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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (April 13, 2018)
REGION Friday, April 13, 2018 PENDLETON East Oregonian Page 3A HERMISTON Candidates discuss housing and economic development Contributed photo Old Dominion is the headliner for the Pendleton Round-Up and Happy Canyon kickoff concert. Tick- ets go on sale Friday, April 20 for the Sept. 8 event. Round-Up wrangles in Old Dominion for kickoff concert Tickets go on sale April 20 East Oregonian Breakout country band Old Dominion will kick off the 2018 Pendleton Round-Up and Happy Canyon week. Blending old-fashioned country charm, lyrical wit and rock ‘n roll grit, the Nashville-based band is the headliner for the Saturday, Sept. 8 concert at the Happy Canyon Arena. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 20 at 8:30 a.m. The group has emerged as one of country music’s hottest bands with two American Country Music Award nominations for New Artist of the Year and Vocal Group of the Year. Their debut album, “Meat and Candy,” was certified Gold and hailed for hits like “Break Up With Him” (platinum), “Snapback” (gold) and “Song For Another Time,” which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Country Airplay and Medi- aBase charts. The band’s popularity has exploded since opening for Big & Rich during the 2014 Round-Up and Happy Canyon concert. “We can’t wait to welcome Old Dominion back to the Happy Canyon Arena, but this time as our main act,” said Corey Neistadt, Happy Canyon president. “They’re such a crowd-pleasing band that will do a great job of kicking off an exciting week.” Pendleton Round-Up president Dave O’Neill agreed, saying the band’s sound appeals to a wide variety of people. Old Dominion’s highly anticipated August 2017 release, “Happy Endings,” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart and No. 7 on the Top 200. The band’s latest single, “Written In The Sand,” follows the success of the album’s debut single, “No Such Thing As A Broken Heart,” which hit No. 1 on the Bill- board Country Airplay and MediaBase charts. In 2016, Old Dominion was named the ACM New Group of the Year, ACCA Breakthrough Group of the Year, AIMP Songwriter Artist of the Year and Music Row Breakthrough Artist of the Year. The band includes lead singer Matthew Ramsey, lead guitarist Brad Tursi, multi-instrumentalist Trevor Rosen, bassist Geoff Sprung and drummer Whit Sellers. Tickets range in price from $46 to $150. To purchase tickets, call 1-800- 457-6336 (select option 1) or visit www.pendleton- roundup.com. Pendleton attorney wins ‘Dancing with your Pendleton Stars’ East Oregonian In a field of six at “Dancing with your Pend- leton Stars,” Jennifer Currin successfully argued her case with her feet. Currin, an attorney at the Pendleton law firm Corey, Byler & Rew, took home first place for her perfor- mance at the charity dancing competition Saturday. Dancing a waltz to the “Game of Thrones” theme, Currin raised more than $14,000 for Cason’s Place and $1,300 for the Children’s Museum of Eastern Oregon. Tim McFetridge, a branch manager at Banner Bank, was the runner-up, raising $5,500 for the Pendleton Animal Welfare Shelter. In its fourth year, “Dancing with your Pend- leton Stars” pairs prominent community members with dancers from Utah Ballroom Dance Company in the name of charity. As the locals learn the finer points of the cha cha or the salsa for their prepared routine, they also raise money for local char- ities while the Community Action Program of East Central Oregon uses ticket revenue from the event to help fund its food program. CAPECO is still tallying ticket revenue and donation amounts, but Vicki Muller, CAPECO’s director of food services, said the total ticket revenue is “in the vicinity of $12,000 to $13,000” — about double what CAPECO took in last year. By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Housing, economic development and the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center were all topics of concern during a forum for Hermiston City Council candidates Wednesday night. The seven candidates took questions presented by the Greater Hermiston Area Chamber of Commerce. Michael Engelbrecht (Ward 1) was not at the forum after announcing to the East Orego- nian that he is in the process of submitting paperwork to formally withdraw from the race due to a changing employment situation that means he may not be living in Hermiston next year. Incum- bent Jackie Myers (Ward 3) was also absent. Questions covered a variety of problems facing Hermiston, giving candidates one minute each to present a solution. EOTEC A hot topic for the city recently has been how to make the new $17 million Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center financially self-sustain- able. Several candidates mentioned keeping Venu- Works, which was recently contracted to run the center’s day to day operations, accountable and making sure the professional venue management company is yielding good results. “We need to keep their feet to the flame,” Mark Gomolski (Ward 1) said. Roy Barron (Ward 2) said he believed that EOTEC’s current rental fee structure is unaffordable for most prospective clients, and that hurts the center’s ability to attract events. He cited EOTEC being passed up by the Hermiston School District as a graduation venue as an example. He also said the facility needs to expand the services it provides to people renting the event center. Shean Fitzgerald (Ward 2) said he thought the city should also seek private donations and volunteer work to help supplement the city’s support for EOTEC. Housing One of the council’s current goals is tackling a shortage of affordable housing for families moving to Hermiston. Jackie Linton (Ward 1) said she believes the council is on the right track there. Linton, who is not currently on the council but has been attending meetings regularly for about two years, described recent changes the council made to zoning, lot coverage rules and other steps to encourage infill development of empty lots scattered around town. “I think this will help as far as housing is concerned, bringing in more homes Trivia Games 2018 April 14th at the Roy Raley Room at 6pm. Holden’s Heroes took home the trophy in 2017. Who will it be this year? Come test your Umatilla County and Oregon trivia knowledge at Trivia Games 2018. Tickets are $25 each or $120/team of six ($30 savings!). Register your team at Heritage Station Museum or call us at 541-276-0012 today! MAY THE SCORES BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOR. 108 SW Frazer Avenue Pendleton, Oregon 97801 541-276-0012 Staff photo by E.J. Harris Hermiston City Council candidate Jackie Linton answers a question during a candi- date forum at Armand Larive Middle School in Hermiston. with the zoning laws being changed, and making it more accessible for families to buy and purchase and own their own home,” she said. Incumbent Doug Smith (Ward 4) said a next step needed to be addressing the shortage of contractors that makes the housing shortage worse. He referenced Ranch & Home, which hasn’t been able to complete its store on the south end of Hermiston yet due to problems finding electricians. “In order to actually get those houses built we have to have contractors to be able to come and do it,” he said. Economic Development The topic of economic development was woven throughout the evening, as candidates discussed the need to bring in new homes, busi- nesses and tourism to the area. Kyran Miller (Ward 3) said new businesses and homes won’t appear until the city has things that make people want to visit and live in Hermiston. He criticized the school district’s graduation rate as a drawback to people researching whether they wanted to move to Hermiston. He also said he wants to see the city complete projects that make Hermiston a “city of destination,” and praised the creation of the urban renewal district downtown. “Again, it has taken forever to get anything done, but we’re showing results,” he said. Incumbent Lori Davis said Hermiston growth “is a positive thing but can also be a challenge.” She said she would like to see more retail, restaurants and housing available to help attract larger industries. She said that she thinks that projects the city has in the works, from the festival street to a planned new skate park, will help. Linton said small busi- nesses are the backbone of any city’s economy and she wanted to see the city be as supportive as it can to small businesses and residents trying to start a new business, in addition to trying to bring in new business. “Help them to be able to start a business here in Herm- iston,” she said. “That will bring in more tax dollars. That will also help to bring in more people, who will buy property, buy homes.” Fitzgerald said the city should work to recruit large businesses like Lamb Weston to help Hermiston’s economy grow. He also said the community needed to stop putting new taxes like school bonds on the residents before old debts were paid off. Other thoughts Economic issues weren’t the only ones discussed Wednesday — candidates also shared their goals to help Hermiston’s people. Barron worked as an alcohol and drug councilor for Umatilla County before the drug court closed and now works for the county’s mental health program in schools called RISE. He said he is passionate about tackling the city’s addiction and mental health problems. Davis discussed the need for Hermiston to keep up its infrastructure so that residents have good roads to drive on and the community doesn’t start losing assets because they are too far gone to fix. Smith said Hermiston is his home, and he cares deeply about making it a better place. He recited his personal cell phone number to the audience and said he is open any time, any place to hearing feedback on city issues. Miller said he wanted the city council to start holding monthly forums, but if other councilors weren’t willing to participate he would “put up a tent in my front yard” if that’s what it took. Gomolski also touted his commitment to transparency, stating that the city council doesn’t do enough to inform residents and hold public hear- ings on issues before voting on them. He also said that the city needed to “re-invest” in its relationship with the chamber of commerce and do more to support that organization. For a full video of the council forum, visit altv.us. 4/13-15 Cineplex Show Times $5 Classic Movie • 4/18 • 12:00 PM Peyton Place Rampage (PG13) 11:50* 2:10* 6:50 • 3D 4:30 9:30 Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare (PG13) 11:40* 2:00* 4:20 6:40 9:20 A Quiet Place (PG13) 12:10* 2:30* 4:50 7:10 9:40 Blockers (R) 12:00* 2:20* 4:40 7:20 9:50 Ready Player One (PG13) 1:00* 4:00 7:00 10:00 * Matinee Pricing wildhorseresort.com • 541-966-1850 Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216
