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INSIDE GO TO HEPPNER TO PUT ON YOUR ‘ERIN GO BRAGH’
Wee Bit
o’
HOUSE BILL 4002
House votes
to end ag
overtime
exemption
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
SALEM — After an emotional
three-hour debate, the Oregon
House voted 37-23 on Tuesday,
March 1, to end the state’s agricul-
tural exemption from higher over-
time wages.
The measure is awaiting a vote
in the Senate.
The overtime exemption would
be phased out over fi ve years under
House Bill 4002, and tax credits
would cover some of the higher
wages paid by farmers, But crit-
ics claimed those provisions won’t
prevent the inevitable loss of family
farms.
“They could be the nail in the
coffi n for farmers who can’t absorb
any more increased costs,” said
Rep. David Brock-Smith, R-Port
Orford.
Many growers operate on razor-
thin margins and would likely go
out of business while waiting for the
promised money from tax credits,
since they can’t aff ord higher over-
time payments, he said.
Rep. Raquel Moore-Green,
R-Salem, said House Bill 4002 also
isn’t likely to help farmworkers,
since their employers likely will
seek to reduce weekly hours, switch
crops or simply exit the industry.
“They could reduce their opera-
tion size or cease farming altogether
and sell out,” she said.
Supporters of HB 4002 cast the
legislation as a matter of constitu-
tional fairness and noted if an ongo-
ing lawsuit against the agricultural
overtime exemption is successful,
farmers won’t get assistance to ease
the economic blow.
“I believe it’s time to live up to
the promise of equal protection of
the law,” said Rep. Paul Holvey,
D-Eugene. “We owe basic protec-
tions to farmworkers and we owe
it to farmers not to make a major
change to their bottom line without
a safety net.”
Before approving HB 4002, the
House voted 32-27 against remand-
ing the bill back to a joint committee
to consider an amendment favored
by Republican lawmakers.
“There is still time to fi nd a more
workable solution. An Oregon solu-
tion,” said Rep. Shelly Boshart-Da-
vis, R-Albany.
Under that amendment, farm-
workers would receive overtime
relief payments from the state
government after they’d worked
more than 40 hours per week.
Meanwhile, farmers would pay
workers time-and-a-half overtime
I
HOTEL
FOR SALE
The Marigold Hotel
is on the market
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
ENDLETON —
T he Ma r igold
Hotel could get a
new lease on life.
Crystal Invest-
ment Properties, a
Vancouver, Wash-
ington, real estate
investment company, is advertis-
ing The Marigold, 105 S.E. Court
Ave., as a property for sale for
$1.7 million mere months after
the city of Pendleton declared it a
nuisance and shut it down.
Crystal Investment describes
the property as a 47-room hotel
that includes a commercial
kitchen located in Pendleton’s
historic downtown area.
But the advertisement doesn’t
explain why the motel isn’t oper-
ational.
“Hotel is not currently oper-
ating,” the ad states. “Buyer to
conduct all investigations into
suitability for use.”
Crystal Investment also
brokered the last time The Mari-
gold was sold in 2019. The buyer,
Shivam Patel and his business
P
Mahantam Hospitality of Colum-
bia City, bought the property for
$1.5 million.
Shortly after Patel took over,
police began to respond to an
uptick in calls for service at the
hotel. Pendleton Police Chief
Chuck Byram attributed the
criminal activity at the motel to
Patel’s staff and their permis-
sive attitude and complicity with
hotel guest behavior. The situa-
tion reached a head in 2021 when
a man at The Marigold opened
fi re at a car that was driving away
from the hotel, injuring a 17-year-
old boy.
The city in early December
2021 declared The Marigold a
nuisance and revoked its busi-
ness license, but Patel appealed
the decision to the city coun-
cil. Patel argued he intended to
make a more hands-on role with
the business, had made necessary
staffi ng changes and was in the
process of upgrading the build-
ing’s security features.
But Patel’s promises weren’t
enough to convince the city coun-
cil to reverse the decision, mean-
ing The Marigold was forced to
stay closed.
Photos by Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Signage adorns the front of The Marigold Hotel on Wednesday,
March 2, 2022, in downtown Pendleton. The business, which the
city in early December 2021 declared a nuisance property and re-
voked its business license, is on the market for $1.7 million.
Patel has since put the hotel on
the market, and Charles Denight,
the associate director of the Pend-
leton Development Commission,
said he already has seen signs
the property may come off the
market soon.
Denight and other Pendleton
economic development offi cials
took an active role in marketing
a vacant motel at 310 S.E. Dorion
Ave. to the Portland-based Casca-
dia Hospitality. After purchasing
the property, Cascadia is reno-
vating it and plans to reopen the
hotel as the MotoLodge later this
year.
Denight said he’s not playing
the same role this time around
because the circumstances are
different. Whereas Cascadia
needed to be convinced to take a
detour into Pendleton on its way
to scoping out a property in Baker
City, Denight said prospective
owners are inquiring about what
kind of fi nancial aid the urban
renewal district could off er to The
Marigold.
“It’s been much more direct,”
he said.
Denight said Pendleton seems
to be a hot market right now,
pointing to the steeply rising price
of houses. Coming out of the
pandemic, the local hospitality
industry also is growing. Besides
MotoLodge, a new Radisson
hotel at the Pendleton airport is
expected to open this summer.
And the owner of Pendleton’s
Holiday Inn has announced his
intent to build a new building for
the franchise while maintaining
the current motel under a diff er-
ent brand name.
Sidewalk construction takes place
Wednesday, March 2, 2022,
in front of The Marigold Hotel in
downtown Pendleton.
See Overtime, Page A7
Rural fi re districts could
change under proposed law
By ALEX WITTWER
EO Media Group
LA GRANDE — Rural residents
outside city limits may be brought into
a city’s fi re district under a proposed
law in the Oregon Legislature, resulting
in increased taxes to pay for the service.
Senate Bill 1582 would allow rural
fi re districts to annex areas within 7
road miles of a fi re department into
their district. That means residents
who might have forgone paying taxes
for fi re protection services could see an
increase to help fund the departments.
The Senate on Feb. 17 passed the bill
18-8.
For some fi re chiefs, the legisla-
tion would give their departments the
option to increase taxes. La Grande
Rural Fire District Chief Craig Kret-
schmer said his department is not keen
on making property owners pony up
for the service.
“Essentially, it would give fire
protection districts the right to annex
folks 7 miles from their station into
your district,” he said. “It’s not some-
thing we really want to do, to force
people, right?”
Instead, Kretschmer said his depart-
ment would focus on using the legis-
lation as a tool to educate residents
not covered by the district about their
options, and give them the ability to
join if they choose to do so.
See Fire, Page A7
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Pilot Rock Rural Fire Protection District and crews from other fi re depart-
ments and districts work to extinguish a fi re May 5, 2021, on Northeast Sec-
ond Street in Pilot Rock. Senate Bill 1582 in the Oregon legislative session
would allow rural fi re districts to annex areas within 7 road miles of a fi re
department into their district.