2020 Pendleton Round-Up Court revealed | REGION, A3
E O
AST
143rd Year, No. 293
REGONIAN
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2019
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2019 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
PENDLETON
Council approves street funding plan
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — In the span of
a few minutes, the Pendleton City
Council made offi cial a plan to fund
street repair that should dominate
council activity for much of the year.
At a meeting Tuesday, the coun-
cil unanimously approved a motion
that directs staff to draft ordinances
that will create three new taxes and
fees for street maintenance:
• A 4-cent gas tax
• A $2 hotel room fee
• A $3 increase to the street util-
ity fee
Additionally, the council has
committed to make $110,000 in cuts
to the general fund to free up more
money for road repair.
The council’s vote doesn’t mean
these taxes and fees are automati-
cally enacted. City Attorney Nancy
Kerns said city staff will return with
more defi nitive proposals at a later
date.
“It’s not set in stone at this point,”
she said. “You’re just asking us to
start putting things on paper and
present them to you.”
Some of the concepts will also
require more steps than a simple
council vote. The council will have
to approve the procedural steps to
put the gas tax on the May ballot,
where voters will determine its fate.
And some of these proposals
could face organized campaigns
against them at future public hear-
ings. Representatives for local oil
distributors and the hospitality
industry have voiced their opposi-
tion to the gas tax and hotel room
fee, respectively.
The council’s decision caps
months worth of discussion over the
best way to bolster street funding
No major changes
for the city. The council had consid-
ered a ticket fee on large events as a
part of that discussion, but the city
instead elected to form a committee
to further study the issue at the urg-
ing of local event promoters.
If all these measures are
approved, the city estimates it will
raise more than $1 million per year
for road maintenance and begin to
reverse the system’s steady deterio-
ration over the past few decades.
Report fi nds
evidence
of police
profi ling
The landmark report
paints a complex picture
while calling out one
city for its disparities
By JAKE THOMAS
Oregon Capital Bureau
CEO of Wildhorse Resort &
Casino says tribe not planning
complete overhauls of recently
purchased properties
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Wildhorse Resort & Casino CEO Gary George speaks during the annual Tribal-State Government-to-Government Summit on
Tuesday morning at Wildhorse Resort & Casino. George was part of a panel on tribal gaming and took the opportunity to dis-
cuss Wildhorse’s future expansion plans.
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
ENDLETON — Gary George,
the CEO of Wildhorse Resort
& Casino, doesn’t mince words
when it comes to one of the Con-
federated Tribes of the Indian Reserva-
tion’s latest acquisitions.
“The one thing we want to ensure to
the East Oregonian, as well as the pub-
lic, is the tribe has a vested interest in
maintaining the Hamley’s brand and tra-
dition,” he said in an interview.
The CTUIR bought the Hamley’s
complex and the Pendleton Country
Club over the summer and put Wild-
horse in charge of operating them, but
the tribes aren’t planning any major
changes to the two businesses.
George said the history between the
tribes and Hamley’s dates back to 1905,
when the store would advance crop pay-
ments to tribal members.
P
See Changes, Page A8
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Attitude Adjustment, a 16-foot statue by Austin Barton cast in 1990, rises over
boxes of cowboy hats and other Western wares in the Hamley Western Store on
Nov. 26, 2019.
SALEM — Most of Oregon’s larg-
est police departments are slightly more
likely to cite or arrest minorities during
traffi c and pedestrian stops, but the dis-
parity isn’t signifi cant enough to warrant
further scrutiny, according to a new state
report.
However, the report singled out the
Portland Police Bureau for its disparate
treatment of African Americans.
The Oregon Criminal Justice Com-
mission on Sunday issued its fi rst-ever
report examining data from the state’s
12 largest police agencies for evidence
of racial disparities in traffi c and pedes-
trian stops. The analysis, based on data
from nearly 400,000 stops between July
of 2018 and June of 2019, was mandated
by the Legislature in 2017. A review of
smaller agencies is next.
Ken Sanchagrin, commission deputy
director, said that the report evaluated
why each person was stopped, their race
and whether they were searched, arrested
or given a warning. Sanchagrin said that
the Portland Police Bureau was the only
agency to warrant further examination by
the commission.
“I was frankly pleasantly surprised
that we didn’t fi nd a lot of systematic
issues,” said Sanchagrin.
But state Sen. Lew Frederick, D-Port-
land, called the report concerning because
it highlighted longstanding issues.
“I don’t think that’s a minor situation
at all,” said Frederick. “These are issues
we have been trying to deal with for some
time.”
The report used a statistical technique
to predict how likely an individual was to
be stopped, searched, cited and arrested.
Factors considered the time of day and
See Profi ling, Page A8
Tribal issues get the spotlight at annual summit
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
MISSION — For a good por-
tion of Tuesday, the eyes of the state
were trained on the Umatilla Indian
Reservation.
The Wildhorse Resort and
Casino hosted the state’s annual
Tribal-State Government-to-Gov-
ernment Summit, which not only
brought together representatives
from all of Oregon’s nine federally
recognized tribes, but also some of
the top offi cials in state government.
Attendees included Gov. Kate
Brown, Secretary of State Bev
Clarno, Treasurer Tobias Read,
and Labor and Industries Commis-
sioner Val Hoyle. Brown told the
audience in attendance that Attor-
ney General Ellen Rosenblum was
sick and couldn’t attend). Attendees
listened as panels discussed issues
that revolved around the summit’s
theme: “Opportunity in the next
decade.”
In a panel on tribal gaming,
Wildhorse CEO Gary George said
the future of the facility had more
to do with the resort than the casino.
George said the state’s gam-
ing market has reached a satura-
tion point, with tribal share of gam-
ing revenue actually falling over the
previous few decades.
Although Wildhorse is explor-
ing new gaming opportunities, like
online gambling and sports betting,
George said the facility’s multimil-
lion dollar expansion isn’t going
toward expanding the casino fl oor.
See Summit, Page A8
Saturday DECEMBER 7 th , 2019
Friday DECEMBER 6 th , 2019
Evening Gala | 6:00 pm Family Day | 10am-2pm
LOCATED AT THE Pendleton Convention Center
For more information or to purchase tickets: sahpendleton.org/winterfest or 541-278-2627