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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (May 26, 2021)
A8 OFF PAGE ONE Wallowa County Chieftain Wednesday, May 26, 2021 Elections: Lathrop, Moeller voted to Wallowa School Board Other winners Continued from Page A1 for the seismic work could be used for the new bond, and in that way, the assess- ment wouldn’t need to be done twice. “You don’t have to duplicate things,” she said. “There will be some nice ways” that helps out. The next part of the pro- cess, Jones said, is to work with the bond counsel. The following step would be “requesting archi- tect, engineering and design services,” she said. “Getting that on board, you can start looking at the schematic and design. It’ll be a community team that will be a part of that process — community members and school mem- bers, as well. Once you have a design and a plan, then it’s working on getting a con- tractor on board.” Jones said that, with all those elements to still be taken care of, “We’re probably a year out from construction.” Wallowa School Dis- trict was also the site of two of the three contested school board elections Tues- day night, with the third Ellen Morris Bishop/For the Wallowa County Chieftain, File Wallowa School District maintenance head Jake MacDonald stands next to pipes that carry hot water through the school buildings for heating. The heating and cooling systems are among those in the district in need of improvement, and that improvement is on the way thanks to Wallowa voters passing a $7 million bond during the Tuesday, May 18, 2021, district election. The bond passage also means the district will get a $4 million grant from the Oregon Department of Education. SPRING TIME FUN and HVAC Parts & Service Ed Staub & Sons Energy Community Service. 201 East Hwy 82 Enterprise, OR 97828 Not just propane 541-426-0320 EARLY ADVERTISING DEADLINE 12:00 PM 12:00 PM - - Thursday, Thursday, May May 26 27 The will be be CLOSED CLOSED The Chieftain Chieftain office office will Monday, 30 for Memorial Day Day Monday, May May 31 for Memorial being in Joseph. In a three-way race, Zach Lathrop edged out incum- bent Mike Lowe and fellow challenger Joseph Miles for Position 2 on the Wallowa School Board. Lathrop won with nearly 45% of the vote, edging Lowe, who had just over 41.5%, by 20 votes, 278-258. Miles ran in third with just over 13% of the vote, or 82 votes. The other race in Wal- lowa, which was for Posi- tion 5 on the school board, went to Mark Moeller, who eked out a nine-vote victory over Bill Robb, 318-309, or 50.48% to 49.05%. Jones said she had not had much previous interac- tion with the two new mem- bers of the board. “And I don’t know Mr. Lathrop really well. I know Mr. Moeller,” she said. “I’ve interacted with him some. ... It’s exciting to have people ready to serve.” In Joseph, Kathy Zach- arias topped incumbent Rachel Sykora to win a four- year term in Position 4 with a 339-136 victory, garnering more than 71% of the vote. Joseph: there’s a couple diff erent options, and I’ve seen about every one under the sun get exercised. … (The council is) going to have to decide on those recommendations.” Eckstein said he hopes the May 27 actions resolve — or begin to resolve — some of the issues that have me over the past 10 years or so that have had a lot of suc- cess,” he said. “Sometimes they’re not always met with open optimism; it can be really hard for people accept change, and I get that. Some- times I try to change things too fast, so I’m going to be patient and slowly integrate Continued from Page A1 session, Eckstein anticipates discussion of particular council members — or the mayor — and their actions in relation to the alleged harassment. He and Baum expect to make recommen- dations as to punishment that the council must take action on in open session. Possible punishments “Obviously, we can’t force anyone to resign, but we can make a strong rec- ommendation,” Eckstein said. “There can be things like censuring, restrict their right to vote, pull them off committees, you could lock them out of City Hall — plagued Joseph city gov- ernment. He said he was pleased that Welch felt his situation was resolved and that a heavy burden had been lifted from city Administra- tive Assistant Jamie Collier, as well as city residents. “I’m just implementing some tried-and-true sys- tems that have worked for systems that have worked for me in the past.” Among those methods will be educational work sessions he hopes to hold with the council that will inform them about how they are allowed to interact with each other and with city employees. “We understand this aff ects the public as much as it does the employees, so we want to be as clear and transparent as we can,” Eckstein said. “At the same time, we want to maintain people’s rights and privacy.” Thursday’s executive session agenda includes the options to: • Consider the employ- ment of a public offi cer, employee, staff member or individual agent. • Consider the dismissal or disciplining of, or to hear complaints or charges brought against a pub- lic offi cer, employee, staff member or individual agent who does not request an open hearing. • Consider information or records that are exempt by law from public inspection. The open session agenda includes: • Consideration of a sev- erance agreement. • Council decision on alleged violation of council rules. • Public comment. Drought: determine that.” Hillock agreed, saying he and the other commis- sioners have sought that input. “You drive around and you talk to the producers, the grass (for grazing) isn’t growing,” he said. But the drought extends beyond traditional agricul- tural areas up into the tim- berlands. Nash told of one resident who conducted a controlled burn recently and was amazed how dry it was. “Those were fi res like we’d see in late July,” he said. “They burned some trees they didn’t intend to.” “WE UNDERSTAND THIS AFFECTS THE PUBLIC AS MUCH AS IT DOES THE EMPLOYEES, SO WE WANT TO BE AS CLEAR AND TRANSPARENT AS WE CAN.” — Brock Eckstein, interim city administrator Continued from Page A1 input from county residents. “We determine here as to whether we’re in drought,” she said. “Our producers and people here help us EASTERN OREGON 2021 All other election win- ners, in uncontested races, were: • In the Enterprise School District, Heather Melville (Position 1), Kate Fent (Position 4) and Mandy Decker (Position 5). • In the Joseph School District, Olivia Losby (Position 6). • In the Troy School Dis- trict, Rene Crawford (Posi- tion 2) and Dustin DeHaan (Position 5). • In the Lower Val- ley Water District, Kim Werst (Position 4) and Rick Schaeff er (Position 5). • In the Evergreen Water District, Rob Burns, Jason Crenshaw and Gary Willett. • In the Wallowa Rural Fire District, Larry Wight- man and Bobbie Baker. • In the Wallowa Lake Rural Fire District, Bob Young (Position 3), Dave Hurley (Position 4) and Greg Johnson (Position 5). • In the Wallowa Cem- etery District, Bonnie Henderson. • In the Lostine Ceme- tery District, Muriel Jones, Les Carlsen and Shirley Doud. • In the Enterprise Ceme- tery District, Tim Kiesecker (Position 5). • In the Alder Slope Cem- etery District, Reid Kooch. • In the Joseph Cemetery District, Tom Schaafsma. • On the Wallowa Memo- rial Hospital Board, Nick Lunde (Position 3) and Kate Loftus (Position 4). • At the ESD, David Flynn and Bre Austin. Conatact Elaine at 541-263-1189 PHOTO CONTEST Offi cial Rules: Photo Contest open now and closes at 11:59 pm Sunday, June 20, 2021. Staff will choose the top 10. The public can vote online for People’s Choice from 12:01 am Monday, June 21 through 11:59 pm Thursday, June 30. Digital or scanned photos only, uploaded to the online platform. No physical copies. Only photographers from Oregon may participate. The contest subject matter is wide open but we’re looking for images that capture life in Eastern Oregon. Entrants may crop, tone, adjust saturation and make minor enhancements, but may not add or remove objects within the frame, or doctor images such that the fi nal product doesn’t represent what’s actually before the camera. The winners will appear in the July 8th edition of Go Magazine; the top 25 will appear online. Gift cards to a restaurant of your choice will be awarded for fi rst, second and third place. Meet Twins Eden & Bartlett They were born approx. April 8, 2021. They have their first round of vaccines, been dewormed, are litter box trained and will be fixed when of age. This duo are very bonded but do have different personalities. Both are dreaming of a fur-ever home together. Available for Adoption Call Mary at 541-398-2428 $110 adoption fee Submit all photos online at: wallowacountychieftain.com/photocontest for the pair ($20 discount) http://www.wallowacountyhumanesociety.org/ Brought to you by,