BAKER CITY HERALD • TuEsDAY, sEpTEmBER 20, 2022 A3
LOCAL
Housing
Continued from A1
According to a HUD web-
site, the Housing Choice
Voucher (HCV) program,
otherwise known as Section
8, is the federal government’s
“primary program for assisting
low-income families, the el-
derly and persons with disabil-
ities to afford decent, safe and
sanitary housing in the private
market.”
To qualify, a tenant’s in-
come has to be below a cer-
tain threshold — half the
amount of the county’s av-
erage income. And, by law,
NEOHA awards about
three-quarters of its vouchers
to those with incomes one-
third of the county average or
below.
About 45% of Baker City
households qualify for the pro-
gram, according to a housing
needs analysis from 2020.
NEOHA, which serves
Baker, Union, Wallowa and
Grant counties, pulled 131
names from the Baker County
list from July 2021 to June
2022. But because the list is
long — sometimes the wait
can extend for several years
— many people don’t respond
after they are contacted.
But that’s not the reason
most vouchers didn’t get
used, Myers-Nallusamy said.
NEOHA still awarded 23
vouchers during that time pe-
riod, which meant those re-
cipients could look for a place
where they’d like to live.
In general, through the
HCV program, the tenant
provides 30% of their income
to rent and the voucher sup-
plies the rest, which the local
authority pays to the landlord.
But that ratio only applies
if the chosen property fits
within the “payment stan-
dard” — the usual price to
rent a moderately-priced
housing unit in the local mar-
ket, as determined by the local
authority.
The amount is usually
based on the local Fair Market
Rent price, which in 2022 is
$856 for a two-bedroom unit,
according to Oregon Hous-
ing and Community Services.
Tenants can still choose prop-
erties that exceed the payment
standard, but the extra money
has to come from their own
pocket.
(The Fair Market Rent
will increase by 4% in Baker
County starting Oct. 1, 2022.
The increases are 7% in Wal-
lowa County, and 8% in
Union County, according to
HUD.)
Most rents in Baker County
exceed the payment standard
for the HCV program, My-
ers-Nallusamy said.
“The rents are so much
higher that they don’t fall
within our guidelines to be
able to issue payments,” she
said.
Even if the tenant chooses
to contribute more than 30%
of their income to rent, the
program doesn’t allow them
to contribute more than 40%.
And units that do fit the
payment standard were few
and far between, Myers-Nal-
lusamy said. Out of the 23
who received vouchers, just
five could find and lease
housing. The other 18 vouch-
ers expired.
“Affordable housing is not
available, and there’s nothing
really,” Myers-Nallusamy said.
According to a 2021 assess-
ment from the Oregon Hous-
ing Alliance, for every 100
families with extremely low
“If I work with any clients
in Baker, I’m always saying
‘Are you willing to relocate
if there’s no success in Baker
County, would you be willing
to go to the other counties?’
Some are willing, and then
there’s those who cannot be-
cause of their jobs,” Pallis said.
“It’s hard, because our job
is to get people housed, and
how do you do that in an area
where there’s just not enough
housing,” she said.
As part of the Baker
County Behavioral Health
income in Baker County, only
37 units are available.
One in five renters are pay-
ing more than 50% of their
income to rent.
Thera Pallis, housing navi-
gator for NEOHA, said land-
lords converting properties to
short-term vacation rentals
has contributed to the thin-
ning market and higher rents.
Pallis said she sometimes
has to look elsewhere in the
region in hopes to fill the
vouchers since they are trans-
ferable to other counties.
OREGON CAPITAL
Blaine H. Miller
October 19, 1967 - August 13, 2022
Blaine H. Miller passed away
peacefully at his family home in
Anchorage, Alaska, on August 13,
2022.
Blaine was born October 19,
1967, at Walter Reed Hospital
in Washington, D.C., to Mark E.
Miller and Maggie/Peggy Watlic
Miller of Baker City.
Blaine grew up in Baker City
and always had a passion for the outdoors. Although
he had been gone from Baker for many years he was a
regular reader of the Baker City Herald obituaries and
considered himself a “Baker Boy.”
In pictures from childhood he is mostly found behind
the steering wheel of something driveable, or with a
baseball glove.
He graduated from Baker High School in 1986 after
marrying his wife, Kim, and having their first son,
Todd, in 1985.
Shortly after graduation his passion for his country
led him to enlist in the United States Air Force as a
security policeman. That same passion only grew and
over the next 20 years he led a remarkable career. He
transferred to the Alaska National Guard 176th Security
Squadron in order to stay in Alaska.
He was medically retired as a Master Sergeant
in 2006 after a motorcycle accident rendered him a
quadriplegic. Retired and wheelchair bound, Blaine
continued to do what he loved for the next 17 years
in Alaska. He never let his disability dictate his life.
If you did not know him from decades of running
riverboats or selfless service you might have had him
as your mentor at Alaska Military Youth Academy, or
you could have heard him give a motivational speech
at Providence Hospital. He genuinely loved to inspire
and teach, to bring good to this world and it is because
of that he will be missed by so many.
He is survived by his wife Kimberly; children, Todd
(Hurley and Harper); Nicolas Miller (Danielle, Wyatt
and Aubrey); Jordan Miller; mother, Maggie Miller
(Pat); brothers Mark E. Miller, Jr. (Renea, Aaron,
Cheyenne, and Cody); Troy Miller (Kathy, Austin,
Alex) and other close family and friends.
He was preceded in death by his son, Brandon (Bam)
Miller and his father, Mark Miller, Sr.
A service was held at the Cornerstone Church in
Anchorage, Alaska on August 20, 2022. Ashes will be
scattered in Alaska at a future date. This writer hopes
to scatter some ashes at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Baker
City, OR, where at a young age he learned to drive.
Shannon Sullivan
January 8, 1937 - September 12, 2022
Shannon Sullivan passed away on
Monday, September 12, 2022, at the age
of 85, with her family by her side. At
Shannon’s wish, her ashes will be spread in
Cascade, Idaho, in a private
service.
Shannon was born in
Seattle, Washington to John
and Marcy Kirby. She was
the oldest of 4 children.
When she was six her father
bought a ranch and the
family moved to Wingville,
where she walked 3 miles to
school. She lived in Baker
County the rest of her life
though some of her fondest
memories were spending
summers in Cascade with
her grandparents, Ed and Marcella Davis
and her aunt, Mary Cross Kerby and family.
Shannon had a variety of careers in
her life. She enjoyed bookkeeping and
was the bookkeeper and office manager
for OK Livestock in Caldwell, ID, which
was owned by her parents, John and Marcy
Kirby. After the business was sold she
received certification in Hypnotherapy.
She provided counseling for MayDay
and helped people with a variety of
psychological issues from weight loss,
overcoming test anxiety and changing
life patterns and beliefs. In addition to
counseling she started the Wild Rose
School of Insurance and taught Insurance
Continuing Education throughout Eastern
Oregon. Shannon continued bookkeeping,
for son-in -aw Sam Haines’s scrap metal
business until she was 80.
After graduating from Baker High in
1955, Shannon attended Oregon State and
Oregon. She had a love of knowledge her
entire life. She later received her degree
in Economics from Eastern Oregon
University. She studied and read her
entire life on a vast variety of subjects
from physics, psychology, geology, opera,
interior design, metaphysics, astrology and
Shakespeare. She loved Great Courses and
took classes into her 80’son Origin of the
Brain, the Human Mind and Neuroscience
to name a few. She was a member of a book
club with friends Betty Kuhl and Leona
Fleetwood, among others in the 1980s.
They read “The Aquarian Conspiracy,”
which Shannon said was the book that had
the greatest impact on her life.
Shannon was generous and outgoing.
Many have received handwritten notes of
encouragement, appreciation or support
from her over the years. She loved giving
books to people she thought they needed
to read (even if they didn’t want to) and
donated many books to the Baker County
Library.
Good
food,
beauty,
flowers, playing bridge,
her home and the outdoors
were among her favorite
pleasures. Shannon enjoyed
good food and cooking along
with a glass of wine. Dessert
was her favorite course,
especially bourbon pecan ice
cream. Often times it was the
main course. Shannon loved
the outdoors, everything
from gathering cattle to
gardening and sitting on
the deck next to Powder
River. Anywhere she lived was filled with
beautiful things, colors, especially blues
and purples, and flowers. Shannon was
always up for a drive to explore Eastern
Oregon and beyond. Her shortcuts were
legendary. Her favorite overseas trip was
Ireland. St Patrick’s Day always saw her in
green.
If you knew Shannon long, you were
laughing. She loved nothing more than
telling a funny story, usually on herself,
like when she left to go on a trip and ran
over her suitcase, stopped the car, threw the
suitcase in the trunk and kept going.
In her early 70s Shannon was dealt a
bad hand and diagnosed with Parkinson’s
disease. Her illness was severe and
she approached it with courage and
determination. In order to take her mind
off illness she joined a writing group with
Eloise Dielman and Jessie Ritch. She wrote
“Days of Travel,” a lively family history.
She continued working on short stories and
a murder mystery.
She was preceded in death by her
parents, John and Marcy Kirby, sisters
Marcella Dawn Engelhardt and Judy Kirby,
brother Johnny Kirby and ex-husbands
Thomas Pearce and Don Sullivan.
Shannon is survived by her daughter,
Marcy Haines and son-in-law Sam Haines;
sister in law Jan Kirby; nieces Dawn
Engelhardt, Celeste Glazer and Shannon
Raquel Kirby and grand nieces and a grand
nephew.
Memorial contributions can be made to
the Michael J. Fox Foundation or the Baker
County Library through Tami’s Pine Valley
Funeral Home & Cremation Services, P.O.
Box 543, Halfway, OR 97834. Online
condolences can be shared at www.
tamispinevalleyfuneralhome.com.
INSIDER
Housing Task Force, Pal-
lis shared the information
with nonprofit New Direc-
tions as part of a recent sur-
vey and report it conducted,
which aimed to identify gaps
in housing services for those
with behavioral health condi-
tions in Baker County.
New Directions recently
received a $1.4 million state
grant, money it will use to
purchase a modular home,
two other homes in the com-
munity, and to set up a hous-
ing service center.
We’re investing in Salem
coverage when other
news organizations are
cutting back.
Get the inside scoop on state government and politics!
The most valuable and respected source of
Richard ‘Dick’ Lee Micka
April 22, 1938 - September 11, 2022
Richard “Dick” Lee Micka was born
on April 22, 1938, to Albert and Ludmila
“Mildred” Micka. Mildred, affectionate-
ly known as Momma, gave birth to Dick
prematurely at a house in
Merrill, OR. Momma was
sent home with a very sick-
ly infant Dick in a shoebox
with expectations that he
wouldn’t survive. Oh boy,
did God have other plans for
Dick. A rich, long, fulfill-
ing life of family, faith, and
friendship would follow.
Dick’s parents were im-
migrants from then Czecho-
slovakia. Albert’s family
moved to the United States
in 1906. After first joining
their cousins, the Cackas, in Lamona, WA,
in 1910, the entire family settled in the
small Czech farming community of Malin,
OR, only a year after the town was estab-
lished. On a return trip to Czechoslovakia
in 1927, Albert met Ludmila Kvapil. After
they married in 1930, Albert brought Mil-
dred back to Malin, where they operated a
family farm. Dick was very proud of his
heritage and grew up speaking Czech in
the family home and on the party phone
lines of the day.
The youngest of three boys, Dick always
tried keeping up with older brothers, Bob
and Paul. This often led to trouble, such as
shooting Bob with a bow and arrow, blow-
ing up “U-boats” in the canal, and even
having an anvil dropped on Dick’s head.
From his father, Dick learned his hard
work ethic and from his mother a great
love of family and a fondness for all tasty
foods, as she was a great cook. Even as
an adult, Dick was known to squirrel away
secret sweets stashes.
Growing up in the tiny town of Malin,
Dick attended school with the same dozen
or so classmates throughout elementary
and high school. Dick loved telling the
story of holding the doors open so that
Bob could ride his horse into the school.
Pranks aside, Dick was very smart and ex-
celled academically in all areas, including
the honor band. Dick graduated valedicto-
rian from Malin High School in 1956 and
went on to attend Oregon State College
(now OSU), graduating in 1960 with an
elementary teaching degree and again in
1965 with a master’s degree in education.
While attending OSC, Dick was a mem-
ber of the ROTC and would go on to serve
in the Army National Guard. He was sta-
tioned at Fort Ord.
On January 20, 1964, Dick became
a proud “Daddy” to his eldest daughter
Christina “Christy” Louise, with his first
wife, Linda. From Daddy, Christy learned
a love of exploring nature. She grew up
spending time with all her extended fam-
ily creating close bonds with her cous-
ins. Daddy’s love of Czech heritage was
passed on to Christy. One way Christy
continues to pass on this heritage is by fol-
lowing in Momma’s footsteps and baking
kolaches for her family and grandchildren.
Eventually, Dick met his wife Amy
(Truax) at Myrtle Creek Elementary
through teaching. Upon meeting Dick,
most important to Amy was if he was good
enough to be the father to her toddler son,
Andrew “Andy” Well, he was, and Dick
and Amy married on January 11, 1980.
Just as significantly, Dick adopted Andy
as his son. Two years later, Dick and Amy
welcomed their daughter Bethany Lynn.
Dick and Amy decided on Baker City
as their permanent home for their young
family and moved in 1983. Dick taught
classes from third grade through middle
school. Some of his other occupations in-
cluded radio DJ, ranch hand, and salesman,
which he definitely was not. At the age of
54, Dick and the family took a brave leap
when Dick returned to college at Western
Oregon University, completing the Speech
Therapy degree program. It was through
speech therapy for the schools that Dick
found his career passion and knew he was
making a difference in students’ lives.
In 1987 Dick and Amy moved out of
town to Old Auburn Road. The bonds be-
tween Dick and Andy were strengthened
with the hundreds of miles of hiking,
horseback riding, collecting sheds, shoot-
ing ground squirrels, bow hunting, and
bugling in elk out Old Auburn. Teaching
Andy (and Amy and eventually Betha-
ny) to hunt and fish was a joy for Dick.
One treasure is that Dick was able to take
Andy’s son Corwin fishing with the same
cane pole Andy learned on as a boy. Be-
ing a father to Andy was the most signif-
icant impact Dick could have on Andy’s
life. It is something Andy carries with him
throughout his life in his family, being a
father to Corwin, and in his profession as
a father figure to those in need within the
community.
Continuing the trend, Dick also instilled
a love of the outdoors in his daughter
Bethany. From camping to
rafting or simply fishing at
Morgan Lake together in lat-
er years. Bethany credits her
dad with passing on to her
the creative gene. Growing
up, Dick and Amy read to
Bethany every night, shar-
ing their love of literature
with her, a passion she car-
ries today.
Even after retiring from
the Baker School District,
Dick stayed involved with
students by doing moun-
tain man presentations at the elementary
schools and assisting Mrs. Micka’s class-
room field trips. Whether presenting to
students or volunteering as a Trail Tender
for the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center,
Dick played and dressed the part from his
fur hat to his hand-carved muzzleloader
rifles.
It would fill a book if one were to de-
scribe Dick’s hobbies. He was a man of
many talents, such as wood carving and
fly tying, and he could even write back-
ward. Dick and Amy built their dream log
home on French Gulch in the early 90s. In
addition, Dick built his dream shop with
a designated woodworking area. Dick re-
cently completed carving and painting 16
tiny penguins for the attendees of a family
reunion earlier this year.
Traveling in retirement was also a joy
for Dick. He and Amy pulled their camp
trailer throughout the western United
States and Canada. Often Dick and Amy
were able to camp, hunt and fish with his
brother Bob, sister-in-law Shirley and
their cousins. Dick got to catch halibut in
Elfin Cove, Alaska, eat pasta in Italy and
have a roast pig at a luau in Hawaii.
Dick was a football and baseball fan;
as a child, his brothers assigned him the
Boston Red Sox as one of his teams. He
always rooted for the orange and black,
his alma mater, the OSU Beavers. While
teaching in Monterrey Mexico, he rooted
for the Vikingos as they were easiest to
pronounce.
Dick’s Christian faith was deeply im-
portant to him. For over 30 years, he was
an active member of the Baker City Naza-
rene Church. Dick and Amy led Celebrate
Recovery for a number of years. Dick
also was involved with the Restoration
program. Dick loved singing hymns, wor-
shiping in church, studying the Bible, and
praying for anyone, even if the person was
a stranger.
In addition to loving to sing, Dick was
musically gifted. He could play the french
horn, baritone, and mellophone. Dick was a
member of the Baker City Community Or-
chestra, and playing in the annual holiday
performances brought him great happiness.
Dick was many things: son, brother, hus-
band, father, grandfather, great-grandfather,
cousin, uncle, teacher, and a friend who
gave love to all. After a sudden, brief hem-
orrhagic stroke, Dick went to be with his
heavenly father on the morning of Septem-
ber 11, 2022. His beloved wife Amy was
able to be with him until the end here, pro-
viding him comfort and holding his hand.
Survivors include his wife, Amy Mic-
ka and son, Andy (Tara) Micka of Baker
City. Daughter Christy (Gary) Richardson
of Grants Pass. Daughter Bethany (Ben)
Miller of La Grande. Brother Paul (Alene)
Micka of Beaverton. Sister-in-law Shirley
Micka of Merrill. Sister-in-law Ann Truax
of Milwaukie. Brother-in-law and sister-
in-law John and Maria Truax of Corvallis.
Grandchildren Audrey (Tom) Reynolds of
Wood River, Illinois. Matthew (Lindsey)
Richardson of Grants Pass. David Rich-
ardson of Carlsbad, California, and Cor-
win Micka of Baker City. Great-grand-
children Paityn, Jasmine, Malachi, Mason
Reynolds of Wood River, Illinois, and
Brooks Richardson of Grants Pass. And
numerous extended family members.
Dick was preceded in death by his
parents, Albert and Mildred Micka, and
brother Robert Micka.
A celebration of his life will be held
on Saturday, September 24, 2022, at 11
a.m. at the Baker City Church of the Naz-
arene, 1250 Hughes Lane. Friends are
invited to join the family for a reception
in the Church Fellowship Hall following
the service. Memorial contributions may
be made to the Safe Families Program of
the Northeast Oregon Compassion Center,
Baker Relief Nursery, or the Baker City
Nazarene Church in the care of Gray’s
West & Co. Pioneer Chapel, 1500 Dewey
Ave., Baker City, Oregon 97814.