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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 8, 2016)
Page 10A OFF PAGE ONE East Oregonian HAMBY: Connected kids with support services Continued from 1A in the hallways or his ofice at the high school, and some knew of the chocolate he kept in his bottom desk drawer. He collected leads in investigations and drove chronically absent students to school. “Kids aren’t going to get educated if you can’t get them here,” he said. “Sometimes they just need a gentle nudge.” This was a second career for Hamby. Before starting as a police oficer 20 years ago, he worked 18 years for Tum-A-Lum Lumber Company, while also volun- teering six years as a reserve oficer for the Pendleton Police Department. When the SRO job came open, he applied for it. The reason? “I love kids,” he said. Maybe the reason he felt so comfortable with youth of all ages was because he was the middle child in a family of seven siblings. Hamby, a Pendleton native, tells of regularly waking up at 4 a.m. just so he could use the family’s lone bathroom. The early rising habit endures to this day. Whatever the reason, Hamby is a kid magnet. On Tuesday, he strolled along a Pendleton High School corridor, trading good-natured jibes and smart- aleck remarks with students. Sophomore Krysta Gaede laid her hand on Hamby’s large shoulder and said goodbye. “Don’t get into any trouble,” she admonished. “Bye, Hamby.” Gaede said she irst came into Hamby’s orb as a ifth- grader who wasn’t so sure about this guy in the blue uniform wearing a badge and a gun. “I was really scared of cops,” she said. She said Hamby quickly put her at ease with his goofy humor and his simple and straight- forward language. Instead of scary, she now describes him fondly as “a big old brat — the grandpa of the school.” “Most kids are good at heart,” Hamby said. “The bad kids are few and far between.” He does get irked about bullying, though. “I believe in the underdog,” he said. “If you want to get under my skin, pick on other kids.” Administrators describe Hamby as kid-centric. “Everyone in education talks about being kid-irst,” said PHS Athletic Director Troy Jerome. “Oficer Hamby is truly a person who comes to school every day with kids irst on his mind.” “He’s approachable,” said McKay Creek Elementary School Principal Ronda Smith. “Every kid loves him.” It’s obvious from the hugs he gets while walking around town or showing up at the Little League ield, she said — “He’s a celebrity.” “He’s able to positively connect with kids,” said Sunridge Middle School Prin- cipal Dave Williams. “They know him. They trust him.” In 2012, Hamby and other oficers decided to grow their hair for Locks of Love, an organization that fashions hairpieces for children with conditions such as cancer and alopecia. After 20 months, Hamby sat on the Sunridge stage and let students cut away his long, curly mop. The entire student body surrounded the oficer and cheered him as the hair fell. Pendleton Police Chief Stuart Roberts said Hamby was the third school resource oficer in the department’s history. The main reason to fund such an oficer, Roberts said, wasn’t to collect information for criminal investigations, but rather to prevent crime. “A school district is a community within a commu- nity,” he said. “Glenn was able to avert a lot of activities that would likely have evolved into criminal behavior.” But, it’s not all about law enforcement either, Roberts said. Hamby worked with coun- selors to make sure students had shoes and coats and connected kids with support services. He gave them a positive connec- tion with a police oficer. Hamby’s replacement is Community Service Oficer Lance Zaugg. While Zaugg gets settled into his new job, Hamby said he will search for other ways to serve. Oh, and he’ll spend a fair amount of time on his Harley. He’ll wait for his wife, Deb Sue, to retire from her loan analyst job at Old West Federal Credit Union to really go wild on retirement. As Hamby walked the hallway on his last day and bantered back and forth with the students, the bittersweetness of this day settled on him. Sweeping his arm across the hallway full of teens, Hamby said, “This is what I’m gonna miss.” ——— Contact Kathy Aney at kaney@eastoregonian.com or call 541-966-0810. Wednesday, June 8, 2016 EARTHQUAKE: One exercise involves a telephone call with governors in other states Continued from 1A rescue and recovery operations, such as mass casualty treatment, roof top extraction and collapsed space rescue operation. Some of the other exercises will test strategic communications and telecommunications. Participants in the exercises include about 20,000 people from agencies at state, local and federal levels in Oregon, Washington and Idaho, said Laurie Holien, deputy director of Oregon Ofice of Emergency Management. One of the exercises involves a tele- phone call with governors in other states. Instead of Brown participating in the call, the secretary of state’s chief of staff will participate, simulating a situation in which the governor and secretary of state might be killed or unavailable during a catastrophic earthquake. In 2012, voters approved a consti- tutional amendment that provided a mechanism for government to continue after a catastrophic event. The amend- ment allows the governor or someone in the line of succession to declare a cata- strophic disaster and call the Legislature into session anywhere in the state with as little as one member of the House and one member of the Senate. Courtney has repeatedly said that the capitol would collapse in a high magnitude earthquake and has pushed for seismic upgrades to the building. During legislative sessions, the governor, others in the line of succession and lawmakers are often inside the capitol at once. The line of succession is the secretary of state, state treasurer, Senate president and House speaker. PENDLETON: Cambier appointed to council Continued from 1A worried about the trafic problems 100 more apartment units could create on Tutuilla Road, although Community Development Director Tim Simons assured them that it shouldn’t be an issue. Jivanjee reminded the council that he was the “lone ranger” when it came to housing development in Pendleton and the beneits of adding more dwellings would outweigh the drawbacks. Jivanjee was able win over enough skeptics, the council voting 5-1 to contribute the infrastructure funding, with Brown voting against it and Coun- cilors John Brenne and Becky Marks absent. Brown said he needed more concrete plans about how Jivanjee would mitigate the council’s concerns before he could support the contribution. Voting in the majority was Jake Cambier, who was appointed to the council earlier in the meeting. During his interview with the council before the meeting, Cambier said he was looking to get back into public service after he served on the Pendleton School Board from 1999 to 2009. Cambier was chosen over retired salesman Paul Rabitaille, who unsuc- cessfully sought appointment to the other at-large seat in February and lost in the council elections in May. Brown said Rabitaille improved on his last interview with the council and encouraged him to apply for a committee appointment. Cambier replace former at-large councilor Al Plute, who resigned and moved to Springield. The council also adopted a $58.6 million budget, which features a $15.8 million general fund. ——— Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@ eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0836. 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