LOCAL ATHLETES COMPETE AT TWILIGHT TRACK MEET IN HERMISTON SPORTS/1B
WEEKEND EDITION
142nd Year, No. 132
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WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
UMATILLA
Breaking
down the
ag service
district
How much it costs,
what it will provide
and who makes the call
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Umatilla and Morrow County
voters in the May election will
decide whether to add two new
tax districts to fund staff and
operations for the Oregon State
University Extension Service.
Both counties have their own
ballot measures that each
propose a property tax rate of
33 cents per $1,000 of assessed
value.
Residents
are
asking
questions about what this will
mean. Pendleton City Council
candidates even had to field a
question about the Extension
Service district at Thursday
night’s forum.
Here are some of the most
frequently asked questions:
How much will the tax
bring in?
The tax would raise approxi-
mately $1.7 million in Umatilla
County and about $700,000 in
Morrow County.
It would pay about 25 percent
of what the Extension Service
needs to operate. Regional
administrator Mary Corp said
that is needed to help offset state
funding cuts and meet a mandate
to find local revenue to fill the
gap. Over the years, she said, the
Extension Service has relied on
multiple methods to meet that
requirement, but none have been
stable and sustainable. The new
tax would fix that, she said.
Who collects that tax
revenue and where does it
go?
The county collects the
revenue, and the funds stay there.
Oregon budget law mandates the
district’s tax revenue would get
its own fund and not go into the
county general fund.
Corp also said the budgets
from the two counties would
remain separate “all the way
until paying the bills.”
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Retired NFL safety Anthony Newman talks to students about the importance of nutrition during an assembly Friday at
McNary Heights Elementary School in Umatilla.
ACTIVE BODIES,
FULL STOMACHS
McNary Heights awarded for school wellness programs
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
N
early every McNary Heights
Elementary student shows up to
school at 8 a.m., 40 minutes before
class begins.
They spend 15 minutes on the play-
ground, then gather in their classroom to
share breakfast.
It’s part of the “Breakfast after the Bell”
program that promotes physical activity
and a good meal to start the day, and the
Umatilla school was recognized Friday
with the statewide School Wellness Award
for its efforts.
Through federal grants, child nutrition
director Rikkilyn Larsen was able to
secure funding to provide free breakfast
for all students in class, which always
includes a hot and cold option, as well as
fruit and milk.
“I like how we have breakfast in the
classroom because the kids don’t feel
rushed,” said fifth-grader Cira Larsen.
The idea, said McNary Heights vice
principal Nicole Coyle, is for students to
meet before class, share a meal, and get to
talk with each other before beginning the
day.
“While they’re eating, they’ll spend
time talking about the weekly character
traits,” Coyle said. “This week, we talked
about what it means to persevere.”
Fifth grade teacher Maximo Bedolla
said he’s noticed his students are more
alert after breakfast in class.
See WELLNESS/12A
PENDLETON
Five-pronged approach to economic development
See DISTRICT/12A
City allocates more
than $500,000 for
development, tourism
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
In lieu of assigning economic development
duties to a single department or staff member, the
city of Pendleton spreads hundreds of thousands
of dollars to several different departments and
nonprofit organizations.
The Pendleton City Council this week autho-
rized permanent funding for one of the town’s
latest economic development efforts — the
Pendleton Downtown Association. The city
government now funds at least five positions
with economic development among their duties,
a number that’s grown steadily in the past decade.
While the exact number fluctuates from year
to year, Pendleton is now committed to spend
well more than $500,000 annually on economic
development between internal employee salaries
and financial contributions to organizations with
their own staff, including the downtown associa-
tion and Travel Pendleton.
Pat
Beard
Steve
Chrisman
Charles
Denight
EXPANSION
The city has avoided using property tax
revenue to fund these positions and contribu-
tions, instead turning to hotel room taxes, the
urban renewal district and business license fees
to cover the bulk of expenses.
City Manager Robb Corbett, who champi-
oned the downtown association’s proposal when
it went before the council, said it’s not unusual
to have so many municipally funded entities
working on economic development.
According to Corbett, the two pillars of
Pendleton economic development are industrial
business and tourism.
Although Steve Chrisman’s responsibilities
were broad when he was hired as economic
development director in 2012, Corbett said
Kristen
Dollarhide
Molly
Turner
Chrisman’s focus turned to development at
the airport’s industrial park and the Pendleton
Unmanned Aerial Systems Range when Corbett
added airport manager duties to Chrisman’s job
description.
The city has long sent money to the Pendleton
Chamber of Commerce and Travel Pendleton,
its tourism-focused subsidiary, but the city has
started expanding its roster of economic devel-
opment employees in the past three years.
The Pendleton Convention Center manager
was made a full-time position again when the
city hired Pat Beard in 2017, the idea being
that the position would have a greater focus on
attracting overnight events.
See ECONOMY/11A