INSIDE ALL ABOARD FOR THE SUMPTER VALLEY RAILROAD IN GO!
MA Y 18–
25,
THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022
146th Year, No. 56
WINNER OF 16 ONPA AWARDS IN 2021
LOCAL ELECTION COVERAGE
Morrow
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schools
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UMATILLA COUNTY
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HERMISTON
Old
and
new
Two challengers
lead the day in
Hermiston City
Council races
Helix, M-F voters
back measures
for rec facilities
By JOHN TILLMAN
East Oregonian
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Ballot
measures to fund recre-
ational facilities in Helix and
Milton-Freewater passed in
the primary election Tues-
day, May 17. But a Morrow
County general obligation
bond to fund educational
infrastructure projects failed.
Voters in Morrow County
rejected Measure 25-87
to fund a slew of school
improvements 1,305-798
votes, or 68.1% to 38%,
according to preliminary
results from the Oregon
Secretary of State’s election
website.
Morrow County School
District Superintendent
Dirk Dirksen said the district
is disappointed about the
outcome.
“We worked very hard
to inform our communities
about the bond and how it
could improve our facilities,
but we acknowledge that this
is a challenging time to pass a
bond,” he said. We continue
to be committed to student
success in all our schools.”
Dirksen said he appreci-
ates all of the district staff
who worked on the bond
information campaign and
the eff orts of the county-wide
political action committee to
support the measure.
The bond would have
funded projects in Board-
man, Heppner and Irrigon,
at all of the district’s eight
schools and the district offi ce.
The bond would have
raised $138 million, and the
school district would have
received a matching grant
from the Oregon School
Capital Improvement Match-
ing Program of $4 million. A
total of $142 million would
have been available for proj-
ects.
Dirksen, who is retir-
ing June 30, said he did
not know when the district
would consider going out for
another bond.
“The stars didn’t line up
this time,” he said. “There
HERMISTON — The
Hermiston City Council is
more or less decided for the
coming year.
Though vote totals will
change as ballot counting
continues from the Tuesday,
May 17, primary, leading
candidates expressed confi -
dence and spoke of their feel-
ings about their campaigns
and their priorities moving
forward.
All election results are
preliminary and from the
Oregon Secretary of State’s
elections tracker.
See Measures, Page A7
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Umatilla County commissioner candidate Susan Bower, left, and Hannah Mabbot check early primary results Tuesday,
May 17, 2022, at a gathering at the Backfi re Station in Pendleton. Bower has a narrow lead over Cindy Timmons, and
the two are heading to a runoff in November.
Heading to runoff s
None seeking commissioner seats have won majorities
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
MATILLA COUNTY
— Both races for seats
on the Umatilla County
Board of Commission-
ers right now are head-
ing to a November run-off .
A little more than 100 votes sepa-
rate Susan Bower of Pendleton and
Cindy Timmons of Milton-Freewater
in the race for Position 1, with Bower
in the lead 3,120-3,013, or 27.8% of the
total for Bower to 26.8% for Timmons.
All election results are prelimi-
nary and from the Oregon Secretary
of State’s elections tracker.
Incumbent John Shafer is running
for reelection to Position 2 on the
U
county board. He won 5,278 votes,
outdistancing HollyJo Beers who
received 3,110 and Rick Pullen who
garnered 2,632 votes. While Shafer
received thousands of votes more than
either challenger, he came away with
47.7% of the vote, not crossing that
50% plus 1 total he would need to run
unopposed on the ballot in the general
election. That puts him and Beers in
the runoff for the general election.
Bower said she considers this an
exciting time for Umatilla County.
While she, Timmons nor Beers made
any point about their gender during the
run-up to the primary, three women
now are running for the county board.
Bower said she already has heard
from women in their 20s and 30s who
said these results encourage them to
consider seeking offi ce in Umatilla
County.
Moreover, Bower said she is
looking forward to continuing the
campaign.
“I think it’s going to be a wonderful
race,” she said. “Cindy and I both are
very professional, we’re both commu-
nity-minded. I think the public is going
to like this race.”
Rather than campaign about attack-
ing other candidates, Bower said, she
is committed to continuing that focus
on community.
“The target will remain the same,”
she said. “It’s all about community,
and all about the entire county and the
cities within it.”
the nonpartisan position
of commissioner of the
Bureau of Labor and Indus-
tries
But with 47% of the
vote, she’s falling short of
the 50% required to skip a
run-off in November.
If current trends hold,
she would face former Rep.
Cheri Helt, R-Bend, who
has 19% of the vote, in the
general election.
Ya m h i l l C o u n t y
Commissioner Casey Kulla
was third with just more
than 14%.
Soon after the polls had
closed at 8 p.m., challenger
Jackie Linton led incum-
bent Lori Davis. That margin
maintained throughout
the night and into the next
day. The morning of May
18, Linton had 834 votes to
Davis’ 747 (52.6% to 47.1%).
This is the closest race for
Hermiston City Council, and
Linton expressed gratitude
to Councilor Davis, whom
Linton said she would contact
soon.
“I feel awesome. I’m very
excited about it,” she said
about the contest that put her
against a three-term council
member. “I’m happy that the
race was respectful. It was
about the issues we believe in;
we were happy for each other
for running.”
A substitute teacher and
active community member,
she said she wants to focus on
housing, homelessness and
police.
“The police department is
short four offi cers, and that’s
probably going to be my
number one thing, trying to
fi gure out, with the other city
councilors, where to get the
money to hire those four offi -
cers,” she said.
She stated that she is
concerned about the focus
on internet connectiv-
ity improvement, which
See Oregon, Page A7
See Hermiston, Page A7
See Runoff s, Page A7
Oregon election results rundown
Oregon Capital Bureau
and East Oregonian
Drazen leads
Republican governor
primary
Former House Repub-
lican Leader Christine
Drazan of Canby leads the
19 Republicans seeking
the party’s nomination for
governor.
Drazen has 23.3% of the
vote as of 2 p.m. Wednes-
day, May 18, with Bob Tier-
nan in second with 18.3%
and Stan Pulliam in third
with 9.9%. Kerry McQuis-
ten of Baker City was in
fi fth with 8.7%
Tiernan late in the after-
noon May 18 conceded the
race and wished Drazen
good luck in the campaign.
Kotek wins Democrat
governor primary
Former Oregon House
Speaker Tina Kotek domi-
nated the 15-candidate fi eld
for the Democratic nomi-
nation for governor and
likely facees Drazan in the
November election.
Kotek racked up large
totals in her base in Port-
land. Treasurer Tobias Read
of Beaverton conceded late
May 17.
Kotek was leading with
56% as of 2 p.m. May 18,
Read 32%, with Patrick
Starnes, the 2018 Indepen-
dent Party nominee who
ran as a Democrat this time,
with 2%, and others trailing
as of early May 18.
Stephenson on
top for race for
Oregon State Labor
Commissioner
Portland labor lawyer
Ch ristina Stephenson
had a large edge over her
six rivals in the race for
Ward 1 (northwest
Hermiston)
State braces for a challenging fi re season
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin, File
Columbia Gorge are espe-
cially vulnerable this year.
To alleviate some of the
stress of extended drought
and increasingly large wild-
fi res, the Oregon Legislature
passed Senate Bill 762 in 2019,
adding funding for additional
personnel and equipment, like
air tankers and helicopters.
Brown claimed Oregon
has one of the best response
systems in the country, but
the new funding will help
keep resources from being
maxed out when fi re season
arrives. The governor also
stressed prevention to curb the
outbreak of wildfi res.
A fi refi ghter in 2018 uses a drip torch to set fi re to a section of underbrush during a prescribed
burn near Camp Sherman in Jeff erson County.
See Fire, Page A7
By KATY NESBITT
For EO Media Group
SALEM — Despite a
long winter and cold and wet
spring, Oregon fi re authorities
are preparing for a challenging
season.
During a press conference
on Monday, May 16, Gov.
Kate Brown highlighted the
state’s challenges — despite
the state’s rainfall the past
two months, there are many
places experiencing a “mega”
drought, with worse condi-
tions expected to continue.
Early indications, Brown
said, are that southern
Oregon and the east side of
the Cascades along with the
P