REGION
Tuesday, March 15, 2022
MORROW COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT
Superintendent search
cut to three candidates
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
HEPPNER — The search
for a new Morrow County
School District superinten-
dent is down to three.
One district employee,
Mathew Combe, is among
the fi nalists. The other two,
Chester Bradshaw and Jose
Silva, are working in Idaho
and Nevada, respectively.
“Any of the three could
potentially do a good job for
us,” Becky Kindle, Morrow
County School District board
chair, said.
The district released the
names of the prospective
superintendents, as well
as information about each
candidate in a recent press
release.
Bradshaw is superinten-
dent at Sugar Salem School
District in Sugar City, Idaho,
near the state’s border with
Wyoming. The district has
about 540 students, accord-
ing to the National Center for
Education Statistics, while
Morrow County School
District has closer to 2,200.
Bradshaw holds a education
specialist degree from Idaho
State University.
Silva is principal of the
Kermit R. Booker Sr. Inno-
vative Elementary School
with the Clark County School
District in Las Vegas. He
holds a master’s in education
from Sierra Nevada College
and a doctorate of education
from Argosy University.
Combe is the director of
maintenance and facilities
and a principal in the district.
Other credentials include
being a regional alternative
education coordinator with
the Union Baker Education
Service District, as well as a
master’s degree in education
from Sierra Nevada College.
He works for Heppner
Junior/Senior High School.
The Teacher Standards
and Practices Commission
of Oregon fi led a report on
Combe regarding a matter
in 2004 that resulted in a
30-day suspension in 2009.
The report provides a stipu-
lation of facts, including an
admission of submitting one
or more travel reimbursement
claims when he was a teacher
at Union Baker Education
Service District. It states he
claimed “mileage that he did
not incur while employed by
the UBESD.”
“He claimed reimburse-
ment for personal mileage
when he actually drove a
UBESD vehicle on busi-
ness, or when he did not
make the trip claimed,” the
report states. “Mr. Combe
asserts that these reimburse-
ments were actually related
to other, non-travel, work-re-
lated expenses, and that he
had followed his supervi-
sor’s direction in categoriz-
ing them as travel-expense
reimbursement requests.”
The stipulation of facts
within the report also
mentions that Combe “coop-
erated with, and assisted, law
enforcement offi cials in their
investigation into wide-rang-
ing allegations of impropri-
East Oregonian
A3
Gun show attracts fi rearms enthusiasts
ety involving a number of
UBESD staff and adminis-
trators.”
The conclusion of the
report is Combe did submit
improper claims for travel
reimbursement and his
conduct “constituted gross
neglect of duty.”
School district looks
for positivity in new
superintendent
Board Chair Kindle said
she was not concerned about
the past impropriety. She said
the board is happy with all of
its remaining candidates.
“We went through a long
process and spent a long time
in our screening committee
and board and reviewed all
candidates, and those were
the ones that we wanted to
revisit some more,” she said.
She acknowledged the
fi nal choice, whoever it is,
will be following a superin-
tendent who has “done a good
job.”
As the outgoing superin-
tendent, Dirk Dirksen said
he is not part of the selection
process for his replacement.
He did, however, off er a few
words on the sort of person he
would like to see hired.
He said the person who
ends up filling his shoes
should be “one who looks
into the future” and makes
decisions based on student
needs.
“We’ve just gone through
a two-year cycle where
everything’s been kind of,
I’m just going to say, in a
bad place with mandates and
politics and things like that,”
Dirksen said. “We just need
to work on a positive atti-
tude and a positive outlook
of what we’re going to see in
the future in education.”
The school district stated
the fi nalists would be gath-
ered Tuesday and Wednes-
day, March 15 and 16, for
discussion. They were
scheduled to meet with staff ,
students and community
members.
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
A visitor to the Pendleton Gun Show inspects a fi rearm on Saturday, March 12, 2022, at the Pendleton Convention
Center. The Pendleton City Club sponsors the gun show and uses the proceeds for youth activities.
UMATILLA COUNTY
Sheriff’s offi ce seeks fleet upgrades
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The
Umatilla County Board of
Commissioners considers
a big request Wednesday,
March 16, to upgrade the
fl eet of vehicle for the sher-
iff ’s offi ce.
The sheriff’s office is
seeking approval to replace
eight Dodge Durango police
vehicles.
• Five fully equipped
Dodge Durango police pack-
age patrol vehicles at a cost
of $84,346 per year for four
years.
• One equipped Dodge
Durango police package
patrol vehicle at a cost of
$10,542.75 per year for four
years. The cost is less for
this vehicle, according to
the sheriff ’s offi ce, because
it is reusing equipment from
another vehicle.
• One fully equipped
Dodge Durango police pack-
age vehicle for the captain for
$17,569.54 per year for four
years. This lease includes
equipment and installation
costs for a transport van for
the jail the sheriff ’s offi ce
already owns.
• And one Dodge Durango
for the detective for $15,089.71
per year for four years.
The upgrades are neces-
sary to maintain the fleet
program in the most eff ec-
tive and efficient manner,
according to a memo from
the sheriff’s office to the
county board and due to
supply chain shortages.
The sheriff’s office is
asking the county board for
approval to proceed with the
lease of the eight vehicles
with Bancorp and ERS for a
total annual cost of $127,549
per year for four years.
The Umatilla County
Board of Commissioners
have a number of additional
matters to move through when
it meets starting at 9 a.m. at
the Umatilla County Court-
house, 216 S.E. Fourth St.,
Pendleton, in room 130.
The board is holding two
public hearings on trail plans
and considering the proposal
to expand the Greater Herm-
iston Enterprise Zone.
The enterprise zone
proposal is near the top of
the board’s agenda. The
Hermiston City Council
during its meeting Feb. 28
approved a resolution for
the expansion of the zone,
which adds approximately
1.34 square miles to the
zone outside the city limits.
The change also requires
the approval of the county
commissioners.
The public hearings are
part of the process for the
county to adopt or reject
the concept plans for the
Umatilla River Trail and
Blue Mountain Region Trail.
The Umatilla River Trail
would connect the cities of
Umatilla, Hermiston, Stan-
fi eld and Echo, with a focus
along the Umatilla River
while using existing trails
and paths. Stakeholder and
public involvement helped
develop the plan, according
to the memo to the county
board.
The Walla Walla Valley
Metropolitan Planning
Organization with the
support of the National
Park Service developed
the Blue Mountain Region
Trails Plan, which calls for
using existing sidewalks and
proposed sidewalk paths,
multi-use trails, paved paths
and unpaved trails. The plan
covers Milton-Freewater
and portions of northeast-
ern Umatilla County.
The board starts off
the meeting with presen-
tations from the Umatilla
Basin Watershed Council
and Barnett & Moro P.C.,
of Hermiston, which will
deliver its report on the audit
for fi scal year 2021.
For more information and
access to the full meeting
agenda, visit https://www.
co.umatilla.or.us/depart-
ments/bcc.
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