REGION
Thursday, November 21, 2019
East Oregonian
A3
BRIEFLY
Potential fi fth
on Nov. 3, 2020.
candidate bids for
county seat
Christmas tree
permits are
PENDLETON — The
Pendleton City Council now available
Signs of the season
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
An illuminated holiday sign welcomes drivers as they traverse Southgate just after sunset on Tuesday evening. Holiday dec-
orations began popping up around Pendleton within the last week as residents began to prepare for the winter holidays.
Commission approves $100K
grant for Round-Up building
Pendleton may
reconsider grant
approval process
for future projects
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The
Pendleton
Round-Up
landed the $100,000 grant it
wanted from urban renewal
district, but the Pendleton
Development Commission
may take another look at its
grant approval process as a
result.
The Pendleton Round-Up
Association plans to put the
commission’s Fresh Start
grant toward its $3.6 mil-
lion administrative build-
ing project on the old Alb-
ertsons property.
Although some residents
perceive the Round-Up as a
wealthy organization, com-
mission Associate Direc-
tor Charles Denight said
the commission could only
evaluate the project on the
set criteria, like the value of
the building, the building’s
location in relation to the
urban renewal district and
the building’s ability to pay
property taxes.
Councilor Dale Prim-
mer asked some rhetorical
questions about the purpose
of the Fresh Start program,
which was started to assist
with building new struc-
tures in the urban renewal
district.
“Are we using Fresh
Start to incentivize new
growth or are we subsidiz-
ing new growth?” he said.
“And would these projects
be occurring with or with-
out these funds? I don’t
know the answer to that, but
they’re playing by the rules
of the game.”
Councilor Scott Fairley,
the chairman of the com-
mission’s advisory com-
mittee, said he’s had con-
versations with committee
members about whether
Fresh Start should change
from strictly a “pass/fail”
program.
Councilor Paul Chalm-
ers, the chairman of the
commission and the Uma-
tilla County director of
assessment and taxation,
said the new building will
pay property taxes unless
the association applies
for an exemption with the
county.
The commission would
go on to unanimously
approve the Round-Up’s
Fresh Start application.
While the Round-Up has
already secured fi nancing
for the project, the grant is
intended to go toward inte-
rior furnishings and exte-
rior beautifi cation.
The Round-Up wants
to consolidate much of its
retail, ticketing and admin-
istrative operations in the
new building, which has an
expected completion date of
August 2020.
The commission also
unanimously agreed to
expand the urban renewal
district to include 1910
CrossFit at 421 S.E. Sixth
St.
Denight said the CrossFit
gym wants to be included in
the urban renewal district
so it can access the façade
grant program.
The district is allowed
to expand by up to a total
of 1% without having to
go through a more inten-
sive process, but previous
expansions have the dis-
trict pushing up against the
limit.
Denight said the city is
looking into its options,
including contracting the
boundaries in other areas.
meeting Tuesday became
an impromptu candidate
forum as three candidates
vying for a seat on the
Umatilla County Board
of Commissioners intro-
duced themselves to the
council during the public
comment section.
Jonathan Lopez of
Hermiston, HollyJo Beers
of Milton-Freewater, and
Patricia Maier of Hermis-
ton all used their time to
provide the council with
some biographical infor-
mation about themselves
and answer the occasional
question about their plat-
forms or views on local
issues.
Lopez and Maier fi led
to run for offi ce earlier
this year, but Umatilla
County Elections Divi-
sion Manager Kim Lin-
dell said Wednesday
morning that Beers had
not submitted paperwork
declaring her candidacy.
Beers referred to her-
self as a candidate at the
meeting and has until
March 10 to make her
campaign offi cial with
the county.
The other declared
candidates in the race are
Dan Dorran and Mark
Gomolski, both of Herm-
iston. The Position 3 seat
is being vacated by Com-
missioner Bill Elfering,
who is retiring from the
board after two terms.
All candidates will
run in the May 19 pri-
mary. Should no one
take more than 50% of
the vote, the top two
candidates will move
on to a run-off election
PENDLETON
—
Christmas tree permits
for the Umatilla National
Forest are now avail-
able to purchase at forest
offi ces, several local busi-
nesses and online.
The Umatilla National
Forest is one of 13
national forests partici-
pating in a pilot program
to offer permits online
through the Open Forest
system. The Open For-
est program allows the
public to purchase a 2019
Christmas tree permit
from home, or by using
a mobile device, instead
of traveling to a Forest
Service offi ce. Christ-
mas tree permits pur-
chased online will have
to be printed to be valid
and can only be used on
Umatilla National Forest
lands.
Permits cost $5 each
and are limited to one
per household. Tradi-
tional Christmas tree per-
mits will still be available
at local Forest Service
offi ces, or participating
vendors. Forest Service
offi ces are open for busi-
ness Monday through Fri-
day at the four Umatilla
Ranger District offi ces
in Ukiah, Heppner, and
Walla Walla, Washing-
ton, and Pomeroy, Wash-
ington; and at the supervi-
sor’s offi ce in Pendleton.
Traditional permits are
valid on National Forest
System lands only and do
not authorize tree cutting
on private, state or other
federally managed lands.
— EO Media Group
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The East Oregonian & Heritage Station Museum
invites you to attend the:
UMATILLA COUNTY
Justice of the Peace appointed to Morrow County MEMORIES BOOK
LAUNCH
Glen Diehl takes
over on Jan. 1
East Oregonian
MORROW COUNTY —
Gov. Kate Brown appointed
Glen Diehl to be the new
Morrow County Justice of
the Peace, effective Jan.1, the
governor’s offi ce announced
on Wednesday.
The Justice of the Peace
position oversees cases
involving
misdemeanor
crimes, traffi c violations,
game and other violations
and disputes within the Mor-
row County Justice Court in
Irrigon and Heppner, accord-
ing to the Morrow County
website.
“I just consider this to be
an honor. I’m really looking
forward to continuing with
public safety and continu-
ing to help the public,” Diehl
said.
Diehl currently works as
Bob’s
the commu-
nity service
work crew
super v isor
in the Mor-
row County
S h e r i f f ’s
Offi ce. His
Diehl
appoint-
ment follows the Dec. 31
retirement of Judge Annetta
Spicer. Brown’s offi ce started
seeking applications for the
position in August.
Diehl worked as a law
enforcement offi cer in the
Umatilla County Sheriff’s
Offi ce for 25 years, and has
worked at the Pilot Rock
Police Department, the Uma-
tilla Tribal Police Depart-
ment and the Columbia
River Inter-Tribal Fisheries
Enforcement Department.
“Diehl brings more than
three decades of public ser-
vice in the area of criminal
justice to the position of Jus-
tice of the Peace,” Brown said
in a press release. “His record
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of commitment to the law, in
addition to his balanced and
fair-minded approach, will
serve Morrow County’s jus-
tice system well.”
He said he doesn’t have
any plans for the position
just yet, and looks forward to
learning more about the jus-
tice system.
In 2012, Diehl ran for a
seat on the Umatilla County
Board of Commissioners.
Current Commissioner Bill
Elfering won the race.
Spicer, then-Heppner city
attorney, was elected to the
Justice of the Peace position
in 2010, when she won 63%
of the vote in a race against
former Morrow County Dis-
trict Attorney Earl Woods.
Prior to that, Charlotte
Gray held the position for 32
years before retiring.
At the time, both Woods
and Spicer, according to the
East Oregonian, stated they
thought the Justice of the
Peace should be someone
with a law degree because
the laws were becoming
more complicated, which
Gray didn’t hold.
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