Tribes, county seeking quicker fi x for Thorn Hollow Bridge | REGION, A3
E O
AST
144th Year, No. 206
REGONIAN
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2020
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WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
County to vote
on Second
Amendment
ordinance
The measure to prevent
fi rearm regulation may
confl ict with state law
By ALEX CASTLE
East Oregonian
UMATILLA COUNTY —
Local voters have one countywide
ballot measure to decide on this
November — Measure 30-145,
also known as the Second Amend-
ment Sanctuary Ordinance.
But whatever fate the measure
meets on Nov. 3, it’s unclear how
the ordinance will prevent reg-
ulation of fi rearms for Umatilla
County residents.
Umatilla County District Attor-
ney Dan Primus has read the mea-
sure and said his offi ce’s role will
continue as usual regardless of the
outcome.
“My understanding is we’ll
continue to follow the laws of the
state of Oregon,” he said. “When
we take the position we do at the
prosecutor’s offi ce in Umatilla
County, just as any other prosecu-
tor in the state, we take an oath to
uphold the law of the state of Ore-
gon. So, we’re going to continue to
do that.”
Umatilla County Sheriff Terry
Rowan, who is running unop-
posed for another four-year term
in November, said he read the
measure “months ago” but wasn’t
familiar enough with it to offer an
opinion.
“It all comes down to how the
document is worded, and will
it withstand litigation,” he said.
“That’s certainly always the
challenge.”
Measures bearing similar lan-
guage as Measure 140-35 and its
intent are before voters in Clat-
sop, Columbia and Coos counties,
while others were rejected from
the ballot in other counties, such
as Curry and Harney.
“This ordinance would prevent
Umatilla County and its employees
from devoting resources or partic-
ipating in any way in the enforce-
ment of any law or regulation that
affected an individual’s right to
See Second Amendment, Page A8
ON THE OPINION PAGE
This November, Umatilla County
voters will vote on the Second
Amendment Sanctuary Ordi-
nance. Page A4
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution is visible behind a sign welcoming people to Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton
on Monday, Oct. 5, 2020.
State prison system wants to
cancel contract with BMCC
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
P
ENDLETON
—
Blue Mountain Com-
munity College sits
on a hill overlooking
Eastern Oregon Cor-
rectional Institution,
and for decades, the
college has sent edu-
cators down the hill to teach
adult education classes to
inmates behind prison walls.
As the program draws to a
close, that relationship is now
in jeopardy.
In late August, the Oregon
Department of Corrections told
BMCC and other community
colleges across the state that it
intended to end its educational
contracts in 2021. For BMCC,
that means losing out on a $3
million annual contract that
encompasses 27 jobs across
three state prisons: EOCI, Two
Rivers Correctional Institu-
tion, and Powder River Correc-
tional Facility in Baker City.
BMCC President Dennis
Bailey-Fougnier said the col-
lege wasn’t consulted ahead of
the department’s decision.
“That was news to us, to be
honest with you,” he said.
With dozens of jobs at stake,
Bailey-Fougnier said the state’s
prisons benefi t from having
experienced educators lead the
program.
BMCC is now working with
East Oregonian, File
Inmate tutor Fabian Solis helps fellow inmate Wayne Woodruff un-
derstand a math question during a GED class on Jan. 25, 2018, at
Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution in Pendleton.
a coalition of college adminis-
trations and unions to try to get
the state to reverse its decision.
But the department of cor-
rections remains fi rm that sig-
nifi cant changes need to be
made to the prison’s adult edu-
cation programs, which include
GED courses and English as as
second language classes.
“DOC has an unprece-
dented budget shortfall and this
change allows for signifi cant
savings,” department com-
munications manager Jenni-
fer Black wrote in a statement.
“Repurposing contract dollars
for DOC staff positions will
give the department greater
fl exibility in the delivery of
adult basic education program-
ming, will increase weekly
classroom hours, allow for con-
sistency between institutions
as (adults in custody) trans-
fer from one institution to the
next, and enhance case man-
agement information-sharing
both during the AIC’s incarcer-
ation phase and as AICs transi-
tion to the community.”
In a Sept. 30 letter to the
Oregon Community Col-
leges Association, department
Director Collette Peters wrote
that the state prison system
started the year with a $110
million projected shortfall and
has spent the ensuing months
making cuts, slashing $25 mil-
lion from its budget before the
Oregon Legislature lopped off
another $2.4 million in August.
Canceling its contracts and
creating 70 positions inter-
nally would save the depart-
ment $1 million, or about 6% of
the $16.4 million DOC spends
over its two-year budget cycle
on outsourcing its adult educa-
tion programs.
But the department thinks
it could cushion the blow of
future budget cuts in a differ-
ent way, by offsetting some of
its staff reductions.
“(The) conversion allows
for the creation of a substan-
tial number of (department)
staff positions, establishing
positions for qualifi ed staff to
go into in the event their posi-
tions are impacted by future
layoffs,” correctional division
staff wrote in a policy memo.
In an Oct. 6 email, depart-
ment communications coor-
dinator Vanessa Vanderzee
wrote that instructors would be
expected to have a bachelor’s or
master’s degree depending on
the position, but existing prison
staff could also fi ll positions
for coordinators, lab supervi-
sors and administrators.
Pete Hernberg, the president
of BMCC’s faculty union, said
prisons could actually see a dip
See BMCC, Page A8
OSU hall of fame team has ties to Pendleton
Kyle Rosselle, Richard Seigler both part
of hall of fame Oregon State football team
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON —The 2000-01 Ore-
gon State University football team
brought together players from across
the country to produce one of the
school’s best teams of all time, but
the team also had two Pendleton
connections.
Kyle Rosselle and Richard Sei-
gler are members of a team that was
recently inducted in the Oregon State
University Athletics Hall of Fame, a
ceremony honoring them postponed
by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Steve Fenk, an associate athletic
director at OSU, said the team will
get an “actual celebration” sometime
in 2021.
But what links together Ross-
elle and Seigler is more than just the
years they spent at Oregon State. For
Rosselle, Pendleton is the hometown
that springboarded both his football
and post-football careers. For Seigler,
Pendleton is the town he chose to set-
tle down in to further his own profes-
sional career.
A Hall of Fame year
Rosselle may have become the rare
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
See Football, Page A8
Richard Seigler poses for a portrait in the offi ce of his practice, Enrich
Therapy, in Pendleton on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2020.