OFF PAGE ONE
Saturday, June 12, 2021
East Oregonian
Wolves:
Continued from Page A1
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife/Contributed Photo, File
A report from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife says a sheep herder on Horseshoe Ridge, out-
side of Meacham, reported seeing four wolves in close proximity to his sheep on a large, timbered pri-
vate pasture.
Finalists:
Continued from Page A1
Mountain, Browning said
he felt like he and his family
already had a “quasi-relation-
ship” with Pendleton through
all the times they stopped in
town while traveling through
Oregon.
“When this opportunity
came around, it was like,
‘Oh, we know where that’s
at and we’ve had really good
experiences just stopping and
talking to people,” he said.
Responding to concerns
from the audience about
the lack of qualified appli-
cants for open jobs across
the region, Browning said
community colleges needed
to begin introducing them-
selves to students in elemen-
tary and middle school so
young children could begin
charting a path to the requi-
site job training.
But Browning said there
also was a value to more
traditional academic subjects
such as philosophy and
psychology. Besides engag-
ing students in the “exercise
of learning,” it helped develop
in-demand “soft skills,”
including communication
and critical thinking.
Carmen Simone
Carmen Simone has never
worked for BMCC, but still
represented a familiar face.
Simone, then a provost at
Lewis-Clark State College in
Lewiston, Idaho, was a final-
ist for Blue Mountain presi-
dent in 2013. She didn’t get
the job, but two college pres-
idents later, she’s seeking the
job again.
Si mone has exten-
sive experience with both
two- and four-year institu-
tions, but she said she knew
eight years ago that she was
better suited for commu-
nity colleges. She went on to
become the president of Trin-
idad State Junior College in
Colorado and the dean of the
University of South Dakota
Community College before
becoming the president of
Western Nebraska Commu-
nity College in 2019.
“I’m a rural gal at heart,”
she said.
Simone said Blue Moun-
tain is similar to Western
Nebraska and other rural
OR30 and his companions are the only
wolves known to be in the Meacham
area right now.
Because the area of this recent attack
has become so well used by wolves,
Brown said Greg Rimbach, district
wildlife biologist at ODFW’s Pendle-
ton office, has been working with this
producer in this area for many years
on cattle and sheep issues. Currently,
the lambs are gathered each night and
kept in a pen surrounded by an electric
fence.
“They are very proactive and have
been trying many different things over
the years to reduce wolf-livestock
conflict,” Brown said.
OR30 was originally a Wallowa
County wolf, but around the age of 2,
he left the Snake River Pack and was
collared on Mount Emily in February
2015. He spent much of that year in
the Mount Emily, Starkey and Ukiah
wildlife units south of Interstate 84. In
December 2015, he was observed with
another wolf in the area formerly used
by the Umatilla River Pack.
In 2016, radio-collar locations
showed OR30 primarily using a large
area in the Starkey and Ukiah units
that he had frequented in summer 2015.
BMCC TO HOLD A FOURTH
PRESIDENTIAL FORUM
A last-minute addition to the finalist pool means Luca Lewis
of Whatcom Community College became the fourth candi-
date for Blue Mountain Community College president.
Blue Mountain on Tuesday, June 8, announced the board
of education decided to add Lewis to the finalist list after
learning on June 7 the selection committee also recom-
mended him.
Lewis has spent the past six years as the vice president
of student services of Whatcom Community College in
Bellingham, Washington. Prior to that, he worked in other
administrative positions across Washington, including stints
at Edmonds College in Lynnwood and Bellevue College.
A BMCC press release highlighted his role in starting the
“WCC Dismantling Racism and Advocating for Justice
Endowed Lecture Series” and participating in a nationally
recognized documentary.
Like the other finalists before him, Lewis will take part in a
virtual community forum on Monday, June 14, 5:20-6 p.m.
Community members can access the forum by visiting
bluecc.zoom.us/j/91493173780.
community colleges across
the country that are trying to
stretch their services across
thousands of square miles.
“Our students are the
same. It doesn’t matter where
they are going to school,” she
said. “They have the same
hopes, the same dreams.”
Simone said community
colleges needed to be adapt-
able to what students wanted
out of their education because
students who leave the area
for college or career technical
education often didn’t come
back.
She also said she was
supportive of BMCC’s
dual credit program, but
she wanted to make sure
it wasn’t just accessible to
Lifeways:
Continued from Page A1
approved a unanimous
recommendation from a
five-person committee in
late May to go with CCS
over Lifeways, is consider-
ing Lifeways’ protest and
whether or not to main-
tain their earlier decision,
according to Doug Olsen,
the county’s legal counsel.
Olsen said there is no
specific timeline for an
agency — in this case
Umatilla County — to
consider or rule on a protest,
but the decision had to be
made “in a timely manner.”
Olsen said the commission-
ers likely will announce
their decision “in the next
couple of board meetings.”
Regardless if the county
changes its mind, Life-
ways says it plans to stay
in Umatilla County and “is
already underway in pivot-
ing its services to retain
staff,” Hoekstra said in the
statement.
Lifeways Director Liz
Johnsen, however, could not
provide specifics of what
that might look like or what
might change for its patients,
employees and facilities,
but said “we are looking at
different business opportu-
nities to continue to serve the
residents of Umatilla County
in mental health services.”
She said it’s possible Life-
ways might pursue contracts
or telehealth services with
different states or different
areas, adding the company
is still investigating how its
services might change.
Lifeways in the county
Lifeways has come under
scrutiny from officials for
its ability to respond when
law enforcement requests
help during calls for people
experiencing mental health
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Lifeways, with its office at 331 S.E. Second St., Pendleton, has been Umatilla County’s mental
health services provider for 16 years. But the county earlier this month decided to not contin-
ue working with Lifeways and instead selected Community Counseling Solutions to provide
mental health and addiction treatment. Lifeways is protesting that decision while claiming it
can pivot to find new ways to serve local clients.
issues, and Lifeways in
April drew attention for the
closure of Aspen Springs in
Hermiston. The acute care
facility provided the highest
level of psychiatric care for
individuals experiencing a
severe mental health crisis
before it closed after being
open for just seven months.
It reopened in May as a
secure residential treatment
facility, a lower level of care.
Since July 2020, Umatilla
County has paid Lifeways
more than $1,484,000 for
behavioral health services,
according to county Chief
Financial Officer Robert
Pahl. The provider serves
184 clients with schizo-
phrenic disorders, 491 clients
with major depression, 471
clients with post-traumatic
stress disorder, 215 clients
with bipolar disorder and
more than 2,000 clients with
adjustment disorders.
The provider has 11 facil-
ities in Umatilla County and
more than 120 employees,
most of whom are county
residents, Johnsen has
stated.
The county has allocated
$565,000 for school mental
health services and almost
$1.2 million for mental
health administration in its
upcoming 2021-22 budget,
and county officials in recent
months have emphasized
that revamping its mental
health care is a primary goal.
Without those funds,
Johnsen said Lifeways
will continue operations
“through our innovation,
through looking at other
contracts, service lines and
programming.”
Meanwhile, Lifeways
employees have begun
contacting Lindsay to
discuss their transition
should CCS remain as the
county’s new provider, Lind-
say said.
Johnsen said she’s confi-
dent many employees will
choose Lifeways over CCS.
“We in no way intend to
prevent them from choos-
ing CCS if that’s what they
choose to do,” she said,
adding, “we have also heard
that many of them don’t want
to go to CCS.”
Lifeways’ claims,
CCS’ response
In the protest letter, Life-
ways argues the county
“failed to evaluate propos-
als” and “lacked a rational
basis” in its decision to go
with Community Coun-
seling Solutions after the
committee’s unanimous
recommendation.
An educator, business
person and county employ-
ees, including Umatilla
Cou nt y Com m issioner
John Shafer, served on the
committee. Several commit-
tee members said they were
asked not to comment about
their decision until the
appeal process is completed.
A9
He also was discovered from time to
time in the Mount Emily Unit and was
believed to be alone.
In the spring 2017, OR30 was
observed with a different wolf and the
pair was in the northern Starkey and
Ukiah units south of I-84.
In 2017, the OR30 wolves produced
at least two pups that survived to the end
of the year, but they were not counted as
a breeding pair because the female died
in October. Radio-collar data showed a
306-square-mile use of area primarily
in the Starkey and Ukiah units. Roughly
67% of location data points showed
them on private lands.
The following year the OR30 wolf
group totaled three animals and were
monitored until September. By the end
of 2018, two of the wolves remained in
the pack area.
By January 2019, OR30 left the Star-
key and Ukiah area, and the group’s
area of known wolf activity was
discontinued. According to ODFW’s
website, OR30 spent most of 2019 in
the Wenaha Pack area of known wolf
activity. In early 2020, he was observed
with another wolf in the Mount Emily
wildlife management unit.
Brown said the department has
documented three wolves in the OR30
group this spring and suspect they are
denning in the area and there are prob-
ably pups, as well.
Christopher Villa’s family
emigrated from Mexico a
century ago with his father
obtaining his American citi-
zenship following his service
in World War II.
“I’m proud of my culture,
of being Mexican American,
and taking advantage of all
this country has to offer,” he
said.
Villa has spent most of
his 40-year career in higher
education in California and
Utah before he was named
the president of Portland
Community College’s Rock
Creek campus, one of four
campuses associated with
college.
His two-year tenure in
Portland came to an end in
2020 when the college elim-
inated his position, but Villa
said he was eager to return
to Oregon. While in Eastern
Oregon for his interviews,
Villa said he planned to visit
other campuses in Hermiston,
Boardman and Milton-Free-
water to get a sense of the
wider community.
Villa said he consid-
ered community engage-
ment an important part of
the job because it could help
reach otherwise disengaged
students.
While Rock Creek is based
out of the city of Portland,
Villa said the campus serves
a more suburban and rural
population. He found that
while dual credit programs
were well utilized by in
places like Hillsboro, Villa
said they weren’t as regu-
larly used in rural Columbia
County towns like Scappoose
and Vernonia.
Villa said the problem
sometimes also extended
to students with different
cultural programs.
He pointed to Portland
Community College’s avia-
tion repair program. Complet-
ing the program could lead to
a job with a six-figure salary,
but the college found students
of color, especially Hispanic
students, weren’t enrolling.
He said he worked with
the Oregon Air Show in Hill-
sboro to help stoke interest in
the program among Hispanic
students.
Lifeways in its protest
letter called the country’s
decision “arbitrary and
capricious” and pointed
out Community Counsel-
ing does not have any active
facilities, transportation
services and personnel in
Umatilla County. It claims
CCS’ proposal “is full of
statements indicating its
own serious doubt about
its ability to become opera-
tional in time.”
Lindsay said she doesn’t
“recall stating that we had
doubts,” adding, “I do think
it’s a lot of work, and I’m not
minimizing that.”
Lifeways also called out
Community Counseling for
not having started hiring the
more than 100 employees
necessary for the company’s
new services in the county.
That would entail “a three-
fold increase in the compa-
ny’s operations” leading
to what CCS itself called
“growing pains.”
Lindsay said Commu-
nity Counseling is waiting
to begin hiring employees
and finding facilities and
transportation services until
Lifeways’ appeal process is
complete.
“Our plan was to use
the time starting from the
time of the award to begin
contacting entities about
places to rent or purchase,”
Lindsay said. “We’re kind of
grounded right now because
of the appeal. That’s not a
criticism. Lifeways is enti-
tled to the appeal.”
Lifeways also noted
CCS has yet to be Medi-
care credentialed to provide
behavioral health services,
saying that “is akin to a
medical student saying they
are not a licensed doctor yet,
but hope to be soon.”
Lindsay said Commu-
nity Counseling previously
decided to not seek the
license to bill Medicare “due
to the significant amount
of paperwork that was
involved.” But a year ago, the
company changed its mind.
Lindsay said CCS should be
credentialed within the next
month.
The protest letter also
claimed CCS has yet to reach
out to Lifeways to discuss
the transition between
providers. Lindsay said that
is not true.
On the day the county
commissioners voted to
award the contract to CCS,
Lindsay said she contacted
Lifeways Chief Execu-
tive Officer Tim Hoekstra
to discuss the transition.
According to Lindsay, Hoek-
stra “conveyed that any
conversation regarding tran-
sitions or next steps prior to
the end of the protest process
would be premature and he
would not be communicating
more until then.”
Johnsen clarified that
CCS hadn’t contacted Life-
ways personnel in Umatilla
County specifically.
Should the county main-
tain its decision to go with
CCS, both providers have
said they will work with the
other in any way possible to
promote a smooth transition
for patients and to provide
care in the county.
And despite the many
claims Lifeways has made
against CCS and the county,
Johnsen said “unfortunately,
the politics of this has pitted
Lifeways against CCS, and
that’s not what this is about.
This is about making sure
that the breadth and depth of
services in Umatilla County
are retained to the level that
they are now.”
She added: “This isn’t
Lifeways versus CCS. This
is what is best for Umatilla
County, what makes most
sense and what is most prag-
matic in making this large of
a decision.”
the “high-flyers” but also
to students who wouldn’t
normally think about college.
Christopher Villa