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144th Year, No. 72
REGONIAN
TUESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2020
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WINNER OF THE 2019 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
MORROW COUNTY
Salary change
for treasurer
considered
By JESSICA POLLARD
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Jim Tooley, left, and Justin Olson say they have grown as men by participating in Two Rivers Correctional Institu-
tion’s mentor program for first-time inmates. Tooley, a mentor, is in his 12th year of incarceration. Olson arrived at
TRCI eight months ago.
Mentorship program provides guidance and a path
forward for Two Rivers Correctional Institution inmates
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
MATILLA — Eight
months ago, Justin Olson
sat on a prison bus with
blacked-out
windows,
anxiously anticipating his
new life as a prison inmate. As the
bus made its way from the prisoner
intake center at Coffee Creek Cor-
rectional Facility to Two Rivers
Correctional Institution, Olson felt
scared. He steeled his courage and
prepared to spend the next year of
his life in survival mode.
When they reached the Umatilla
prison, the 29-year-old felt con-
fused when he and three other first-
time inmates were pulled away
from the rest of the group and led
to the prison’s conference room.
Inside awaited several TRCI
staff members and four men in
prison blue. Olson’s bafflement
grew. They explained that Olson
and the three other young, first-time
offenders would be part of a new
mentorship program that would
provide guidance and a path for-
ward. Each man would pair up with
a veteran inmate who had made
positive progress toward rehabilita-
tion. The new inmates (or adults in
custody, as the Oregon Department
of Corrections refers to them now)
would live in the same housing unit
as their mentors.
U
“IMMEDIATELY YOU COULD FEEL THAT
THERE WAS PURPOSE, THAT THIS WASN’T
SOMETHING NORMAL WHEN YOU GO TO
PRISON. I WAS STARSTRUCK AND IN TEARS.
I WAS EXTREMELY OVERWHELMED.”
— Justin Olson
“What we did was open our
arms and say, ‘You’re human and
we all make mistakes and we’re
here to help guide you and give
you skills to be a better man when
you walk out,’” said Mandi Perry,
the prison’s correctional rehabilita-
tion manager. “Emotions were very
high. It was as if they came here
with the perception that were going
to have to put on armor.”
Relief washed over Olson as he
listened.
“Immediately you could feel
that there was purpose,” he said,
“that this wasn’t something normal
when you go to prison. I was star-
struck and in tears. I was extremely
overwhelmed.”
That was eight months ago.
The group of mentors and men-
tees meets once a week. Counsel-
ors, Superintendent Tyler Blewett
and other staff members guide dis-
cussions about such topics as peer
pressure, identity, vulnerability,
hopelessness, forgiveness, toxic
masculinity and how to be better
husbands, fathers and boyfriends.
“We have really transparent
conversations about life struggles,”
Perry said.
The men work at prison jobs,
go to school and improve them-
selves further by attending parent-
ing classes, drug and alcohol coun-
seling or cognitive development
sessions.
Every day, mentors and mentees
connect somehow. Olson typically
meets his mentor, Craig Edwards,
in the housing unit’s dayroom. They
have limited time, as Olson gets up
a 3 a.m. to work on a kitchen crew
each morning and Edwards spends
afternoons and evenings work-
ing in the prison laundry, so the
men meet midday, sitting at a table
that looks out on a patch of grass,
workout equipment, a basketball
hoop and a walking path. Edwards,
with shoulder-length red hair and
See Mentors, Page A8
HEPPNER — With more than a
month left before the May 2020 Primary
Election filing deadline, a looming deci-
sion from the Morrow County Budget
Committee has sparked change in the
race for county treasurer.
The committee started discussing
compensation change options for the
treasurer position last month. Commis-
sioner Melissa Lindsay said a decision
will likely be made for the 2020-21 finan-
cial year at a public meeting Wednesday.
“We really want to get it dealt with
before the election cycle finishes,” Lind-
say said. “It really just comes down to
the resources and statutes.”
Gayle Gutierrez has held the elected
position since 1997 and currently
receives $127,152 each year in salary and
benefits — $77,063.47 of which is yearly
salary. Except for her first election, she
said she’s run unopposed each cycle.
The proposed options for compensa-
tion are to keep it the same, or lower it by
three different 25% intervals to as low
as a $19,265.87 yearly salary — $50,524
including benefits.
The discussion prompted Amanda
Rea, who grew up in Ione and cur-
rently works as an appraiser for Umatilla
County, to drop out of the race for the
position.
“I know changing elected officials
can be a good thing, so I felt this year
could be a great year to make a change
and give Morrow County residents
something different,” Rea told the East
Oregonian in a statement.
She announced her withdrawal from
the race on Jan. 14. In a Facebook post,
Rea told her supporters she’d return their
campaign donations.
“Although I’d love to serve the res-
idents of Morrow County, I couldn’t
chance working only part time, so I
decided to focus on my current job,” her
post said.
Gutierrez said after the budget com-
mittee meeting makes a decision on
the move Wednesday, she’ll announce
whether she intends to stay in the race or
not. She is the only person currently filed
to run for the four-year term.
“I’m a one-person office,” she said.
“And I believe this is a full-time job.”
Gutierrez said whoever takes the helm
in 2021 will need to be a very motivated
person and that tens of millions of dol-
lars come through her office each year.
“You have work you need to do
regardless of how many hours you
work,” she said.
Morrow County has a defined bene-
fit retirement system, and monthly pen-
sions for retirees are determined by cal-
culating the average monthly earnings
of a worker’s three highest paid consecu-
tive years within the final decade of their
career.
Gutierrez said a decision to lower the
treasurer’s compensation may not impact
See Compensation, Page A8
Newmans named 2020
fair grand marshals
Alice and Gay Newman
have been involved with
Umatilla County Fair
for 47 years
By ALEX CASTLE
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Gay and Alice New-
man first came to Umatilla County 47
years ago looking for job opportunities.
The two were newly married and parents
to a 2-month-old child, and the Umatilla
County Fair was just two weeks away.
The Newmans didn’t just attend the fair
that year, they got involved and helped out
right away.
In the 47 years since, the Newmans
never left Umatilla County and they’ve
never missed a fair.
That won’t change this year after the
Hermiston couple were named the 2020
Umatilla County Fair grand marshals at
Saturday night’s annual appreciation din-
ner held at the Eastern Oregon Trade and
Event Center in Hermiston.
“It’s a special honor,” Gay said. “The
fair has been a part of our family for a very
long time, and it’s a privilege to be able to
give back to it.”
The Newmans have served as leaders
See Fair, Page A8
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Alice and Gay Newman smile at the crowd after being named
2020 grand marshals at Saturday’s Umatilla County Fair Appre-
ciation Dinner.