ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
WYATT HAUPT JR.
News Editor
JADE McDOWELL
Hermiston Editor
THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2021
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
School
board
seats up
for grabs
T
here’s no question that during most
school board races, many incum-
bents face no competition for their
seats. This year, for whatever reason, that’s
not the case in Hermiston with six candi-
dates running for four open seats.
Incumbents Bryan Medelez and Karen
Sherman are both running unopposed,
Medelez for Position No. 2 and Sherman
for Position No. 6.
Medelez, an operations manager for a
Hermiston trucking company, has served
since being appointed in 2019. While Sher-
man does have an opponent on the ballot,
Caitlin Melhorn told the East Oregonian
that she was dropping out of the race due
to the time commitments she already
has. Sherman has served on the Board
of Education for 20 years and is a retired
teacher. Both have done a good job and
voters should have no hesitancy in check-
ing their names on the ballot.
Position 3
A pair of newcomers — Liliana Gomez
and Dain Gardner — are vying for the seat
currently held by Mark Gomolski.
During an interview with the East
Oregonian editorial board, Gomez, a
Hermiston native and a records special-
ist for the Hermiston Police Department,
said if elected one goal would be to help
break down barriers to student success and
parent involvement, including linguistic
and cultural barriers. Another would be
to help the district stay on sound financial
footing, something Gomez knows a little
bit about in her role on the district’s budget
committee.
Gardner, an Air Force veteran who says
he attended multiple schools “all over,”
is a senior trooper for the Oregon State
Police’s Fish and Wildlife Division. He said
he decided to run for school board because
of his two children in the district, and the
difficult experience they have had during
the pandemic.
While both bring something to the table,
we were impressed with Gomez’s answers
and her depth of knowledge about the
district, and we believe voters should back
Gomez.
Position 4
The incumbent Brent Pitney faces a
challenge from Hermiston attorney Sally
Anderson Hansell.
Pitney, a lifelong Hermiston resident,
is running to retain his seat after he was
appointed to an open seat on the Board of
Education in 2018.
Pitney is vice president of Knerr
Construction and has a child in high
school. He said he’s learned a lot during his
service on the board so far and would like
to continue that work. He feels his back-
ground in construction can be useful to the
district as it begins construction on projects
funded by the 2019 bond.
Anderson Hansell, a Hermiston attor-
ney, has past experience on the Hermiston
School District Bond Oversight Commit-
tee in 2008 and other boards. With three
children currently in the district, there’s no
doubt the Hermiston High graduate has a
vested interest in the growth and prosperity
of the district.
We believe Pitney has done a good job
on the board and deserves another term.
We agree with him that his background
in construction will prove useful for the
district as it moves forward on bond proj-
ects already underway. However, we also
feel Anderson Hansell would make a
quality member of the board and should
consider another run or applying for a
vacant seat should the opportunity arise.
Inside my shoes goes inside my head
TAMMY
MALGESINI
INSIDE MY SHOES
W
hether triggered by a letter, a
TV commercial or an encounter
with a fast food worker, here’s a
glimpse into some of the random thoughts
that have occupied my mind recently —
sometimes for just fleeting moments.
Nextdoor app
My husband and I recently received a
letter from someone in the neighborhood
inviting people to use the Nextdoor app.
To entice people in joining, it indicated
its a place to share community news, help
reunite people with their pets, share local
business recommendations “and so much
more.”
It seems the premise behind the app is
to create a sort of virtual neighborhood
watch/coffee klatch. It might be helpful
in regards to knowing if there’s been an
increase in crime in the neighborhood,
if someone spotted Fido or if you need
to borrow a ladder. However, John and
I quickly determined that the pitfalls far
outweigh the potential benefits.
At the bottom of the letter, the orga-
nizer indicated there were already more
than 800 posts in our neighborhood’s
Nextdoor. The last thing I need is a
micro-Facebook where people feed off
their neighbor’s complaints about so-and-
so’s lawn, the dog barking all night long
and you need to move your kid’s portable
basketball hoop because I literally got a
tape measure and it’s sticking out more
than 18 inches in the street.
I envision multiple complaints about
people driving too fast in the neighbor-
hood. Then, the random posts about vehi-
cles driving too slowly, followed by, “Did
anyone see the white van, they might be
casing the neighborhood.”
Just like “Goldilocks and the Three
Bears,” you need to drive just right or
you’ll end up on the neighborhood Next-
door.
Look Ma, no hands
I’m a bit concerned with some of the
technology in vehicles. A commercial for
the Buick Envision has a woman showing
off to her friends while squeezing her big
rig into a seemingly small space by using
the automatic park assist feature.
Maybe I’m old school but if you can’t
parallel park, I think you need to practice
more, find a bigger space or get a smaller
car. My worry is getting sandwiched
tightly between a pair of auto-parkers and
I don’t have the advantage of technology
to help me get out. I guess I could always
put it in four-wheel drive and rock crawl
over their bumper.
More training?
At times it seems wearing masks has
impacted our ability to understand people.
However, that wasn’t the case during a
recent encounter my husband and I expe-
rienced in the drive-thru at a local fast
food restaurant. When the young person
at the window asked if we wanted any
sauce, I turned and looked at John. From
the passenger side he said, “What are my
choices?” The gal couldn’t hear him, so
I said, “What kind do you have?” Her
response, “Any kind.”
John and I just looked at each other —
insert facepalm emoji. Really, what do you
say to that?
It reminded me of some phone calls I
fielded while the on-call administrator at
area group homes for adults with devel-
opmental disabilities. Some of the issues
were beyond a need for additional train-
ing — they were more about a need for
common sense.
While still asleep early one Sunday
morning, I groggily answered the phone.
The staff person said the menu called for
waffles but she couldn’t find the waffle
iron. “Make pancakes,” I said.
Vaccine hesitancy
It seems you can bring a vaccine to the
people, but you can’t make them roll up
their sleeves.
When defending former President
Donald Trump’s actions in response to the
novel coronavirus, some supporters point
to Operation Warp Speed. They say the
initiative, which resulted in the develop-
ment, manufacturing and distribution of
COVID-19 vaccines in record time, was
an amazing accomplishment.
Indeed it was. With a target of making
initial doses available by January 2021,
that was surpassed in mid-December 2020
when the first shots were injected into the
arms of frontline health care workers.
The ironic thing is many of these same
people aren’t getting inoculated because
they’re uncomfortable with getting a
vaccine that was developed so quickly.
Don’t tell me what to do
While working on this column, a
message popped up on the screen of my
laptop:
“Your battery is running low.
You might want to plug in your PC.”
Or maybe it’s just time to shut it down.
———
Tammy Malgesini, the former East
Oregonian community editor, enjoys
spending time with her husband and two
German shepherds, as well as entertaining
herself with random musings.
YOUR VIEWS
Fire district deserves
community support
This letter is to support Measure 30-148,
the bond to increase funding for our fire
district, Umatilla County Fire District #1.
As a proud Hermistonian, I gladly point out
a few reasons why our community should
approve this bond measure.
• Our firefighters/EMTs risk their lives
for our community. It’s critical they have
suitable equipment and training to keep
them safe and effective. Budget shortfalls
directly impact their safety. This bond will
support those needs.
• Our 24/7 emergency personnel need
updated and adequate housing accom-
modations, especially now that we’re
represented by outstanding female crew
members!
• Our community needs up-to-date and
reliable equipment. Our current emergency
fleet is aging and rapidly accruing miles
as our first responders meet our record call
volumes. Current budget shortfalls mean
our district leaders must choose vehicle
readiness over training and equipment.
This bond will ensure our emergency vehi-
cles and emergency crews are ready when
our community needs them.
• Our district wrote this bond in a way
that asks our community members to serve
as a steering committee to oversee the use
of our funds. Our fire district leaders have
been and will continue to be accountable to
our support.
I’ve toured all of our fire district build-
LETTERS DEADLINE FOR MAY 18 ELECTIONS
The East Oregonian does not run endorsements of more than 400 words.
The East Oregonian will institute a deadline for letters to the editor, so we can be fair with
all the letters we receive and allow for responses before Election Day, if necessary.
We run local letters of endorsement on a first-come, first-served basis.
Please submit your endorsement letters to the editor by 5 p.m. Friday, May 7. You can
email them to editor@eastoregonian.com, or mail them to East Oregonian, c/o Andrew
Cutler, 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton, 97801.
We will publish our last letters on Saturday, May 15. Any letters received after the dead-
line will not run. Election Day is May 18.
ings. I’ve seen the critical needs and
cannot adequately describe them in this
short letter. I urge you to support Measure
30-148 at the ballot in May; our community
depends on UCFD1 daily, and we should
be there when our district needs support
from us.
Josh Burns
Hermiston
City surveys need a
new design
Pendleton’s city manager, on the behalf
of the mayor and city council, is reach-
ing out with a new survey to get a feel
for public sentiment on future goals city
management should pursue and their
priority. If you would like to complete a
survey, it appears that first off you’ll need
to open a Facebook account and proceed
to the city’s Facebook page. There you’ll
find the link to access the survey.
The survey consists of a list of goals
with instructions to rate their importance.
Since it appears the goals have already
been selected, they are simply asking
for your opinion on importance to you.
A suggestion? Skip the suggested goals,
go straight to the comments section, and
make your own suggestions and their
importance.
In the future, perhaps city management
should consider redesigning our water
bill format — nearly every household
gets one — to include a space for surveys
on that portion returned with payment
to get a real, broad-based public opinion.
As it stands now, participation will be
extremely limited, yet city officials will no
doubt announce overwhelming support
for their final decision.
Incidentally, the survey closed on Tues-
day, April 20.
Rick Rohde
Pendleton