ARCHIE HOOK WRAPS STINT JENNINGS, AMARO PACE
AS PASTOR IN ENTERPRISE ENTERPRISE GOLF TEAM
LOCAL, A3
SPORTS, A9
HOLLYWOOD
IN ENTERPRISE
BUSINESS, A6
137th Year, No. 3
WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
Lynn
Wolf
Joseph
Former
visitor made
Joseph home
JOSEPH — Lynn Wolf moved here
some 13 years ago with her late husband
after visiting numerous times.
“I’d start crying when we’d have to
leave town, and my husband said, ‘I guess
we have to move,’ ” she said.
So they moved from their former
home south of Portland.
Wolf is “mostly retired,” though she
said she still does a bit of interior decorat-
ing and design work.
She has one daughter and son-in-
law who live here and another son who is
moving over here from the west side. Two
other sons live in the Beaverton area.
Wolf recently shared her thoughts
about living in Wallowa County.
What’s your favorite thing about
Wallowa County?
I love the fresh air, the scenery, the
no traffi c. The people here are great. They
support a lot of good causes. There’s a
wide variety of people.
What are your thoughts on
Larry Braden resigning as city
administrator over alleged
harassment by council members?
I did not hear that, so I don’t have any
thoughts on it at this time.
What’s your opinion of Joseph
city government?
I’ve been waiting to give the new
administration some time, but that’s all
for now. I haven’t attended any meetings,
so I have no thoughts on that.
How has the COVID-19 pandemic
aff ected you?
It’s kept me home a lot. It wasn’t super
diffi cult for me, but I’ve thought it was
important that we all pay attention to the
protocols.
Have you gotten the vaccine
against COVID-19 or are you
planning to get it?
You bet; I’ve gotten the two shots of
Moderna.
Which vaccine did you prefer?
I didn’t care.
What have you learned from
living in Wallowa County?
To slow down and enjoy what’s
around me. I’ve always tried to do that,
but it’s easier to do here.
What’s your advice for people
who are thinking about moving
here?
Come with an open mind and an
open heart. I would hope that they would
be ready to improve on the things they
love here. We’re going to have to embrace
some change, but we don’t want change
to be just for the sake of change to bring
what you’re used to here. A lot of peo-
ple had a reason to move here and why
destroy that?
— Bill Bradshaw,
Wallowa County Chieftain
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
City Attorney Wyatt Baum, second from left, talks with Joseph city leaders after an emergency City Council meeting Wednesday, April 21, 2021.
From left are Councilman Stephen Bartlow, Baum, Mayor Belinda Buswell and Administrative Assistant Jamie Collier.
‘FOG’ REMAINS OVER
JOSEPH CITY COUNCIL
Council stays mum
on legal advice
on Braden probe
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
J
OSEPH — Progress was made
toward replacing resigned city
Administrator/Recorder Larry Bra-
den during another emergency
meeting Wednesday, April 21, but
the Joseph City Council failed to answer the
question of whether there will be an investi-
gation into Braden’s claim of harassment.
The council went into executive session at
the beginning of the meeting to seek advice
from City Attorney Wyatt Baum, but declined
to discuss in open session any advice he’d
given on a possible investigation.
The question was at the forefront of the
minds of several council members April 16
when Mayor Belinda Buswell read aloud
Braden’s resignation letter in which he stated,
“the stress of the job as it is today and constant
harassment from members of the current City
Council has become too much for me to han-
dle and is aff ecting my private life in ways
that I can no longer allow to continue.”
After a suggestion that council members
be authorized to fi ll in Braden’s duties until
a new administrator can be hired, Council-
woman Lisa Collier said April 16 she was
opposed to the idea.
“I actually feel that given the nature of the
letter it sounds like there’s some harassment
from City Council members, I’m not sure
that I’m comfortable with giving access,” she
said.
Others agreed.
“I would concur with Lisa and it seems
like we need more information,” Council-
woman Tammy Jones said. “There are very
clear roles for a board or a council and an
administrator. It seems to me that’s where we
need to put some focus and fi gure out where
are those boundaries to ensure that if there
are some things that, as a council, that we
are doing that impacts the city (administra-
tor) unable to do their job, then that’s kind
of a bigger issue. I agree that we need to
get someone in to help fi gure some of those
pieces out, and this is a really big deal.”
At that time, the council agreed to seek
Baum’s advice on a potential investigation
over the harassment allegation. But during
last week’s emergency meeting, the council
declined to make public what Baum’s recom-
mendation was.
When asked directly during the public
comment portion of the open session whether
there would be an investigation, Buswell
said, “As the presiding chair, I will say what
I’ll always say regarding what goes on in
executive session, and that will be ‘No com-
ment.’ It’s just about public meeting laws and
the protection of executive session.”
Joseph resident Mike Lockhart wasn’t sat-
isfi ed with that.
“I’ve had conversations with several peo-
ple about what’s going on with the investiga-
tion,” he said. “In today’s paper, it puts a fog
over the entire council. You know, who’s the
See Council, Page A7
Ready to entertain
Wallowa Lake Lodge gets a new deck,
has other plans in place for new season
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
WALLOWA LAKE — Lead-
ership at the Wallowa Lake Lodge
is hoping to have a new, improved
and expanded deck completed by
next month — just in time for the
start of the new season.
It’s the latest improvement at the
lodge, and one that became a clear
need last year after the COVID-19
pandemic forced business outside.
“It became really apparent last
year when we had to move out-
side as much as possible because
of coronavirus to stay open,” said
Madeline Lau, general manager
of the lodge. “We had to limit our
capacity in the dining room by half,
so we could only get 42 people.
Also with the views and the ambi-
ance and the beauty of our location,
people want to be outside anyway.
It became apparent our deck had
some structural issues last year.”
Lau isn’t quite sure when
the deck was assembled for the
98-year-old lodge, but thinks it was
possibly built during a major reno-
vation to the building in 1988.
Lau said the old deck was ripped
out during the winter, and the
rebuild started April 5.
The new deck will have a bowtie
design and, at roughly 2,000 square
feet, will be about 30% larger than
the one it’s replacing. The new
deck will be built of cedar, and
will include posts made of locally
sourced juniper, juniper burls at
the entry and a stainless-steel ten-
sion cable for the railing. The deck
is being built by local community
members.
The hope is to have the deck
completed by May 21, in time for
the lodge’s opening on May 28.
“It’s our goal to make the most
beautiful deck in Eastern Oregon
and a place where everyone is wel-
come,” she said.
It’s a season where Lau hopes
to see a vision of the lodge being
used by both locals and tourists.
The local community has sustained
the historic place and saved it fi ve
years ago.
“We are announcing that I want
the community to use the lodge in a
much bigger way,” she said.
Lau said in the past, the lodge
has been more of a destination for
tourists, and the locals have won-
dered about the accessibility to
them.
“It is my goal to make the lodge
as accessible as possible to the
See Lodge, Page A7
Madeline Lau/Contributed Photo
Progress is made on the new bowtie deck being built at the Wallowa Lake
Lodge. General Manager Madeline Lau said the hope is for the deck to be
completed by May 21, 2021, in time for the May 28 start to the season.