OFF PAGE ONE
Wallowa County Chieftain
A16
Wednesday, June 9, 2021
Joseph:
Cash:
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Continued from Page A1
offi cial conclusion must be
done in open session.”
He said the process might
not satisfy all, but it’s “the
right and legal way to do it.”
He added that “I don’t
have any written accusa-
tions against a councilor for
harassment or anything. But
once I receive that corre-
spondence and open it, that
councilor and the rest of the
council will be presented
with that information.”
At present, it’s all hear-
say, he said.
“Right now, all of this
harassment stuff is ‘he-said,
she-said’ stuff . That’s not
how we operate; that’s not
how anyone should oper-
ate,” he said. “It’s got to be
a written complaint from
a citizen, a councilor or an
employee. As of right now,
I haven’t received any of
that.”
In addressing the audi-
ence, he empathized with
those feeling frustrated.
“I realize some of you
are feeling that frustration
because nothing’s happen-
County
Commissioner
Todd Nash, who also is on the
fair board, said he brought up
the fairground’s needs to sen-
ators and representatives —
including Levy — when he
learned of the project money
they had to dole out.
“When I fi rst heard about
that and was on the phone with
a senator or representative, I
did mention to them that the
Wallowa County Fairgrounds
would be a nice place to put
it,” he said. “Didn’t hear any-
thing back from Sen. (Bill)
Hansell. It was about a week
later that Rep. Levy decided
to do that. We weren’t peti-
tioned to say, ‘Where would
you like this?’ It kinda came
out of left fi eld and caught us
fl at-footed a little bit.”
Nash said he was thrilled
by the prospect of the fair
board receiving such a boost
to help restore the dilapidated
grounds.
“I still believe that is the
heart and soul of our commu-
nity,” he said. “It’s where we
gather not only for fair, (but)
for events, for funerals, for
graduation parties, you name
it. The Cloverleaf Hall has the
largest indoor space in Wal-
lowa County.”
Fire:
Continued from Page A1
through the region Thursday
night and Friday morning.
Wind and terrain were
major factors in the initial
spread of the fi re, which
grew to about 2,500 acres
by the end of the day Fri-
day and 3,700 by Saturday
evening.
Wind, though, also
proved to later be a bit of an
aid to fi refi ghters.
According to the Oregon
Department of Forestry’s
Sunday report on the blaze,
air resources faced extra
challenges from extreme
winds in the Northeastern
portion of Wallowa County.
The wind, though, pushed
the active fi re line back onto
itself, aiding eff orts to help
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Joseph Mayor Belinda Buswell, left, reads the Oregon Revised Statutes that specify what a
public body may do in executive session prior to entering such a session Thursday, June 3,
2021. Councilwoman Kathy Bingham listens at right.
ing,” Eckstein said. “Well,
no one’s stepping forward,
to be quite honest.”
The entire harassment
issue arose when Parks
Director Dennis Welch made
such allegations that led to
his having to take sick time
off from March to May. That
was followed April 1 by for-
mer Administrator/Recorder
Larry Braden alerting the
council of harassment viola-
tions during a council meet-
ing and then he submitted
his resignation April 16 for
those same reasons.
Since then, Welch has
returned to work after
talking with Eckstein. Bra-
den has declined to specify
the type of harassment or
from whom.
But it appears disputes
are occurring among city
staff , Eckstein said.
“There have been allega-
tions at the city level among
city staff and those are being
handled in the exact same
way I just explained,” he
said. “So once those time
frames have expired, a deci-
sion will be made and you’ll
know what that decision is.”
He asked for the citizen-
ry’s indulgence.
“I would just ask you
to exercise patience as
we make sure that every-
body — the accuser and the
defendants in any case —
are given their fair chance
to speak and respond to
issues,” Eckstein said. “I
know if you were in that sit-
uation, I guarantee you’d
want the same thing, too.”
get the fi re under control.
Christie Shaw, pub-
lic information offi cer for
the ODF, told the Chief-
tain Sunday afternoon that
winds grounded air attack
eff orts during the day
Saturday.
“The wind has been dif-
fi cult in that terrain,” she
said. “It’s been challenging
for folks. Yesterday we shut
down air operations for a
few hours.”
Winds were estimated
at around 32 mph, accord-
ing to U.S. Forest Service
Public Information Offi ce
trainee Sara Bethscheider.
She said, though, there’s not
a specifi c baseline wind-
speed that results in ground-
ing aircrafts fi ghting fi res.
“No magic numbers on
the windspeed,” she said.
“It was high, erratic winds,
which in turn ... created
low visibility.”
Shaw said the fi re
has been wind- and
terrain-driven.
“It’s burned primarily up
and down the canyon,” she
said. “(Crews) are trying to
really hold it in the bottom
of Cottonwood Creek. It’s
burning up and down the
canyon. That is the part we
can control.”
The challenge in bat-
tling the blaze is the loca-
tion, ODF Deputy Agency
Administrator Matt How-
ard said.
“This is probably one
of the most diffi cult places
to fi ght fi re in Oregon,” he
said in a press release from
the ODF. “Joseph Canyon is
known for its extreme ter-
rain, communication chal-
lenges and natural hazards.”
The fi re continued to
grow Sunday, but at a
slower rate thanks to cooler
temperatures and more
moderate winds.
The blaze reached 4,000
acres by Sunday night, a
much slower spread than
Saturday.
“We won today. We
didn’t win Saturday, but we
won today,” Andy Hayes,
incident commander trainee
for the Blue Mountain Type
3 Incident Management
Team, said Sunday.
The fi re’s spread was
held to 300 acres Sun-
day. The improved condi-
tions allowed fi refi ghters to
work strategically. Added
resources and burnout oper-
ations along Cottonwood
Creek help create an anchor
point to begin establishing
containment lines.
Hundreds of personnel
from various agencies have
been fi ghting the fi res.
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Many of the buildings
at the grounds need vary-
ing levels of repair, with the
total cost estimated at around
$647,000.
Grants and fundraisers
have been used through the
years to help fund upkeep,
and Stanley, who has been on
the board since 2010 and been
the chairwoman most of that
time, said there is an eff ort
to get some repairs done
annually.
“We try every year to have
money in our budget to con-
quer some project on our
fair,” she said, pointing to the
grandstands as an asset that
recently were upgraded.
Even so, Stanley admitted
that, “We struggle to support
our fairgrounds. This is going
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to be much needed.”
Nash rattled off a laundry
list of restoration tasks that
need to be done.
“Right now, the indoor
area is in pretty tough shape.
It needs a new roof. That was
one of the top priorities,” he
said. “There’s quite a few
things with Cloverleaf Hall
itself, the primary one being
the furnace. There is an out-
side chance we’re going to
get money to do that. But all
of the buildings, the arena
itself, the outdoor arena — the
footing gets complaints every
year from horses slipping.
“The arena infrastruc-
ture, there with old panels
and rotted posts. There is just
a myriad of things there that
need help with. Outdoor live-
stock facilities are in need of
repair.”
Bringing restrooms to
Americans with Disabilities
Act standards, upgrading the
snack bar and more are also
on the list.
Stanley said she believes
the grandstands are the old-
est structure on the grounds,
and added the beef and sheep
barns were constructed in the
1940s.
“I’m hoping at our fair
board meeting we’ll prioritize
our projects so we know what
is No. 1,” she said.
It’s uncertain exactly when
the funds would be provided
to the board. According to EO
Media Group reporter Gary
Warner, the money would be
in an “as of yet undesignated
bill” and would be part of the
2021-23 budget, but won’t be
made offi cial until the fi nal
day of the legislative session,
which will be, at the latest,
June 27. The budget goes into
eff ect July 1.
Stanley said she hopes the
money is in hand so that work
can begin later this fall before
the snow fl ies. Work would
then resume in 2022.
If the funding does indeed
come through, “it means a
facility that is more rentable
and more ready for events
(in) our community which is
important to all of us,” Stan-
ley said. That’s the main
thing.
“It will, for our commu-
nity, be huge.”
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