A8
OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Thursday, June 9, 2022
BMCC:
Continued from Page A1
Board member Kim
Puzey of Hermiston voted
against adoption. All other
agenda items passed unani-
mously.
Six board members
attended in person and Bill
Markgraf of Baker City
remotely.
The board had met in
executive session at 5 p.m. to
conduct deliberations with
the college’s labor negotia-
tions team.
Faculty,
administration met
June 3
BMCC administration
met with the faculty union
team for a fi nal time June 3 to
negotiate layoff s in the new
budget.
“The meeting was short
and not unexpected,” BMCC
President Mark Browning
said. “The union did not
bring any new ideas. They
just wanted to know who is
on the layoff list.”
But it’s not the role of
the union to notify employ-
ees, he said, but rather the
college’s because it’s the
employer.
Layoff notices go out
June 7, Browning noted.
“We need to move
f o r w a r d ,” B r o w n i n g
concluded, “and address
student needs. It’s time to
wrap this up.”
McKeon regarded the
meeting as an implementa-
tion session.
“We came to the table
for a polite conversation on
options to save jobs,” she
said. “The administration
didn’t act on them back when
there was time.”
Faculty at risk of losing
their jobs would have liked
a timeline of what to expect,
biology instructor McKeon
added.
“The administration gave
us reason after reason for
not taking our suggestions
to save money elsewhere,
without providing any ideas
themselves,” she continued.
“We tried to maintain a rela-
tionship. We could have had
three days of turnaround, but
the administration said there
were lots of moving parts.”
The union’s collective
bargaining agreement with
the college requires meet-
ings to discuss alternatives,
but also for implementa-
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Marie Ekin, former middle school teacher and Blue Mountain Community College tutor, talks to BMCC board members about
character during the public comment portion of a meeting Monday, June 6, 2022, before the board approved a retrenchment
plan that laid off fi ve faculty members.
tion, McKeon explained.
No implementation meeting
had been held, so the June 3
session satisfi ed that contract
requirement.
A nd t he $627,0 0 0
Amazon gift out of Morrow
County won’t help much,
McKeon said.
With the board’s approval
of the budget, she said the
faculty association could fi le
grievances.
“It’s frustrating to do good
faith bargaining when we
don’t have the full picture,”
she said. “For whatever
reason, the administration
couldn’t or wouldn’t share
their plans with us.”
world is changing. We need
to change with it.”
Browning stated the
Amazon gift in lieu of Morrow
County property taxes helped
to reduce proposed layoffs
from 10 to fi ve.
Funding options
College says
Amazon money saved
teacher jobs
Most of the 11 speakers
during the 30 minute public
comment period June 6 were
full or part time Blue Moun-
tain faculty members.
“It’s time to grow the
college, not cut it,” math and
computer science instructor
Gary Parker said.
McKeon was the final
speaker. She noted other
schools dedicate 40% of their
budgets to full-time instruc-
tion, but BMCC administra-
tion thinks 12% is suffi cient.
“Our greatest asset is
high-quality instructors who
have honed their craft here,”
she said, “which makes them
uniquely suited to serve our
students’ needs.”
Board Chair Don Rice
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Sascha McKeon, biology instructor and president of the Blue
Mountain Community College Faculty Association, watches
the college’s board of educators during a meeting Monday,
June 6, 2022, in Pendleton after the board approved a bud-
get that lays off fi ve faculty members.
of Hermiston recognized
Browning after the public
comment period.
“This has been a jour-
ney and process no one has
enjoyed,” Browning said.
“Reducing faculty is not
something anyone wanted
to do. But we have to face
economic reality. We have
significantly lower enroll-
ment, and a fi duciary respon-
sibility to craft a budget that
refl ects that fact.”
Browning explained why
increased expenses in some
line items were justifi ed, and
why other apparent hikes
were just warranted account-
ing changes. For instance,
even before $5 gas, the
administration knew travel
expenses would increase,
as athletic teams would
travel more than during the
pandemic years.
“We started with a $2
million hole,” he added,
“of which $1.3 million was
personnel. It’s difficult to
overcome. We need to off er
students what they need. The
Rice asked for comments
from fellow board members.
Chris Brown of Heppner
responded to comments from
some speakers.
“This proposed budget
was not drafted in isola-
tion,” he said. “The budget
committee met three times,
rather than the usual once,
and with citizen and faculty
involvement. It was forth-
right fact-seeking. I believe
that our students are our
greatest resource.”
Puzey noted actual cuts
don’t have to go through
until 120 days after notifi -
cations. He suggested sell-
ing or leasing buildings,
seeking scholarships from
business partners, county
governments and the ports
of Umatilla and Morrow. He
also urged faculty members
to leverage the channels to
the community that they’ve
developed to help increase
enrollment.
“I’m hopeful it’s not over
yet,” he said.
Kent Madison of Echo
stressed the importance
of outreach to high school
juniors and seniors, who
might not even k now
that their parents taxes
Lights:
Drones:
Continued from Page A1
Continued from Page A1
In some cases the work
may lead to lane closures.
Crews do not typically need
to turn off the power to
perform the work.
Most work will happen
between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.,
targeting late evening hours
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Springer runs the Volatus
Group, a drone pilot train-
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said there are several reasons
Pendleton has become popu-
lar. High on the list: cost.
“They have a natural
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noting the price of doing
business in Eastern Oregon
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country that already have a
booming tech scene, such as
Texas.
Also, Eastern Oregon
skies are not busy as those
around some other test
ranges.
“They have a great big
Cost savings,
other benefi ts
Installation of LED
fi xtures can reduce street-
light energy consumption
by more than 50%. The
city also reported it esti-
mates replacing the lights
will achieve a total energy
savings of nearly 500,000
kilowatt-hours annually and
reduce carbon emissions by
310 tons per year.
The project also reduces
the city’s maintenance costs
because LED fi xtures do not
have disposable components
requiring regular replace-
ment like the existing high
pressure sodium bulbs.
In addition to energy
savings, the LEDs require
far less maintenance and
improve illumination.
Ac c o r d i n g t o t h e
press release, the city and
Ameresco worked with
Pacific Power & Light to
Yasser Marte/East Oregonian
The lights of Pendleton on Tuesday night, June 7, 2022, cast a warm glow. The city plans to
switch 1,005 of its streetlights, which tend to glow yellow, to whiter LED lights this summer.
STAY INFORMED
• For more information about the city of Pendleton LED
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and check out the project’s Frequently Asked Questions.
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installed and the percent of the conversion that has been
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• If you have questions or comments, email the project at
PendletonLEDStreetlights@gmail.com or contact the Public
Works Department at 541-966-0202.
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range that nobody else can
duplicate,” Springer said.
Pendleton off ers 14,000
square miles of sky, and the
altitude limit doesn’t kick
in until 15,000 square feet.
That’s a big slice of North-
eastern Oregon skies, higher
than Mount Rainier. The
range runs from Board-
man in the west to the Idaho
border in the east and from
the Columbia River in the
north almost to John Day in
the south.
“By negotiating with area
wheat farmers and other
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operations out away from
congestion, which provides
some level of safety,”
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may appear brighter and
more white or blue in color
compared to the yellow,
high pressure sodium lights;
however, they produce less
than half the lumens.
T he LEDs en hance
peripheral vision for driv-
ers, the city reported, enable
people to distinguish color
more accurately and improve
detection of obstacles in the
road. Also, the LED lights
are more downcast than
the existing lights, so light
is directed below the light
where it is needed with less
illumination above the light.
support the college.
“BMCC is not for profi t,”
he said. “The layoff s aren’t to
provide dividends to share-
holders. We just don’t have
the money. Enrollment has
dropped 65% in 10 years.”
Vice Chair Jane Hill
of Pendleton also held out
hope that more money could
be found and enrollment
increased before classes start
in September.
“Every faculty member is
important,” she said. “I hope
we can all come to the same
table.”
Hill noted that adjust-
ments up to 10% can be
made to an adopted budget.
She asked Browning if the
faculty cuts would fi t under
that share. He said they
would.
The college also could
receive an injection of federal
funds via Umatilla County.
Umatilla County commis-
sioners at their meet-
ing June 1 in Pendleton
discussed using a possible
second round of American
Recovery Plan Act funding
to help Blue Mountain.
One of three major goals
of new ARA funding is
workforce development, and
BMCC is Umatilla County’s
major source of workforce
training. Commissioner Dan
Dorran said providing funds
to the college is something
the county might want to do.
Dorran noted signs in
Hermiston offering truck
drivers $80,000 to $100,000.
If the county were able to
invest in BMCC, the school
could partner with busi-
nesses in training programs.
Com m issioner Joh n
Shafer agreed Blue Moun-
tain is a “huge driver” of
the area’s economy, citing
Morrow County’s applica-
tion of its gift from Amazon
Web Services to the college.
He said the commissioners
have expected the second
half of Umatilla County’s
$15.1 million ARA grant
since May 11. However, the
county still is waiting for that
$7.5 million to arrive.
McKeon in the hall
outside the conference room
lamented the revised fall
schedule and need to notify
students who signed up for
classes, which now may have
to be cancelled.
“Now there is more
pressure on teachers,” she
concluded, “if we’re going to
be recruiters as well, and fi ll
in until the marketer in the
budget is hired.”
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