OFF PAGE ONE
Saturday, November 6, 2021
East Oregonian
Anderson:
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Erick Peterson/East Oregonian
Locals and well-wishers send off local National Guard soldiers Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021, at the National Guard Ar-
mory, Hermiston.
Guard:
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After that, they leave to southwest
Asia to support the task force mission
of Spartan Shield, protecting against
aggression in the region.
Letters were read from officials not
in attendance, including from Major
General Michael Stencel, National
Guard adjunct general.
“You embark on this mission not
as individuals but as a unified force,”
Stencel’s letter stated, “demonstrat-
ing our resolve to preserve and protect
the freedoms that every American is
entitled to.”
Stencel’s letter thanked the
soldiers’ family and community
members, who make their service
possible. It stated that families,
friends, employers and co-workers
are taking care of the lives the soldiers
are temporarily leaving behind.
“I know you will represent your
state and country with honor. I look
forward to welcoming you home
when your mission is complete,” the
letter concluded.
State Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner,
attended the ceremony and expressed
his appreciation to the members of the
116th Cavalry and 145th BSB.
“On behalf of the 60 members of
the Oregon House of Representatives,
we salute you, we’re indebted to you
and we appreciate all you do,” Smith
said.
Col. Geoffrey Vallee added his
praise and gratitude to the troops and
their communities. Soldiers must be
quick to ready for mobilization, he
said, but they have served in their
nation in many ways, including some
who have gone on multiple deploy-
John Hughel/Oregon Military Department Public Affairs
Oregon Army National Guard Soldiers with Bravo Company’s 3rd Battalion,
116th Cavalry Regiment render a salute Nov. 4, 2021, during the playing of
the National Anthem as they are mobilized for deployment at a ceremony
in Hermiston.
ments. And their work, he said, is
made possible by people at home.
Vallee noted some of the soldiers
had recent major events in their lives,
including the births of children and
weddings.
Seth Musg rov, bat t alion
commander, spoke of his apprecia-
tion for the soldiers and his confidence
in them.
“I have no doubt you will achieve
success,” he said.
As the soldiers met with the public
and shook the hands of officers, a few
shared their feelings.
“I’m a little nervous, but I have a
lot of support with my family. That
gives me more confidence,” Spc. Aly
Espian said.
The 29-year-old Hermiston resi-
dent said this is his first deployment.
He joined to “fight for our free-
doms,” he said, to help his mother
with her citizenship.
“This was a little unexpected, but I
was hoping for it, at least once, to see
what it was like,” he said.
Cpl. Justin Cox, 26, of Baker City,
shared his excitement. This is his
deployment, he said, so he was look-
ing forward to learning whatever
skills this experience affords, though
he added he would miss at least one
thing stateside.
“I’m just going to miss fishing,”
he said.
Pvt. Natalia Peterlohn, 22-year-
old La Grande resident, also was
among the departing soldiers. She
said she first joined the National
Guard to serve the country, better
herself and save up for school.
She said she was nervous about
the experience, and she already
was making plans for when she
returns. Peterlohn said she intends
to return to school to study envi-
ronmental science.
Mural:
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Travel Oregon CEO Todd David-
son said the George Fletcher mural
was exactly what his organiza-
tion had in mind for the next iter-
ation of his organization’s “Only
Slightly Exaggerated” campaign.
Davidson said the initial stages of
the campaign focused heavily on
Oregon’s natural beauty, but Travel
Oregon now wants to shift its focus
to people and communities.
“We want these to be a point of
community pride,” he said.
The completion of the mural
means Pendleton is now a stop on
Travel Oregon’s nine-city Oregon
Mural Trail, which stretches from
Gold Beach to Ontario. Travel Pend-
leton coordinator Kristen Dollarhide
said the two agencies have been
working together on the project for
years.
After securing funding from
both travel agencies in addition to
the Pendleton Foundation Trust, the
Wildhorse Foundation and the Pend-
leton Arts Committee, Dollarhide
Food:
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In Grant County, the local
food bank has seen a marked
decrease in clients throughout
the year — roughly 113 fami-
lies used the Grant County
Food Bank in September,
down from its January level
of 151, according to food bank
board member Tom Sutton.
“The numbers are down.
My gut feeling tells me —
what I hear — is that they got
more food stamps than what
they normally get,” Sutton
said, “and they’re getting paid
unemployment better than
what they’re making by going
to work, so I don’t think they
need the food bank.”
The nonprofit Commu-
nity Connection of Northeast
Oregon Inc. services the Grant
County Food Bank, along
with food banks in Baker,
Union and Wallowa counties.
Community Connection’s
numbers have risen slightly
since the previous year.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Todd Davidson, CEO of Travel Oregon, speaks to attendees Wednesday,
Nov. 3, 2021, at a ribbon cutting for the organization’s new “still only slight-
ly exaggerated” mural of George Fletcher in Pendleton.
said they looked for mural sites all
over town.
They soon settled on the spot by
the Old West Federal Credit Union
parking lot, which was desirable
due to its close proximity to a busy
street. The mural only takes up a
small section of the long wall, an
“When you look at all the
modes of service that we do
the food boxes and the produce
distribution sites and all of that,
we’ve served 15% more people
in 2021 compared to the prior
fiscal year,” said Margaret
Davidson, executive director
of Community Connection.
Demand wavers during
different times over the year,
according to Audrey Smith,
the food bank manager for
Community Connection.
Smith noted this typically
happens from September
through February, depending
on the weather.
“The demand for food
boxes across our service area
has gone down steadily since
December of 2020,” Smith
stated. “However, we have seen
a slight increase in the need
for food boxes in the month of
September, but it’s important
to know that food is still avail-
able for people who need it.”
Those wishing to make
a donation should note the
pantry’s and food banks aren’t
limited to just food donations
intentional move meant to make it
easier for people to take pictures by
the art.
If tourists flock to the mural like
tourism promoters hope they do, it
means Fletcher will be the back-
ground of many more social media
posts to come.
— personal care items and
household staples also go a
long way.
“We could always use paper
products — toilet paper, paper
towels — household basics,”
Killion said. “We never have
enough. Our shelves are
completely empty all the
time no matter how much
we donate, and that’s across
the board. I would say that at
any food pantry that you go
to, people would be so happy
to get laundry detergent and
personal care products and
things like that.”
Across the board, the food
banks say they’re apprecia-
tive of the donations that are
coming in, and thankful to the
communities that are support-
ing them.
“We are so grateful for
all the community support
we receive, and anyone
who has interest in support-
ing the pantry; your money
isn’t going to waste,” Killion
said. “Your resources are not
going into a pile, they’re defi-
nitely being used.”
Upon his return, he said health
district board members told him
he would likely be demoted. He
was surprised. He received few
to no reprimands or complaints
during his years of service,
Anderson and emergency
responders said. Volunteers and
community members describe
him as a dedicated public servant
who made countless sacrifices
and saved lives.
Instead, the board fired Ander-
son in an Oct. 18 meeting without
cause, according to news reports.
The move shocked local residents
and infuriated volunteer emer-
gency responders. Still recover-
ing from COVID-19, Anderson
said he plans to sue the board.
“I don’t have a lot of options,”
said Anderson, a veteran of the
United States Air Force, who
contracted COVID-19 while
moving into his new home. He
said he still struggles to breath
and speak. And without his job,
he’s concerned about how he’ll
pay off his mortgage.
“It really scares me,” he said.
“I’m 55. I’ve got a degree, but this
has been my career pretty much
my whole life. If my strength
doesn’t come back, I might not
be able to be a paramedic.”
Marcus Swift, Anderson’s
attorney, said in a statement that
his client alleges he was met
with “discrimination and retali-
ation by the district and its board
chair” when he returned home
from the hospital. Swift called
the board’s decision “reckless”
and said Anderson claims he
was “terminated immediately
after he put the district on notice
of his protected status as a whis-
tleblower.”
Mark Mitchell, chair of the
board overseeing the North
Gilliam County Health District,
declined to say why Anderson
was fired.
Responders walkout,
member resigns
A health district board
member — who said he disagreed
with the board’s decision and
its timing — resigned after the
October meeting. In protest, local
emergency responders staged a
36-hour walkout.
“We lost all trust in the
board at that point,” said Tiffany
Wilkins, a local business owner
and volunteer with the ambulance
service. Wilkins said Anderson
was essential in helping improve
the ambulance service and its
emergency responders.
The walkout left a large
section of I-84 briefly without
nearby ambulance services. From
the John Day Dam to the Morrow
County line, it’s a relatively
remote stretch of road known for
car crashes amid winter storms.
Aside from the local volunteers
from Arlington, the nearest
ambulance would come from 30
miles away.
“We have a lot of accidents,
a lot of nuts out there driving
who shouldn’t be near a car,”
said Julius Courtney, the board
member who resigned after
Anderson was fired. “A lot of
wrecks. We’re going into the
winter. Now is an extremely
poor time to have those people
upset.”
Several sources said they
believe Anderson’s termina-
tion came because he hired an
attorney after learning he would
be demoted. Wilkins said a
board member told her on the
night they fired him they did so
because “he lawyered up.”
A9
Courtney said he could not
discuss why Anderson was fired,
but Anderson hiring an attor-
ney may have played a role in the
dismissal.
“Part of that was discussed
in executive session, so I can’t
answer that,” Courtney said,
“but I’m sure it had some effect
on it. I didn’t totally agree that it
did have an effect, but I guess it
could have.”
Mitchell said the board was
hoping only to demote Anderson,
but the board then had “several
indicators that clearly showed
that (Anderson) wasn’t satisfied
with what was taking place.”
Mitchell denied that Anderson
was fired because he hired legal
representation.
Discontent grows
The volunteers have since
returned to work, but the situ-
ation has soured. Disturbed by
the board’s decision, they have
pushed for ambulance service
to be moved under the city, the
county or a fire district rather
than the health district.
The Arlington City Council
in a recent meeting said it would
allow the ambulance services
to operate temporarily under its
umbrella. But the health district
board moved quickly to prevent
that, sources said. Mitchell said
the district does not want to sepa-
rate itself from the ambulance
service, adding the situation is a
personnel issue the district hopes
to solve by hiring new employees.
But some volunteers said they
feel unheard and unsupported
by the board and Mitchell and
are urging the district to relin-
quish its grip. Some said they are
concerned that volunteers have
relatively little legal protections
and are asking for greater clarity
about why Anderson was fired.
“If they can go after Dave,
who has always been there for
everyone in town, rain or shine,”
said David Gossett, a pastor and
former volunteer who recently
left the ambulance service. “If
they can go after him when he
was in the ICU fighting for his
life and fire him while he was
still recovering, then why in the
world would I ever think that I
was anything special to them?”
Mitchell, a former police offi-
cer, said the emergency respond-
ers have a duty to serve the
community without interruption.
“There’s no individual that
they should place above that
responsibility to answer,” he said.
Mitchell said the district is
supportive of the ambulance
service and often will approve the
purchases they request. He noted
the district has spent $937,000
on items the ambulance service
requested over the past seven
years.
“We show tremendous support
of them,” he said. “Always have.
Always will.”
‘There will be more.’
On Thursday, Nov. 4, Wilkins
was about to sit down at the Bee
Sweet Bakery & Deli in Arling-
ton when her phone rang. It was
the ambulance service. Her face
grew serious. She needed to come
in.
She rushed to her car, hopped
in and drove off. The patient had
a heart issue and was in rough
shape, she said. The ambulance
zipped through town and drove
east down the interstate. Even-
tually, the patient received an
emergency flight. It was the
second patient with heart prob-
lems they’d seen over the past two
days.
“If we weren’t there, they would
have died,” Wilkins said. “There
will be more. There will be more.”
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
Art Trice, a driver for the Salvation Army Cascade Division, loads up a van Thursday,
Nov. 4, 2021, with food from the Community Connection of Northeast Oregon Inc. food
bank in La Grande.