Wallowa County Chieftain
News
wallowa.com
November 21, 2018
A9
Ex-mayor Sands says he has no regrets
Counts street
paving project
among successes
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
Former Joseph mayor Den-
nis Sands is breathing a lit-
tle easier these days -- liter-
ally. After 10 years as Joseph
mayor and council member,
Sands resigned Nov. 1 at his
doctor’s request.
“I forgot how much it
weighed on me,” Sands said.
Two weeks after his resigna-
tion, his blood pressure had
already dropped 40 points.
“I can really tell the differ-
ence,” he said.
Sands has long held an
interest in politics. At 24, and
after service with the U.S.
Marine Corps, he ran as a
Republican in a state represen-
tative race in a heavily demo-
cratic area of Portland. Though
he won the primary, he lost the
general election but gained
valuable experience from the
venture.
FIRE
Continued from Page A1
Wallowa County Emer-
gency Services Manager Paul
Karvosky confirmed that the
local firefighters have con-
tacted him advising they may
be staying beyond their initial
14-day deployment.
They were on the front
lines in the city of Paradise in
the Sierra foothills 15 miles
east of Chico, working with
search and rescue, Karvosky
reported.
“They’ve told me some
horror stories that happened
during the fire,” Karvosky
said. “What those residents
went through at the time of the
fire is just unbelievable. The
fire came on them so fast ––
that’s why there’s going to be
a death toll. The fire overran
some, and they died in their
cars trying to escape.”
SENIORS
Continued from Page A1
She stressed the quality of
the facility’s staff and lauded
their professionalism during
the transition.
“This team was hungry and
open to get support, policies
and procedures that would
enable them to succeed,” she
said. “I’m not walking in to
fix what’s broken. I’m trying
to honor and elevate what’s
already so great.”
Facility director Jennifer
Olson also spoke. She said
the district board made the
right choice with Vitalita.
“I’ve watched my team
blossom and grow under this
management guidance, and
what I love is that my resi-
dents are truly gaining from
this,” she said. “When you
walk into that building, it
just feels like home. It’s
amazing.”
Olson noted that the facil-
Enter To
Dennis Sands
When he moved to Joseph
in 2002, he began attending
council meetings. He lost a
three-way race for mayor in
2004 but didn’t give up. After
some council resignations, he
again applied for a seat on the
council only to get turned away.
In 2006, Sands ran for the
city council part of a six-way
race for three open council
seats. He came in third.
“It was a landslide,” Sands
quipped. “I beat the fourth-
place person by five votes.”
A mayoral run in 2008
landed him the post he held for
the next decade. At the time, the
council was dominated by land
use issues. Particularly con-
tentious was the piece of Marr
Ranch property that became
Iwetemlaykin State Park.
At the time, the prop-
erty owner wanted to develop
the land, and it was within
the Joseph’s urban growth
boundary. The council fought,
which Sands didn’t think was
fair since the property owner
bought the land with develop-
ment intentions. The state and
Nez Perce Tribe eventually
purchased the land.
Economic development had
the highest priority for Sands
throughout his tenure. He
wanted more family-wage jobs.
The city had an industrial zone
with no water or sewer close
by, which he thought made it
unattractive to businesses.
“One of the last things I did
was to secure that grant to get
water and sewer down to the
industrial zone,” he said.
The Regional Solutions
grant came to $145,000, and
that brought the water from
Camp Street over to Sam-
ple Lane. That cost nearly
$200,000 with the city con-
tributing around $20,000 and
The official death toll had
exceeded 70 Monday morning.
Karvosky said initially the
fire was moving in eight foot
leaps every minute with 50
mph. wind pushing it.
People were fleeing in their
pajamas and escape routes
were clogged with traffic.
Paradise had a population
of approximately 27,000. Kar-
vosky said he tells people that
La Grande has a population
of 17,000, so imagine if La
Grande were simply wiped off
the map.
“That’s what firefighters
were seeing at Paradise,” he
said. “They’ve sent me some
photos, but they are tragic —
not suitable for publication.”
The fire camp at Chico
Fairgrounds houses 6,000 peo-
ple, Karvosky said.
“Oregon has the largest
contingent of firefighters from
the western states: 17 teams,
320 men and women,” he said.
ity, which provides both
assisted living and mem-
ory care, is at its maximum
capacity 29 residents and has
a waiting list. Olson regularly
fields inquiries about what the
facility offers.
“We are people on the
move,” she said. “We are
going places, shopping, spend-
ing money in the community
and getting out there. It’s no
longer a place where it’s just a
bed and medication.”
Hilty also answered ques-
tions about resident costs,
which can run from $4000
per month upward depending
on the level of care needed.
She also said that the facility
predominantly accepts pri-
vate pay and Medicaid pay-
ments as well as long-term
care insurance.
She also noted the facility
contributes to the local econ-
omy with its 33 employees.
Volunteer help is welcome
at the center. A large volun-
teer pool is already in place as
SIEBE
Continued from Page A1
and age, we have electronic
medical records and every-
thing is at our fingertips.”
Wallowa County doc-
tors now have the opportu-
nity to confer, not only with
other local doctors but with
specialists from across the
northwest — and even the
nation if need be. Patients
are referred to specialists in
Portland, Boise, the Tri-Cit-
ies, Spokane and beyond.
“I think the care in Wal-
lowa County is really good,”
Siebe said. “We’re really
proud of what has happened
over the years.”
Winding Waters CEO Nic
Powers spoke glowingly of
Siebe’s impact on the devel-
opment of care in the county,
especially for children.
“We’re really going to
several advocacy groups are
involved.
“We really have some
incredible hands on deck
helping out, but we can
always use more at this time
of year.” Hilty said. She added
seniors can use help writing
cards, making cookies and
gift wrapping or shopping.
In response to whether
more care beds were needed at
more levels, Hilty responded
that workforce readiness in
terms of qualified personnel
is an even bigger need.
“Our industry requires
24/7 coverage, and I can’t put
a ‘closed’ sign on the door
because someone didn’t come
in,” she said. “Our labor pool
is really tight out here.”
Olson added that Clack-
amas Community College
will hold a 10-day work-
shop this spring to start peo-
ple on the road to become
Certified Nursing Assistants,
which can potentially lead to
employment at the center.
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expecting about $20,000 more
from the county’s lottery fund
for economic development.
Businesses within the zone are
expected to pay a share.
Sands saw a number of
changes in the city’s demo-
graphic over his tenure. He
noted population growth and
an increase in retirees.
“The schools are finally
picking up again, and that’s a
really encouraging sign,” he
said.
His challenge was trying to
keep the council a unified body.
“There were times we
were very united and times
we weren’t,” he said. “Even
though we may have differ-
ences, once we make a deci-
sion, we try to reach that goal.
Sometimes it doesn’t happen.”
Most rewarding for the for-
mer mayor was the playground
project at the Joseph City Park.
“It had citizen involvement,
and it was basically citizen
driven,” he said.
Sands was on the project
committee and had a signifi-
cant role outside of his posi-
tion as mayor. “The city, for an
investment of $2,500, received
miss Kathy here at Wind-
ing Waters,” he said. “She’s
been instrumental in running
our vaccination program and
improving vaccination rates,
she was really helpful in
developing Teen Screen pro-
gram and figuring out how
healthcare needs of teens
were different than children
and adults; she was our ‘go
to’ person for taking care of
little kids and reassuring par-
ents. Her years of experience
and caring manner built con-
fidence, especially in new
parents.”
Kathy’s friend Kathleen
Bennett, who worked with
the original band of doctors
back in the day, spoke of a
magical method Siebe used
in confidence-building.
“She developed relation-
ships with every one of her
patients,” Bennett said. “In
any room she goes into, if
it is social or if it is medi-
a whole new playground worth
$265,000,” he said. “It was one
of the best projects I’ve ever
been involved in.”
Sands also noted the
recently completed bike path
from the south end of the city
to the county park at the foot
of Wallowa Lake, courtesy
of the Oregon Department of
Transportation.
“There was no investment
by the city except attending
design meetings,” Sands said.
Sands also points to the pav-
ing of city streets as a high-wa-
ter mark of his tenure. He ini-
tiated a campaign to raise the
state grant allotments for small
city infrastructure from $1 mil-
lion to $5 million.
The mayor personally wrote
letters and handed out sam-
ple letters at League of Oregon
Cities meetings with instruc-
tions on who and where to send
them. He also lobbied the leg-
islators involved while on trips
to Salem.
“Now, instead of getting
$50,000 every eight years, we
get at least $50,000 every two
years for our streets,” he said.
Sands also noted that the
grant rules didn’t prohibit the
city from making more than
one application annually. Con-
sequently the state granted
two separate applications for
a total of $100,000 last year.
With carryover and other state
programs, the city council
approved around $220,000 for
road paving and repair.
“We ended up getting about
18 blocks paved this year,” he
said.
Despite some turmoil along
the way, Sands has no regrets
and wouldn’t do anything
differently.
“I basically enjoyed all of
it,” he said.
He added that the last two
years have taken their toll, and
he plans to spend more time
with his small business advis-
ing role with Northeast Ore-
gon Economic Development
District.
Sands said he hoped he
left Joseph citizens a legacy of
working for their interests.
“I had no personal agenda,”
he said. “I always thought,
‘What do the citizens want?’
and I think I reflected that
pretty well.”
cine, she has this uncanny
ability to put you at ease.
She’s friendly without being
obnoxious, she recognizes
you, she remembers names,
she’s perceptive and intuitive
and resourceful, she loves to
teach ... and I think critical
thinking ability is something
that set both Kathy and Scott
apart.”
The Siebes also managed
to raise three high-achiev-
ing children in Wallowa
County, and Kathy served on
the school board and volun-
teered in the community.
All
three
children
attended school in Enterprise
and then went on to Whit-
worth or Washington State
University.
“They’ve all done really
well out of our school sys-
tem,” Siebe said.
Daughter Kelly Fonteijn
is a grant writer in Pullman,
Wash., and has two chil-
dren with husband Adri who
works for InterVarsity Chris-
tian Fellowship.
Daughter Amy Siebe
Mork is an RN at Wallowa
Memorial Hospital and has
three children with husband
Shawn who is a range man-
agement specialist for the
U.S. Forest Service Wallowa
Valley Ranger District.
Son Cory Siebe is an
emergency medicine physi-
cian at St. Charles Medical
Center in Bend and has two
children with wife Ariel.
Siebe is looking forward
to spending a lot more time
with her grandchildren, she
said.
“The main reason I’m
retiring is to not have a
schedule,” she said. “Scott
and I will do more things
with the grandkids, more
traveling, more enjoying the
county and hiking, more ski-
ing and golfing.”
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