A8
News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Parks and Rec candidates School board candidates
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
John Day-Canyon City
Parks and Recreation District
has a five-member board of di-
rectors with three at-large posi-
tions up for election.
The current board includes
Chairman Zach Williams, Bud-
get Officer Lisa Weigum and
members Russ Young, Christal
Culley and Doug Sharp. Three
incumbents are running for
re-election for a four-year term,
and two new candidates, Heath-
er Rookstool and Darin Toy,
have joined the race as well.
Each candidate is presented
below in alphabetical order.
manager of Java Jungle and
the coordinator for the My Fu-
ture, My Choice program at
Grant Union Junior-Senior High
School.
She has served as president
of the Grant County Fair Board
and is currently the vice pres-
ident of Grant County Little
League baseball and softball
programs. She has also held
board positions on the Grant
County Wrestling Club and
John Day Swim Team as fund-
raising coordinator.
With children in Parks and
Rec programs, she said she
wants to be sure the programs
are successful and the best for
each of the kids.
Christal Culley
Christal Culley, 39, is an Or-
egon State University Extension
program assistant.
She said she is qualified as
a current member and an ac-
tive volunteer in the communi-
ty who has already invested in
the families and children of this
community through her current
job, as well as the school system
where her three children attend,
ranging from elementary to high
school.
If elected, she said she would
like to bring opportunities to all
ages in the community, while
being realistic and open mind-
ed about possibilities as well as
financial requirements. She said
she would also like to see the
district incorporate events and
activities outside of recreation.
Doug Sharp
Doug Sharp, 52, is a physical
education teacher and coach at
Grant Union Junior-Senior High
School.
Born and raised in John Day,
Sharp has served on the board
for several years and said he
has a strong interest in the com-
munity. He said he has enjoyed
being on the board, responsible
for the Seventh Street Complex
with which people have been
impressed.
Sharp said it is important to
have fitness and leisure opportu-
nities and a place people could
be proud of. He said he wants to
keep working with the board to
make the district better, making
it an even better draw for the
community.
Heather Rookstool
Heather Rookstool, 31, is
Darin Toy
Darin Toy, 42, is a U.S.
Forest Service wildland fire-
fighter.
Toy said his greatest quali-
fication was being a parent of
young children who wants to
see the Parks and Recreation
program develop further.
He said he would like to
explore alternative funding
options, including local fund-
raising and grants, to provide
programs for both for kids and
adults. He said he would look
to continue development of
recreational opportunities for
young families, including im-
provements to the swimming
pool and children’s play struc-
tures and other city recreation-
al opportunities.
Lisa Weigum
Lisa Weigum, 32, is the
Grant County Substance
Abuse and Problem Gambling
coordinator.
Weigum, who currently
sits on the Court Appointed
Special Advocates and Grant
County Safe Communities
Coalition boards, was ap-
pointed as the Grant County
representative for the Eastern
Oregon Healthy Living Al-
liance board, is a John Day
City Councilwoman and is the
incumbent district budget offi-
cer, said community involve-
ment is very important to her.
She said the district’s youth
programs have been very suc-
cessful, and she would like to
see similar success in adult
programs and activities cur-
rently being developed. She
said she is excited to promote
programs for an underserved
community demographic.
HOUSING
Continued from Page A1
Councilor Donn Willey
was in support of the idea
and said the city would see
a quick return on its invest-
ment in new homes.
According to numbers
provided by Green, an av-
erage John Day home is 58
years old, 1,676 square feet
with three bedrooms, two
bathrooms and a real market
value of $141,407, but an
identical new home would
have a real market value of
$254,000, bringing in al-
most twice as much in tax
revenues for local districts.
A new one-person house-
hold would bring in rough-
John Day City Councilman
Donn Willey says he was
in support of Green’s
housing proposal and the
city would see a quick
return on its investment in
new homes.
Old West Federal Credit
Union CEO Ken Olson
says he would pledge
$10,000 in economic
development funds to help
kick start growth during
an April 25 John Day City
Council meeting.
ly $3,400 in tax revenue
for local districts, including
roughly $1,500 for the city,
while a four-person house-
hold would bring in rough-
ly $19,600 total, including
Eagle photos/Rylan Boggs
A man wakes up in
the morning after
sleeping on an
ADVERTISED BED,
in ADVERTISED
PAJAMAS.
School board vacancies are
among the contested races on
the May ballot. Three local
school districts each have one
position with multiple appli-
cants.
Haley Walker and Josh
Walker are running for Zone
No. 2 for Grant School Dis-
trict. Nancy Hitz and Daniel
Tremblay are running for
Prairie City School District’s
Position No. 2. And Brittany
Desadier, Elizabeth Lovelock
and Jamie Schafer are running
for Monument School Dis-
trict’s At Large No. 2. Each of
the terms is four years.
Following is a brief intro-
duction of each candidate,
presented in alphabetical or-
der.
Grant School District
No. 3.
Haley Walker, 38, is the
Grant County Airport man-
ager.
Walker said she is quali-
fied because of her commit-
ment to being involved in the
community, belief in the val-
ue of education for students
and her extensive budgeting
experience.
If elected, she hopes to
attract and retain quality
teachers and administrators,
$2,000 for the city, accord-
ing to Green. But the city
has only approved the devel-
opment of five new homes in
the last 10 years.
Green said the loss of
young families has decimat-
ed the tax base — not just
for the city, as the state also
contributes about $7,800 per
student to the local school
district. He proposed invest-
ing net capital in housing to
boost the tax base.
Water and sewer rates are
the two highest sources of
income for the city and are
being underused.
Green said 1,164 acres
of undeveloped property are
within the city limits and
compared it to flying a com-
mercial airplane with 90 per-
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Prairie School District
No. 4.
Nancy Hitz, 46, is a dental
assistant at the office of Dr.
James Klausmeier.
Hitz said she is qualified
for the job because her eight
years of service on the board
taught her a tremendous
amount about school board
policies and how school busi-
ness is done.
If re-elected, Hitz prom-
ised to put the safety and ed-
ucation of children foremost.
Daniel Tremblay, 31, is a
self-employed in the ranch-
ing and timber industries.
Tremblay said, as a Prai-
rie City resident with a child
in the district, his experience
with large-scale agency oper-
ations and crew management
and a fisheries degree quali-
fied him to be on the board.
If elected, he said he
Monument School
District No. 8.
Brittany Desadier, 30, is
a rancher and owner of Deer
Creek Development.
Desadier said she was
qualified for the position
because she is a parent and
looking forward to being in-
volved in the community for
years to come.
If elected, she hopes to
give every child a fair chance
and focus on the student body
as a whole.
Elizabeth Lovelock, 33,
is the owner of Apricot Api-
aries.
Lovelock said she is qual-
ified for the position because
she has recently been attend-
ing board meetings to learn
about procedures and issues,
has experience as an educator
and owns a small business.
If elected, she said she
hopes to provide a new per-
spective, do what is best for
the students and confront
tough choices when they
need to be made.
Jamie Schafer, 49, is un-
employed.
Schafer said working as
mayor of Monument for a
short time qualified her for
the position.
If elected, Schafer said
she hopes to be an asset to the
community.
cent of the seats empty.
The average net tax ben-
efit of a new house in John
Day is roughly $9,500, ac-
cording to Green. If the
city were to add 100 new
homes, that would equate
to just under $1 million in
property taxes split between
the schools, city, hospital
and county, according to
Green.
“I think we can make
a million dollars a year in
additional revenue and turn
around and put it back into
our community and start
building stuff people want,
reducing their water and
sewer rates, plowing their
streets,” Green said.
The venture would not be
without risk, and Green said
private investors would also
be needed.
Old West Federal Credit
Union CEO Ken Olson said
he would pledge $10,000
in economic development
funds to help kick start
growth.
Green said he planned to
meet with Oregon Solutions
in early June to pitch them
the idea.
While building new hous-
es could attract new resi-
dents, there are still homes
for sale in John Day. Green
said he was focused on the
undeveloped lots in the city
and in the event that a house
simply couldn’t sell, proper-
ty owners had options.
John Day Fire Chief
Ron Smith said the Burn to
Learn program was open
to property owners who no
longer wanted a building.
The program allows local
firefighters to engage an ac-
tual structure fire, while the
property owners are spared
the expense of demolishing
a home. Buildings must be
asbestos free and structural-
ly sound to be used.
Firefighters move room
to room, setting and extin-
guishing fires and ultimately
burning the entire structure.
Following the fire, the de-
partment handles removal of
the debris, saving the owner
thousands, Smith said.
The program is valuable
and unique training experi-
ence for firefighters while per-
forming a service to the com-
munity, according to Smith.
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increase student enrollment
and continue to support the
school’s administration.
Josh Walker, 39, is Sene-
ca’s city manager.
He said he would be a
good choice for the position
because he has two children
in the school district and is
actively involved in commu-
nity groups as well as being
active at the city and county
level.
If elected, he said he
hopes to foster trust between
the board and the communi-
ty, address concerns he has
heard and felt as a parent in
the district and participate in
the budget process.
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