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East Oregonian
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
EOTEC: Council approved rodeo and fair leases Oregon jobless rate
dollar figures on the proposed written approval from the part of the EOTEC project,
falls to new record low
management structure.
rodeo board. Kirwan pointed Barnett said.
Continued from 1A
the salary was competitive
enough to draw someone
with the experience needed
to successfully market the
event center.
“In that kind of price
range you’re going to get
college kids,” Kirwan said,
proposing the number be
“possibly double.”
Smith said that would be
difficult without additional
contributions from the city
and county.
Marketing and booking
are currently handled by
business manager Heather
Cannell, and Smith said some
EOTEC board members
had expressed interest in
promoting Cannell to general
manager when the time
comes.
Nate Rivera, one of the
early planners of the EOTEC
project, said the original
planners visited a variety
of similar trade and event
centers. He said the difference
between successful centers
and ones in the red seemed
to be that the successful ones
were managed through a
management company with
the experience, resources
and networking to market
the center nationwide. He
asked the city and county to
consider contracting out the
general manager position.
Councilors and commis-
sioners expressed interest in
having Smith research that
option, in addition to coming
back to them with more firm
In a recent county
commissioners
meeting,
commissioner
George
Murdock proposed that the
county pull out of EOTEC
completely and turn it over
to the city. On Monday he
acknowledged that his two
colleagues had shot down
that idea, but asked what
happens in the future if the
city wants to spend more on
EOTEC than the county is
willing to give.
“I fear that we will come
to a juncture where the
city is considerably more
interested in contributions
and improvements than the
county,” he said.
Kirwan also said that he
feared the county was more
focused on EOTEC as home
of the Umatilla County Fair
and Farm-City Pro Rodeo,
whereas the city was more
focused on creating sustain-
able year-round use.
Those sometimes-com-
peting interests came to light
later in the evening, when
during their regular business
meeting city councilors
questioned provisions in
leases with the Umatilla
County Fair and Farm-City
Pro Rodeo.
The proposed rodeo lease,
already approved by the
EOTEC board, stated that
no third-party events could
be held in the rodeo arena
for 90 days before and 30
days after the Farm-City Pro
Rodeo without first getting
out that blocked out Memo-
rial Day, Labor Day, the
Fourth of July and the entire
summer.
Rodeo board member
Dennis Barnett said in order
to have a successful rodeo
they needed 30 to 45 days
each year to prepare the soil to
the right consistency for trac-
tion and safety. He said the
board was worried EOTEC
would approve something
like a monster truck rally that
would endanger cowboys
and animals by destroying
that careful cultivation of
the soil and leaving hard-to-
find screws and other parts
behind.
He also said that the
community only had so
much rodeo sponsorship
money and so much interest
in buying rodeo tickets, so
a competing rodeo event
earlier in the summer would
drain the Farm-City Pro
Rodeo’s resources. However,
non-spectator roping events,
barrel racing, etc. would all
be things they would be more
than happy to accommodate.
Barnett pointed out that
the rodeo was building
a
$500,000
mercantile
building, additional grand-
stands and lighting, plus
bringing over pens and
panels and other items from
the current arena. All of
that adds up to a more than
$1 million investments in
items that the rodeo board
was originally told would be
“We have so much invest-
ment in EOTEC, we want
it to be successful,” he said,
promising that the board
would approve every request
that was “reasonable.”
The city council approved
the lease, but only after the
rodeo board agreed to shorten
the window before the rodeo
to 60 days.
A similar conversation
was had about the Umatilla
County Fair’s lease of the
fairgrounds, which states that
EOTEC must obtain permis-
sion for any concerts held on
the EOTEC grounds for 60
days before the fair and 30
days after. Board member
Dan Dorran made similar
arguments that the fair board
and community’s sizable
investments in the fair-
grounds must be protected
from competing concerts that
will siphon off sponsorship
money and interest from the
fair.
“Look what (the commu-
nity) has done for EOTEC,
with the expectation that they
will have a better event,” he
said.
The council also approved
the fair lease as presented.
The fair and rodeo are each
paying $10,000 per year plus
utilities and maintenance for
the time they are occupying
the space.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
WALDEN: Since 1998, has won reelection 10 times
“Our report
found that for
every step of
progress Oregon
has made, this
proposal will take
Oregon three
steps back.”
Continued from 1A
don’t intercede now, fewer
people will have access to
insurance — period.”
The bill rolls back
Medicare expansion, nixes
the requirement for large
employers to offer coverage
to full-time employees
and ditches a mandate that
compels Americans to get
insurance, instead using a
system of tax credits to induce
younger, healthier Americans
to buy insurance on the open
market. Medicare funding
would come in the form of
block grants.
Walden points to double-
digit insurance increases and
the shrinking list of insurers
on the open market as reasons
for why the ACA needs to be
scrapped.
“Last year, 225 counties
in America had one option
left to choose from on the
exchange,” Walden said.
“This year, it’s 1,022 and
that’s before Humana pulled
out. This insurance market is
collapsing before our eyes.
The CEO of Aetna said (the
market is) in a death spiral.
Those aren’t our words,
those are his words. As I talk
to insurers, they’re looking at
whether they can sustain the
losses they’re enduring.”
Though Walden’s political
sway seems at an all-time
high, some of his constitu-
ents in Oregon’s 2nd district
are pushing back against
the proposed dismantling
of the ACA. In January,
for example, a group of
locals rallied in Walden’s
hometown of Hood River to
protest the repeal.
Those constituents say
Walden isn’t listening to the
people back home. Retired
health care administrator
Fran Finney helped organize
the Hood River rally as a
way to protest repeal and get
a message to Walden that he
wasn’t doing their bidding.
“We organized this at the
last minute because we were
concerned about the direction
we see health care going in,”
Finney said. “The word got
out informally. About 80
people showed up. It was a
very cold day — about 15
degrees — and we stood in
the snow.”
Protesters waved signs
proclaiming “Save our Health
Care” and “Health Care for
All Americans.” They took
turns speaking into a micro-
phone about fears of losing
health benefits. Some spoke
in support of a single payer
plan. Finney worried aloud
about the “slippery slope of
potential cuts to Medicare
and Medicaid.” Mostly, she
is concerned about family
and friends.
“People are concerned
about losing their health
care,” she said.
In Walden’s rambling
district, which covers about
— Gov. Kate Brown
Staff photo E.J. Harris
Congressman Greg Walden listens as Dwight Holton,
CEO of Line for Life, explains some of the issues with
pain killer addition in the state during a roundtable
discussion with health care providers, pharmacists,
hospital administrators and law enforcement at Good
Shepherd Medical Center in Hermiston in May, 2016.
two-thirds
of
Oregon,
Medicaid
enrollment
surpassed 30 percent in
eight of the counties. About
129,200 people in the district
are covered by Medicaid
expansion. The district’s
uninsured rate has dropped
from 17 percent to eight
percent.
According to a report by
the U.S. House of Represen-
tatives Committee on Energy
and Commerce, Walden’s
district expanded Medicaid
more than any other Repub-
lican district in the country.
Finney and her friends
wonder about Walden’s polit-
ical future because of this
disconnect. Until now, the
road has been smooth. Since
1998, Walden has easily won
reelection 10 times running.
Could reelection in 2018
be less of a cakewalk?
“We think he could be
vulnerable,” Finney said.
That’s a 180-degree
turn from President Donald
Trump’s analysis, who
warned House Republicans
Tuesday they could lose their
seats if they failed to replace
the ACA. The Republican
bill to repeal the health care
act comes before the House
Budget
Committee
on
Thursday.
Rep. Greg Smith, R-Hep-
pner, is an Oregon lawmaker
whose district geographically
falls within Walden’s. Smith
said he hears concerns about
health care when he travels
the area. Smith said Walden
has to travel some rough
roads in the coming months.
“Health care is a
challenging issue for the
Congressman and for folks in
Eastern Oregon,” Smith said.
Rural Oregon has a
large population of people
dependent on the ACA and
the Oregon Health Plan, he
said. “They believe they
have a right to affordable
and accessible health care.”
Smith called the effort “truly
a balancing act to figure
out how Oregonians can
have access to health care
without intruding into their
private lives or being overly
excessive.” That said, Smith
likes the health care system
Oregon has developed.
“Our state has been
innovative in its approach
to health care,” he said.
“Oregon has significantly
contained the cost of health
care in comparison with
other states.”
Oregon
Gov.
Kate
Smith credited the ACA for
bringing the level of insured
to 95 percent of adults and
98 percent of children in the
state.
“We know the ACA works
in Oregon,” said Brown last
week to a crowd gathered
outdoors at the Capitol. “It’s
considered a model system
around the country.”
She called the proposed
federal health plan “abso-
lutely unacceptable.” Brown
cited findings from a 19-page
Oregon Health Authority/
Consumer and Business
Services department report
that estimated nearly half a
million Oregonians would
lose health coverage and that
42,000 jobs would disappear.
“Our report found that for
every step of progress Oregon
has made, this proposal will
take Oregon three steps
back,” Brown said. “This bill
is not about improving health
care. This bill is about giving
tax breaks to the wealthy.”
Representative Smith is
reserving judgment about
potential harm to Oregon.
“I’m not ready to go there
yet,” he said. “I think it’s
really premature. We don’t
know what Congress will do
yet.”
Walden has touted the
plan at town halls in his
district, assuring nervous
constituents that no one will
be denied coverage because
of pre-existing conditions
and that adult children may
remain on their parents’
insurance until age 26.
“We want to take the time
to get it right — so there’s
a lot of work going on,”
Walden told a Boardman
audience last month. “Our
mission is to give Americans
more choices and to bring the
costs down.”
———
Contact Kathy Aney at
kaney@eastoregonian.com
or call 541-966-0810.
SALEM (AP) — State
economists say the rate of
unemployed Oregonians fell
again in February to 4 percent,
marking the lowest such
figure the state has seen in at
least the past four decades.
The rate of unemployed
Oregonians fell again in
February to 4 percent,
marking the lowest such
figure the state has seen in
at least the past four decades
and a full percentage point-
drop in just two months, state
economists said Tuesday.
In January the state’s
unemployment rate was 4.3
percent.
February was the second
month in a row that Oregon’s
jobless rate declined to
record lows since the state
began tracking local labor
data back in 1976. Oregon’s
jobless rate was notably
lower than the 4.7 percent
nationwide average, and it
also managed to drop by
one percentage point since
December’s 5 percent rate.
February’s jobless rate
represents about 82,000
unemployed Oregonians out
of the labor market’s overall
2 million-plus workers.
Nonfarm payrolls also
added 8,200 jobs last month,
up from the revised gain of
700 in January. More than
half of those job gains came
from government, helping
the sector recover from
its loss of 3,400 workers
during the prior month.
A similar trend took
place in the health care and
social assistance sectors,
which gained 2,400 workers
following January’s 1,700
loss. Job gains totaling 900
were also seen in construction,
at a much slower pace than its
2,500 new-hires in January.
Four in Malheur standoff
guilty of trespassing
PORTLAND (AP) — A
federal judge in Oregon
found four men guilty
Tuesday of misdemeanor
counts of trespassing and
tampering with government
vehicles and equipment
during last year’s high-pro-
file takeover of a wildlife
refuge after a bench trial that
was overshadowed by the
conviction of the same men
by a jury on more serious
felony charges.
U.S. District Judge Anna
Brown found defendants
Jason Patrick, Darryl Thorn,
Duane Ehmer and Jake Ryan
guilty of the lesser crimes
11 days after the men were
convicted by a Portland jury
of charges ranging from
conspiracy to possession of
firearms in a federal facility.
Patrick was also found guilty
of destruction and removal
of property on Tuesday.
Early in the trial proceed-
ings, Brown separated the
misdemeanors from the
felonies and pegged them
for a bench trial over the
objections of the defense,
who felt allowing the jury
— and not the judge — to
consider the lesser charges
would have helped their
clients.
Patrick, who was part of
the initial group that seized
the refuge in remote south-
eastern Oregon, has said he
will appeal the case.
They all face years
in prison at a sentencing
hearing set for next month.
Thorn, Ehmer and Ryan
remain free while awaiting
sentencing but Patrick chose
to turn himself in Tuesday.
PENDLETON: Approved
purchase of airport building for
use as ‘range control facility’
Continued from 1A
drinking water infrastruc-
ture.
Patterson said leveraged
water rate hikes helped
secure the loan, which
will help pay for replacing
some of the city’s aging
water mains, 33 miles of
which will hit or exceed the
century mark by the 2020s.
Other projects include a
new well and a new reser-
voir and booster station in
the airport area.
Patterson said these
water system improve-
ments are necessary and
would have gotten only
more expensive the longer
the city waited. He added
that the water rates will
eventually fall below other
cities again as they address
their own water issues.
“We’ve kicked the can
down the road for too
long,” he said.
The council approved
the purchase of a building
at the airport for use as a
“range control facility” for
the Pendleton Unmanned
Aerial Systems Range.
The city is buying the
1906 N.W. 56th Drive
building
back
from
Community Bank, which
used the facility for check
and debit card processing
when the city sold the
building in 2005.
City manager Robb
Corbett said the building
has been on the market
for a while at $500,000,
but the city is buying it for
$395,000 through a 10-year
financing plan.
A
drone
business
has already committed
$88,000 toward renting
the building, and the city
plans to use hangar rental
revenue toward covering
the purchase price.
Corbett said the city
expects
to
generate
$500,000 in revenue from
the test range over the next
10 months.
Range manager Darryl
Abling said the control
facility was integral toward
recruiting businesses to
testing at the range and
could easily house other
companies interested in
using it.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra
at asierra@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0836.
MULTI-MEDIA SALES
Press Position
Great work environment.
Super awesome team.
Good pay. Retirement plan.
Weekends off. Interested?
Press person need-
ed at East Oregonian
newspaper. Our operation
prints an array of weekly,
bi-weekly and monthly
publications. To join our
team, you’ll need web
press operation skills, an
eye for color, mechanical
ability, be a good com-
municator and work well
with others. Must be able
to lift 50# and go up/down
stairs on a regular basis.
East Oregonian has an
opening for multi-media sales.
No multi-media experience?
That’s fine, as long as you
understand the importance
of customer service, working
hard and a desire to
enjoy your job.
Could this be you?
Send resume and letter of
interest to
EO Media Group
PO Box 2048
Salem, OR 97308-2048
by fax to 503-371-2935 or
e-mail hr@eomediagroup.com
Base wage plus commissions,
benefits and mileage
reimbursement. Benefits
include Paid Time Off (PTO),
insurances and a 401(k)/Roth
401(k) retirement plan.
Send resume and cover
letter stating salary
requirements to:
EO Media Group
PO Box 2048
Salem, OR 97308-2048
or fax:
(503) 371-2935
or email:
hr@eomediagroup.com.
Benefi ts include Paid
Time Off (PTO), insur-
ances and a 401(k)/Roth
401(k) retirement plan.
Send resume and letter
of interest to EO Media
Group., PO Box 2048,
Salem, OR 97308-2048,
by fax to 503-371-2935 or
email
hr@eomediagroup.com