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.
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05105 97630
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