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143rd Year, No. 264
REGONIAN
WEDnESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2019
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2019 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
HERMISTON
UP FOR SALE?
School bond
campaign
pays for local
management
Hermiston to consider possible
sale of community center
More than $3,700
paid to Pac/West
Communications to
run election campaign
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Local connections
are proving a boon for the political com-
mittee urging voters to pass a new school
bond in Hermiston.
The political action
committee Yes for Herm-
iston Schools, this year,
has raised $11,040 in cash
and spent almost $6,000,
according to ORESTAR,
the Oregon Secretary of
State’s public website for Wattenburger
campaign finance activ-
ity. The largest chunk of the spending —
$3,731.76 — has gone to the public rela-
tions and communications firm Pac/West
Communications to run the election cam-
paign in support of issuing $82.7 million
in bonds and receiving $6.6 million in
state matching funds. Pac/West this sum-
mer hired former East Oregonian editor
Daniel Wattenburger of Hermiston and
opened an office in town.
“We’re the ones coordinating the door
knockers and campaign signs and online
messaging and everything else,” Watten-
burger said.
The PAC has been around since 2008,
when it was Vote Yes for Kids and Herm-
iston voters passed a $69.9 million gen-
eral obligation bond for school con-
struction and renovation. The campaign
committee was active again in 2017, but
the Hermiston School District’s $104
million bond failed that May. According
to ORESTAR, the committee in 2017 did
not hire a professional firm to manage the
campaign.
Pac/West has on occasion been
involved with campaigns in the area, but
Wattenburger said the company’s move
to have the office and staff in Hermiston
opens the door to handling more local
campaigns.
Pac/West also is the biggest contribu-
tor to Yes for Hermiston Schools.
Wattenburger explained once the com-
pany fulfilled the amount of the retainer,
the rest of the work lands in the in-kind
box. ORESTAR shows that amount so
far comes to $9,010.
The largest cash donors are the Herm-
iston Association of Teachers and the
Oregon Education Association with
$2,200 apiece to the effort. Kim Puzey,
general manager of the Port of Umaitlla,
is the largest private donor with a $1,000
check to the group.
Hermiston attorney George Ander-
son and accountant Dennis Barnett gave
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
The city of Hermiston is making plans to sell the Hermiston Community Center to a private business.
Hermiston Herald file photo
The Hermiston Community Center is pictured when the city of Hermiston purchased the building — a former Safeway — in 1994.
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
H
ERMISTON — A private busi-
ness is interested in buying the
Hermiston Community Center.
City of Hermiston staff said
they are not at liberty to reveal the
potential buyer’s identity until a for-
mal offer is made, but confirmed to
the East Oregonian that they have
been in discussion with a business that
approached them about a possible sale
of “city-owned downtown property,
including the Hermiston Community
Center.”
The sale is far from a done deal —
any offer from the developer would
have to be voted on by the city coun-
cil in an open meeting, advertised to
the public in the newspaper and on
the city’s website. Options to miti-
gate the loss of the event space and for
spending proceeds from the possible
sale would be presented at that time,
according to the city.
“Hermiston is a pro-business com-
munity and supports private sector
growth and investment,” City Man-
ager Byron Smith said in a written
statement. “As discussions develop,
we will continue to do our due dili-
gence as we balance the community’s
needs with the opportunities this proj-
ect may offer both our downtown and
private sector.”
Building history
The building at 415 S. Highway
395 was built in 1968, according to the
Hermiston Herald’s archives. It served
as a Safeway for 10 years before the
company moved to its current loca-
tion just down the road. Afterward, it
cycled through vacancies and use as
various retail stores, including Family
Bargain Center.
In 1994, the city purchased the
building and two small adjacent prop-
erties for a total of $544,000, accord-
ing to the Herald’s reporting at the
time.
A special section advertising a
grand opening celebration held Sept.
9, 1995, noted that a fundraising com-
mittee, led by Hermiston residents
Bryan Wolfe and Tim Mabry, raised
$665,000 in donations from nearly 500
private and corporate donors to pay for
a remodel of the city-owned building.
“Your city officials were willing to
step forth and say, ‘Take a look, friends
of Hermiston, do we need such a facil-
ity?’ The answer was a resounding
See Sale, Page A7
See Bond, Page A7
Walgreens to close Pendleton store
Store, which was
built and opened
in 2013, closing in
mid-November
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — A void
in one of Pendleton’s busiest
commercial sections is about
to open up.
Walgreens is closing its
Pendleton location at 144
S.W. 20th St. in less than a
month, according to an email
from Walgreens spokes-
woman Alexandra Brown.
“Walgreens has oper-
ated this store for about six
years and the decision to
close it was not easy,” Brown
wrote. “The store’s last day
of business will be Wednes-
day, Nov. 13. In an effort
to ensure our patients con-
tinue to have nearby access
to pharmacy services, pre-
scription files will automati-
cally transfer to the Rite Aid
located at 1900 SW Court
Place in Pendleton.”
When asked why Wal-
greens made the decision
to shutter the store and how
many employees would be
laid off as a result of the clo-
sure, Brown wrote that she
didn’t have “additional infor-
mation to share at this time.”
The Pendleton store’s clo-
sure is likely the result of a
national culling from Wal-
greens’ parent company, the
Illinois-based
Walgreens
Boots Alliance.
In August, the company
filed a report with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange
Commission that stated its
intention to close 200 stores
across the country. The phar-
macy store chain announced
its “transformational cost
management program” is
expected to save more than
$1.5 billion by 2022.
The impending shutter-
ing of the Pendleton Wal-
greens marks a sudden end
See Walgreens, Page A7
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
The Walgreens at 144 S.W. 20th St. in Pendleton will be clos-
ing its doors for good on Nov. 13, 2019. Pharmacy customers
who do not make other arrangements will have their records
transferred to the Rite Aid Pharmacy across the street.