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About The Hood River news. (Hood River, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (June 20, 2015)
HEALTHY HOOD RIVER A12-13 W EEKEND E DITION HOOD RIVER, OREGON Official Newspaper, City of Hood River and Hood River County Vol. 109, No. 49 B EACH B ASH A14 ■ 75 cents 2 Sections, 22 Pages SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 2015 www.hoodrivernews.com Hood River County considers drought declaration June 24 RETIREMENT ROAST By PATRICK MULVIHILL News staff writer A record drought has mar red most of Ore gon, prompting Gov. Kate Brown to declare a state of emergency in 19 counties so far. Hood River County could be next on the list. The Hood River County Board of Commissioners will meet Wednesday to consider making a formal drought dec- laration to the state. The pub- lic meeting will be held at 10 a.m. at West Side Fire Dis- trict’s Rockford Station at 4250 Barrett Drive, and will invite local leaders in water manage- ment, forestry and fire. The goal of a drought decla- ration would be to increase flexibility managing local water supplies, and to qualify the county for state and feder- al emergency relief funds, said Hood River County Ad- ministrator Dave Meriwether. “We would send (the decla- See DROUGHT, Page A10 A foundation for affordability Council to hear housing strategy Monday By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA News editor Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea JOELLA DETHMAN LAUGHS as County Administrator Dave Meriwhether says “What can be said about Joella that has- n’t already been said? So I thought of ‘kind and considerate’.” The occasion was a luncheon at China Gorge thanking community partners as well as honoring Dethman, who retires this month after 22 years directing Hood River County Pre- vention programs. Meriwhether and others both joshed and praised Dethman. He said that in county staff meetings, “I could always count on Joella to throw a grenade into the mix, to say ‘Why are we doing it that way?’ and typically we hadn’t thought if it that way. I have truly appreciated working with you. I am going to miss you terribly,” he told Deth- man, who replied to laughter, “Yes, I bet you will!” Looking on are prevention partners including Lauren Kraemer, Jeff Skye, Kathy Smith, Paul Lindberg, and Allyson Pate. Lindberg, of the Education Foundation, told Dethman as well as pre- vention specialist Maija Yasui, who is also retiring this month, “the legacy you guys have left is tremendous; everything we do has been impacted by what you have done.” Dethman used the occasion to thank all the partners who had worked with the County Commission on Children and Families and county Prevention Department in her tenure. “That’s what coalition is, a community stepping up and saying, ‘we want this to be healthy place, and together we make it happen’.” S p o t l i g h t a t u r d a y The City of Hood River’s draft Housing Needs Analysis and the Hood River Housing Strategy gets its first public look on Monday. The cost of renting or buying a home is increasingly out of reach for many of the residents of the Columbia Gorge, citizens and agency offi- cials told the city council in January. Since then the city has been as- sembling a plan of action to address housing affordability, via the de- velopment of a comprehensive Housing Needs Analysis, Buildable Lands Inventory and Housing Strategy. It was developed with the input of a local Technical Advisory Committee and the consulting firm, ECONorthwest. The recommendations will be presented to Hood River City Council June 22. Council meets at 6 p.m. Monday at City Hall. Addressing affordable housing was the city’s top goal for 2015, identi- fied by council in its goal-setting session in November 2014; the city in- cluded $70,000 in the planning department budget for temporary staffing to work on the issue. No decisions are scheduled to be made Monday; planning commis- sion and city council members will be present, and this is first time the two bodies are seeing the strategy. The ECONorthwest study found a variety of factors getting in the way of the supply of affordable housing in Hood River, including: See HOUSING, Page A10 A weekly series about a day in the life ... Gerardo Bobadilla lives his dream with Mercado Guadalajara BY TRISHA WALKER News staff writer Photos by Trisha Walker GERARDO BOBADILLA has owned and operat- ed Mercado Guadalajara for six years, but has lived in the Gorge and worked in Hood River since 1990. He wears many hats at the store, from ordering supplies to stocking the shelves. In the early 1990s, while working in a local orchard, Ger- ardo Bobadilla was challenged by an old-time farmworker to change the course of Mexican history in the Hood River valley. And that is the short version of how Bobadilla came to open Mercado Guadalajara, located at 1802 12th St. (across from Rosauers) six years ago. The longer version is more complicated. Bobadilla grew up in Ixtlan del Rio, Nayarit, Mexico, and opened his first produce stand at the age of 12. He had been working at a produce stand for a youngish-boss — Jorge, who was around 22 — who told Bobadilla he liked his work ethic and wanted to help him open his own stand. Jorge provided him with his first inventory. Fast forward to 1990, when Bobadilla moved to the United States, first coming to Los Angeles — where he was ex- tremely unhappy — and then to Hood River after being in- vited by his uncle, Trino Murillo, who was interested in starting a Mexican rodeo and wanted to use Bobadilla’s See GERARDO, Page A2 Four To Go ‘Bark For Life’ today at Fairgrounds Senator Ron Wyden holds town hall Mosier Farmers Market opens season Hood River School Board meets Wednesday Bring the pooch and ‘Bark For Life” June 20 at Hood River County Fair- grounds, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The fundraiser for American Cancer So- ciety Relay For Life will honor the contri- butions of canine caregivers to cancer survivors. There will be doggie games, dress-up contests, music and food. (The Relay For Life 24-hour walking event will be July 18-19 at Hood River Val- ley High School.) Senator Ron Wyden will hold a town hall meeting June 27 at the Hood River Valley Adult Center, 2010 Sterling Drive, beginning at 1 p.m. “Our democracy works best when people can ask questions directly of their elected officials,” Wyden said. “And that’s why I go to each of Oregon’s 36 counties every year for town halls. These community meetings allow us to have conversations geared to- ward achieving our common goal as Orego- nians — making our state the best possible place for all of us to work and live.” Come out and “Give Peas a Chance” at the opening day of Mosier Farmers Market Sunday, June 21, from 4-7 p.m. Stop by the Dwelling Station to enjoy live music by Zan Moore and a simple snow pea cooking demo by Suzi Conklin. Look for kids art activities and a bounty of fresh local food, including peak-of-season cherries. If you are interested in being a vendor or volunteering contact Erin at 541-410-4250 or erin@gorgegrown.com. The Hood River County School Board meets Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the dis- trict office, 10th and Eugene streets. The agenda includes adoption of Eng- lish Language Development curriculum for 2015-16, the classified labor contract, superintendent’s contract, and reports on alternative education programs and disci- pline policies. The next meeting of the board (and the only one in July) will be July 8 at Park- dale Elementary School. 7 05105 97630 3
