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East Oregonian
Saturday, November 20, 2021
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
The Montero family plays in the pool July 7, 2020, at the
Hermiston Family Aquatic Center. The possibility of an in-
door aquatic center in the city was one of the items that
came up for discussion Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 16
and 17, 2021, during the Hermiston 2040 survey labs.
Survey:
Continued from Page A1
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Agriculture science instructor Matt Liscom, center, discusses body characteristics of a pair of horses Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021,
during an introduction to equine science class at Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton.
BMCC:
Continued from Page A1
soon to predict how 2021-22
enrollment would affect the
budget because high school
enrollment through BMCC’s
dual credit program won’t be
counted until the winter and
spring terms.
Blue Mountain’s long-
term enrollment decline is
indicative of a wider trend
across the state. Over the
past decade, Oregon’s
community college system
student enrollment has
fallen by 40%.
Cam Preus, the execu-
tive director of the Oregon
Community College Asso-
ciation and a former BMCC
pre side nt , said t hose
numbers don’t take into
account the four or five
years before 2012 when
community colleges saw a
huge jump in enrollment.
Although no community
colleges have recovered
to pre-pandemic levels,
she also pointed to a few
community colleges, such
as Oregon Coast Commu-
nity College in Newport,
saw growth in both head-
count and full-time equiv-
alent enrollment.
But she added commu-
nity colleges will have
to alter their recruitment
strategies to stabilize their
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Agriculture science instructor Matt Liscom, right, and student Matt Orem examine a horse’s
teeth Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, during an introduction to equine science course at Blue Moun-
tain Community College in Pendleton.
enrollment long term. Citing
a study from the Western
Interstate Commission on
Higher Education, Preus
said Oregon’s high school
population is projected to
decrease starting in 2025.
If that trend comes to
bear, Preus said colleges
should begin focusing on
bringing in adult students
and partnering with local
employers on workforce
training as potential sources
of enrollment.
Browning said BMCC
is already looking at ways
to boost enrollment long-
term. After a few months
on the job, Browning said
he would like to revive the
college’s communications
and marketing department.
Former President Dennis
Bailey-Fougnier eliminated
the vice president of college
relations in 2020. The
following year, the BMCC
Board of Education agreed
to outsource marketing
services to the InterMoun-
tain Education Service
District under the recom-
mendation of Green.
Browning said needs to
be able to spread its message
if it’s going to improve
enrollment, and he would
like to bring communica-
tions and marketing services
in-house as soon as the
budget allows it.
Sams:
Continued from Page A1
Indian to head the service in
its 105-year history, Sams
was in Pendleton as a repre-
sentative of the Oregon
Cultural Trust at a dedica-
tion ceremony for a mural of
Pendleton cowboy George
Fletcher.
A former naval intelli-
gence officer, Sams shared a
short message on Facebook
with his friends and family
following his confirmation.
“I am so deeply honored
to be appointed by President
Biden and to be confirmed
by unanimous consent by
the United States Senate to
be the 19th Director of the
United States National Park
Service “ he wrote. “Thank
you all who have supported
me in my life’s journey. I
look forward to being of
service to this Great Nation
once again.”
Prior to his appointment
to the Pacific Northwest
Electric Power and Conser-
vation Council, Sams was
best known for his work
in CTUIR tribal govern-
ment, where he worked as
a communications director,
deputy executive director
and interim executive direc-
tor.
His former colleagues in
tribal government offered
him support and pride in a
CTUIR press release.
“C huck k nows t he
outdoors,” CTUIR Board of
Trustees Chair Kat Brigham
said in a statement. “He
understands the importance
of helping families develop
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Chuck Sams speaks Nov. 3, 2021, at a ribbon cutting for a mural of cowboy George Fletcher in
downtown Pendleton.
a relationship with the land.”
CT U I R t r ibal elder
Antone Minthorn called
him “honorable, loyal and
accountable” while Bobbie
Conner, the director of the
Tamastslikt Cultural Insti-
tute and a tribal historian,
said he was “unflappable.”
“(He) is known for being
steady at the helm and
taking challenges in stride,”
Conner said. “Chuck was
raised to always consider
future generations.”
Teara Farrow Furman,
the second person to succeed
Sams as interim executive
director of the CTUIR, is
one of the many tribal lead-
ers to grow up with him
and then serve with him as
adults in tribal government.
She said she texted Sams
throughout the confirmation
process, sending him words
of encouragement.
“I texted him all along
the journey,’’ she said. “I
told him, ‘Our ancestors are
looking down upon you and
guiding you.’”
Farrow Furman said she
and Sams are both Cayuse
descendents and understand
their tribe’s historic role in
fighting for their land. She
said Sams will understand
his role in preserving park
land to ensure its accessible
to every American resident
and visitor.
“He’s a good leader,’ she
said. “He’ll do well.”
During the confirma-
tion process, Sams had
some powerful support-
ers, including Gov. Kate
Brown and U.S. Sen. Ron
Wyden, D-Oregon.
The vote came after
Wyden went to the Senate
floor and asked the Senate
to pass the nomination by
unanimous consent, accord-
ing to a press release from
Wyden’s office.
”Chuck Sams is the right
nominee to lead the National
Park Service as it addresses
these challenges. I know
Chuck. He is hardworking.
He is committed,” Wyden
said in the press release.
“Chuck is a role model in
the stewardship of Ameri-
can land and waters, wild-
life and history. And now
thanks to the Senate’s unan-
imous decision to confirm
his nomination, Congress
and parkgoers will have
someone steady and experi-
enced to rely on in the years
ahead.”
Smith said prelimi-
nary studies on the aquatic
center show it would cost
about $30 million, though,
upon hearing this price tag,
no one at the lab wanted to
take it off the list. If agreed
upon, the earliest the center
could be ready for people
to use is five years from
now, Smith said, possibly
10.
T he most popula r
requests, more shops and
restaurants, could be more
immediate, Smith said. He
expressed confidence those
could become a reality next
year. Most likely, he said,
these would not be big-box
stores, but small shops.
For this, he stated that the
Chamber of Commerce
could help with recruiting
new businesses or deliver-
ing classes for local people
to become entrepreneurs.
According to Smith,
Hermiston has made plans
like this in the past.
“Twenty years ago,
Fritsch:
Continued from Page A1
move forward.
After the meeting,
Fritsch said he is parting
Pendleton on good terms,
a sharp distinction from the
Adrian School District and
Newberg School District,
where board firing of
superintendents stirred
controversy.
“This is a great district,”
Fritsch said, “and I want to
do whatever I can to help
them find the very best
person to join this team.”
In a statement he sent
shortly after the board
meeting, Fritsch tried
to head off any rumors
about the circumstances
surrounding his departure.
“Hopefully this will
remain low-key with little
attention,” he wrote. “Once
it becomes public there
may be a few who claim
to know the real story or
misrepresent truth and
reality. Unfortunately for
them, there is no backstory,
there is no conspiracy, it’s
just my time.”
In an interview after the
meeting, Fritsch said he
had always been upfront
with the board that he
intended to stay five to
seven years before retir-
ing. With Fritsch origi-
nally hired by the district
in 2017, he will have met
his goal by the time he
leaves the district on June
30, 2022.
With school boards and
superintendents across the
state sometimes clashing
over curriculum and the
response to the COVID-
19 pandemic, Fritsch said
he wanted to make clear
the decision was purely
about his desire to retire.
Although he admitted
that navigating the district
through the pandemic the
past two years has been
challenging, he said it was
not a factor in his retire-
ment.
In his statement, Fritsch
praised the administrators,
teachers and community
members he worked with
and added that announc-
ing his retirement now put
the district in a good posi-
tion to hire a consultant and
identify his successor.
Lieuallen said Fritsch
informed her and other
there was one like this,”
he said.
Created in 2000, the
people expressed their
feelings for what the city
would look like in 2020.
Smith said such actions
are extremely valuable
for putting issues on “the
community’s radar screen”
help goals become a real-
ity.
He said the one around
20 years ago included
items the city acted on,
though a few that were
not. He said he thinks the
aquatic center, which has
yet to be constructed, was
on the old list, too.
Now that opinions
have been gathered and
discussed, a consultant
will return with a draft of
what the 2040 plan could
look like. The plan will be
shared with the public on
Dec. 2 as part of the tree
lighting event in Herm-
iston. Then a steering
committee will review it,
make changes and recom-
mend adoption by the
council. The council will
then adopt the plan, Smith
said.
executive members last
week about his decision.
She added Fritsch always
had been transparent about
his timeline, with the board
hoping it extended closer to
the seven-year mark.
T he dist r ict hi red
Fritsch to succeed former
Super intendent A ndy
Kovach, who resigned after
less than a year on a job and
a poorly rated evaluation
from the school board.
Prior to moving to Pend-
leton, Fritsch spent nearly
his entire career at the
Longview School District
in southwestern Washing-
ton, about 50 miles north
of Portland. While in
Longview, Fritsch worked
as teacher, principal and
central office adminis-
trator, culminating in a
position as Longview’s
assistant superintendent.
Fritsch already had been
a finalist for several super-
intendent positions across
Washington, but he broke
through in a 21-candi-
date field to land the job in
Pendleton.
Prior to the pandemic,
Fritsch helped lead the
district’s effort to identify
how to spend new fund-
ing made available by the
state’s Student Success
Act, which led to new
teachers and support staff
focused on mental health
and behavior. Fritsch also
made his mark at the build-
ing level, replacing princi-
pals at Sherwood Heights
Elementary School, Wash-
ington Elementary School,
McKay Creek Elementary
School and Pendleton High
School as vacancies arose.
Lieuallen said the next
step for the district is to
hire a search firm to help
f ind Pendleton’s next
superintendent. She added
that the board’s executive
committee — Vice Chair
Dale Freeman, board
member Julie Muller and
herself — will begin look-
ing for a firm and hope to
have one hired within the
next few weeks.
After soliciting applica-
tions, holding interviews
and narrowing down the
field to a set of finalists,
Lieuallen said the board
intends to make a hire in
the spring, well before
Fritsch’s retirement date.
— East Oregonian news
editor Phil Wright contrib-
uted to the article.