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DAVE’S: Employees have reported underage drinking on occasion
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East Oregonian
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sent a clear message via Facebook.
“We have put trash cans out for
them, asked them to put the trash in
the cans, not to litter and to not do
cookies on the lot, and to not drink,
and to treat the property with respect.
We are at the end of the rope,” reads
the post, which earned hundreds of
likes, shares and comments. “Our
words are falling on deaf ears. So
parents, please inform your children
if they hang out here to clean up and
respect the property, or we will put a
stop to the hangout.”
The store monitors the area with
surveillance cameras, but they seldom
provide any conclusive information
about the litterbugs. It’s too dark to
make out faces, Darlington said.
The spot can attract as many as 30
teens a night, said Dave’s employee
Bronson Cuzzort, who works the
closing shift. Numbers tend to
increase over the summer. Groups
stay longer, sometimes until 3 or 4
a.m., even though the store closes at
11 p.m. and reopens again at 5:30 a.m.
“There’s nowhere else for them to
go,” Cuzzort said. “It’s a 21-and-over
town.”
Cuzzort said the employees have
called the police to report underage
drinking on occasion. They’ve
stopped a few older members of the
group from purchasing alcohol for
minors.
The store’s ability to keep teens
safe and supervised, although limited,
is among the reasons it lets the
group congregate. Original owner
Dave Walters, who passed away in
December 2016, ardently supported
the community’s youth. Walters
would spend summer afternoons in
the baseball and softball stands, a hot
dog in hand, cheering on the kids.
He’d often allow the large, highly
visible parking lot to be used for car
wash fundraisers.
His wife Toni Walters, who now
runs Dave’s, cares about giving the
teens a place to go. So, too, do neigh-
bors of the store.
“They’re just kids trying to have
a good time. We all know what
that’s like,” said Katie Jones, owner
of Speakeasy Salon and Clothing
Company, which occupies the former
New York Richie’s. Jones didn’t
realize she was located so close to a
popular teen hangout spot when she
opened the clothing store in June.
Now, she knows better. She often
finds gum stuck to the store’s walls
and cups on the roof.
“We want them to have a good
Saturday, July 29, 2017
PERS: Can’t
reduce benefits
already earned
Continued from 1A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Teens gather below an electronic billboard in the parking lot of Dave’s FoodMart on Wednesday.
time, but I’m a mom, and I also want
them to be respectful,” she said.
The blockades between Speak-
easy’s lot and Dave’s stemmed from
her motherly concerns over safety.
She said a few of her customers
barely escaped injury after teens raced
past. One night she even stayed late
to monitor the teens driving “cookies”
— tight continuous circles that can
elicit screeching and smoke.
“I was afraid they’d lose control
and hit one of their friends,” she
said. “In hindsight, I wish I would
have called the police. I didn’t realize
it was becoming such an issue for
everyone.”
Pendleton Police Chief Stuart
Roberts said he’s not aware of any
ongoing criminal issues at Dave’s.
“You get all groups, but generally
speaking, they’re pretty well-be-
haved,” he said. Roberts said that
loitering isn’t criminal activity, but
the business has the prerogative to ask
anyone to leave. He added that the
police would exercise more discretion
over the property after hours, if that’s
what the business wanted.
The Facebook post has attracted
the attention of REACH (Reaching
Every Adult and Child through Hope)
Ministries, a local organization that
provides resources to teens at risk
of alcohol and drug use, pregnancy
and criminal activity. Darlington
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said REACH contacted him about
speaking with the teens.
Lee, who has been a Dave’s
hangout regular for more than two
years, said there are distinct cliques
that gather in the lot. She and her
friends, who call themselves the
“hicks,” are the most consistent group.
It’s another pack — a beer-drinking,
pot-smoking crowd made up mostly
of young adults from Pilot Rock —
that rolls through from time to time
causing mess and noise, she said.
Lee personally picks up trash and
puts it in the nearby can. And when
the can is full, which is often, she
leaves it nearby.
“Everyone who’s here right now,
we take care of the place,” she said of
the dozen teens bunched in the back
of miscellaneous vehicles.“We even
called the cops on one kid last night.”
The kid in question had been
shooting off illegal fireworks from the
lot.
Lee’s friend, Pendleton High
School sophomore AJ Pratuch, said
that this is the second time teens from
the other group had set off fireworks.
He thinks that’s what prompted the
crackdown from Dave’s management.
The Facebook comments were on
his mind as he decided to report the
fireworks to the police.
“We’re more respectful than
people think,” Pratuch said, adding
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that he wouldn’t want to see Dave’s
put an end to the hangout. “We’ve got
backup spots, but this has just been
the spot for years. It’s the center of
town. It’s easy for everyone to meet.”
Lee said that there are few public
places for teens to go in Pendleton
anymore.
“They took out the bowling alley,”
she said. “All we can do is go to
Walmart or come here.”
One reason they prefer the Dave’s
lot is the expanse of empty asphalt; it
pairs well with the teens’ car culture.
Driving to Dave’s in your own set of
wheels is like a rite of passage, Lee
said. “We know everyone by their
vehicle.”
They drive recklessly on occasion
as a way of showing off, Pratuch
explained, adding that they discourage
those who get too aggressive.
During the day, the Dave’s teens
all work jobs, Lee said. She plans to
attend Blue Mountain Community
College in the fall and aspires to
become a veterinarian.
In the meantime, she will keep
coming back to Dave’s. And to those
who think the group shouldn’t be
there, she offers this advice: “Just
come on down and hang out with us.
We’re not haters.”
———
Contact Emily Olson at eolson@
eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0809
adequately address the PERS
increases from the state, I see
those same strategies again
at play in our future which is
concerning for our students.”
The rate decision has
been monitored with interest,
especially by those advo-
cating for reforms to the
state’s pension system.
A Brighter Oregon, a
coalition of state businesses
that angled for spending
reforms during the recently
concluded
legislative
session, is one such observer.
“A more realistic assump-
tion is an important first
step toward unmasking the
severity of the problem these
rising PERS costs create
for our state, schools and
local governments,” said Pat
McCormick, spokesman for
the group, “and ultimately
for Oregon taxpayers left
holding the bill for the
pension system’s growing
unfunded liability.”
House Minority Leader
Mike McLane, R-Powell
Butte, said in a statement
Friday that the vote “should
serve as a sobering moment
for our state’s political
leaders.”
Earlier this week, a group
appointed by Oregon Gov.
Kate Brown, a Democrat, to
find ways to leverage state
assets to chip away at the
unfunded liability, held their
first meeting. It has been
charged with finding a way
to shave $5 billion from the
unfunded liability and are
reviewing the state’s assets.
Lawmakers can’t reduce
benefits already earned, per a
2015 Oregon Supreme Court
decision.
Some
lawmakers,
including many Republicans,
propose modifying public
employee benefits going
forward as a way to cut down
on the system’s costs.
———
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
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