Irrigon Comets remember 1955 district championship | SPORTS, A9
TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2022
146th Year, No. 70
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WINNER OF 16 ONPA AWARDS IN 2021
PENDLETON
Taxi debate
resets after
Uber talk
On the
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The Pendleton
City Council at its Tuesday, April 5,
meeting was supposed to consider
an ordinance that would allow ride-
hail services to operate within city
limits. Instead, the council will go
back to the drawing board.
In a report to the city council,
city attorney Nancy Kerns wrote
the situation changed after the
city was able to get in contact with
Uber, the ride-hail giant based out
of San Francisco.
“Uber advises that it would like
to be able to off er its technology
and service to the residents and
visitors of Pendleton,” she wrote.
“However, the ordinance, as previ-
ously proposed, would not enable
Uber to bring their service to this
community. Uber is willing to
participate in conversation aimed
at fi nding a policy which meets
the mutual goals of the parties
involved.”
Kerns’ recommendation was to
“direct staff with plans for future
discussion.”
On April 1, Kerns declined to
comment beyond what was in her
report.
Before talking with Uber, city
staff had negotiated with a group of
Pendleton residents who wanted to
drive for Uber but were prevented
from getting started because of the
city’s taxi ordinance. Represented
by couple Alicia and Jesse Reynen,
a group of aspiring Uber drivers
asked the council to amend its taxi
laws to give ride-hail services a
chance to compete.
The request ran into swift oppo-
sition from Elite Taxi, the city’s
only taxi business. The owners of
Elite argued that competition from
ride-hailing services such as Uber
likely would put them out of busi-
ness. That meant Pendleton would
not only lose taxi services but also
the contractor that provides the city
with its transportation services for
low-income, disabled and senior
residents.
The council eventually directed
city staff to broker a compromise
between the ride-hail drivers and
Elite that would form the basis of a
new ordinance. City staff returned
in March with the framework of a
deal: Elite would operate mostly
during the day and ride-hails
during the evening hours, with
some exceptions made for tourist
events, including the Pendleton
Round-Up. The set-up would be a
part of a pilot program that would
be revisited by the council at a later
date.
Elite told the council it was
satisfi ed with the agreement, but
the ride-hail drivers weren’t sold.
The Reynens said they wanted to
be able to operate 24/7, but they
GREEN
Wildhorse lands LPGA tournament
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
P
Photos by Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
TOP: Julie Steinmetz, of Moses Lake, Washington, tees off Thursday, March 31, 2022, at
the Wildhorse Golf Course. Wildhorse hosts the Wildhorse Ladies Classic on Sept. 2-4,
which will be the 17th stop on the Epson Tour’s 2022 schedule, welcoming professional
female golfers from all over the United States and more than 30 countries. ABOVE: The
Wildhorse Resort & Casino, which has 300 hotel rooms and is near the Wildhorse Golf
Course, will not be able to accommodate all 2,000 professional golfers, volunteers and
fans who come to town for the event.
ENDLETON — Gary
George never played a
round of golf until he
was in his 30s. Now
the CEO at Wildhorse
Resort & Casino, and a
big golf fan, George is
bringing an LPGA qual-
ifying tournament to the
Pendleton area.
The Wildhorse Ladies Classic, which
is an Epson Tour event, will be Sept. 2-4
at Wildhorse Golf Course.
“We have been following the Syme-
tra Tour (now the Epson Tour) for a
while,” George said. “Last year, the
Circling Raven Casino in Coeur d’Alene
brought the event to their place. We
went up and checked it out. The cost
was something we could aff ord to do
as one of the annual events that we do.
I asked to meet with the tournament
director.”
Most of the Epson Tour events are
East of the Mississippi, but George
pitched the idea of a second Northwest
event to the Epson Tour directors.
“They thought it was a great idea,”
George said. “We will be after the Circling
Raven event this year. It’s a two-year
event with an option for a third year. The
players will be able to go from one event
to the other without a lot of travel.”
See Green, Page A6
See Uber, Page A6
Pendleton names Hermiston principal next superintendent
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The Pend-
leton School District stayed local
with its pick for superintendent.
At a special board meeting on
Saturday, April 2, the board unani-
mously voted to enter into contract
negotiations with Kevin Headings,
the principal of Hermiston’s West
Park Elementary School and the
former superintendent of the Stan-
fi eld School District.
Headings had been vying with
Kim Casey, a high school princi-
pal from Grandview, Washington,
to replace Superintendent Chris
Fritsch, who is retiring after fi ve
years in Pendleton.
Both introduced themselves
and fi elded questions at a commu-
nity forum Thursday, March 31,
before meeting with the Pendleton
School Board behind closed doors.
The board deliberated its choice
well into the night, but held off on
ings will start the job on July 1.
While candid board discussion
on the two candidates remains
private, Headings and Casey previ-
ously made a public case for their
“I DON’T REALLY INTERVIEW
WELL AT ALL. MY STRENGTH IS
DOING THE WORK.”
— Kevin Headings, new superintendent of the Pendleton School District
making an offi cial decision until
the minute-long special meeting
on Saturday.
The board expects to come to an
agreement with Headings later this
month. Contract pending, Head-
hiring at the community forums.
Ready to take the helm
During his public interview,
Headings assured community
members this was not the best
format to speak to him in.
“I don’t really interview well at
all,” he said. “My strength is doing
the work.”
Following stints working in
public and private schools in
Kansas, Salem and Lebanon,
Headings arrived in Eastern
Oregon to work in the Stanfi eld
School District, fi rst as a K-6 prin-
cipal and then superintendent.
During that time, Headings said he
worked to make the district more
transparent and improve its percep-
tion in the community.
While he went from superinten-
dent to principal when he took the
job at West Park, he said he made
the move so that he could learn
to lead a larger district under the
See Principal, Page A6