WEEKEND EDITION
NOVEMBER 20-21, 2021
146th Year, No. 14
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WINNER OF 16 ONPA AWARDS IN 2021
INSIDE
THANKSGIVING DAY MEALS AVAILABLE IN LOCAL COMMUNITIES A7
Fall enrollment a mixed bag for BMCC Hermiston
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — When Blue
Mountain Community College
President Mark Browning began
his tenure in September, he
stated he was hoping the college
wouldn’t see its enrollment drop
by more than 1% in the fall.
Whether BMCC met that goal is
a matter of how you look at the
numbers.
The Oregon Higher Educa-
tion Coordinating Commission
recently released enrollment data
for every community college in
the state. By raw headcount, the
data showed Blue Mountain’s
fall 2021 enrollment grew by 38
students, or 2.5%, compared to
fall term last year.
But measure enrollment by
full time equivalent — a number
that is calculated by the number
of classroom hours each student
takes and the metric the state uses
to determine funding — and Blue
Mountain’s enrollment falls by
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Blue Mountain Community College students watch as Matt Liscom, an
agriculture science instructor at the college, inspects a horse’s hoof
Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, at the college’s Facility for Agricultural Re-
source Management in Pendleton.
17, or a 4.4% decrease.
In other words, more students
are attending BMCC but they’re
spending less time in the class-
room overall. BMCC is far from
alone: Community college head-
count enrollment across the state
dropped by less than 1% but full-
time equivalent enrollment fell
by more than 7%.
In an interview, Browning
said he was glad more students
were attending the college, but
staff needed to continue work-
ing toward raising its full-time
equivalent enrollment.
“We need to keep moving in
the right direction,” he said.
BMCC’s enrollment has been
declining for years, but 2020 saw
the college’s headcount drop by
around 30%. BMCC endured
dozens of position elimina-
tions amidst budget cuts during
the past two years. Browning’s
predecessor, interim President
Connie Green, said some of it
was done in the name of “right
sizing” Blue Mountain.
Browning said determin-
ing the proper size of BMCC’s
staff or student body is an open
question. He also said it was too
See BMCC, Page A8
SAMS IS IN
‘Accountable,’ ‘unfl appable’
Chuck Sams to take the helm
of National Park Service
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
ASHINGTON — The U.S.
Senate in a unanimous vote
Thursday night, Nov. 18,
approved the nomination of
Chuck Sams as National Park
Service director.
Sams is a former longtime adminis-
trator for the Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reservation near Pend-
leton and the former area representative
on the Pacifi c Northwest Electric Power
and Conservation Planning Council.
Less than two weeks before the
Senate confi rmed the fi rst American
W
Chuck Sams, a former interim executive
director of the Confederated Tribes of
the Umatilla Indian Reservation, received
a unanimous vote Thursday night, Nov.
18, 2021, from the U.S. Senate to become
director of the National Park Service.
See Sams, Page A8
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
2040 survey
yields input
for future
City to share draft
of plan at Dec. 3
tree-lighting event
ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Herald
HERMISTON — Results are in
for the Hermiston 2040 survey, the
city’s eff ort to create a 20-year vision
plan for the community. The city
gaged the wishes of the public with
the survey, and people responded
with their input.
The survey suggestions, called
draft actions, which received more
than 100 votes were “more retail
shopping options” (244), “more
restaurants and greater cuisine vari-
ety” (238), “build indoor pool/aquatic
center” (154) and “more businesses
and job opportunities” (119).
The greatest number of draft
actions were for parks and recre-
ation (19) and economic development
and economic development (12).
The remaining categories and their
number of draft actions were housing
(3), attractive and safe community
(6), infrastructure and planning (7),
transportation and mobility (10) and
culture and engagement (8).
Community members gathered
Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 16 and
17, to discuss these topics in Hermis-
ton Vision Labs. The intent of these
labs was to “test the ideas gathered
from the community and refi ne them
into goals and actions for the Herm-
iston 2040 vision,” according to the
city’s handout at the labs.
“The best thing that came out of
the meetings was we got a good turn-
out from the public,” Byron Smith,
Hermiston city manager, said. “I was
really excited about that.”
For the four vision labs, he said
attendance ranged from 12 to 30.
He reported hearing sugges-
tions and then turned the discussion
toward ways to meet those sugges-
tions. Lab participants also discussed
less concrete ideas, Smith said. For
instance, when the topic “beautify
Hermiston” came up, people were
tasked with deciding on what it
means to do that.
Other goals, such as building an
aquatic center, are ones that have
been discussed for several years,
but they are not out of the question,
Smith said.
“(An aquatic center) would take
some exceptional funding, so if the
community really wanted to support
it, would they support a bond issue to
pay for it?” Smith asked. He added
there might otherwise be a creative
way for it to be funded.
See Survey, Page A1
PENDLETON SCHOOL DISTRICT
Fritsch announces retirement as superintendent
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Chris
Fritsch is retiring as the
superintendent of the Pend-
leton School District eff ective
June 30, 2022, the end of the
school year.
Fr it sch ma de t he
announcement to the Pend-
leton School Board during
a brief meeting Wednesday
night, Nov. 17. The board in a
voice vote accepted the resig-
nation.
In a letter to the board,
Fritsch said it was with mixed
emotions that he submitted
his notice to retire.
“I would like to thank you,
the current board, and the
board members who hired
me in 2017 for the opportu-
nity and privilege to work
in this fi ne district,” accord-
ing to the letter. “I have been
honored to have worked not
only an outstanding board,
but also with some of the best
administrative and instruc-
tional staff on my 41 years
in education. I will remem-
ber my time here fondly and
consider it among the high-
lights of my career.”
He also explained he
was making the decision
now so the board has time
to determine how best to
See Fritsch, Page A8
Pendleton School
District Super-
intendent Chris
Fritsch speaks
May 27, 2020,
at Hawthorne
Alternative High
School’s drive-in
commencement
ceremony in
Pendleton. Fritsch
on Wednesday,
Nov. 17, 2021,
announced he
is retiring as
superintendent
eff ective June 30,
2022, the end of
the school year.
Ben Lonergan/
East Oregonian. File