REGION
Thursday, April 14, 2022
East Oregonian
A3
Hermiston City Council candidates make their cases
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
Spicerkuhn vs.
McCarthy
HERMISTON — Toward
the end of a candidate forum
Tuesday, April 12, in Herm-
iston, a couple of city coun-
cil candidates pointed out
distinctions between this
event and ones like it at
higher echelons of govern-
ment.
“City council is diff erent,”
Roy Barron said.
A n incu mbent who
is running for reelection
May 17, Barron stated this
sort of forum is more conten-
tious on state and federal
levels.
Sharing this sentiment,
candidate David McCarthy
voiced his approval of the
entire group of candidates,
including his opponent.
“Anyone here would do a
good job,” McCarthy said.
Most of the city council
candidates in the upcoming
election participated in the
forum, which the Hermiston
Chamber of Commerce orga-
nized and held at the Hermis-
ton Community Center.
Four of eight seats, all
ward positions, are up for
election this year. Three of
the incumbents each a single
opponent.
Jack ie Myer s, cit y
councilor for Ward 3, is
running unopposed and was
not present.
Spicerkuhn was first
appointed to the council and
then won an uncontested
special election in March
2021 to retain his seat. At
the forum, he spoke of his
community involvement and
his work as a lawyer. His
background in law, he said, is
helpful to the council. Also,
he said he is interested in help-
ing small businesses grow in
Hermiston.
The incumbent pointed
out that Nike is in the Port-
land area because it started
there and grew. The next big
Hermiston company, he said,
could be one that starts small,
becomes successful and
expands. For that reason, the
city should fi nd ways to help
its small businesses.
McCarthy, a past city coun-
cilor, spoke of his community
involvement and volunteer
work. A sales manager for
local radio station KOHU, he
is someone, he said, who loves
his town and wants to see it
thrive.
McCarthy spoke of his
interest to improve walkabil-
ity in Hermiston, as well as
boosting internet, attracting
apartment and house develop-
ers, adding new infrastructure
and developing the city’s rela-
tionship with the Hermiston
Chamber of Commerce.
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Hermiston City Council candidates express their views at a candidate forum Tuesday, April 12, 2022, at the Hermiston Com-
munity Center.
Candidates present were
Lori Davis, Ward 1 councilor
and her challenger, Jackie
Linton; Barron, Ward 2
councilor and his challenger,
Stan Stradley; and Phillip
Spicerkuhn, Ward 4 coun-
cilor and his challenger,
McCarthy.
Angela Pursel, Hermiston
business owner, moderated
the forum. She had candi-
dates present opening and
closing statements and in
between asked them ques-
tions about important topics
of the day. The questions
were of her own making.
Val Hoxie, chamber exec-
utive director, said she was
pleased with the questions,
which hit upon important
topics in the town: homeless-
ness, internet connectivity,
housing and the city’s growth.
Davis vs. Linton
Davis spoke of her expe-
rience on the council, having
won her seat in 2010. Her
priorities, she said, include
capital improvement projects,
the Eastern Oregon Trade and
Event Center, youth activities,
the police department and
broadband internet service.
After seeing the city work for
years on solving its homeless
problem, she said it must forge
partnerships with the county.
She also praised the city for
its growth. New infrastruc-
ture, she said, was important
to encouraging housing devel-
opment. She said she wants
to continue working on these
projects.
Linton spoke on her desire
to improve veterans’ services,
mental health, housing and
Pendleton fi nalizes superintendent
contract; hires new principal
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The
Pendleton School Board offi -
cially made Kevin Headings
the next district superintendent
at a Monday, April 11, meeting.
The board originally made
its announcement on April 2,
but members did not approve
a contract with Headings until
the meeting. Headings, the
principal of West Park Elemen-
tary School in Hermiston and
a former Stanfield School
District superintendent, is
taking over for Superintendent
Chris Fritsch, who is retiring at
the end of June.
The district will pay Head-
ings $162,500 per year for his
services. In addition to health,
retirement and vacation bene-
fi ts, Headings will also receive
a monthly travel allowance and
tuition reimbursements should
he decide to return to school.
Headings will start with
Pendleton on July 1.
Headings wasn’t the only
hire the district made. The
board approved the hiring of
Angela Lattin to become the
Pendleton Early Learning
Center’s second-ever principal.
When the district fi nished
turning the old Hawthorne
School into the Pendleton
Early Learning Center in
2015, Pendleton named Lori
Hale as the facility’s fi rst prin-
cipal. When Hale announced
the 2021-22 school year would
be her last before retirement,
the district turned to a person
who had experience leading
a school that was partially
inspired by the Pendleton
Early Learning Center.
Lattin is the principal of the
Baker Early Learning Center,
a 2-year-old school that off ers a
similar focus to its counterpart
in Pendleton: kindergarten,
Head Start and other organi-
zations dedicated toward early
childhood education. Lattin
said much of her focus during
her time as principal has been
on cultivating community
partnerships to help round out
the Baker center’s services.
“I got to see it from the
construction (and) remodel
all the way to opening, having
kids in-person after going
distance learning for a while,”
she said. “It’s been a great
experience.”
Prior to helping launch the
Baker center, Lattin served as
a dean of students at Brook-
lyn Primary School in Baker
City. And before getting into
administration, Lattin was in
the “teaching world,” includ-
ing stints as a middle school
teacher in Vale and for a
migrant summer program in
Nyssa.
While Lattin has worked
in several Eastern Oregon
communities over the years,
she said she hopes to make
her new job at the Pendleton
Early Learning Center the last
before retirement. Besides the
professional appeal of working
there, Lattin said Pendleton is
within driving distance of her
children.
When the Baker School
District was looking into
starting its own early learn-
ing facility, she was a part of
the contingent that stopped
in Pendleton to research how
early learning schools oper-
ated. She said she’s looking
to continue the work Hale
started.
“Early learning is probably
the most important point in our
kids’ education,” she said. “I’m
excited to be in another center
where I can continue what I’m
doing.”
Superintendent Fritsch said
the district had four qualifi ed
candidates to choose from, but
the hiring panel was impressed
by Lattin’s experience in early
learning and how she planned
to translate that experience
into helping Pendleton.
Like Headings, Lattin’s fi rst
day with the district is slated
for July 1.
job training. Hermiston, she
said, faces some difficult
days ahead, but it can meet
the needs of its residents if it
remains committed to caring
for people in need. In addi-
tion, she said, the town can
use four new police offi cers.
Both candidates spoke of
their involvement in the city.
Each serves on city boards
and volunteers. Linton is a
frequent visitor and speaker
at city council meetings.
County on homelessness are
a couple of his priorities, he
said. And he stated he wants
to see more public and private
partnerships, as what is being
done currently in Hermiston.
“Hermiston is a town —
but one that is transitioning,”
he said.
He added it should continue
to grow, though it should
maintain its small-town feel.
Stradley, former Umatilla
County Housing Authority
executive director, retired
in 2019, said housing is an
important issue. We must, he
said, draw in developers and
work on making aff ordable
housing.
“There are ways to do it,” he
said. “I have the experience.”
In addition, he spoke
on mental health and drug
recovery services.
Barron vs. Stradley
A special education
teacher, Barron said he is
driven to serve others. He was
fi rst appointed to his seat in
2018 and won his fi rst elec-
tion in 2019. He said he has
learned much in the last few
years. Funding the police
and working with Umatilla
LOCAL BRIEFING
Hermiston sewer
upgrades close
North First Place
HERMISTON — The
fi rst of three major capital
improvement projects in
Hermiston to upgrade under-
ground utilities, road surface
and overall access on North
First Place begins the week
of Monday, April 18.
Mark Morgan, Hermis-
ton assistant city manager,
in a press release reported
the road will be closed near
the intersection of North
First Place and Ridgeway
Avenue beginning next week
as utility crews bore under
the street and nearby railroad
line to tie a gravity sewer line
into the existing main. The
work and road closure is
expected to continue as late
as May 31.
The Hermiston Capital
Improvement Plan initially
called for replacement of
the 41-year-old mechanical
pump at lift station No. 3,
but after further study the
city opted to replace it with
a gravity sewer main.
“After looking at the
costs and benefi ts of a new
pump versus a gravity main,
we found that it not only
saves upfront costs but will
also require less in ongo-
ing maintenance to install
the main,” Morgan said in
the press release. “We had
initially expected to spend
about $900,000 to replace
the pump and motor system,
but by tying into the exist-
ing lines we’ll get the same
benefits for an estimated
$561,924.”
The city reported it slated
two other projects to break
ground in the next year on
North First Place that will
improve the infrastructure
and signifi cantly impact traf-
fi c in the area until late 2023.
He r m iston Capit al
Improvement Plan projects,
timelines, cost estimates and
updates are online at www.
hermistonprojects.com.
— EO Media Group
HELLS
CANYON
RV EXPO
Pendleton Friends of the Library
B OOK S ALE
Pendleton Public Library
502 SW Dorion Ave
APRIL
13-16
FREE ADMISSION
(Closed Sunday)
April 15th & 16th • 10am-5pm
EGGstra Special
PRIZES & MORE!
SPECIAL FINANCING
AVAILABLE
Lower Putting Green
Sunday, April 17 • 8:30-10am
PRIZE FILLED EASTER EGGS
FREE for Children Ages 12 and Under
69772 Hwy 395 South • Pendleton
birchcreekgolfcourse.com
E
M
I
T
E
TH UY IS
TO B
W
O
N
LEWISTON, ID 208-413-6780
SPONSORED BY R’ n R RV LEWISTON