, and delivery sched-
ules and if it’s going to
work with when we need
them to show up and how
far they have to travel.”
For the last five years,
Food Services of America
has provided food bids and
Meadow Gold has pro-
vided milk bids.
When she first began,
Dalton explained she had
two other companies that
would submit bids for the
food/nonfood, but they
could not compete with
FSA’s prices.
Last year was the first
year Dalton had separated
the produce bid from the
rest of the food, wanting to
open up options to produce
vendors who specialize in
produce.
“I wanted to open it
up because I had started
using some of our USDA
money,” Dalton explained.
“We get a certain amount
of money for every single
meal that’s served to go
towards, they call it ‘com-
modities,’ or it’s a USDA
foods so I get, I think this
year it was 38,000 dol-
lars to spend on special
foods so it comes from
the USDA and in the
past it was always frozen
products and dried goods
for the most part. And
then they started a pro-
gram called the DOD, the
Department of Defense
and it’s fresh produce, so
you can allocate some of
that USDA money to fresh
produce.
They started really up-
ping the people that would
have access to it when all
the standards changed and
they wanted us to start
putting more fruits and
vegetables on our menus
and so you can use your
USDA money for fresh
fruits and vegetables but
you can only buy through
a certain company that the
government can secure and
has been through.”
Dalton had started with
5,000 of the 38,000 dollars
towards fresh produce
and they focus on locally
sourced produce, unless
she cannot find it anywhere
else.
Pineapples and bananas
are an exception. Dalton
said the produce was great
and she decided it would
be a good idea to get all of
her produce from them and
she decided to separate the
produce from the food.
“That opened it up to
all these produce venders
and it was the first year I
had done that,” explained
Dalton. “And FSA last
year, I think they were
accustomed to doing one
solid bid and so they did
not submit a produce bid,
jus their food bid. And so
I had this new company
submit theirs and I thought
it was worth a try, and
their produce is good, it’s
very comparable, I’m sure
most companies are going
to be pretty comparable
because they’re probably
pulling from the same
places. But it was a lot
more work. I’d have to do
more than two orders for
every school every week.
I’d put one order in one
program then I’d have to
go to another program
and go back through and
do another order so it was
more time consuming, and
it was twice the amount
of invoicing. The amount
of money I was saving, it
was probably a wash with
the extra time it took me to
do the additional work and
that is why I decided to go
back to FSA.”
certifications
clarified
Meghan Andersch / The Baker County Press
A look inside Sumpter’s City water system
restoration. (The pipes are bright blue and red.)
BY MEGHAN ANDERSCH
Meghan@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Woolf to run for Sumpter mayor
BY MEGHAN ANDERSCH
Meghan@TheBakerCountyPress.com
LeAnne Woolf hosted a
Meet the Candidate event
Thursday, September 29th,
at the Sumpter community
center. She is the only
individual listed as running
for Sumpter mayor on the
upcoming ballot.
Woolf explained the last
person who ran for mayor
ran on a write-in cam-
paign and had no experi-
ence being on Council.
Woolf decided she didn’t
want Sumpter to have an
uncontested write-in as
mayor again. She said she
thought back then she was
maybe not ready to run for
mayor, but has realized she
is as ready as anyone else
as far as experience goes.
Though never commis-
sioned, Woolf was in the
Air Force ROTC for three
years and received a lot of
management training. She
has also been in leadership
in 4-H, is a small busi-
ness owner in Sumpter,
and previously served on
Sumpter’s City Council.
Woolf first served about
three years when appointed
to a vacated councilor’s
position. She was re-
elected and served six
additional months before
being recalled by a one-
vote majority.
Woolf said just because
she has been off Council
for a year doesn’t mean she
hasn’t been thinking about
what she’d like to accom-
plish. Among those things
are getting DEQ deadlines
met. She said, “Fines are
not something I want.”
Woolf said for some rea-
son there have been a lot of
attacks on the character of
City employees. She said
she would like to see clear
definitions for them on
what is expected and input
from employees about
what they have been do-
ing and how they’ve been
accomplishing it. Woolf
said Council doesn’t check
water readings or answer
the phone. She would like
to know from the trenches,
what employee priorities
are and how to they mesh
with outside priorities, for
example the DEQ-man-
dated wastewater system
update.
Woolf said at this point,
the Council needs to figure
out their priorities and
pursue them. She hopes
they can agree and get
some things accomplished.
She again mentioned DEQ
deadlines and the street
grant. Woolf said there has
been clear evidence that all
the recall activity is part of
why outside entities are not
working with Sumpter to
move forward. “They’re
asking, who am I going
to work with? If it might
change next week, they
won’t sign the contract.”
Woolf said every
Sumpter mayor she’s
known has had their own
pet project. Hers would be
to “enhance the availability
of historical experience for
visitors.” With the decline
of mining and logging, the
town’s economy depends
on tourism. Woolf said
during Sumpter’s ses-
quicentennial in 2012, a
walking tour was created.
She knows there is interest,
because of how frequently
she needs to refresh those
flyers at the library. Woolf
mentioned meeting a gal
at Music in the Meadow
whose bucket list included
visiting ghost towns, one
of which was Sumpter.
Woolf said she is not op-
timistic about the lawsuit
against the City, served
Meghan Andersch / The Baker County Press
Sumpter mayoral candidate LeAnne Woolf.
May 10, 2012, being
resolved anytime soon and
said, “We’ve pretty much
proven it doesn’t matter
what the City does.” As an
example, she said former
mayor Leland Myers vol-
untarily changed some of
the Flea Market set up to
match the proposed settle-
ment draft, as a good-faith
gesture, and nothing has
happened.
Woolf said nothing has
been heard since the settle-
ment conference scheduled
for July was cancelled.
She said, “If I could
understand what caused all
the problems, I’d love it.”
Woolf said she loves
Sumpter. Her family
moved there when she was
age one. She moved away
to attend a large college
in a big city, but said she
was not the typical small-
town kid trying to escape.
Rather, she was a small
town kid trying to serve
a larger world. She said
she discovered she was no
Eddie Rickenbacker. She
didn’t “blossom in the
larger world and become a
flying ace.” When Woolf’s
daughter was old enough
to be on her own, Woolf
moved back home to
Sumpter.
She said she loves the
mountains, trees, spectacu-
lar stars, and the history.
She loves the entity that is
Sumpter.
Woolf believes her
outside experience will
serve her well, having
been exposed to the larger
world, but able to take
into context that there are
things that will not work in
a small town.
She said she has ideas
but knows they have to be
modified and be smaller.
Woolf said other skills
include interest in and en-
joyment of research. She
is good at keeping track of
the background on issues
and excels at asking ques-
tions. Woolf said when
she first came on Council,
it was in the early stages of
the DEQ upgrade and very
confusing. She had to ask
a lot of questions.
In conclusion, Woolf
stated, “I’m willing to do a
wide variety of tasks. I’ve
been a Boeing engineer
and a lunch lady. I put the
same amount of effort into
each and did my darndest.”
Road use tax one step closer
Oregon’s Road User Fee
Task Force (RUFTF) today
recommended a model for
expanding OReGO, Ore-
gon’s Road Usage Charge
Program. The model would
implement a per-mile fee
for all new vehicles rated
at 20 miles per gallon or
better beginning in 2025.
The recommendation will
now go to the Oregon
legislature for consider-
ation in the upcoming
legislative session.
“I am thrilled to have
this recommendation come
out of the task force,” said
RUFTF Chair, Vicki Ber-
ger. “Road usage charging
is the future of transporta-
tion funding. It is forward
thinking, and forward
looking. It’s important
that transportation funding
move forward—and that
the OReGO program be
part of that discussion—in
the next legislative ses-
sion,” she said.
The model was one of
six options RUFTF con-
sidered. Each option varied
the minimum mpg and
the year in which to begin
accepting vehicles into the
program.
Learn about OReGO at
myOReGO.org.
A misstatement in Sumpter’s City Council meeting on
September 13th spurred confusion as to Utility Man-
ager Jeff McKinney’s status as a certified water systems
operator. City Bookkeeper Kathi Vinson stated during
the meeting that McKinney is certified. This led to some
controversy as McKinney is not certified, but instead
works under the authority of a certified operator.
In a letter to address the issue, City Councilor Sami
Rowan wrote, “The City of Sumpter operates its water
system in accordance with state law and regulations and
is currently under contract with a certified Operator.
The city’s water operator works under the guidance and
supervision of the contracted operator.
“Due to the close working relationship between the
contracted certified operator and the City’s operator the
fees normally associated with this [arrangement] are
being [waived]. This amounts to a savings to the city of
about $7,000 per year.
“The City’s operator has attended the classes necessary,
is continuing education and has several years of in field
training under supervision of the contracted operator and
now qualifies to take the states exam for Level 1 certifica-
tion.
“The City of Sumpter is very proud of the job its opera-
tor has been doing. In fact, he won a first place award for
the ‘Best tasting water in Oregon’ for the year 2015 in a
competition which judged water from all over the state
including Baker City, on Clarity, bouquet, and taste.
“The City has also nearly completed its water plant res-
toration in which the entire plant is being brought up to
the highest possible standards. During a recent visit from
the Oregon Health Authority the comment was made that
our plant looks as good as Portland’s or any other large
cities.”
The Oregon Health Authority website lists Jason L.
Green as the certified operator for Sumpter. McKinney
explained that it’s a fairly common practice, especially
for smaller cities, to contract with a certified operator. He
said the relationship with the DRC (Direct Responsible
Charge) is ongoing. McKinney confirmed he will also be
obtaining his Level 1 certification, around his other du-
ties. He said education and time on the job are required
for certification. McKinney has taken classes in this area
as well as classes in areas of utility management, waste-
water, and water treatment.
As to Sumpter’s water, McKinney said, “It’s awesome.”
The Best Tasting Water award was won in competition
against hundreds of other cities.