REGION
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
East Oregonian
UMATILLA COUNTY COMMISSIONER RACE
Page 3A
PENDLETON
Bailor challenges Elfering
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Back in 2012, Bill Elfering
of Hermiston was set on
¿nding someone to run for
Umatilla County commis-
sioner. But each person he
asked, he said, did not want
the job.
Then someone told him he
should run.
He did, against two
other candidates seeking the
commissioner position No.
3, and won with almost 67
percent of the vote. With four
years under his belt, he said he
wants voters to send him back
for another term.
This time out, he has just
one opponent — Thomas
Bailor of Pendleton. Bailor
was one of six candidates
vying for the county commis-
sioner No. 1 seat in the May
2013 special election and
¿nished ¿fth with 6 percent of
the vote.
Elfering comes from a
career in the insurance ¿eld,
and he said his focus is on
the county doing the most
with its resources. He is the
county’s director of economic
development and in charge
of a $300,000 budget for that
purpose. The county used to
spend that money on all kinds
of items, such as a banners
for the state fair or helping
chambers of commerce. That
changed under Elfering.
“It should be used instead
as an investment, the creation
of jobs,” he said.
That’s one reason he said
the county poured those funds
and others — more than $2
million so far — into the
Eastern Oregon Event and
Trade Center in Hermiston.
The county will get a new
home for the annual fair out
the deal, he said, in a venue
worth about $14 million.
Elfering called that a good
return on the investment.
Elfering
and
fellow
commissioners Larry Givens
and George Murdock cut
administrative positions in
the county government, most
noticeably in their of¿ce.
The board also implemented
professional
development
for county employees and
allowed and encouraged
county department heads to
speak to the media and public
about happenings in county
government.
Elfering voted for those
innovations, but he couldn’t
point to any he came up with.
Bailor worked as an archae-
ologist for the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation from 1998 until
2010 when he Tuit to ¿nish a
masters degree in organization
and leadership at Gonzaga
University, Spokane. He also
teaches the Chinese martial art
of Tai Chi. He said the county
lacks a strategic economic
plan and is not doing enough
to invest in the future, a word
he uses often.
The county would rather
pay attention to whiskey, wine
and beer, Bailor said, instead
of the billion-dollar industry
of remote-controlled aerial
vehicles. He said the lack
of air traf¿c at the airport in
Pendleton means it is ripe for
experimental aircraft.
“Yeah, I think the county
commissioners are a little
asleep at the wheel on the
impact of where the drones are
going on the planet,” he said.
But that is what comes, he
said, when only retired people
seek election.
“They’re not hungry,” he
said. “... We need a vision for
2050.”
Bailor, however, is not
doing much to articulate that
vision to voters who already
know Elfering.
Three years ago Bailor
had little election strategy
other than using Facebook
and speaking at candidate
forums. Nothing shows that
has changed, and without
putting in a lot of work and
a fair amount of money to
build name recognition in just
a few weeks, his chances are
low of toppling Elfering from
the position he has grown
comfortable in.
Hazardous household waste disposed
Hundreds of locals brought
in their hazardous household
waste to the collection event
Saturday in Pendleton. State
contractor Clean Harbors
sent a crew of 29 to handle
the waste. Thomas King,
Clean Harbors district man-
ager in Kent, Washington,
estimated the waste would
hit 50,000 pounds. About 20
percent can be recycled, he
said, such as latex paint, and
the rest goes into incinera-
tors, including some for fuel
in cement manufacturing.
Staff photos by Phil Wright
HERMISTON
No charges in April 13 shooting
Case forwarded
to DA’s of¿ce
By JENNIFER COLTON
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Phil Wright
Youth baseball players stride Saturday to their season openers in Adams during the
town’s annual celebration.
Adams Day serves slice of American pie
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
The Adams Day parade
is short but ripe with Ameri-
cana.
There¶s the local ¿re
engines, the line of Model
A Fords, Grand Marshal
Jennifer Davison riding in a
Chevrolet Corvette. And then
the very reason for the day
— troops of youth baseball
and softball players strolling
down Main Street toward
their season openers.
Around 350 people live in
the bucolic bedroom commu-
nity tucked next to farm
land just west of Highway
11 between Pendleton and
Athena. But the population
swells one Saturday each
April as Adams rolls out the
welcome for Little League.
Saturday’s weather was
about as good at it could get
in early spring. More than a
dozen vendors in and around
the city park offered home-
made goods from beef rubs to
decorative gourds.
Fundraising also is big part
of Adams Day. The Adams
Ladies Club offers cinnamon
rolls and biscuits and gravy
for breakfast until 10 a.m.,
when it became time for
handmade pie. Sue Peterson
of Pendleton raved about the
strawberry.
Club president Becky
Holmes, wife of Adam’s
Mayor Dane Holmes, said
selling the eats allows the
small but hearty club to help
support community events,
such as taco night in the park
or wreaths for local graves.
The Adams Public Library
got in on the act with its book
sale. Once again, the proceeds
go to community events,
such as movies in the park.
And the local Lions Club
holds a membership drive. Its
president, Bruce Busbee, and
his wife, Adams native Betty
Jane Busbee, also serve on
the city council.
That’s sort of part of
Adams. Holmes said the
town has a core of commu-
nity members who volunteer
Staff photo by Phil Wright
Toni Elder gives a new look to Aileen Christiansen on
Saturday in downtown Adams during the small town’s
annual celebration.
to help in so many ways.
And though you can’t see
Adams from the highway, she
said, the town is worth the
few minutes drive to see and
get to know.
Artist-at-large Toni Elder
has lived in Adams close
to 35 years. She provided
face decorating Saturday for
children and adults. She said
Adams is the still the kind
of place where the locals
might not know the name of
A Hermiston man was
shot just after midnight on
Wednesday, but no charges
have been ¿led.
At 12:24 a.m. on
Wednesday, April 13,
Hermiston police received
a report on an intoxicated
man “causing a scene” on
Sater Court in Hermiston.
The intoxicated man, a
24-year-old from Herm-
iston who did not live in
the area, was involved
in an altercation with a
couple who were visiting a
relative.
The intoxicated man
made threats against the
couple, and a 31-year-old
Hermiston man ¿red a
warning shot from a small
caliber handgun, according
to Hermiston Police Chief
Jason Edmiston. The intox-
icated man kept moving
forward and threatening
the couple, and the man
¿red multiple shots, one
of which struck the intoxi-
cated man in the torso.
The intoxicated man
was treated at Good Shep-
herd Medical Center for
non-threatening wounds.
Monday,
Hermiston
police sent the report on the
shooting to the Umatilla
County District Attorney’s
of¿ce. Hermiston police
have not ¿led any charges.
“Based on statements
from everyone involved,
we believe we have a
clear understanding of
what transpired, and, as a
result, we are not issuing
any charges at this time,”
Edmiston said Monday.
The case was forwarded
to the District Attorney’s
of¿ce for further review,
and Edmiston said it has
“serious components” of
self-defense.
District Attorney Dan
Primus said Monday the
of¿ce has not reviewed the
case but will make a deter-
mination on any charges
once all information is
reviewed.
Because no charges
have been ¿led and the case
is under investigation, no
names have been released.
The Sater Court shooting
“We’re confident
that this was
an accidental
discharge of a
weapon he had
in his pocket.”
— Jason Edmiston,
Hermiston Police Chief
was the second shooting
last week to yield no crim-
inal charges. A 46-year-old
Hermiston
man
was
hospitalized Monday for
an accidental, self-inÀicted
gunshot wound.
Hermiston
police
responded to Good Shep-
herd Medical Center at
12:37 p.m. Monday for a
report of a patient with an
accidental,
self-inÀicted
gunshot wound to his leg.
“We’re con¿dent that
this was an accidental
discharge of a weapon
he had in his pocket,”
Edmiston said, adding no
charges have been ¿led.
———
Contact Jennifer Colton
at jcolton@eastoregonian.
com or 541-564-4534
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———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0833.
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