A8
East Oregonian
Funds:
Rivoli Restoration Coalition
to leverage for more grants
and funding.
‘Spread the peanut butter
Continued from Page A1
Rep. Greg Smith, R-Hep-
Funding bump
pner, said he worked to bring
for Rivoli
state funding to projects in
The funding is from House his district, which now spans
Bill 5202, the 114-page spend- Umatilla, Morrow, Gilliam,
ing bill that allocates tens of Sherman and Wasco counties.
millions in funds for projects
“The projects within HB
statewide. Hansell said he 5202 were requested by the
was involved in a couple of communities,” Smith said,
key appropriations, including “and then I negotiated on their
the $1.5 million for the ongo- behalf, as a member of the full
ing restoration of the Historic Ways and Means (Committee)
Rivoli Theater in downtown and the Capital Construction
Pendleton.
Subcommittee.”
The amount is not
He said a big high-
a big ask compared
light is the $4.59
million for the North-
to the totality of
Oregon’s multi-billion
east Oregon Regional
dollar budget, Hansell
Acute Care Center
said, but it was at the
that will be in the
top of his to-do list.
Hermiston area.
“So this was my
He said the facil-
priority this time,” he
Hansell
ity will be a “naviga-
tion center” — a place
said, “and we got it.”
He credited
for people suffering
Andrew Picken, pres-
behavioral or mental
ident of the Rivoli
distress who “need a
place to to chill out for
Restoration Coali-
tion and his team for
a couple of days” but
“just doing a marvel-
have not broken any
ous job” of restor-
laws.
ing the iconic theater
Levy
A n av igat ion
and working toward
center came out of
the 2021 session, but
reinvigorating it as
that is at the western
a performing arts
center.
end of his district in
“I remember going
The Dalles. Smith
to the Rivoli when I
said that’s quite a
was a kid,” he said.
drive for police from
Hansell explained
Milton-Freewater, for
he fi rst learned of the
Smith
example, especially in
theater project from a
the winter.
presentation Picken made to
This new center could
the Umatilla County Histori- go on property the Port of
cal Society and was eager to Umatilla owns, he said, or
do what he could to help. But even the Columbia Devel-
obtaining funding for the proj- opment Authority site, the
ect took some time.
former location of the U.S.
When the coronavirus Army’s chemical depot near
pandemic hit in 2020, the Hermiston.
Oregon Lottery tanked and
He said while he has tradi-
project funding with it. And tionally worked to obtain state
in the 2021 session, he said he funds for infrastructure and
had to make good on two key capital improvement projects,
Pendleton projects already local governments, including
in the queue: the Umatilla the ports, cities and counties,
County Jail renovation and are doing well there. But when
the Facility for Agricul- it comes to mental and behav-
tural Resource Management ioral health, he said, there are
project — or FARM II — at people in our communities
Blue Mountain Community who are hurting and need the
College.
help.
The 2022 short session,
Still, Smith pointed to
then, was time to go after the $1 million each for infra-
funding for the Rivoli.
structure improvements at
The money should go regional fairgrounds and the
to helping move the project nearly $167,000 each that
along as well as allow the went to a number of smaller
OFF PAGE ONE
cities, including Spray, Fossil,
Condon and Arlington. That
kind of funding to small
towns, he said, is akin to $10
million in Portland.
“Let’s spread the peanut
butter to everyone,” he said.
Ukiah School District
benefi ts
Getting $500,000 for
teacher housing in Ukiah was
another focus, Hansell said.
The village of Ukiah in
southern Umatilla County
has teachers driving there
from as far as Hermiston. In
the winter, when roads can
shut down, that’s a problem
because most Ukiah students
walk to school.
Hansell said Ukiah School
District Superintendent Jim
Reger had the idea to have
housing for teachers to use
during inclement weather or
that could be part of a hiring
package to incentivize a
teacher to live in Ukiah.
Hansell said this is fund-
ing that makes a diff erence to
a community.
Big money comes to La
GrandeProjects in La Grande
received big allocations,
including $4 million to East-
ern Oregon University to
improve its grand staircase
and $1 million for EOU’s
Visual and Performing Arts
Scholarship.
The biggest allocation in
the Union County seat went to
Grande Ronde Hospital Foun-
dation — $5 million for the
hospital’s project to expand its
surgical center and facilities.
Hansell said the hospital
is in the beginning stages of
the $50 million project, and
asking for 10% seemed steep.
In a normal short session,
he said, that kind of fund
request would have been
shoved to the next long session.
So he said he conferred with
his friend and colleague Sen.
Elizabeth Steiner Hayward,
D-Portland, who encouraged
him to apply.
“It ended up getting funded
as well,” he said.
And like the Rivoli Theater
project, Grand Ronde can use
this money to leverage more
grants and funding opportu-
nities, he said.
Not every bill
is a winner
Rep. Bobby Levy, R-Echo,
said the money from the short
session will benefi t her district,
but funding for those projects
was possible only because the
Democrats supported them.
The two key bills she pushed
for, she said, did not make it.
Levy led the charge on
House Bill 4127, which would
have pulled an additional $1
million from the state general
fund into the Oregon Depart-
ment of Agriculture fund to
compensate ranchers for wolf
problems.
She was a chief sponsor
of the bill, along with Smith,
Hansell and fellow Repub-
licans Rep. Mark Owens of
Crane and Sen. Lynn Find-
ley of Vale. But the bill faced
strong opposition from Demo-
crats and environmental
groups and never made it out
of committee.
Likewise, Levy and
Hansell were the chief spon-
sors on HB 4154, which would
have provided $400,000 to
expand the capacity of the fuel
farm at the La Grande/Union
County Airport.
“I didn’t get funding for
either one of them,” she said.
“Those were my top priori-
ties.”
Hansell said he had two
bills, one didn’t even get a
hearing and one he had to “gut
and stuff ” and it still didn’t
go. He said there were 50 bills
with Democrats as chief spon-
sors that moved forward in the
Senate, compared to just four
bills with Republican chief
sponsors.
He also said the short
session was biting off more
than it could swallow.
“We’re trying to do far too
many major policy bills in the
short session,” he said. “It was
never intended for that.”
Hansell said there are two
fronts when it comes to legis-
lation: policy and projects.
Policy proposals he tends to
bring in the long session, he
said, and in this short session
he worked only on projects.
That work involves fi nding
sources to fund everything
from infrastructure improve-
ments to building construc-
tion.
He said that takes building
relationships, collaboration
and teamwork to deliver funds
to crucial projects in Eastern
Oregon.
“That’s rewarding as well,”
he said.
Saturday, March 5, 2022
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Elizabeth Doherty smiles on stage Wednesday, March 2,
2022, after receiving the Outstanding Young Citizen of
the Year Award at the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce’s
52nd Annual Distinguished Citizens Awards at the Herm-
iston Community Center.
Gala:
Continued from Page A1
“Because of the people
sitting out here, the people
who live here, people who
work here and people who
raise their families here.
… It is a great commu-
nity.”
The Award of Merit
Christmas Express
received the Award of
Merit.
Hermiston Mayor Dave
Drotzmann presented the
Award of Merit to Christ-
mas Express, describing
the program as “Hermis-
ton’s fi nest hour.”
The Hermiston Police
Depar tment r uns the
all-volunteer program,
now in its 53rd year, that
provides gifts to children
and full holiday dinners
at Christmas time to more
than 500 less fortunate
families in the Hermiston
area.
Hermiston Police Chief
Jason Edmiston accepted
the award.
“This isn’t a police
department event,” Edmis-
ton said. “This is a Hermis-
ton event.”
There are countless
people who donate money
to the program each year,
he said, and hundreds of
locals are involved.
“We gladly accept
this award, and we
will continue with the
program,” Edmiston said.
Other awards
The Midway Bar & Grill
received the Bob Severson
Rotary Business of the Year
Award.
Elizabeth Doher t y
received the Altr usa
Outstanding Young Citizen
Award.
Tricia Mooney, Hermis-
ton School District super-
intendent, announced the
educators of the year:
• Brianna Gilman, special
educator teacher, Herm-
iston High School.
• Ethan McDonald, social
studies teacher, Hermis-
ton High School.
• Kirby Warner, physi-
cal education teacher,
Armand Larive Middle
School.
• Megan Reeve, math
teacher, Sandstone Middle
School.
• Tanya Kennedy, dean of
students, Desert View
Elementary.
• Angie Cooke, fourth
grade teacher, Highland
Hills Elementary.
• Ibbet Radant, instruc-
tional coach, Rocky
Heights Elementary.
• Susan Frink, instructional
coach, Sunset Elementary.
• Brenda Caldwell, instruc-
tional coach, West Park
Elementary.
• ricia Desjarlais, special
educat ion facilit a-
tor, Hermiston School
District.
• And the Hermiston
School District Adminis-
trator of the Year Award
went to Katie Saul, direc-
tor of business services.