Enterprise, Oregon
Wallowa.com
Issue No. 26
October 26, 2016
Wolf plan review brings hunting,
management zones to forefront
ODFW Commission briefed in La Grande
By George Plaven
EO Media Group
Living with wolves remains a po-
larizing subject in Eastern Oregon as
wildlife offi cials chug along with a
fi ve-year review of the state’s Wolf
Conservation and Management Plan.
The Oregon Fish and Wildlife
Commission heard from 53 people
Pamplin Media Group
Secretary
of
State
candidate Brad Avakian’s
campaign Monday denied
allegations of wrongdoing
made in an opinion piece
posted on forbes.com.
Avakian
campaign
denies
claims of
misconduct
Charges
politically
motivated,
manager says
By Claire Withycombe
EO Media Group
SALEM – Brad Ava-
kian’s campaign denied
wrongdoing following ac-
cusations made Monday
that his campaign fund paid
government employees for
campaign work, and that the
work may have been done on
state time.
Avakian, the Democrat-
ic candidate for secretary
of state, is the head of the
Bureau of Labor and Indus-
tries.
In an opinion piece
Monday on Forbes.com,
Adam Andrzejewski, of
Open The Books, a private
transparency group, claimed
that three of Avakian’s em-
ployees were paid money
out of Avakian’s campaign
fund and that two of those
employees also contributed
to Avakian’s campaign for
secretary of state.
See AVAKIAN, Page B6
who testifi ed during an informational
hearing Oct. 7 at the Blue Mountain
Conference Center in La Grande,
highlighting some of the chief con-
cerns for managing wolf packs into
the future.
The fi rst Oregon wolf plan was
adopted in 2005, and since then the
fl edgling population has grown to a
minimum of 110 wolves at the end
of 2015. Russ Morgan, wolf program
coordinator for the Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish & Wildlife, said the
agency is required to look back at
the plan every fi ve years to determine
what is working, and what could be
changed to improve management —
all while maintaining a conservation
focus.
Not surprisingly, Morgan said
stakeholders are divided about the
2016 update.
“Certainly, many of the comments
we heard at the meeting were divided
along expected lines,” Morgan said.
Two issues under review include
whether the state should create more
local wolf management zones with
their own population targets, and
whether ODFW should allow con-
trolled hunting as a management tool
in certain situations.
THE
EFFECT
Wallowa County agencies have some guardedly
optimistic projections for impact of retirement
costs, though much remains up in the air
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
ublic employers have
known since last year
that their contributions
to the Public Employ-
ees Retirement System
will be going up again
in 2017. Now they
know better what the damage will
be. The numbers supplied are still
“squishy” but provide some basis
for planning.
The PERS board released the
rates for the 2017-19 biennium in
late September, updating a previous
forecast last fall by the actuarial
fi rm Milliman.
More than 900 employers across
the state are part of the PERS
system, including cities, schools,
counties and special districts. The
increase in their required contri-
butions depends on a variety of
factors — such as how many of
their employees are on the more
generous Tier 1 benefi ts earned
by those hired before 2003 — but
the average increase is about 3.62
percent.
The need for higher contribu-
tions from employers comes from
a combination of factors. About
70 percent of the system’s revenue
comes from investment earnings,
which have been falling below the
assumed 7.75 percent. Retirees are
also living longer than expected,
and the Oregon Supreme Court
struck down reforms that lowered
costs in 2015-17, ruling them an
unconstitutional breach of contract
with public employees.
Many counties, cities and
schools are facing a real budgetary
crisis, but some Wallowa County
agencies are protected by a variety
of factors.
At the county level the pro-
tection comes primarily from the
fact that most city employees
do not have PERS. Their retire-
ment program is through Lincoln
Financial. While nearby Umatilla
County is looking at an increase in
PERS payments that amounts to
$450,000-500,000 from its general
fund, Wallowa County is getting off
with a wave.
“Financially, Wallowa County is
not looking at taking a big hit,” said
Brenda Micka, administrative ser-
vices director for Wallowa County.
Only fi ve members of the Sher-
iff’s Offi ce will be affected: one
Tier 2 employee and four Oregon
Public Service Retirement Plan
(ORSRP) employees.
OSRP payments actually will
decline by 0.43 percent in the next
biennium, Micka said.
See WOLVES, Page A8
3.62%
average
contribution
increase
900
statewide
employers in
PERS system
5%
projected
PERS budget
increase for
Joseph Charter
School
$66K
Wallowa County Clerk
Sandy Lathrop is notify-
ing the public that there is
a minor error regarding the
election date on the 5,468
ballots that were mailed
Oct. 19.
The ballots list the cor-
rect election date of Nov.
8, 2016 on the fi rst page.
However, due to an error
ELECTION
A closer
look at local
candidates
By Scot Heisel
Wallowa County Chieftain
While national and statewide
elections certainly are important
and can affect our lives, we at The
Chieftain feel that careful consid-
eration of local government races
is just as important, if not more so.
To that end, we’ve collected infor-
mation for our readers about the
candidates in contested local races
in the Nov. 8 election.
This year we have four candi-
dates for Enterprise mayor, two
separate races for seats on the En-
terprise City Council, four candi-
dates vying for three council seats
in Joseph and three candidates for
two council seats in Wallowa.
We have included information
from each person’s candidate fi l-
ing documents. Also, on Oct. 19
we sent an email to each can-
didate asking for corrections or
clarifi cations for the information
they provided the county, as well
as three short questions:
• What is the most important
issue facing your town in the next
few years?
• What compelled you to seek
the position for which you are
running?
• What makes you the best
choice?
Here are their answers (candi-
dates are listed alphabetically for
each race).
Enterprise
Mayor
budget increase
for Wallowa
schools
BILL COFFIN
See PERS, Page B6
ty
Despite increases in costs, county schools
say they will most likely avoid layoffs
Ballot error: Disregard incorrect date on fi nal page
Wallowa County Chieftain
$1
at the printing fi rm, a 2012
election date appears on the
fi nal page of the ballot.
Lathrop asks Wallowa
County voters to please
disregard the incorrect date
on the fi nal page and to go
ahead and fi ll out the ballots.
The printing fi rm, Ryder
Election Services of Bend,
has agreed to send letters
of clarifi cation to Wallowa
County voters in response to
the error.
Lathrop said the ballots
went to Portland fi rst before
being distributed within the
county, so they should be
arriving in mailboxes early
this week.
Once completed, ballots
may be dropped off at the
following sites:
• Wallowa City Hall,
211 E. 2nd St. in Wallowa
— 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Monday through Thursday
and 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Friday.
• Joseph City Hall, 201
N. Main St. in Joseph —
8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday
through Friday
• Wallowa County Court-
house, 101 S. River St. in
Enterprise — 24-hour out-
door dropbox or 8:30 a.m.
to 5 p.m. Monday through
Friday inside
Party affi liation: Democratic Par-
Occupation: Retired. Former
journalist, business manager,
commercial fi sherman and truck
driver
Education: Studied journalism
at University of Oregon and ed-
ucation at Eastern Oregon Uni-
versity
Military service: Eight years in
U.S. Army and Army Reserves
Civil service: Former member
of Okanogan, Wash., Planning
Commission; four years on En-
terprise City Council (current
member)
Most important issue?: We must
fi nd a way to reduce water and
sewer rates to a fair and afford-
able manner through the budget-
ing process and researching other
means of economic income.
Why are you running?: I grew up
in Enterprise and have lived here
most of my life. I have a passion
for this community and its peo-
ple.
Why vote for you?: I’ve served
four years on the City Council,
I am a former president of the
Enterprise Chamber of Com-
merce, former member of Enter-
prise Volunteer Fire Department,
served 26 years a volunteer bar-
tender and helper at our local
VFW and have served two terms
as deacon at the Enterprise Com-
munity Congregational Church.
GEORGE HILL
See RACES, Page A12