REGION
Saturday, March 26, 2022
East Oregonian
A3
Two principals named fi nalists for Pendleton superintendent
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Four
months into its superintendent
search, the Pendleton School
District is down to two candi-
dates.
On Thursday, March 31,
the district will host Kevin
Headings, the principal of
West Park Elementary School
in Hermiston, and Kim Casey,
the principal of Grandview
High School in Grandview,
Washington, to introduce
themselves to the commu-
nity. Each fi nalist will get 45
Casey
Headings
minutes to talk about them-
selves and field questions
from the public 3:30-5:15 p.m.
at the district offi ce, 107 N.W.
10th St.
Headings got his bachelor’s
degree from Bethel College
in Kansas, where he also
started his teaching career
as a middle school teacher.
He soon transitioned his
education career to Oregon,
working as a teacher in the
Lebanon School District and
for Western Mennonite High
School in Salem.
Headings started his career
in public school administra-
tion as a K-6 principal in
Stanfi eld in 2005. Headings
ascended to the superinten-
dent position in 2009 and led
Stanfield for several years
before moving to West Park
in 2013, where he’s remained
PENDLETON
Council candidates hard to come by
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Pend-
leton voters won’t offi cially
fi nish picking their preferred
candidates for city council
until May 17, but the races
eff ectively ended on March 8.
That day marked the
fi ling deadline for fi ve city
council seats up for election
in 2022. But a lack of inter-
est meant only one candi-
date filed for each seat,
all but assuring them new
terms and negating a need
for campaigning.
While Pendleton voters
won’t get much of a choice
th is May, com mu n it y
members seemed much
more interested in joining
the council two years ago.
When former Councilor
Paul Chalmers resigned in
October 2020, the council
received nine applications
to replace him.
The council chose banker
Steve Campbell to f ill
Chalmers’ at-large seat, and
because Chalmers resigned
between his reelection and
the start of his new term,
Campbell is on the ballot
again this year. But no one
else from the group fi led to
run for election in 2022.
Roy Jones, the lodging
director at Wildhorse Resort
& Casino, was the runner-up
to Campbell back in 2020.
In an interview, Jones
said applying for the vacant
seat on the council felt like
answering a call for volun-
teers, and he wanted to give
back to his community.
Although he was commit-
ted to stewarding the seat for
the next two years if he was
chosen, Jones said he wasn’t
sure if he was interested in
running for offi ce.
“Running for office is
a little more of a diff erent
thing than appointment,” he
said.
Jones said he thought that
Campbell was a “fantas-
tic choice,” and he wasn’t
sure he would have applied
if he had known Campbell
was also seeking the seat.
After the council made
the appointment, Camp-
bell invited Jones to join
the Pendleton Develop-
ment Commission’s advi-
sory committee, a group
that helps craft policy for
the urban renewal district
before it goes in front of the
full commission, and he’s
happy to contribute to the
city in that role.
Lonnie Read was another
candidate who vied for a seat
in 2020 but took a pass in
2022.
A retired accountant,
Read said he was fresh from
leaving his job in 2020 and
looking to jump into some-
thing right away. But after
the council passed him over,
he learned that he enjoyed
the extra time for travel and
family retirement aff orded
him. Read left the door
open to seeking offi ce in the
future, but 2022 was not the
right time for him.
Not every local elec-
tion is dealing with a lack
of interest. All but one
municipal race in Hermis-
ton is contested. And both
seats up for election for the
Umatilla County Board of
Commissioners are heavily
contested.
But for many city coun-
cil and school board seats,
attracting only one or no
candidates to a race is the
rule rather than the excep-
tion.
In 2021, every school
board race was contested
for the fi rst time in years. But
just two years prior, one of
the races had to go to write-in
votes because no candidates
fi led. In Milton-Freewater,
contested city council races
have become rare in recent
years. And in most years, all
races for Helix City Coun-
cil go to write-in votes after
nobody fi les for any seats.
Pendleton Mayor John
Tu r ner did n’t express
surprise that the Pendleton
City Council didn’t attract
more candidates.
Turner said city coun-
cilors have to take satisfac-
tion in the work that they do
while dealing with angry
constituents, their only
direct compensation a small
stipend. Residents who are
only interested in one or two
local issues tend not to be
good fi ts on the council.
While voters not being
able to make a choice on
local elections could be
perceived as a blow to local
democracy, Turner took a
more optimistic view, saying
that it was evidence that
people were broadly satis-
fi ed with the council’s work.
It was an opinion echoed
by Jones and Read.
“I have faith in the sitting
city council,” Read said.
ever since. He holds a master’s
degree in educational leader-
ship from the University of
Oregon.
Casey is based out of
Grandview, a town of nearly
11,000 people situated half-
way between Kennewick and
Yakima. She got her start as a
high school business educa-
tion teacher, but also taught
at the postsecondary level
through stints as an adult
education teacher at Yakima
Valley College and as an
adjunct professor at Eastern
Washington University.
Casey transitioned to
administration in 2013
when she became prin-
cipal of Compass High
School, Grandview’s alter-
native high school, and then
took over Grandview High
School two years later. She
holds bachelor’s and master’s
degrees from Central Wash-
ington University, a master’s
degree in business adminis-
tration from the University
of Phoenix and is work-
ing on her superintendent
credential from Washington
State University.
The Pendleton School
Board will deliberate about
the candidates following the
fi nal round of interviews and
could make a decision on
April 1 at the earliest. The
board expects to formally
hire a new superintendent at
its April 11 board meeting.
Both Headings and Casey
are vying to replace Super-
intendent Chris Fritsch, who
announced his impending
retirement in November.
The new superintendent is
expected to start their posi-
tion on July 1.
Council adds youth advisors
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — The
next Hermiston City Coun-
cil meeting will take place
with new youth advisors, as
well as a public hearing on
the South Hermiston Indus-
trial Park and city pensions.
The meeting is Monday,
March 28, at 7 p.m. at the
Hermiston Community
Center, 415 S. Highway 395.
Hermiston Assistant
City Manager Mark Morgan
on March 25 expressed
excitement over the city’s
new youth advisors as he
previewed the meeting.
The advisors, he said, are
12 Hermiston High School
students, who will be sitting
shoulder-to-shoulder with
city councilors during the
meeting. They were intro-
duced at a previous city
council meeting.
“It’ll be interesting,”
Morgan said.
T he teenagers, he
added, will not be voting on
anything but will be asked
for their input on issues
during the meeting.
Morgan said it will be
a learning opportunity
for everyone involved.
The students, he said, will
have the chance to see how
government works. But
city offi cials should learn,
too, he said.
Young people, Morgan
said, have a diff erent perspec-
tive than older people do.
While elders have the bene-
fi t of experience, youngsters
have a vested interest in the
future. Likely to live longer
than older people, young
people generally want to
preserve resources and build
for a better tomorrow, he
said.
This being the case, the
assistant city manager said
he was looking forward to
what the new youth advisory
board will have to say.
Young people have
attended city council meet-
ings in the past, Morgan said.
They have never, to Morgan’s
recollection, though, had
a position like they will
on Monday, at least not in
Hermiston. Morgan stated
that there are cities that have
done what Hermiston is now
starting, and it has worked
well for those involved.
City Manager Byron
Smith and a Hermiston High
School civics teacher came
together to arrange this proj-
ect, Morgan said.
“We’ll see where it goes,”
he added.
On the agenda
The new youth advisors
will have opportunities to
weigh in on at least a couple
of agenda items. One of
these items relates to SHIP,
the industrial park west
of Highway 395 and near
the Walmart Distribution
Center. Visitors to the city
council meeting will be able
to voice their opinions, too,
as this is a public hearing.
Morgan said he is off er-
ing good news to landown-
ers with property at the park.
Improvements to the park,
he said, were estimated at
$2.9 million. The fi nal cost,
however, is $1.99 million,
thanks to savings made by
the city, he said.
Landowners will each
pay a portion of these costs,
so they should be happy that
the project is under budget,
Morgan said.
At the meeting, the land-
owners will be informed
about their opportunities
to pay their debt in install-
ments.
Also on the agenda, the
council will vote on Reso-
lution 2215, which would
authorize the issuance of
approximately $15,445,054
in pension obligation
bonds to address the city’s
unfunded pension liability
and reduce its overall costs
with regards to ongoing
PERS contributions, accord-
ing to the agenda.
Morgan explained the
resolution is akin to “refi -
nancing your mortgage,
borrowing money at a
cheaper rate.”
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