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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 22, 2018)
Page 8A OFF PAGE ONE East Oregonian Wednesday, August 22, 2018 NEAL: A search started in spring, ended up with 33 applicants Continued from 1A Morrow staff — about 61 people. He reports directly to his father. “Our operating budget is approximately one-third of the port’s budget,” he said. A wider search Board president Jerry Healy said the commission- ers hired George Dunkel from the Special Districts Association of Oregon to recruit candidates. After the initial recruitment period, they asked Dunkel to expand the search to a wider geo- graphic region, and ended up with 33 applicants. Neal was selected after a search that started in late spring of this year, and ended with a day of inter- views with three panels of community members and people from regional busi- nesses and industries. Neal and the three other final- ists went through the panel interviews. One was elim- inated, another chose not to move forward, and Neal and finalist Stephanie Sea- mans were interviewed by the port commission. Seamans is a Certified Public Accountant and the community and economic development manager for Benton-Franklin Council of Governments in the Tri-Cit- ies. She worked for many years as a CPA and business development manager for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reser- vation. Seamans declined to comment for this story. Port commission vice president Rick Stokoe said Seamans had many of the qualifications they wanted, but she did not have experi- ence with ports. Healy said Neal’s back- ground, both with the port and at other businesses, made him a compelling candidate. “He’s had a very suc- cessful marketing career,” Healy said. “He’s grown the businesses he’s worked with.” Stokoe said the commis- sion didn’t talk to the pan- els directly, but all the infor- mation was relayed to them through Dunkel. “The panel didn’t make a recommendation to us — they told us their thoughts,” he said. He said the commis- sion asked the candidates an identical set of about 20 questions, including ques- tions about their leadership Staff photo by E.J. Harris Whey sits in stacks at the Port of Morrow’s dry goods warehouse waiting to be exported overseas. style, and their willingness to move to Morrow County. Family connection Though Neal will suc- ceed his father in the posi- tion, both commissioners said the relationship ulti- mately had nothing to do with their decision. “I was very concerned, as was SDAO, and Gary,” Healy said. “He’s been pretty walled-off from the process. He was not involved in any special meetings or phone calls regarding the hiring.” Stokoe agreed. “His relationship to Gary didn’t have anything to do with my decision,” he said. “We didn’t exclude any- body. We wanted input, we invited panelists from all over. If our sole intention was to hire Ryan, we didn’t have to open it up.” Ryan Neal said he under- stands the scrutiny that comes with a public posi- tion, but didn’t feel the rela- tionship had to do with his hiring, and said his father had no input or involvement in the process. “I feel like my back- ground in business develop- ment shows that I have the skills that align with what the executive director at the port needs,” he said. “I fol- lowed the process just like everybody else.” Don Russell, a Morrow County commissioner and former Port of Morrow com- missioner, has known Ryan Neal for many years, through his early career and time at the port. “It seems like a bunch of guys from Morrow County ended up at Knight in Port- land,” he said, noting that Neal was promoted quickly and rose through the ranks of the company. He said the port works with the county regularly, including on the Enterprise Zone committee. That com- mittee has two voting mem- bers each from the Port of Morrow, Morrow County and the city of Boardman. He said Neal will likely fill his father’s spot on that board. Russell said he thinks Neal’s qualifications will speak for themselves. “I believe in the next two years, Ryan Neal will make us all forget who his father is,” he said. –—— Contact Jayati Ramakrishnan at 541-564- 4534 or jramakrishnan@ eastoregonian.com RISE: Consistency was the vital principle in connecting with schools and students Continued from 1A “I was impressed that every one that applied has a mental health background,” Ashton-Williams said. While school starts early next week, the RISE corps have orientation Sept. 4. Ashton-Williams said the gap provides time for pro- gram staff to talk with school office workers, teachers and counselors and build relationships. “You might have a great curriculum to share, but if you don’t have a great rela- tionship with each school and have built trust, it doesn’t work,” she said. B.J. Wilson, Hermis- ton School District’s direc- tor of special programs, said, “RISE worked exceedingly well for us.” Hermiston schools wanted RISE to accomplish two tasks: decrease the num- ber of student referrals for discipline and increase stu- dent attendance. Wilson said he didn’t have num- bers, but RISE contributed to improvements in both areas. He said the program pro- vided students with another adult they could trust and receive encouragement from. “We felt those connec- tions were a great bene- fit,” Wilson said. “Just the fact they had another adult connection at school really helped them want to attend.” Ashton-Williams said those connections with the students and the schools came down to one vital prin- cipal: “Consistency — we show up every single day we’re supposed to show up and deliver the services we said we would deliver.” But only Taylor Wilson remains on the RISE team from the first year. Katrina Bretsch left during the school year, and Ashton-Wil- liams said she at times had to fill in. Roy Barron, Hermis- ton’s newest city councilor, lost his position with RISE in June due to routine tardi- ness, he said. While schools can rely on substitute teachers to fill in, Ashton-Williams said, the county does not have that nor is there a bank of on-call mental health workers in Eastern Oregon. Still, she said, RISE pro- vides compensation that is commensurate with the edu- cation and background of its HOUSING: Pendleton’s housing scarcity has been documented multiple times by the city Continued from 1A more affordably. According to a chart provided by I & E, the company has built simi- larly sized apartment complexes in Molalla, Silverton and Indepen- dence, and is planning or building apartments in Forest Grove, Sandy, Albany and St. Helens. Corbett wants to spend the next few weeks negotiating details of an incentive package, but ideas that were mentioned briefly included a land donation or a property tax deferral. While generally supportive of the project, a few councilors wanted additional language inserted into an incentive package that would pro- tect the city’s investment. Councilor Paul Chalmers sug- gested a series of benchmarks that I & E would need to meet, while Councilor Scott Fairley wanted a “clawback clause” that would allow the city to take the land back if the development went south. Once I & E commits, Ivanov assured the council that his com- pany would follow through on building the complex and estab- lish a lasting presence by continu- ing to manage the facility once it’s finished. “We’re going to be the city of Pendleton’s neighbor forever,” he said. With council approval, Ivanov said I & E plans to build the apart- ments in a single phase over an 18-month period. Due to a scheduling quirk, the council will be meeting back-to- back weeks on Aug. 28 and Sept. 4 and could potentially approve a deal with I & E during one of those meetings. If I & E goes forward with the complex, it would add to a grow- ing list of housing projects around Pendleton that are in various stages of development. The 55 housing permits the city issued in 2017 represented a 10-year high, but Pendleton is on pace to surpass that number in 2018. The city has issued 24 housing permits through July, a 41 percent increase from the same time last year. Most of the building activity was centered around single-family homes and townhouses at Sunridge Estates, an area where the city sold developer Dusty Pace several lots. Pendleton’s housing scarcity has been documented multiple times by the city, most recently in a housing study that showed Pendleton’s mar- ket could support 125 more rental units and 90 for-sale units. If added together, there are 463 housing units either permitted by the city or proposed at the city gov- ernment level. But the Pendleton City Coun- cil’s goal — 50 new dwellings per year — is measured in houses built rather than permits issued. Some developers are still work- ing on permits, while others are already deep in the construction process. Portland developer Nate Brus- selback received his permits back in December and is in the midst of building a 25-unit set of duplexes on Southwest 28th Drive near Juni- per House. Brusselback said construction is slightly behind schedule, but expects all the units to be done by the fall. The two- and three-bedroom apartments will all be 1,262 square feet with one-car garages, accord- ing to Brusselback, and rent for $1,395 per month. Brusselback said the duplexes have already received interest and he expects more demand to come once the units are complete. Pendleton developer Al Plute has the smallest planned develop- ment, but he has the added bene- fit of receiving $340,928 in grants from the city toward his $1.3 mil- lion effort to convert the third floor of the Bowman Building on Frazer Avenue from offices to 18 apart- ment units. Plute said he’s close to receiving his building permits and plumbers should be able to start their work on the building by the end of the month. Although his engineer antici- pates the Bowman won’t run into any obstacles during the construc- tion process, Plute said the historic nature of the building means things could change. He’s hopeful that the apartments will be completed by May 2019. “I’m not going to put pressure on myself,” he said. “I’m just going to go with the flow.” Longview, Washington, devel- oper Hal Palmer received per- mission from the Pendleton Plan- ning Commission to proceed with a 116-home subdivision called Sunset View Estates near Har- ris Junior Academy in March, but there’s been no visible activity on the property since then. Palmer did not return a request for comment on Tuesday. Newberg developer Saj Jivan- jee has been looking to expand the 32-unit Pendleton Heights develop- ment on Tutuilla Road since 2016, but financing issues have plagued the project. Jivanjee wants Pendleton to assume more financial responsibil- ity to extend the road to the com- plex and restructure the debt he already owes the city. After some councilors expressed frustration with his latest proposal in June, Corbett said the city is waiting for Jivanjee to present a new proposal. “The ball’s in his court,” Corbett said. ——— Contact Antonio Sierra at asi- erra@eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0836. “I’m not going to put pressure on myself,” he said. “I’m just going to go with the flow.” — Al Plute, Pendleton developer staff, and that incentive could help the small program avoid turnover. And the supervisor also can double as one of the RISE counselors in a pinch. Wilson said losing RISE staff was nobody’s fault, but those changes affect the stu- dents. They make connec- tions with people, he said, and then those people are not there. Still, he commended RISE for keeping its prom- ises to be there for students. Taking that promise to the far reaches of the county presents other hurdles. Ashton-Williams said RISE is looking at the pos- sibility of video services for some schools, such as Ukiah, which is an hour drive from Pendleton. And RISE is going to be flexible. Some schools may need RISE groups just once a week, she said, and others more, so the program will prioritize those needs. Wilson also said he is confident in the county’s ability to deliver RISE to the other schools. Ashton-Wil- liams sounded determined to make it so: “We’re going to provide service to any student,” she said. BRIEFLY Strong quake rocks Venezuela but little damage reported CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A powerful earthquake shook Venezuela’s northeastern coast on Tuesday, forcing residents in the capital to evacuate buildings and interrupting a pro-govern- ment rally in support of contro- versial economic reforms. The 7.3 quake was the larg- est to strike Venezuela since 1900, according to the U.S. Geo- logical Survey. But at a depth of some 76 miles (123 kilome- ters) it appeared to have caused only limited damage even near its epicenter a few miles off the sparsely populated Cariaco pen- insula stretching into the eastern Caribbean. In Cumana, the biggest city near the quake’s center, super- market shelves came crashing down. At a shopping center, a woman caught in the panic of people rushing out of the build- ing fell on an escalator and injured herself. In downtown Caracas, con- crete from the top floors of the unfinished Tower of David sky- scraper fell to the sidewalk, forcing firefighters to close off traffic. A block away, children wearing surgical masks stretched their neck toward the 620-foot (190 meter) building after having fled a nearby foundation for poor children suffering from cancer. “We felt something strong and they told everyone to run,” said Marisela Lopez, who was at the foundation with her 7-year- old daughter when the quake struck. Iowa student killed by Mexican man in U.S. illegally MONTEZUMA, Iowa (AP) — A man from Mexico living in the U.S. illegally has confessed to kidnapping college student Mollie Tibbetts while she was running in her small Iowa home- town, killing her and dumping her body in a cornfield, authori- ties said Tuesday. Cristhian Bahena Rivera, 24, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of the 20-year-old Tibbetts, whose July 18 disappearance set off a massive search involving state and federal authorities. Rivera led investigators early Tuesday to a body believed to be Tibbetts in a cornfield about 12 miles (19 kilometers) southeast of Brooklyn, Iowa, where Tib- betts was last seen running, Divi- sion of Criminal Investigation special agent Rick Rahn said. “I can’t speak about the motive. I can just tell you that it seemed that he followed her, seemed to be drawn to her on that particular day, for whatever reason he chose to abduct her,” Rahn told reporters at a news conference outside the sheriff’s office in Montezuma, where Rivera was being held on $1 mil- lion cash-only bond. The news that the highly publicized and gruesome crime was allegedly committed by a person in the country illegally drew immediate outrage. Pres- ident Donald Trump noted the arrest and called for immigration law changes at a rally in West Virginia. Soldier to plead guilty in terrorism help case HONOLULU (AP) — A Hawaii-based Army soldier accused of attempting to sup- port the Islamic State group will plead guilty, one of his lawyers told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Sgt. 1st Class Ikaika Kang has agreed to plead guilty, but Alex- ander Silvert, an assistant fed- eral defender representing him, won’t say what charges he’ll be pleading to. “We’ve agreed on a sen- tence,” Silvert said, declining to elaborate. He referred further questions to Kang’s other attor- ney, Birney Bervar, who couldn’t immediately be reached. Court documents allege Kang provided classified mili- tary information to undercover agents whom he believed were part of the Islamic State group. Kang is scheduled to with- draw his not guilty plea Thurs- day, court records show. The hearing was moved from the afternoon to the morning because of concerns about a hurricane headed for Hawaii, Silvert said.
