REGION
Saturday, November 21, 2015
East Oregonian
Page 3A
Barreto asks Brown to reconsider stance on refugees
East Oregonian
Rep. Greg Barreto (R-Cove)
asked Governor Kate Brown to
change her position on accepting
Syrian refugees in Oregon.
Brown, a Democrat, said
Monday the state will continue to
accept Syrian refugees while more
than half the governors in the U.S.
indicated they wanted to block
those from the war-torn Middle
Eastern country.
Congress voted Thursday to
effectively suspend admission of
Syrian and Iraqi refugees into the
U.S. The legislation was approved
with bipartisan support, including
47 Democrats and 252 Republicans.
Barreto, who represents District
58 including eastern Umatilla
County, wrote a letter to Brown
on Friday asking the governor
to “reevalute her position on this
issue” and “demand a secure and
foolproof vetting process” before
allowing refugees from Syria into
the state.
State governors don’t have the
authority to reject refugees from
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reduce state services provided to
them.
“We are all extremely opposed
to your position and are very
concerned for the safety and
security of the people in the state,”
Barreto wrote, adding that while
the refugees are in need of help and
protection, “compassion does not
trump prudence and common sense
when calculating the risk.”
He states that there are ways
to help without putting Oregon at
risk of terror attacks like the one
last Friday in Paris that killed 129
people.
Rather than continuing to accept
Syrian refugees, Barreto said efforts
should be made to create a process
for vetting refugees who may
be “on a mission to deceive and
destroy.” He claimed the refugee
program is “another vehicle they
are using to continue their agenda
of terror.”
According to the state Depart-
ment of Human Services, only
one Syrian refugee has settled in
Oregon in the last three years.
HERMISTON
PENDLETON
Fledgling church meets in home of congregants EOTEC gets new chair,
Priest once worked as
newscaster for Armed
Services Radio
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
“For where two or three
gather in my name, I am there
with them.”
Father Vincent Varnas,
dressed in the vestments of an
Anglican priest, processed to
the altar, paused and bowed
his head toward a wooden
cross.
The two worshipers in the
room joined him in a hymn.
“Oh, God of earth and
altar,
bow down and hear our
cry.”
Around them, instead of
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pillows and a couple of love
seats. So far, Father Vince,
as he is known, shepherds
a congregation of two:
Merle and Linda Johnson.
They will worship in the
Johnson’s living room until
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St. Paul’s Anglican Church
grows. The brand-new
home church at 119 S.W.
Quinney Place is one of only
three Anglican Province of
America churches in the
state, along with those in
Wilsonville and Jacksonville.
Merle assists Varnas by
reading from the 1928 Book
of Common Prayer. Linda
leads the hymns.
On this recent Sunday,
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Father Vincent Varnas swings a thurible to release
incense during worship recently at the home of Merle
and Linda Johnson in Pendleton.
they sang, knelt, prayed
and praised God together.
Occasionally, Linda tapped
laptop keys to unleash piano
accompaniment for worship
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from tiny speakers.
Varnas spoke in a voice
worthy of a radio announcer.
Indeed, the Air Force veteran
once worked as a newscaster
for Armed Forces Radio and
Television Service at Sondre-
strom Air Base in Greenland.
The 72-year-old comes late to
the ministry after a career as a
labor relations manager with
the Department of Veterans
Affairs.
In a backhanded sort of
way, his radio voice provided
a path to the priesthood.
“My wife said, ‘You have
a good speaking voice. Why
don’t you volunteer to be a
lector?’” said Varnas.
Varnas, “a cradle Roman
Catholic,” attended a Cath-
olic church with his wife at
the time. He decided to give
lay reading a try and became
a lector at their parish.
Patricia later encouraged
him to become a deacon and
he enrolled at the Mt. Angel
Seminary to earn a master’s
in theology.
Sadly, Patricia died of
lung cancer two weeks before
Vincent graduated.
Varnas said his plans to
become a deacon derailed
shortly
thereafter.
Not
wanting to leave his ailing
wife on weekends, he had
failed to attend a weekend
program required by the
Archdiocese.
His bid to become a
deacon was denied. An
Anglican bishop encouraged
him to pursue priesthood
with the Anglican Church
instead. Varnas prayed about
the idea and ultimately made
the switch.
“I believe God was calling
me to do it,” he said. “How
could I say no to God?”
Varnas previously served
as one of the priests at St.
Michael’s Anglican Church
in
Wilsonville.
That’s
where he met the Johnsons.
Eventually, Merle and Linda
moved to Pendleton to be
near family and operate their
business, the Johnson Insur-
ance Agency. Though they
once worshiped as Baptists,
something clicked for them
when they ventured inside
the Anglican Church.
Varnas, who now divides
his time between Wilsonville
and Pendleton, agreed to
help them start an Anglican
Church in Pendleton, which
had no church of that denom-
ination.
“We just wanted to
worship as Anglicans,” Linda
said.
Merle said he loves the
formal book of prayer which
addresses a multitude of life’s
concerns.
The Anglican Church,
historically known as the
Church of England, bears
a close resemblance to the
Roman Catholic Church.
They will continue to
meet each Sunday at 10 a.m.
in their living room until the
space becomes too crowded.
———
Contact Kathy Aney at
kaney@eastoregonian.com
or call 541-966-0810.
new project manager
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Hermiston City Manager
Byron Smith will become
the new chair of the Eastern
Oregon Trade and Event
Center authority in January.
The board appointed him to
the post Friday.
The project will also be
under new management.
Rob Dreier was introduced
by Frew Development
Group as the new project
manager.
Todd Nelson, executive
vice president of Frew
Development Group, said
Gary Winsand, the former
on-site project manager,
was no longer with the
company.
No
further
explanation was given.
Dreier, most recently of
Lake Oswego, is the Frew
Development Group’s vice
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Northwest division. He
will oversee the company’s
development of EOTEC
and of the Blue Mountain
Community College bond
project. He said after the
meeting that he would hire
additional help as needed.
“I’m just trying to
become immersed in the
project,” he said.
Friday’s
meeting
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director Amy Palmer, who
noted that Tourism Promo-
tion Assessment revenues
were 11 percent higher than
“I’m just trying
to become
immersed in
the project.”
— Rob Dreier,
new project manager
initial projections. She said
EOTEC would probably
receive the $600,000
pledged by the city in
March.
The month’s construc-
tion update was given by
Nelson, who noted things
were “going well” on the
site and that design for
the rodeo arena was on
schedule to be completed by
February 2016. Construc-
tion of the event exhibitor
center, currently underway,
is expected to wrap up in
March 2016.
Board member Dan
Dorran said he wanted to
take a moment to thank
Frew Development Group
for its help in developing
documents, brochures and
presentations to help the
EOTEC board in its push
to raise an additional $2.1
million.
“I would just like to
point out that Frew has
really helped us out with
the additional fundraising,”
he said.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
HERMISTON
City council to vote on marijuana again
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Third time could be the
charm for the Hermiston City
Council on Monday as it votes
on an ordinance that would
send the question of marijuana
dispensaries to the voters.
The ordinance would put
a measure on the November
2016 ballot that would ban all
marijuana dispensaries and
commercial grow sites from
Hermiston.
Parliamentary procedure
derailed the vote the previous
two meetings. An ordinance
must be passed with at least
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must be rejected with at least
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and an abstention caused a 4-2
vote in favor of the ordinance
during the council’s Nov. 9
meeting. According to the
city’s charter, the ordinance
will automatically be placed
on the city council agenda
each meeting until it is passed
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majority.
On Monday the council
will also vote on a resolution
to support the Hermiston Fire
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District’s effort to place a
measure on the ballot asking
voters for a new, combined
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failed in November 2014,
with 56 percent of voters in
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area voting against it.
The council will also
consider a resolution to adopt
a new employee handbook,
which was the subject of a city
council work session earlier
in the month. The handbook
includes new policies on sick
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would give a two percent pay
raise to bilingual staff.
After hearing reports on
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results of the city’s branding
survey, the council will meet
in executive session to discuss
the negotiation of a property
transaction.
Prior to the council’s
regular meeting, the council
will discuss the municipal
court at 6 p.m.
The council meets at 7 p.m.
at city hall, 180 N.E. Second
St., on the second and fourth
Monday of every month.
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