A4
East Oregonian
Saturday, June 1, 2019
CHRISTOPHER RUSH
Publisher
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
ANDREW CUTLER
Editor
WYATT HAUPT JR.
News Editor
JADE McDOWELL
Hermiston Editor
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Tip of the Hat,
kick in the pants
A
tip of the hat to the various
agencies and businesses in
Umatilla County working to
lessen the impacts of layoffs and busi-
ness closures in the area.
In response to the Union Pacific
Railroad furlough, the Hermis-
ton Chamber of Commerce, city of
Hermiston, the Community Action
Program of East Central Oregon and
the Oregon Employment Department
are joining forces to host a job fair at
the Hermiston Community Center on
June 10.
In addition, Portland General Elec-
tric is working to lessen the impact of
upcoming mass layoffs at the Board-
man Coal Plant by offering employees
free classes at Blue Mountain Com-
munity College.
PGE spokesman Steven Corson
said the company’s $30,000 donation
to BMCC to establish the program
was one of the ways PGE was avoid-
ing leaving its employees high and
dry.
“We don’t want to be that com-
pany,” he said.
PGE announced its intention to
cease coal-based energy produc-
tion at the plant back in 2010, but
they recently started talking with the
more than 70 employees who work in
Boardman about their post-coal plant
options as the deadline loomed.
Casey White-Zollman, BMCC’s
vice president of public relations, said
she and BMCC Foundation Executive
Director Margaret Gianotti visited the
Boardman facility a few months ago
and were impressed by PGE’s plan.
“This is a pretty amazing thing
they’re doing,” she said.
There are plenty of jobs to be
found in the Hermiston area — the
Department of Corrections is desper-
ate to fill jobs at Two Rivers Correc-
tional Institution, and Lamb Weston
is in the process of adding 150 new
jobs to its $250 million expansion of
its Hermiston processing plant.
Not all jobs are created equal, how-
ever. Some of the open jobs in the
area fall far below the level of income
and benefits that railroad workers
were accustomed to. Others require
a specialized set of skills that not just
anyone can fill.
The community’s goal should
be to help those without a job find
something that is a good fit for
them, beyond merely checking the
“employed” box. A job fair is a good
start. We hope the final product not
only includes information about
immediate job openings, but also
guidance on joining industries from
plumbing to real estate.
And we wish all of the area’s job
seekers a sincere “good luck.”
EO file photo
The Portland General Electric coal-fired plant in Boardman is slated for closure in 2020. PGE
is working the lessen the impact of upcoming mass layoffs at the plant by offering employees
free classes at Blue Mountain Community College.
A kick in the pants to the patient
who made a “verbal bomb threat”
to an employee of the Yellowhawk
Tribal Health Center on May 21.
Staff reported the patient to the
Umatilla Tribal Police Department,
which later arrested the person off-
site. Yellowhawk reported no damage
or injuries from the threat.
A tip of the hat to the congre-
gation of Pendleton’s First United
Methodist Church who are in the
process of selling their 113-year-old
stone church on Southeast Second
Street but are handling the difficult
process with grace.
A couple of years ago, the church
went on the market for $410,000. A
buyer is in the process of finalizing
the sale, so the band of believers is
looking for a new home.
The stately house of worship has
become a money pit that members
just can’t afford any longer. Inside the
sanctuary’s south wall lurks extensive
water damage that requires some-
thing in the neighborhood of $100,000
to repair. Other challenges include
asbestos, cracking and peeling, crum-
bling mortar and deferred mainte-
nance throughout the building.
A Portland real estate investment
company named Calibrated Val-
uation LLC has put down escrow
money, said head trustee John Tay-
lor. He expects the sale to close in the
next week. Time will tell whether the
church will be renovated or razed.
We hope the congregation finds a
new home soon. While the new build-
ing won’t have the same history as
the current building, as the church’s
pastor, Jim Pierce, said during the
final service in the old building, “the
church” isn’t defined by the building,
but the believers who gather there.
YOUR VIEWS
Homeowners have no
recourse against thefts by
homeless
If one lives by Stillman Park you can
rest assured if you leave anything out
the street people will take it. Not all of
them are thieves. Some of my wife’s
cans and bottles for the Pendleton High
Dance Team fundraiser were pilfered
along with dog food. My neighbors’
bottles on her porch were taken. Some
packages have been thieved along with a
6-inch electric saw.
The police do an admirable job of
touring the park, however, it must take
away from doing other police work.
Even if they are caught, we now have
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of
the East Oregonian editorial board. Other
columns, letters and cartoons on this page
express the opinions of the authors and not
necessarily that of the East Oregonian.
catch and release because Oregon says
that if one cannot pay or afford bail they
are let go. I now must buy two more
security cameras. Even showing them
on camera will have no effect. They lit-
erally have a license to steal.
Roesch Kishpaugh
Pendleton
It is not just the streets
Imagine a mother carrying a child,
walking on Court Street. She trips and
falls, injuring herself and the child. The
sidewalk is in an obvious state of dis-
repair, with huge cracks and crumbling
cement (you don’t have to walk far to
observe this condition). The property
owner has failed to address the hazard-
ous condition in front of his establish-
ment and the city has failed in its duties
of oversight. A jury, viewing the obvious
dereliction by both the property owner
and the city, awards a penalty of six or
seven figures to the plaintiff.
Who pays? The city has insurance, as
does the property owner. But rates will
be raised and possibly the city becomes
harder to insure. Ultimately, the tax-
payer is always the loser. Our local gov-
ernment has let us down — not just cur-
rently, but for a long time. What has
happened to our infrastructure is a dis-
grace that reflects on all of us. Our dis-
grace is in plain sight to every visitor to
our town.
How to address the problem? The city
needs to immediately have city crews
do a survey of all business district side-
walks. Property owners need to be noti-
fied of sidewalks that do not meet safety
codes and standards. Property owners
should be given a timed option to pay a
private contractor to replace/repair the
deficient sidewalk sections or have a city
crew make the necessary repairs and
then bill the property owner at a set rate.
The city has the codes and require-
ments as well as the power to enforce
them. They need to do their jobs. Our
city has become a bad example of
municipal neglect. Further disregard
can only lead to an even more draconian
expense in the future.
Terry Anderson
Pendleton
The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public issues and public policies
for publication in the newspaper and on our website. The newspaper reserves the right to withhold
letters that address concerns about individual services and products or letters that infringe on the rights
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Send letters to the editor to
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211 S.E. Byers Ave.
Pendleton, OR 97801