Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (May 26, 2017)
8 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS FRIDAY, MAY 26, 2017 Local 5J: BTI looks at Regional Solutions Coordinator • PROMISE STUDENTS RECOGNIZED BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER Samantha@TheBakerCountyPress.com On Thursday, May 18, the Baker School District 5J held their monthly meeting. At the meeting, the Baker High School Base- ball and Softball teams and coaches recognized Ash Grove Cement and Triple C Redi-Mix for their support of their Christmas Ham Fundraiser. The companies have purchased hams for the past 24 years. Both were presented Business of the Quarter. Zane Morgan was presented the South Baker “Promise of Baker Student of the Month” and Alicia Maldonado was presented the BTI “Promise of Baker Student of the Month.” They also recognized retiring teachers. From the High School were Biology/Science teacher Sharon Defrees, Math teacher Glenda Stae- bler, and Language Arts Teacher Camille Warner. From Brooklyn El- ementary were Brooklyn Paraprofessional Gwen English, Brooklyn Kinder- garten teacher Jean Justus, Brooklyn second grade teacher Kelly Nichols, Brooklyn second grade teacher Heather Palmer- Johnson, and Brooklyn first grade teacher Susan Yen. From South Baker Elementary were 5th grade teacher Merrie Hens- ley, Head Cook Debbie Koontz, and librarian Chris Mahoney. BHS ASB President Kara Bennett, for her last district meeting, an- nounced Kourtney Lehman and Blake stone were selected as the Kiwanis Students of the Month for May. The High School ad- vanced choir Bel Canto, made second at the district competition. Baker Boys Golf won the GOL District golf tournament. Caden Long took first place individually and Drew Story took fourth place individually. Gracie Huggins won the GOL District Girls Singles tennis championship and Zack Schwin won the GOL District Boys Singles ten- nis championship. June 1st will be the last day for seniors, graduation is June 4th at 2 p.m. in the stadium, and the last day for all students is June 6th. Superintendent Mark Witty presented, for review, an organization chart. He discussed that there are a few changes being made, one being the CFO BTI President is going to move into a larger role within BTI next year. The current position of BTI Director will go away and they are in the process of defining how they will move forward with that po- sition and moving towards what they call a Regional Solutions Coordinator. “A Regional Solutions Coordinator is,” explained Witty, “we’re making an investment to go out and service regionally local Samantha O’Conner / The Baker County Press Zane Morgan, the South Baker “Promise of Baker Student of the Month.” FAFA banquet CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 During a bid for a chain saw donated by Cliff’s Saws & Cycles, Dailey asked one of his assistants, a boy who was holding the chain saw, “You got a wife?” to which his assistant said, “No.” Daily said, “That’s good—you stay away from them as long as you can,” which prompted some laughter. Dailey relayed a story to the guests about his experience as auctioneer for a National Rifle Association (NRA) auc- tion, which included two goats. Dailey said, “Now, who the hell would donate two goats to an auction? They had to be rednecks of some kind,” which prompted laughter. The goats, which he sold for $400, while up on the stage, relieved themselves, and a bidder wanted to bid on the “goat poop,” which Dailey auctioned off for $20, which was donated back several times, and sold for a total of over $100. During a bid for a youth mountain bike donated by the Ballards, Dailey said of Barreto, who bid, and who has six grandchildren, his own youngest child thirteen years old, “That’s why we vote for these guys—they are over- achievers. We may not be able to beat them in Salem, but, by God, we can outbreed them,” which prompted laughter, applause, and a blushed Barreto. The live auction netted a total of over $4,600, and cash donations near the end of the event totaled over $600, in- cluding $100 each from Tork and Ed Hardt. George said that Citizens for Balanced Use (CBU) of Montana would match cash donations, up to $2,000. Regular FAFA meetings are held the first Saturday of the month at the Sunridge, at 3 p.m. New officer sworn in Photo courtesy of the BCPD. Phoebe Wachtel (at left) swore in the Baker City Police Department’s newest officer, Dan Vile, this week. Vile comes to Baker City from California with 30 years of police experience. Samantha O’Conner / The Baker County Press Alicia Maldonado, BTI “Promise of Baker Student of the Month.” school districts, within the region, as well as getting in with industry and really trying to meet their needs. This individual would be really primed and set to do an excellent job of utilizing all the platforms that Baker School District has.” Witty explained that he is in support of getting a senior accountant. This person would be super- vised by Witty and the CFO in dual capacity. “School districts in the state of Oregon get in real trouble when they don’t have a quality financial piece,” explained Witty. “If the CFO or, many people call them business managers, if the business manager is not trained or doesn’t have experience in the field, you’ll go 18 months and then find out something’s really wrong and be in a lot of trouble. And so, it’s just the way it is, that position—you can’t go to college for it— it’s so specific to schools that it takes a tremendous amount of understanding and work to be able to get that done. Almost all school districts one way or another do cross training in that area. This will give us the opportunity to do cross training as the BTI president, over time, if things work the way they should and that becomes a more and more regional platform, moves out of the CFO position over time. If this senior accountant, the goal would be to be able to hire a person at an entry type position but have the capacity to be able to learn and take on that challenge and do it in a very effective manner. We’ll know in six to eight months if that’s going to be the case. I’m really hoping that it is.” Assistant Superinten- dent Betty Palmer dis- cussed out door school. She explained that as the school year comes to a close, they have discussed making outdoor school a six day residential pro- gram. They will have money available for the 17-18 school year but they do not have the procedure available for applying for it yet. They are hoping to be able to apply for it. Palmer also asked the board for the postponement of instructional materials. She explained that every year there is a curricular adoption, they have three options; they select from approved materials, select materials not approved, or select to postpone it. “We are considering postponing it simply be- cause our science team has been really productive this year,” explained Palmer. “Working with K-3, 4-6, and then six has the double duty of working 6-8, 9-12 team to lay out a plan for what this next generation of science steps is going to cover; what does that look like for kids? What do we want kids to be able to know and do with science? How will that fit into what we’re currently doing, what we’ve currently covered?” They want to create the plan for the curriculum to make it more hands on. The Board approved the postponement of instruc- tional materials. The Board also decided to look into swearing in newly elected board mem- ber Katie Lamb in June to fill the vacancy in the board. OTEC delivers notification of capital credit allocation This week, Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative (OTEC) will be mailing all members their annual capital credit al- location notice. OTEC, as a not-for-profit electric coop- erative, delivers electric service to its members at cost. In the event that revenues exceed the operational expenses of providing electricity, OTEC allocates these operating margins back to its members. “Members of Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative (OTEC) share in any margins or profit OTEC earns,” said OTEC’s Chief Financial Officer Anthony Bailey. “At the close of each fiscal year, all revenue received in excess of expenses (i.e. margins) is allocated back to our member- ship proportionate to the amount of patronage each mem- ber had with OTEC during the year. These allocations are called ‘capital credits’ and represent our membership’s personal investment in the cooperative and their stake in all of its assets.” “After all, they are the owners of the cooperative,” said Bailey. “Members who receive electricity from OTEC are not just customers, they are vested members with a stake in the operations of the cooperative. Our members enjoy certain rights that investor-owned, for-profit, utility customers do not have.” The amounts shown on the allocation notice represent each member’s share of the operating margins realized by OTEC in the previous year, as well as, the cumulative unpaid capital credit balances. Allocation notifications are a record of each OTEC member’s ownership in the Cooperative and should be preserved. Funds are not paid out immediately, but are instead used temporarily to fund capital needs for items such as power line construction, transformers, trucks, inventory and other equipment. The mailed announcements are for informational pur- poses only, are not negotiable and cannot be applied to a member’s electric bill. For more information visit www.otecc.com.
