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.