REGION
Saturday, June 30, 2018
East Oregonian
Page 3A
PENDLETON
Fritsch gets first-year praise from board
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
According to Chris
Fritsch’s first two evalua-
tions, the Pendleton School
Board is largely satisfied
with his performance and
extended his contract to
2020.
“Overall: The Board rec-
ognizes that our district has
a lot going on this year, and
a lot that is going right,” the
mid-year evaluation states.
Both evaluations are on a
scale of adjectives from low-
est to highest: “developing,”
“basic,”
“accomplished,”
and “distinguished.”
Fritsch earned across-
the-board “accomplished”
scores in his mid-year eval-
uation. With the excep-
tion of one “distinguished”
and one “basic,” it was the
same story for the one-year
evaluation.
The board exalted Fritsch
in both evaluations, noting
his efforts to boost morale
throughout the district, his
“reassuring
confidence,”
and his willingness to talk
to and participate in commu-
nity groups.
He also received praise
for working with principals
to collect data and present
their results to the board.
The board did encourage
Fritsch to work on school
safety and deepen his rela-
tionship with the Pendleton
Police Department and the
Umatilla County Sheriff’s
Office.
In an interview, board
Chairwoman Lynn Lieual-
len said the statement was
meant less as criticism and
more as a reminder that
school safety coordination
was an expectation of the
job.
In the following evalu-
ation, the board gave him
plaudits for communicat-
ing regularly with Pendleton
Police Chief Stuart Roberts
to develop “strategies for
school safety.”
Fritsch said in an inter-
view that he put a concerted
effort into improving his
school safety skills and he
feels like he has a good rela-
tionship with Roberts.
In his one-year evalua-
tion, the board commended
him for his “ethical manner”
and integrity, rating him as
“distinguished.”
Fritsch’s worst score was
a “basic” for his ability to
collaborate with family and
community members.
Fritsch admitted he
needed to work on his com-
munication to those groups,
but Lieuallen said it was a
comment on the structure of
the district hierarchy rather
than a direct criticism of
Fritsch’s performance.
In a different section of
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Pendleton School District Superintendent Chris Fritsch looks in on a sixth-grade
math class while touring Sunridge Middle School on the first day of school in 2017
in Pendleton.
the evaluation, the board
wanted Fritsch to work with
the InterMountain Educa-
tion Service District “and
your administrators to alle-
viate some of the HR respon-
sibilities that the configura-
tion of the central office has
required you to take on this
past year.”
Lieuallen added that all
the hats Fritsch was forced
to wear left him little time
to reach out to all of his
constituencies.
The district hasn’t had
an assistant superinten-
dent since 2016 when Tricia
Mooney left for the Herm-
iston School District, and
when Human Resources
Director Brad Bixler was
laid off last year the district
chose to leave the position
unfilled.
Lieuallen said the dis-
trict has considered recreat-
ing one of those administra-
tive positions or reassigning
some of Fritsch’s duties to an
existing administrator, but
there’s a significant obstacle.
“It’s just a matter of
where the money is going to
be,” she said.
Although Fritsch received
his lowest mark for his col-
laboration with commu-
nity members, some intense
community scrutiny was not
a part of the assessment.
At two separate board
meetings, people turned out
for the public comment sec-
tion to criticize the district
over the departures of for-
mer Pendleton High School
Principal Dan Greenough
and high school agriculture
teacher Seely Daniels.
For her part, Daniels
blamed Fritsch for forcing
her out.
Lieuallen said those two
events were not considered
as a part of the superinten-
dent evaluation and Fritsch
said it wasn’t mentioned to
him during the evaluation
process.
With some assurance
that the superintendent posi-
tion will be stable for the
next two years, the district
is starting to put some dis-
tance between itself and
the tumultuous 2016-2017
school year.
During former Super-
intendent Andy Kovach’s
10-month tenure, the board
talked to him about his per-
formance three times behind
closed doors. In the only
written evaluation, he scored
poorly.
Fritsch will enter the
2018-2019 school year with
a slight pay bump.
Along with all other
district staff, Fritsch will
receive a 2 percent cost-of-
living raise, increasing his
annual salary to $138,216.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra at
asierra@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0836.
HERMISTON
UMATILLA
Larson bids farewell
to fire district
Manager’s resignation, data centers on council’s agenda
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
Reta Larson marked the
last day of a 31-year career
doing what she’s always
done — working.
Often the first
face people see
when they walk
into the UCFD
Station 21 office,
Larson has kept
the department
running as exec-
utive
assistant
and board clerk. Larson
Wednesday was
her last day.
“I should have ripped
up her resignation letter,”
said fire chief Scott Stan-
ton with a smile. “She’s
been like my right-hand
person. It’s crystal clear
how integral she is to the
department.”
Larson will stay on as
the UCFD board clerk,
Stanton said.
Originally from Rex-
burg, Idaho, Larson and her
husband moved to Herm-
iston in 1986 for his job.
When the job didn’t work
out, the two found them-
selves unemployed, so
Larson started looking for
a job. She initially applied
next door, as a dispatcher
for the police department.
“The chief called me
and said, ‘You didn’t get
the job, but the job you
really want is next door.’
They sent my application
over, and they hadn’t even
opened this job yet,” Lar-
son said.
She started out with
tasks like filing and cor-
respondence,
eventu-
ally moving into ambu-
lance billing. Her role has
evolved over time into a
more managerial position.
The
longest-serving
full-time employee for the
department, Larson has
seen four fire chiefs, and
some major changes to the
way fire services operate in
the area.
“I got hired
back when the
fire district was
still part of the
city of Hermis-
ton,” she said.
The department
separated from
the city in 1998,
and in 2016,
passed a bond
that allowed for
the creation of Umatilla
County Fire District 1.
She said being present
for the first transition in
1998 made it easier when
the district was trying to
pass the bond.
“We learned from
that transition,” she said.
“Some things I knew that
didn’t go so well from that
helped us be ahead of the
game this time around.”
Stanton cited Larson’s
years of background with
the department.
“The amount of expe-
rience and institutional
knowledge she has —
that’s the part that will be
irreplaceable,” he said.
She said throughout her
time with the department
money has continued to be
the biggest challenge.
“That’s always the chal-
lenge with fire departments
— you’re always too busy
for the workload with the
personnel you have.”
But she said she has
been impressed with the
way the department is able
to do its job efficiently,
and praised the people she
works with.
“It’s been an awesome
31 years,” she said.
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
The Umatilla City Council
will discuss agreements for
revenue from Vadata Inc. and
the resignation of City Man-
ager Russ Pelleberg during its
meeting Tuesday.
After Pelleberg announced
earlier this week he was leav-
ing the city in July for a city
administrator job in Wash-
ington, the council had an
emergency meeting Thurs-
day night. Most of it was a
closed-door executive ses-
sion, but afterward the coun-
cil voted to approve the hir-
ing of a recruitment firm for a
nationwide search. They also
asked the city recorder to add
the naming of an interim city
manager to Tuesday’s agenda,
as well as a discussion of
compensation and a letter of
thanks and congratulations to
Pelleberg.
Already on Tuesday’s
agenda was a resolution
authorizing the mayor to sign
an extended five-year enter-
prise zone agreement with
Vadata, a subsidiary of Ama-
zon. Enterprise zones allow
cities to give property tax
breaks to companies for new
development that meets cer-
tain requirements for job cre-
ation. According to a memo
from Pelleberg to the coun-
cil, the agreement in ques-
tion includes a payment in
year four equal to 50 per-
cent of what would have been
paid in taxes, and a 75 per-
cent payment in year five. He
wrote that it should have been
signed in 2017 but there was
an oversight.
The agenda also includes
a resolution in support of the
community service fee distri-
bution formula approved by
Umatilla County recently for
two Vadata projects in Uma-
tilla city limits and a third
outside of Hermiston. The
county negotiated a Stra-
tegic Investment Program
(SIP) agreement with Vadata
that includes three types of
payments in lieu of regular
property taxes for the next
15 years. Under state stat-
ute, the first $25 million in
real market value is distrib-
uted to taxing districts at the
normal rate. A flat commu-
nity service fee of 25 percent
(not to exceed $500,000 per
year) is also assessed, to be
divided between the districts
by agreement. Additional
“annual improvement pay-
ments” from the company can
also be negotiated as desired.
The county voted on June
20 to forgo its own share of
the $500,000 community ser-
vice fee and divide the fee
among six special taxing dis-
tricts, including 64 percent to
Umatilla County Fire District
IS PROUD TO BE THE TITLE SPONSORS
Friday July 6, 2018
Meet & greet at Sno Road Winery,
Main Street 5:30-10 PM
Saturday, July 7, 2018
Registration begins at Noon at City Park
Tours: Catholic Church 11:00 AM • New School 2:00 PM
Museum 1:00-4:00 PM
Tri-Tip dinner at 5:00 PM- $30.00 per person
*Price includes dinner, music, and other reunion expenses
Dance at Echo Ridge Cellars 8-10:30 PM
Contacts:
Chris Bettencourt, 541-571-1472
Darrylin Collinsworth, 541-449-1138
Diane Schultze, 541-376-5505
cial districts are in agreement.
Staff has reviewed the for-
mula and recommends that
the Council approves this res-
olution in support of adop-
tion by the Oregon Business
Commission at its July 13th
meeting.”
6/29 - 7/1
7/2 - 3
Cineplex Show Times
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Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216
Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216
The Umatilla County Historical Society would like to say
Thank You!
Sponsor partners for supporting the
2018 Agricultural Heritage Tour
GOLF TOURNAMENT
GOLFING FOR A CAUSE
SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2017
BIG RIVER GOLF COURSE
Lead Sponsors
Columbia State Bank
McGregor Company
Major Sponsors
SCRAMBLE FOR FOOD
Echo All School/
All Community Reunion
1. Pelleberg wrote in a memo
that “Ultimately, the County
has approved a formula for
distribution of the CSF that
has been sent to the Oregon
Business Commission with-
out our involvement and has
indicated that the other spe-
$60.00 ENTRY FEE:
PRIZES ON EVERY HOLE!
Includes greens fee for 18 holes, pastries before &
lunch after the tournament
OPEN TO MEN & WOMEN
OF ALL SKILL LEVELS
Four person Scramble • Limited to fi rst 120 golfers
8:00am: Check-in opens.
Teams & hole assignments announced.
9:00am: Shot gun start
Conclusion of tournament: Lunch, awards ceremony
Please contact Big River Golf Course to reserve a cart at 541-922-3006.
(carts are not included in the entry fee)
For more information, contact Dave Hughes at 541-571-7293.
CHI St. Anthony
DA Davidson & Co.
Northwest Farm Credit
Services
Wenaha Group
Wheatland Insurance,
Pendleton
Supporting Sponsors
Bisnett Insurance
Bob & Tammy Green
Helix Telephone Co
Holton Secret Lab
Kline Landscape & Irrigation