Pendleton’s elite javelin thrower taking talents to BYU | SPORTS, A10
TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 2022
146th Year, No. 76
$1.50
WINNER OF 16 ONPA AWARDS IN 2021
Former EOU student runs for Oregon governor
By ALEX WITTWER
EO Media Group
LA GRANDE — One of the
last Oregon Republican gubernato-
rial candidates fi led his paperwork
for the soon-to-be open seat, and
in doing so, became the fi rst Black
GOP candidate in the state’s history
to run for governor.
Tim McCloud, who grew up in
Tucson, Arizona, and now lives
in Linn County, is a former East-
ern Oregon University student
who works for an aerospace and
defense manufacturer as a business
analyst. During his time at EOU, he
was homeless and supporting his
family, which includes his wife and
While challenging, McCloud said
three daughters — an experience he his experience supporting his family
said gave him a unique perspective while homeless made him stronger
into Oregon’s approach to
and cemented the relation-
addressing homelessness.
ship he had with his wife. He
“I’ve listened to people
said one of the reasons that
offer solutions to home-
led him to homelessness was
lessness that wouldn’t have
the lack of aff ordable hous-
worked for my situation
ing in Oregon.
during a time when I was
Sunriver, in Deschutes
running a small business,
County, has experienced
going to school online at
McCloud
an unprecedented increase
in housing demand, which
Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity for public administration, has sent prices skyrocketing. The
and raising three children from a median home value for Deschutes
campground in Sunriver,” he said. County is $693,000, according to
“Those solutions wouldn’t have Redfi n real estate reports. Mean-
worked for me.”
while, Multnomah County’s median
home value is approximately
$493,000, according to Redfi n.
“I think that was an issue that
pushed me into homelessness was,
you know, having not enough oppor-
tunities for affordable housing,”
McCloud said. “We have to be look-
ing at how we can increase access
to aff ordable housing for all kinds
of Oregonians, but especially those
that don’t prefer to be homeless,
because I think there’s a distinction
to be made.”
McCloud said one of his priori-
ties as governor would be to focus
on developing affordable hous-
ing — including multifamily and
single-family homes by tapping into
Oregon’s massive timber industry,
and building new communities in
Oregon in order to address the hous-
ing crisis.
“It must be a priority. We, right
away, need to be working with
the timber industry to end home-
lessness in Oregon,” he said. “We
have the renewable resources to
do that, and so, with the localized
resource that’s renewable, within
our borders, we should be working
with the developers to set up new
communities of all types, from
multi unit housing to single family
housing and in between.”
See Governor, Page A9
NATION
Study of
Snake River
dams raises
questions
BOUTIQUE AIR
LOOKS TO STAY
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
WASHINGTON — The White
House Council on Environmental
Quality says in a post on its website
that it is studying the fate of four lower
Snake River dams — and the rest of
the Columbia Basin.
In the March 28 post, the council
outlined its eff orts to study breach-
ing the dams, including a March 21
“Nation to Nation” meeting between
federal agencies and leaders of the
tribes of the Columbia River Basin.
“We heard calls to support breach-
ing the four dams on the lower Snake
River to restore a more natural fl ow,
also about the need to replace the
services provided by those dams,
and recognition that such a step
would require congressional action,”
the blog post reads. “We were asked
to consider the Basin holistically
because of its inherent interconnect-
edness.”
A representative of the council
declined to comment.
According to the blog, the coun-
cil last fall convened leaders from the
Bureau of Indian Aff airs, Bureau of
Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, Army
Corps of Engineers and the Bonne-
ville Power Administration.
The group will “build on existing
analyses to identify a durable path
forward that ensures a clean energy
future, supports local and regional
economies and restores ecosystem
function, while honoring longstand-
ing commitments to Tribal Nations,”
the blog states.
“We cannot continue business
as usual. Doing the right thing for
salmon, Tribal Nations and commu-
nities can bring us together. It is time
for effective, creative solutions,”
the blog states.
See Dam, Page A9
Passengers board a
Boutique Airlines fl ight to
Portland, Thursday, April 14, 2022, at the
Eastern Oregon Regional Airport, Pendleton.
Charly Hotchkiss/East Oregonian
Ridership in
Pendleton
on the rise as
small airline
gives notice
to end service,
then changes
direction
By JOHN TILLMAN
East Oregonian
P
ENDLETON — Boutique Air
gave notice in February that
it wants to pull out of Pendle-
ton, but the U.S. Department
of Transportation grounded
that request. And now the
airline is seeking a new
contract.
Oregon Regional Airport Manager
John Honemann said Boutique’s notice
came as the number of passengers fl ying
the small airline in Pendleton began to
increase after falling during the pandemic.
Boutique Air relies on the federal
Essential Air Service program to stay in
business in Pendleton. The U.S. Depart-
ment of Transportation oversees the EAS
program, which subsidizes airlines to
connect communities across the country
that otherwise would not receive sched-
uled air service.
Boutique in 2016 won an EAS contract
for 21 round-trips a week between Pendle-
ton and Portland, with the option to oper-
ate one service a day to Seattle-Tacoma
International Airport instead of Port-
land. The Pendleton City Council in 2018
awarded a four-year, $10.4 million EAS
extension to Boutique. While the U.S.
Department of Transportation foots the
bill, the federal agency follows the local
community’s direction.
The transportation department’s
February list of communities receiv-
ing the subsidy, shows only one place in
Oregon: Pendleton.
Honemann explained the EAS contract
with Boutique was due to expire Dec. 31,
2022, and Boutique submitted a Notice of
Termination of Service to the DOT.
Honemann said the reason for the
notice was economic, with Boutique
citing “wages, fuel costs, Infl ation, supply
chain issues with aircraft parts.” Addi-
tionally, he said, there is a “pilot shortage
and downward pressure on industry as
pilots move up to larger aircraft, and carri-
ers that off er higher salaries.”
The federal transportation department
on Feb. 24 accepted the notice, Honemann
said, and on March 21 issued an order
prohibiting termination of service and
requesting proposals.
See Boutique, Page A9
New ordinance clears way for ride-hails in Pendleton
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Ride-hail
services such as Uber could become
legal in Pendleton as soon as Tuesday,
April 19.
That’s the day the Pendleton City
Council considers a new “Ride for
Hire” ordinance that will repeal and
replace the city’s taxi ordinance and
create a fi ve-month trial period to fi nd
out whether ride-hails and taxis can
economically coexist.
The debate over ride-hails and
their place in Pendleton began at the
city council level in January, when a
group of aspiring Uber drivers went
to a meeting to request the council to
amend its taxi ordinance, which sets
rules for taxi operation that ride-hails
can’t meet. The owners of Elite Taxi,
the city’s only taxi company, quickly
at night while Elite got the daytime
hours. But the Uber corporation got
involved late in the process to oppose
the concept, leading city staff to nix
the idea before it reached the council
for consideration.
The new ordinance will require
ride-hail drivers to obtain licenses
with the city and meet certain insur-
ance and operational requirements,
but both ride-hails and taxis will have
no restrictions on hours of operation
or fares. While the city is looking to
open the gates to Uber, staff still is
Phil Wright/East Oregonian sensitive to Elite’s survival. Elite not
Pendleton City Council at its meeting Tuesday, April 19, 2022, in city hall only operates taxis that run on cash
considers a new ordinance that will replace the city’s taxi ordinance and fare, but also serves as the contrac-
create a fi ve-month trial period to fi nd out whether ride-hail companies, tor for several public transportation
such as Uber, and taxis can coexist economically.
programs for senior, disabled and
low-income residents. In a report to
objected to the request, arguing that
The city attempted to appease both the city council, city attorney Nancy
increased competition from ride-hails sides by assembling a plan that would
would lead to the end of their business. allow ride-hails to operate mostly
See Uber, Page A9