REGION
Thursday, June 24, 2021
East Oregonian
A3
Blue Mountain Community College selects next president
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Blue
Mou nt ai n Com mu n it y
College selected Mark
Browning as its next presi-
dent.
The college announced the
selection Wednesday, June 23.
Browning, the vice pres-
ident of college relations at
the College of Western Idaho
in Nampa, emerged from a
four-person fi eld of fi nalists,
beating out two other candi-
dates with presidential expe-
rience.
“I am so honored and
excited for this opportu-
nity,” Browning said in a
press release from BMCC.
“My wife and I are anxious
to jump in and become a
part of the Blue Mountain
family and the greater eastern
Oregon community. BMCC is
a wonderful place that has and
will change lives for all who
come through our doors. I am
ready to get to work.”
A self-described “farm
boy from western Montana,”
Browning started his career
in TV news working as an
anchor and news director in
Idaho.
At 39, Browning decided
to switch career tracks and
enrolled at Idaho State Univer-
sity, where he majored in mass doctoral program at Idaho
communications. He began a State, where he plans to grad-
second career in educational uate in the fall after defending
administration, first as the his dissertation on dual credits
chief communications and and the relationship between
community colleges
legislative offi cer for
the Idaho State Board
and the K-12 system.
of Education and
He’s been adminis-
then as vice president
trator at the College
of communications
of Western Idaho
and government rela-
since 2016.
tions at North Idaho
“Mark’s experi-
College.
ence and passion for
In the meantime,
Browning
community colleges
and students is
he continued his
college education by receiv- very evident and exciting
ing a master’s degree in for BMCC,” said Jane Hill,
public administration from chair of the BMCC Board of
the University of Idaho and Education. “He has a unique
enrolling in an education ability to form, cultivate and
Return from remote work provides
some energy-saving opportunities
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — As busi-
nesses reopen, extend their
hours or bring workers back to
the offi ce for the fi rst time since
the pandemic began, Energy
Trust of Oregon is reminding
them it is a good opportunity
to examine their energy usage.
“Smaller changes that
wouldn’t be noticeable to
employees working in the
space or customers can make
a big diff erence,” said Susan
Jowaiszas, marketing lead for
Energy Trust of Oregon.
She said businesses can
think about how they’re using
their buildings, and pull back
on heating or cooling areas that
aren’t being used, for example.
That practice has been
a focus for Blue Mountain
Community College.
Dwayne Williams, facilities
director for BMCC, said his
department has asked all staff
to provide a schedule of when
they will be in their offi ces or
classrooms so that they can
plan heating, cooling and
lighting accordingly. If no one
is going to be in a certain room
or section of the building, the
temperature will be allowed to
drop or climb, depending on
the season.
“We’re doing out best to try
and conserve as much energy
as we can while still keeping
everyone comfortable,” he
said.
The HVAC systems across
BMCC’s campuses can be
controlled remotely from
Pendleton, as can much of the
lighting, which is also attached
to motion sensors.
The college is part of
Energy Trust of Oregon’s
Strategic Energy Manage-
ment program, which provides
a free year-long training and
cash incentives for businesses
and other organizations look-
ing to save money on energy.
Williams said BMCC has
saved thousands of dollars
through simple management
practices, and been able to
funnel that money back into
things like new equipment for
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Jason Hogge, a maintenance mechanic at Blue Mountain
Community College, uses a multimeter to check an electrical
panel on Wednesday, June 23, 2021, while working on the
automated lighting system at BMCC in Pendleton.
groundskeeping staff .
In 2019 they had a contest
between buildings owned by
the college. The building that
saw the most energy savings
over the course of a month got
$1,000 for staff in that building
to use on something that would
help them save energy, such as
lap blankets. Williams said that
small activity provided a good
reminder for people to get in
the habit of thinking about their
energy consumption.
“People would walk by and
turn the lights off if no one was
in the room,” he said. “We did
actually see some pretty good
savings.”
In addition to being strate-
gic about heating, cooling and
lighting schedules, Energy
Trust of Oregon recommends
businesses think about the
air they’re using. Jowaiszas
said with the focus on airfl ow
in preventing the spread of
COVID-19, many businesses
are following recommenda-
tions to pull in 100% of the air
coming through the HVAC
system from outdoors instead
of recirculating the same air
inside the building.
While that is a good prac-
tice to help protect people from
airborne viruses, she said, pull-
ing hot air in from outside takes
more energy to heat, so busi-
nesses keeping their HVAC
system on to some extent in
their off hours could consider
recirculating air during times
no one is in the building.
Keeping blinds closed
when hot sunlight is pouring
in during the summer and
opening them to let sunshine
in during the winter can also
help, she said. So can keeping
thermostats at a more moder-
ate level, sealing up cracks with
caulk and using weatherstrip-
ping under doors.
If a business is opening
up their building after a long
period of employees work-
ing from home, she said, they
should be especially careful to
check that fi lters, heat pumps,
vents and other parts of their
HVAC systems are clean.
“It’s not uncommon to fi nd
birds’ nests, raccoon leav-
ings, beehives, and things like
that inside, which can hinder
airfl ow,” she said.
When it comes to equip-
ment, starting up large items on
a staggered timetable instead
of all at once can help prevent a
surge to the system. Jowaiszas
recommend people also do
their research on energy ratings
and available incentives when
purchasing new appliances or
other equipment for their busi-
ness.
“When people are looking
at purchasing equipment, they
need to look at not just what
the equipment costs upfront
but also what it will cost to run
over time,” she said.
The cheapest energy is the
energy we as a society never
have to produce, she said, so
Energy Trust of Oregon is here
to help people save as much
power as they want to.
City council agrees to make the fi rst
payment for Pendleton Comes Alive
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Backed
by $500,000 from the city
of Pendleton, a new tourism
eff ort is getting its fi rst infu-
sion of cash.
During a special meeting
Tuesday, June 22, the council
unanimously voted to approve
a $100,000 budget transfer so
that the Pendleton Chamber of
Commerce could get its fi rst
payment for Pendleton Comes
Alive ahead of the end of the
fi scal year.
City Manager Robb
Corbett explained that the
council needed to approve the
budget transfer before the start
of the new fi scal year in July
because of the expenses the
chamber has already incurred
promoting the initiative.
“It’s heavily front loaded
with marketing money
because we need to get ahead
of people’s summer planning,”
he said.
When the council adopted
the 2021-22 budget June 1,
the city included a portion of
the COVID-19 relief money
it received in federal stimu-
lus to contribute to Pendle-
ton Comes Alive, a project
meant to boost tourism by
launching a number of West-
ern-themed activities on the
weekends during the summer
months, including concerts on
South Main Street, tours of the
Round-Up Grounds and horse
carriage rides.
As a part of a formal
agreement between, the city
promised to pay the chamber
$500,000 over two years to
get the eff ort started. In both
years of the deal, the city is
supposed to pay the chamber
$100,000 in May and $75,000
in July and August.
Although Pendleton
Economic Development
Director Steve Chrisman has
assured the council that Pend-
leton Comes Alive would
bring new visitors to Pend-
leton, the only record the
agreement requires is for the
chamber to send to the city a
full accounting of the proj-
ect’s fi nances at the end of
each year.
However, at a previous
meeting, Councilor Sally
Brandsen requested the cham-
ber deliver a report to the
council on any visitor records
it collects.
At the Tuesday meeting,
Carole Innes shared some
anecdotes from her expe-
rience as an event volun-
teer, saying she chatted with
several tourists who trav-
eled to Pendleton specifi cally
because they heard of Pendle-
ton Comes Alive.
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enhance relationships that will
serve the College very well
both internally and within our
regional communities. The
board looks forward to work-
ing with Mark.”
Browning replaces former
President Dennis Bailey-
Fougnier, who resigned
abruptly in February after
less than two years on the job,
citing his health.
Connie Green, a former
president of Tillamook Bay
Community College, filled
in as president in the interim,
presiding over a period of
change for the college.
Years of declining enroll-
ment led to multiple rounds of
layoff s in the past year, includ-
ing members of the college
faculty. With the COVID-19
pandemic eroding enrollment
further, BMCC is attempting
to reverse the trend as potential
students are poached by other
institutions, including Walla
Walla Community College,
Columbia Basin College and
Baker Technical Institute.
BMCC also reported it will
determine Browning’s start
date during contract negotia-
tions, but likely it will be this
fall.
Browning and his wife,
Kym, have three adult sons,
three grandchildren and two
dogs named Lewis and Clark.
LOCAL BRIEFING
has worked for Umatilla
County providing a vari-
ety of contract services —
something EOBC continues
to do. Her fi rm has been in
operation since 2005 and has
served hundreds of clients
on a variety of community
and board development
initiatives.
Bower also has local
teaching experience, work-
ing for both Blue Mountain
Community College and
Walla Walla Community
College. At the same time,
she has served as chief
fi nancial offi cer of North-
east Oregon Surgical Clinic.
From March 2000 until
July 2002, Bower was a
project management consul-
tant for Charter One Bank
and before that she spent
nearly a decade as a senior
vice president of Bank One
Corporation, where she had
42 direct reports and was
responsible for the work
of 400 people and a $25
million budget.
Murdock has held his
seat since a special elec-
tion in 2013 to replace Bill
Hansell.
Crews to start
pavement upgrade
on June 24
MEACHAM — Motor-
ists on Interstate 84 can
expect delays starting Thurs-
day, June 24, as work crews
begin a pavement asphalt
overlay in the Meacham
area, according to an Oregon
Department of Transporta-
tion press release.
Crews will start applying
the pavement asphalt over-
lay on Kamela Road and
Old U.S. Highway 30 start-
ing at I-84 exit 243, going
through Kamela and ending
at the I-84 Interchange at
Meacham.
Flaggers and pilot cars
will control traffic during
work hours, and travelers
can expect up to 20-minute
delays, according to the
release. The work, which
will not aff ect I-84 traffi c, is
expected to be complete no
later than June 30.
Bower announces
candidacy for
commissioner
PENDLETON — A
Pendleton businesswoman
is throwing her hat in the
ring for county commis-
sioner.
Susan Bower, president
of Eastern Oregon Business
Source, announced Tues-
day, June
22, she
plans to
run for the
seat on the
Um at i l la
County
Board of
Bower
Com mis-
sioners
that board Chair George
Murdock will vacate when
he retires in January 2023,
according to a press release.
Bower plans to offi cially
fi le to run in September of
this year, the release said.
Bower leads strate-
gic planning efforts for
nonprofi t and for-profi t orga-
nizations and works with
decision makers to custom-
ize leadership development
and workforce training. She
Hermiston
resident dies after
smoking in bed
HERMISTON — Fire-
fi ghters late Saturday, June
19, in Hermiston knocked
down a residential blaze but
inside found one occupant
dead.
Umatilla County Fire
District No. 1 reported two
of its fi refi ghters responded
at approximately 9:26 p.m.
to a fi re at a mobile home
on the 200 block of East
Newport Avenue.
“On arrival, firefight-
ers had fl ames coming out
of a bedroom window at
the rear of the residence,”
according to the district’s
post on Facebook.
The pair were the only
ones available because
other members of the crew
were on a medical call.
They knocked down the
fl ames from the exterior,
the district reported, then
made “an aggressive inte-
rior search for the occupant
of the residence.”
They found one occu-
pant dead in the bedroom
where the fi re originated.
O t her f i re d ist r ict
personnel and equipment
soon ar rived, and the
Umatilla Rural Fire Protec-
tion District also assisted.
Umatilla County Fire
District No. 1 reported it
had installed two smoke
alarms in the residence
earlier this year, however,
when one of those devices
was located the battery had
been removed.
The district also deter-
mined the occupant was
smoking in bed prior to the
start of the fi re.
Working smoke alarms
provide early notifi cation to
occupants there is a fi re, the
district emphasized. The
early notification also is
an indication for the occu-
pants to leave the residence
immediately, then call 911.
“Please check your
alarms on a regular basis,”
the district urged.
And smokers should be
cautious with their actions.
“We see many times
throughout the year smok-
ing materials that are
disposed in household trash
and on the ground,” accord-
ing to the fi re district. “Do
not use plastic contain-
ers to discard your smok-
ing materials into. Empty
your collection containers
on a regular basis, do not
discard packaging or used
lighters or other trash in
these same containers; this
just provides additional
fuel that could be ignited.
Do not use smoking mate-
rials when you are tired or
intoxicated.”
Even Fire Standard
C ompl ia nt ciga r et t e s
available in Oregon do not
completely guarantee the
cigarette will go out. The
acceptable failure rate in
the product testing of FSC
cigarettes is approximately
25%, according to Umatilla
County Fire District No.
1, meaning about 1 in 4
of the cigarettes burns
completely.
— EO Media Group
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