Wallowa County Chieftain
News
wallowa.com
September 20, 2017
A5
Residents urge Joseph council to steady the ship
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
Citizens of Joseph are
beginning to wonder if anyone
is steering the municipal ship.
During the city council
meeting Sept. 7, Gary Bath-
scheider suggested that the city
hire an administrator because
of the recent DEQ fi nes for
water treatment infractions.
“With all these things hap-
pening, it doesn’t seem like we
have a functional city right now
... I’d like to see what it would
entail to make that happen.”
He also suggested raising
the city’s water rates to pay for
an administrator and fi x other
problems.
“Somehow, we have to get
back on track,” he said.
His viewers were echoed by
a much subdued Raider Heck,
who had been recently sung
down from commenting on the
performance of Joseph Mayor
Dennis Sands by a rousing
audience version of “My Coun-
try ‘tis of Thee.”
Heck suggested that the
city take a hard look at what
the status quo had brought the
city over the past eight or nine
years.
“It’s a system that worked
in the ‘70s and ‘60s but doesn’t
work today,” He said. “Judg-
ing by the mess that the city
is in through many different
departments, it should become
obvious.”
Heck said that one or two
grants should pay for any addi-
tional costs for the city to hire a
business administrator.
“The number of people
who’ve been offered jobs and
haven’t shown up should tell
you they’re not going to come
to work for this mess,” he said.
“They’re not going to answer to
this kangaroo council.”
He noted that other cities
worried about expansion, new
homes and where to put people,
but that after 18 months, the
council still hadn’t completed
the work of a zoning ordinance
review task force.
“There’s a leadership prob-
lem,” he said. “There needs
to be a single individual in
charge of this city that every
staff member answers to that
answers to the council.”
Since the comments were
presented during the comments
phase at the beginning of the
meeting, the council was not
obligated to respond.
Lower bail allowed for Enterprise
man charged with sex crimes
By Steve Tool
COURT BEAT
Wallowa County Chieftain
Tye G. Pieper, 27, Enter-
prise, appeared in Wallowa
County District Court through
a video link with the Umatilla
County Jail for a preliminary
hearing on charges of four
counts of using a child in dis-
play of sexually explicit con-
duct, six counts of encourag-
ing child sexual abuse in the
second degree and a single
count of luring a minor, all
felonies.
Pieper sat huddled against
the wall of the jail with his
arms folded tightly around
him through most of the pro-
ceedings. His attorney, Rick
Dall, asked that Pieper’s bail
be lowered from the state
minimum of $50,000.
Dall argued that the bail
was too high for his cli-
ent’s fi nancial circumstances.
He added that the Pieper’s
mother was prepared to act
as a third party release for her
son as her home was in a rural
area that had no phone, Inter-
net or access to minors.
Dall also said his client
suffered from mental issues
and that being jailed posed a
signifi cant burden to his client
and argued he was not a dan-
ger to the community.
Judge Thomas Powers
asked if Pieper had a previ-
ous criminal history. Deputy
DA Rebecca Frolander said
she had found previous con-
victions of harassment, resist-
ing arrest, menacing and that
he had also failed to appear
for court, although he was
not prosecuted for the last
offense.
Frolander pointed out the
seriousness of the alleged
crimes, four of which were
Measure 11 offenses.
She also noted that during
a recorded Sept. 9 conversa-
tion from the jail, Pieper told
his mother that if he’d had
two minutes, he could have
wiped the computer clean,
and when his mother said he
would not be allowed near a
computer he said:
“To hell with them. They
can kiss my ass, and don’t
worry about it.”
When his mother said it
would be part of his release
agreement, he said he would
have someone take him to a
social media place where he
could use a private server or
satellite server and hack into
the system.Because of the
conversation and the serious-
ness of the crimes, Frolander
said the state opposed the pro-
posed release.
Powers said he would not
support a conditional release,
but would entertain release
upon a prescribed amount of
bail. Dall replied that Pieper’s
mother could not pony up a
signifi cant amount of bail.
Powers said he thought
the defendant a fl ight risk
because of the seriousness of
the crime, the amount of jail
time involved and the con-
versation Frolander men-
tioned and Pieper’s criminal
record.
“I am going to stick with
the mandatory minimum,
$50,000 bail,” Powers said.
He added the state would
accept $5,000 as bond.
He also told Dall that if he
supplied additional informa-
tion about the family’s fi nan-
cial circumstances and the
ability to pay, the court would
entertain a new motion to
reduce the bail.
At that point, Pieper, who
had attempted to interrupt
Powers twice, said that the
jail conversation was essen-
tially a psychotic episode
and he would obey the rules
if released. Powers replied it
would be taken into consider-
ation if another release hear-
ing took place.
Greenwell
pleads guilty
Eric Greenwell, 31,
Joseph, pleaded guilty to
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giving false liability insur-
ance to a police offi cer
stemming from a July 29
incident. The DA’s offi ce
dropped the original Class
A misdemeanor down to a
Class A violation. According
to testimony, the offi cer ran
a check on Greenwell, which
indicated he hadn’t had lia-
bility insurance since 2010.
Greenwell denied he’d given
the offi cer false information.
Greenwell disputed the offi -
cer’s statement but did not
change his plea.
Judge Thomas Powers
wasn’t satisfi ed with the
minimum $435 that Deputy
DA Becky Frolander asked
for and increased the fi ne
to $750 because of the false
information initially given
to the police.
Rogers case
will go to trial
Laura
Rogers,
33,
appeared before Powers
on two cases that included
charges of felon in posses-
sion of a firearm, deliv-
ery of methamphetamine,
delivery of methamphet-
amine within 1,000 feet of
a school and possession of
methamphetamine –– all
felonies –– and four counts
of endangering the welfare
of a minor.
Rogers’ attorney Rick
Dall told the court his client
was ready to accept a plea
deal that included a global
offer on both cases. Later,
while Powers advised her
of her rights, Rogers told
the judge she hadn’t had a
chance to thoroughly review
the plea agreement and was
unhappy with Dall’s efforts
on her behalf.
A surprised Powers said
he couldn’t take a guilty
plea after Rogers’ state-
ments. DA Mona Williams
said that the offer from her
offi ce that would have kept
Rogers from serving prison
time was revoked. The cases
will go to trial.
Support sought
for library plan
Wallowa Valley Library
Foundation board members
Kirsten Rolha and Kay Sawin
addressed the council on the
subject of creating a coun-
ty-wide library services tax
district. The district would
also include the Joseph, Wal-
lowa and Enterprise city librar-
ies while preserving the child
and shut-in services previously
offered by the county library,
which were severely curtailed
due to a lack of funding.
In order for the proposed
library services district to
appear on the May 2018 bal-
lot, the paperwork and citizen
signatures would be required to
be in the county clerk’s offi ce
by Nov. 6. The foundation
asked the council to vote on a
resolution that would defi ne
the boundaries of a proposed
library district.
Sawin said that the city
would be included in the dis-
trict if Joseph adopted the res-
olution. Council member Pearl
Sturm asked that if the county
was cutting off library services
to the homebound, why not
keep the service district strictly
for those expenses? Sawin
replied the county library did
much more than that with
offering after-school children’s
activities, pre-school story
hours and even deliveries to
daycare centers.
In response to a question
from council member Teresa
Sajonia, Sawin said that the
city would no longer have
to use its tax dollars to fund
the library if the district levy
passed, although she hoped the
city would let the library district
use the current building.
Council member Rodd
Clark said he thought the coun-
cil should vote for the inclusion
of Joseph in the levy so that its
citizens could decide if they
wanted a library.
Sawin said if the May elec-
tion results were in favor of
the district, Joseph would be
included whether the city as a
whole voted for the levy or not.
Sajonia moved approval
of Joseph’s inclusion in the
library district resolution
while Sturm seconded. The
council approved the motion
unanimously.
The regularly sched-
uled council meeting for next
month is Oct. 12.
LIBRARY
Continued from Page A1
the ballot is a certifi ed reso-
lution from each city and the
county saying they are willing
to allow their citizens to vote on
the issue. Metz has been in front
of three of the four city councils.
The City of Joseph and the
county have already indicated
that they will sign a resolution
and answers from Enterprise,
Lostine and Wallowa are pend-
ing. Given the Nov. 6 deadline
to have all the moving parts
(petitions, resolutions, fees, fea-
sibility statement and more),
those answers must be received
soon. If resolutions from those
cities are not received, members
of those cities will have no vote
and will receive no direct benefi t
should the district be approved.
A district is essentially a
new unit of government, Metz
explained. There are three
questions on the ballot: Should
there be a district that encom-
passes these boundaries? Will
you approve this tax rate? And
then, voters elect their board.
Under the proposed operat-
ing plan (staffi ng, collections,
FESTIVAL
Continued from Page A1
shops, and we want people to
be eating at restaurants and at
the Josephy Center.”
He added that events such
as the En Plein Air competi-
tion, last year’s added events
such as the Youth Art Showcase
and the Ruby Peak Film Fes-
tival all contribute to the festi-
val’s appeal. Focused advertis-
ing and the fact the festival is a
juried show also played a role.
according to Costello.
“By requiring artists to
jury in, we’ve stepped up the
quality of the art that comes
in, and people are begin-
ning to see this as a premiere
Pacifi c Northwest juried art
show,” he said. “We’re now
the largest art show in east-
ern Oregon, so premiere art-
ists are wanting to get their art
into the show, and we’re very
grateful for that.”
Costello said that although
Resources are being pinched and there
is no guarantee that the situation that
impacted the county library won’t
affect city libraries. It’s happened to
other libraries in Oregon.”
— Ruth Metz
feasibility consultant
salaries and possibly utilities),
should Lostine fi nd space in a
building for a library, the dis-
trict would provide the librarian
for the open hours.
Another benefi t to cities is
that money they are currently
channeling to library operations
can be used on other projects on
their “to do” list, Metz said.
Metz’s interviews and
research have led her to believe
that the libraries county-wide
were at a crossroads.
“I think you’re at the tipping
point,” Metz said. “Resources
are being pinched and there
is no guarantee that the situa-
tion that impacted the county
library won’t affect city librar-
ies. It’s happened to other
libraries in Oregon.”
Nine other Oregon counties
have created special districts to
save their libraries, she said.
“You have the opportu-
nity to be the Phoenix rising,”
Metz said. “Public libraries
are anchors for our communi-
ties. We all know we have a lot
of challenges in our lives and
libraries help people come to
terms with this. They are more
important than ever.”
Public meetings will be
arranged to address all ques-
tions after the ballot measure
is written.
the show mainly features art-
ists from the Pacifi c North-
west, artists from as far away
as Kansas and the Great
Lakes area also participated.
He added that the pieces are
juried by fi ve to seven art-
ists who do not participate
in the show, thereby insuring
impartiality.
Costello said that the num-
ber of pieces sold at this year’s
festival indicate it’s one of
the show’s better years for
art sales. Thanks to gener-
ous sponsors, this year’s art-
ists also won $5,400 in prize
money.
The director said the 2018
festival may have a new wrin-
kle or two, but he likes what
the festival currently offers.
“We’re going to keep doing
what we have been doing. I
think we have a formula that
works,” Costello said.
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