REGION
Tuesday, March 22, 2022
East Oregonian
A3
Baker Boyer Bank to permanently close M-F branch
By HECTOR DEL
CASTILLO
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
M I LT ON - F R E E WA-
TER — Two months after a
water pipe burst and flooded
the building, Baker Boyer
Bank has announced it
will permanently close the
Milton-Freewater branch at
320 N. Columbia St.
June 17 will be the last
day for the Milton-Free-
water branch and its cash
machine, the announcement
on March 14 stated.
Extensive structural repairs
have yet to begin, according to
company President and CEO
Mark Kajita, but the decision to
fold the branch stem more from
their industry transforming in
the age of digital banking.
Fewer and fewer people
actually set foot inside a
bank nowadays, diminishing
the need to invest company
resources in maintaining
several different brick-and-
mortar facilities, he said.
“One of the things we’ve
seen as a trend going back the
last decade has been fewer
in-person banking transac-
tions through our entire branch
system,” Kajita said. “We’ve
seen more and more people
really embrace the mobile app
and digital banking they can do
on their laptop. That’s caused
in-person transactions to go
down dramatically — and the
pandemic sped that up.”
Clients with a safe deposit
box inside the Milton-Free-
water bank now can relo-
cate them, at no cost, to any
of the other six Baker Boyer
branches.
There are no plans to close
any of the other branches at this
time, the company stated.
No layoffs will result from
the Milton-Freewater closure,
with employees already having
been reassigned to other loca-
tions.
Meanwhile, news of the
closure has caused some alarm
among account holders.
“Most were just wonder-
Greg Lehman/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, File
Two of about 20 fans dry water from a burst pipe Jan. 4, 2022,
at the Milton-Freewater branch of Baker Boyer Bank. The
bank is closing the branch permanently effective June 17.
ing if they have to do anything
to keep their account,” Kajita
said of the 60 calls the bank
received as of March 15, a day
after the permanent closure
was announced. “Do they need
to do anything, or are there any
fees — things like that. Most
were understanding of why this
is happening.
“Everybody’s sad about it,
and that includes us, but it’s
really just part of the evolution
of the banking industry.”
Digital banking is the future
An increasing number
everyday banking tasks, such
as deposits and transfers, are
possible for account holders at
all hours, at their convenience,
through their personal comput-
ers and mobile devices.
The rise of cashless
payments has lessened trips to
the bank for withdrawals.
“Prior to digital banking, a
lot of the transactions people
would come into the bank for
would be depositing checks
into their personal accounts,”
Kajita said. “But now that
can be done on a mobile app.
It’s caused a lot of people,
especially younger people, to
stop coming in. I think if you
asked someone of Gen Z or the
millennial generation when
was the last time they set foot
inside a bank, most would tell
you it was a long time ago.”
It’s gotten to the point
where more banks now are
going digital-only, but Kajita
insisted Baker Boyer has no
plans to ever abandon all of
its establishments — not after
152 years in the Walla Walla
Valley.
“That’ll never be the case
with Baker Boyer,” he said.
“We like working with our
clients in person. That’s some-
thing we really value.”
But closing the Milton-Free-
water branch was a business
decision, Kajita said. Instead of
shouldering the cost to repair
and maintain a building used
by fewer and fewer people,
Baker Boyer looks to shift its
time, money and staff toward
more urgent needs.
“We’ve decided to ramp up
how we assist entrepreneurs,”
Kajita said. “It’s a complicated
time with all the new technol-
ogy and the accounting law,
so we’ve decided to invest in
experts of these new venues,
new avenues of entrepreneurial
business ... that’s going to take
a lot of our resources.”
In the meantime, the
Milton-Freewater building
remains property of Baker
Boyer Bank as the company
awaits an insurance report.
“There’s still some exten-
sive wood damage and repairs
necessary to the flooring,”
Kajita said. “Overall, we
haven’t made any decision yet.
We might end up looking for an
entrepreneurial business that
can take the building and call
it their own.”
Umatilla County voters get choices Morrow County School District
announces new superintendent
in only a few races this May
East Oregonian
UMATILLA COUNTY
— Outside of the races for
Hermiston City Council and
the Umatilla County Board of
Commissioners, there won’t
be much choice on Umatilla
County residents’ May 17
ballots.
Umatilla County Elections
Division recently released a
list of all candidates who filed
for races that will appear on
county ballots.
In Milton-Freewater, city
council incumbents Steve
Irving and Wes Koklich are
the only candidates in the
at-large races while Ward 1
Councilor John Lyon also is
running unopposed. A similar
trend happened in Pendleton,
where all five city council seats
up for election attracted only
one candidate, all but assuring
a free pass to new, four-year
terms.
It was a different story in
Hermiston: all but one city
council race is contested and
the municipal judge race
also will have a competitive
election. The only uncon-
tested race is in Hermiston’s
Ward 3, where incumbent
Jackie Myers’ last-minute
entry ensured the race wouldn’t
go to a write-in vote.
The race for two seats on
the Umatilla County Board of
Commissioners also is packed
and no one dropped out before
the deadline. The race for Posi-
tion 1, a seat Commissioner
George Murdock is vacat-
ing, has six candidates, while
Position 2 Commissioner John
Shafer is facing a challenge
from two other candidates.
A couple of city electorates
also will be asked to vote on
tax issues.
In Milton-Freewater,
the city is proposing a tax
that would levy an esti-
mated 32-cent per $1,000
in assessed property value
to raise $500,000 for park
repairs. Projects would include
repairs or replacements at the
Joe Humbert Aquatic Center,
Yantis Park and the municipal
golf course.
In Helix, the parks and
recreation district is asking
voters to approve an estimated
37-cent per $1,000 tax to raise
$1 million over 21 years or
less. The money would go
toward building a new pool,
splash pad and pump house
in addition to making repairs
and improvements to the bath-
house and bathrooms.
LOCAL BRIEFING
Morrow County
shooting suspect
gets murder charge
HEPPNER — Shooting
suspect Caleb Beehler is on
the hook for second-degree
murder in Morrow County.
The district attorney’s
office Friday, March 18,
arraigned Beehler, 39, on the
lone charge following a grand
jury indictment in the shooting
death of Richard Broadbent,
58, according to court records.
Law enforcement was
looking for Beehler in the
wake of the killing March 9 in
northern Morrow County. He
turned himself in at the Herm-
iston Police Department on
March 10.
Defense attorney Dean
Gushwa of Pendleton
represents Beehler, according
to court records, and his next
court date is March 31 for a
status check that could include
setting a bail hearing.
District Attorney Justin
Nelson asked the court to seal
all warrants, the applications
for a search warrant and affi-
davit in support of the search
warrant to anyone except
Beehler’s attorney.
“Disclosure of the infor-
mation in the warrants, appli-
cations for search warrant and
affidavit in support of search
warrants could compromise an
ongoing investigation in that
witnesses, friends, or family
members of said suspect(s),
might destroy evidence, coor-
dinate their stories or even flee
the jurisdiction,” according to
Nelson’s motion. Circuit Judge
Dan Hill granted the request.
PAWS loses in
Furry 4 round of
March Muttness
PENDLETON — The
Pioneer Humane Soci-
et y/ Pendleton A n i mal
Welfare Shelter lost Satur-
day, March 19, in the Furry 4
round of March Muttness, but
the organization still barked
plenty loud.
The local nonprofit in
the round raised $6,246.44,
according to the fundraising
tournament, but the Hermit-
age No-Kill Cat Shelter and
Sanctuary in Tucson, Arizona,
brought in $6,438.75 and
advanced to the championship.
While PAWS fell less than
$200 short of advancing to the
big fundraising face off, it still
raised more in the Furry 4 than
in any other round of the tour-
nament.
“Thank you so much for
all of your support during
#MarchMuttness!,” PAWS
stated on its Facebook page.
Throughout the tourna-
ment, which mirrors March
Madness in college basket-
ball, PAWS raised $15,625 for
its shelter animals.
PAWS also congratu-
lated Hermitage and Oneida
County Humane Society of
Rhinelander, Wisconsin, the
two shelters vying for the title
in the March Muttness Cham-
pionship.
PAWS also stated compet-
ing with the shelters from
all around the country was
an honor.
— EO Media Group
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
MORROW COUNTY
— Mathew Combe will be
the new superintendent of
the Morrow County School
District effective July 1 as
soon as the school board gives
its approval.
The district off ice
announced the decision
to hire Combe in a Friday,
March 18, press release.
“After an exhaustive
search, the Morrow County
School District Board of
Directors is pleased to
announce that Mr. Mathew
Combe will become the
district’s next superinten-
dent,” according to the press
release.
This announcement came
as good news to the current
superintendent, Dirk Dirksen.
“Mat Combe has been a
long time Morrow County
administrator,” Dirksen said.
“He’ll do a real good job.”
Combe was among 13
applicants for the position, the
press release stated, and the
only local candidate among
three finalists.
In the past week, Combe
and other finalists “spent time
in the district meeting with
staff, community members
and high school students
from each of the three high
schools,” according to the
press release. Board members
“conducted extensive refer-
ence checks and final inter-
views before offering Combe
the position.”
Following this decision,
the Morrow County School
District is negotiating with
Combe over his new contract
and is looking to approve the
deal at the April 11 board
meeting.
Combe, the Heppner
Junior/Senior High School
principal, serves the school
district as the director of
maintenance and facili-
ties. The district hired him
in January 2005. In more
recent years, he has served as
elementary school principal
and the director of alternative
education.
Dirksen said the selec-
tion of Combe will “help in
the transition,” as Combe
is someone who knows the
district well. People also
know Combe, Dirksen said,
and other people within the
district will find it easy to
work with him.
The step from principal to
superintendent is something
of which Dirksen is familiar.
He said he already has spoken
with the incoming superinten-
dent about what this promo-
tion will entail.
“I was the building princi-
pal at Riverside (Junior/Senior
High School) before I started
the job 11 years ago, and I
went over some of the things
that I did to prepare myself,”
Dirksen said.
Now, he added, he is work-
ing together with Combe to
ready him to be superinten-
dent.
One of the big things
ahead, Dirksen said, is a
school bond, which will be
on the May 17 ballot. The first
of the county’s school bonds
in more than two decades, it
would give an upgrade to the
district’s schools. If passed, it
would raise $138 million, to
be supplemented with another
$4 million from the Oregon
School Capital Improvement
Matching Program.
“Combe has been actively
involved in the entire bond
process and looks forward to
utilizing his knowledge as the
district moves forward with
hopes of passing their bond,”
the press release states.
As important as this bond
is, though, Dirksen said it
is not the only concern for
Combe, who will need to
“build background” on the
position.
He will need to learn more
about the ins and outs of the
superintendent’s job, Dirksen
said.
“There is a difference
between being a building
administrator on a day-to-day
basis and being a superinten-
dent,” Dirksen said. “I know
that was a very important
thing for me to learn.”
Dirksen said his last day as
Morrow County schools boss
is June 30.
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