Wallowa County Chieftain
wallowa.com
News/From A1
March 21, 2018
A7
PRIMARY BALLOT
County voters face a
plethora of decisions
Courtesy image
Library district levy is
up or down vote
By Paul Wahl
Wallowa County Chieftain
The initial draft of the ballot for
the May 15 Primary Election has been
released. Wallowa County voters will
have a number of races to decide. Many
of the races are not contested.
Two of the most well-publicized races
are the contest for Wallowa County Com-
missioner in District 3 and the proposed
library district.
Bruce Dunn and Diane Daggett will
face off for the seat currently held by Paul
Castilleja, who is retiring. To win the race
outright, either candidate will have to
amass 50 percent of the vote plus one.
The library district, Measure 32-41,
asks voter approval to authorize a $0.65
per $1,000 of assessed value of property
in most of the county to create a unified
library approach.
Six individuals are running for five
seats on the district’s first board mem-
bers: Karen Patton, Olivia Losby, Nora
Hawkins, Tammy Crawford, Michael
Crawford and James Fanning.
If the tax levy is not approved, the dis-
trict board will not be formed.
A continuation of a tax levy at $0.19
per $1,000 assessed value for weed con-
trol will also be on the ballot. That levy
would be on the books for five years if
approved.
Two other races with only one candi-
date are Judge of the Circuit Court, 10th
District, Position 1, Thomas B. Powers;
HEALTH
Continued from Page A1
licensed health care provider,”
Roberts said.
Also, the state pulled 10
of the 12 grant streams back
under the purview of the Ore-
gon Health Authority, which
resulted in diminished fund-
ing. The county also handled
Women, Infants and Children,
a supplemental nutrition pro-
gram for low-income fami-
lies at nutritional risk, but that
program was contracted out to
Umatilla/Morrow Head Start.
OHA expressed a desire
to contract the remaining two
streams, reproductive health
and immunization, directly
with health service providers.
“You need licensed and cer-
and Wallowa County District Attorney
Rebecca J. Frolander. Powers is running
for a six-year term, Frolander’s term will
be four years.
Precinct committee persons for Dem-
ocrats and Republicans in the county will
also be chosen. There are 12 precincts. A
number of precincts in both parties did
not have candidates.
Democrat candidates include Sandra
Purnell, Autumn Wilburn, Emily Cain,
Robert Klavins, Mildred A. O’Callaghan,
Sarah Lynch and Quentin Lynch.
Republican candidates include Gina
Birkmaier, Claudette Wieck, Greg Wieck,
Rowena Patton, Chad Nash, Susan Rob-
erts, Jennifer Ballard, George Ballard,
Susan Barcik, Dennis Sands, Annette
Lathrop, Marc Rypdahl, Michael Mor-
ris, Anita Van Grunsvan, Pat Fox and Ron
Fox.
tified people to do that work,”
Roberts
With the county unable to
pay the salary of even a part-
time employee, the commis-
sioners decided to relinquish
their authority over public
health to the OHA although it
will retain vital records. To that
end, the board of commission-
ers is holding two public meet-
ings to address the issue and
consider an ordinance.
The two public meetings are
10:30 a.m. Monday, April 2, and
Monday, April 16 in the Thorn-
ton Conference Room of the
Wallowa County Courthouse.
The board of commissioners is
urging interested members of
the public to attend. Those with
questions can call the commis-
sioners office at 541-426-4543,
ext. 130.
In the race for U.S. Congressio-
nal District 2, incumbent Greg Walden
will face challengers Randy Pollock
and Paul J. Romero Jr. on the Republi-
can ticket. Seven Democrats are run-
ning for the right to oppose Walden: Eric
Burnette, Michael Byrne, Tim S. White,
Raz Mason, Jamie McLeod-Skinner,
James (Jim) Cary and Jennifer (Jenni)
Neahring.
Mark R. Roberts is the Independent
Party candidate for Walden’s seat.
Three Democrats will appear on the
ballot in the governor’s race: Ed Jones,
incumbent Kate Brown and Candace
Neville. Republicans will choose from
10 candidates: Knute Buehler, Keenan
W. Bohach, Greg C. Wooldridge, Jona-
than I. Edwards III, David W. Stauffer,
Jeff Smith, Jack W. Tacy, Brett Hyland,
Bruce Cuff and Sam Carpenter.
Dan (Mr. P) Pistoresi, Skye J. Allen
and Patrick Starnes will be ont he ballot
for the Independent Party.
Incumbent Greg Barreto will run
unopposed for the Republican nod to run
in House District 58. There is no can-
didate in the Democrat primary for that
seat. The Independent Party candidate is
Skye Farnam.
Five races for positions as Judge of
the Oregon Supreme Court will also
be on the ballot as well as three candi-
dates for Commissioner of the Bureau of
Labor and Industries –– Lou Ogden, Val
Hoyle and Jack Howard.
Ballots will be mailed between April
25 and May 1. Preliminary results will
be available on May 16. Precinct Com-
mittee Persons will take office June 8.
TAX
Continued from Page A1
answer some calls and have to
call for assistance from other
law enforcement agencies,
Rogers said.
“I’m all for (raising the
tax) because I understand
the need, and we need to do
something,” Rogers to the
commissioners at a March
19 session. “We have only
7,000 people in this county,
and we get a million visitors
each year, and we need their
assistance in paying for our
services.”
The money raised via a
tax increase would also be
used to develop tourism in the
county in a variety of ways,
with repairs to the fairgrounds
THEATRE
Continued from Page A1
Brann said that the majority
of the renovation funding has
come from the $100,000 Ore-
gon Main Street grant through
the state historic preserva-
tion office. The grant requires
$56,000 in matching funds,
which can include in-kind
donations. Brann has raised
around $21,000 of the total so
far.
Theater refurbishment has
been on the move since the
venue closed following the
Del McCoury show in Decem-
ber. Cleaning out the base-
ment of the facility involved
yeoman’s work. The swamp-
ing took some 30 tons of gar-
bage, plaster and such out of
the building.
“We pulled the old boiler
pipes out too,” Brann said.
“That’s probably another
10,000 pounds. We put it on a
pretty good diet.”
He added that at the begin-
ning of January, the Sinclair
Brothers team began serious
demolition work on the build-
WE’RE TRYING TO STRETCH THESE
DOLLARS. I WANT THIS $100,000 TO
LOOK LIKE WE SPENT A MILLION.”
— Darrell Brann
OK Theatre owner
ing’s interior. Volunteers also
performed a good deal of the
labor.
“There was a ton of
100-year-old dust every-
where,” Brann said. “One day
in January we had more than
25 volunteers come in and pick
up plaster and lath.”
Brann’s wife, Christie,
made chili for the crew.
Framing and pouring foot-
ings in the building came next,
which took up most of Febru-
ary, but was nearly completed
by the time the Infamous
Stringdusters played the the-
ater in early March.
Although little things
remain, all the theater’s fram-
ing is completed, and the stage
is rebuilt with the capacity to
hold more than 40 tons. The
long-awaited ADA-compliant
bathrooms are framed out, and
the building’s envelope was
tightened, sealed and ready for
electrical and plumbing work
as well as insulation, heating
and air conditioning.
The project is on sched-
ule, although Brann said it
expanded on two fronts from
his original theater vision:
The stage rebuilding wasn’t
originally part of the proj-
discussed. The fairgrounds
receives around $50,000 per
year from the state, and those
funds are always in question.
“We’re hanging on by
our toenails,” said fair board
member Velda Bales. “Pretty
much every year, its brought
out that we don’t know if
we’ll get our $50,000. Our
facility (and Cloverleaf Hall)
definitely gets used year
round — but there are more
upgrades that need to be done
to make it more attractive to
other groups, and we don’t
have the funds.”
A committee to look into
the subject further was sug-
gested and Commissioner
Todd Nash, Rogers, David
Hurley of Eagle’s View
Motel, Ron Woodin of Fly-
ing Arrow Resort and Velda
ect, but that changed when
inspection showed cracking
and splitting in key areas.
Also, the building received
more structural support with
the help of local engineer
Ralph Swinehart. As a mat-
ter of fact, the proscenium
was not an original part of the
upgrade. “The fact that we’re
still on target right now after
adding those projects is pretty
amazing, We’re moving right
along,” Brann said.
The stage was insulated
as well as a lid added for the
installation of electrical wiring
March 17-18.
The new bathrooms as well
as the electrical and heating
are scheduled for a late June
completion.
Brann still has several
fundraisers scheduled includ-
ing a stage production of the
film “Oh Brother Where Art
Thou” as well as a Brothers
Brann concert in early June.
“It seems like a fun way
to raise money to me,” Brann
said. “We’re trying to stretch
these dollars. I want this
$100,000 to look like we spent
a million.”
An artist rendering of the new Wallowa Memorial Town
Square.
New park planned
in city of Wallowa
The City of Wallowa has
approved the development
of “The Memorial Town
Square,” a Main Street park
that is both a military appre-
ciation site and a community
gathering point.
A drinking fountain,
benches, picnic tables and
a restroom are planned in
addition to a flagpole and
commemoration site where
plaques to recognize lost
loved ones will be placed.
Audra Allen of Wallowa
is organizing the beautifi-
cation project, which will
be supported via a Go Fund
Me account with a goal of
$20,000 donations to a Com-
munity Bank account, private
donations, the local donation
of materials and hopefully,
grants.
The property is owned
by the City of Wallowa and
currently houses the Annex
to the Wallowa Community
Resale store. The annex will
be removed to make way for
the Memorial Town Square.
More information on the
town square, how to pur-
chase a commemorative
plaque and how to donate
will be published as the proj-
ect develops.
In the meantime, The
annex must be emptied by
the end of March. All items
in it are free to haul away.
Please do not bring any new
items that would need to be
stored in the annex.
The Wallowa Commu-
nity Resale store will con-
tinue to provide low-cost
used items and raise money
for various organizations.
They are regular contributors
to Wallowa Senor Meals on
Wheels, Wallowa Volunteer
Fire Department, Wallowa
Public Library, Tamkaliks,
Lower Valley Farmers Mar-
ket, Friends of the library and
others.
Bales of the fair board volun-
teered. More members may
be sought.
In other business, video
lottery funds requests from
Maxville Heritage Interpre-
tive Center and Wallowa
Valley Music Alliance were
tabled due to lack of funds in
the pot. Funds from the last
cycle were used in the con-
struction project ongoing at
the county courthouse. Event
requests will be heard when
the new budget cycle begins
July 1.
The commissioners also
heard a request from VFW
President Kim Hutchison
to establish a virtual grave-
yard on the courthouse lawn
on Memorial Day. One of
Hutchison’s ongoing proj-
ects is to identify and honor
all members of the services
in the county, and some have
been found in the tiny and
remote rural graveyards.
“I don’t have the man-
power to conduct honor cere-
monies in all outlying areas,”
Hutchison said.
By placing approximately
60 temporary headstones for
the servicemen and women
on the courthouse lawn, a
central ceremony could be
held to honor them all, he
said. The gravestones would
be constructed of wood and
easily placed and removed
after ceremonies.
Commissioners
unani-
mously approved the idea.
Hutchison will now confer
with facilities manager Matt
Kassahn to locate appropri-
ately the graveyard.
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
WALK
Continued from Page A1
students organized their own
participation in the walkout.
Asked why more students
didn’t participate, Hobbs said
that most students share the
beliefs of their parents on gun
rights.
“That’s enough to make
them think, ‘Oh, that’s all that
this is? I’m standing out here
for gun rights?’” Hobbs said.
“I think a big part of this is
respecting those who were
killed and saying, ‘It’s not
OK. Something has to change,
and something has to happen
and something needs to be
done.’ This can’t be going on.
We need to fix our problem.”
Reed said he figured some
students were afraid to stand
up for what they believe in
because of how others will
perceive them.
“In my case, I don’t care
what people think of me,” he
said. “I want to stand up for
what I believe is right.”
Reed said it was important
to take action.
“It’s about everyone get-
ting on board and speaking out
for the right reasons and mak-
ing it known what they have to
do and what they believe in,”
Reed added.
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