ELECTION 2020
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, October 14, 2020
A3
LocalElections
Julie Ellison seeks a second term
to ‘ensure county’s financial health’
Incumbent was a
bookkeeper for 30
years before joining
county as deputy
clerk in 2014
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
In 2016, Julie Ellison won
more than half of the votes in
a four-way primary race for
treasurer and moved onto the
ballot as the lone candidate in
November’s general election.
In 2020, while the one-term
incumbent will again be the
sole candidate on the ballot in
November, she faces a write-in
challenger, John Day police
officer Sam Stinnett.
“I want to continue to use
my experience and knowledge
for the citizens of our wonder-
ful County,” she said.
From working with the
commissioners on the bud-
get committee to increase the
county’s contingency fund —
cash the county keeps on hand
in case of emergencies — and
setting up direct deposit for
the county’s employees, Elli-
son said her first term has been
busy.
The pandemic has made her
office even busier.
She said her office has
been tracking COVID-19-
related expenditures from
county departments that have
requested coronavirus relief
funds and ensuring those pur-
chases include corresponding
documentation.
Like any other request for
funds, she said, they must go
before the court for approval.
Ellison said, if her office can-
not verify documentation, she
will not disperse the money.
According to Oregon stat-
utes, she said the county trea-
surer is responsible for receiv-
ing, dispersing and investing
all monies belonging to the
county.
She said her office operates
within the law and the policy
the county commissioners set.
“That’s all I can do,” she
said. “I can’t go outside of
that.”
She said she welcomes
anyone in the community to
drop by the office if they have
Julie Ellison
questions.
“I try to be as transparent as
possible,” she said. “My door
is open if you want to come and
look at something. I’ll show
you anything I have.”
Ellison, who grew up in
Grant County, was a book-
keeper for Jackson Oil for 26
years and then Ed Staub & Sons
for four years.
Her career with the county
began in 2014 as deputy clerk in
the County Clerk’s Office. Elli-
son said her duties in the clerk’s
office often overlapped with her
predecessor, longtime treasurer
Kathy Smith.
Ellison said, when Smith
announced her retirement, she
decided to throw her hat in the
ring.
“I knew all the claims pro-
cess, which half of it is done by
the treasurer,” she said. “I knew
a lot of information coming in,
the accounts, the account num-
bers, all the departments.”
Ellison said, after her pri-
mary win in May, she spent her
lunch breaks with Smith to pre-
pare for her first day in office at
the start of 2017.
“I learned a lot of stuff in
those hours every day,” she said
She said the tasks on her first
day included calculating com-
plicated tax turnovers, a multi-
step process that one must
know coming in the door.
“If you don’t know how to
do that, I’m sorry,” she said.
“It’s about 100 steps.”
She said roughly half of her
job is preparing for the budget,
which she works on from Janu-
ary to June.
Ellison said she will con-
tinue to work with the court and
budget committee to increase
the county’s contingency fund.
She said she wants the
county to have a cushion if
it does not receive its federal
“Payment in lieu of Taxes,”
an annual payment local gov-
ernments receive to help offset
losses in property tax revenue
because of federal lands.
“I don’t know that I can get
it that way,” she said. “But I
would love for it to be as big as
what they think PILT will be, so
that if we didn’t get it would be
OK.”
The federal government cuts
PILT checks in June, just as
she’s completed the budget.
“The budget is basically
done, and I’ve put PILT into
the budget because I’m assured
we’re going to get it,” she said.
“But if we didn’t get it one year,
it would be devastating.”
Ellison said, with so much
to learn and do, its hard to say
what her biggest accomplish-
ment has been in her first term.
“It’s hard to say you get
accom-
plish-
ments in
one term,”
she said.
“There is
so much.”
How-
ever, she
said, the county, up until a
month ago, was not in the
“digital age,” but now with
direct deposit for half of the
employees, the county and
employees are saving time
and money.
“Everybody loves it,” she
said. “They’re so thrilled with
it.”
She said that is roughly 60
checks the county does not
have to write and sign.
“We don’t have to print a
physical check so that’s saving
money,” she said. “That’s a
time saver too besides money.”
Ellison said she wants to
“continue to do what I’ve been
doing and continue to make it
better.”
“My focus,” she said, “is
on protecting and keeping our
principle balanced and pri-
oritizing the services that the
county’s citizens value the
most and ensure the county’s
financial health.”
Write-in challenger Sam Stinnett
wants to serve his community
John Day police
officer wants to see
more transparency
from treasurer’s
office
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
John Day Police Police
Officer Sam Stinnett, a
write-in challenger for
Grant County treasurer,
said he jumped into the
race for the same reasons he
became a cop.
He wants to help his
community.
“It seemed like a good
opportunity to help peo-
ple in my community on
a grander scale,” Stinnett
said.
Stinnett, who grew up
in Grant
County,
said he
always
enjoyed
m a t h
a n d
that it
“always
stays the same.”
“Math doesn’t lie; it can
always explain it,” he said.
For the last eight
months, he said he had been
the president of his police
union, and before that, he
served as the secretary and
treasurer.
“That gave me a lot of
training and more experi-
ence,” he said.
As treasurer and secre-
tary of the union, he said,
he saw that the role entailed
more paperwork and bal-
ancing the books than he
had initially expected, but
he enjoyed the job.
He said it is hard for him
to pinpoint his goals as trea-
surer if he were to win the
race, but he would like to
see more transparency out
of the office.
“That seems like a big
word,” he said. “It’s all of
our money and so we would
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S210175-1
Sam Stinnett
all like to see exactly what
is being done with it.”
Stinnett said, if someone
wants to inquire about the
county’s finances or any-
thing else, they have to talk
to somebody.
“I don’t know all the
forms behind it, or how you
have to get it or the proto-
col,” he said.
He said it seems like
the county could offer an
online form that makes the
process more accessible for
people. Currently, accord-
ing to county officials, all
records requests must go to
the county court members
for approval.
Stinnett, who worked
at the Grant County Jail
before joining the John Day
Police Department in 2018,
said the records request
process is simple.
“At the (John Day Police
Department), if we have a
record and someone wants
something, you call, come
in, fill a little paperwork
out, boom, you’re done,” he
said.
He said he has heard
the county needs an
upgrade when it comes to
technology.
“I’m
technologically
savvy, so I can do my
best, within my power, to
upgrade the county,” he
said.
Stinnett said he wanted
to be careful not to “stretch
too far.”
“Every place I’ve ever
worked, I have loved to
Hello Grant County,
With everything going on this year, I thought it might be a
good idea to remind everyone what we do here at the Chamber.
Here are the facts:
The Grant County Chamber Commerce is located at 301
West Main Street at the corner of West Main Street and Bridge
Street in the heart of John Day.
The Chamber is the DMO (Destination Marketing
Organization) for Grant County as recognized by Travel
Oregon and the Eastern Oregon Visitor Association. We are
also a recognized Visitors Center.
The Chamber has a great website: www.gcoregonlive.com
with tons of information about Grant County. We have
a Business Guide listing all our Chamber members. Each
business has a page with contact information, and a link to
their website if they have one. Our Facebook page is also very
popular and a great way to communicate with the people of
Grant County.
There is a list of hiking trails in Grant County with
information about each trail including the distance, range
of difficulty, which Ranger District they are in, what type of
activity (hiking, horseback, mt. biking or ATV) is allowed on
them and when they are open.
Dining and lodging options are listed with contact
information as well as bike-friendly options and various maps.
We have information on Grant County Communities and
Museums and a link to the County Website.
We keep an Events Calendar and encourage everyone to
send us their events to make it easier to schedule things to avoid
conflicts.
The Chamber has an advertising budget and we advertise
Grant County in several tourism/trade publications each year
providing reduced rates to member businesses for advertising.
We will soon be releasing our new logo and branding strategy.
We are so excited to share this with all of you!
We have a line item in our budget for community
sponsorships. We contribute to all city sanctioned events and
we are proud to say that we invest in the Grant County Fair.
This year, we included funds for a Business Enhancement
Grant Program. This is for Chamber members to be used
specifically for building enhancement to improve “curb appeal”.
A 50% match is required and grants are limited to $2,500. The
grant is open and eligible as long as there are allocated funds
available for the respective fiscal year. This nicely compliments
the Transient Room Tax Grant Program that we have had for
many years to support local projects and events that attract
tourism to Grant County. This program has provided over
$200,000 in grants since 2012!
Our Grant County Greenbacks program has been a huge
success! You can purchase Greenbacks at the Chamber office
in denominations of $5, $15, and $25. They can be used at
businesses that are Chamber members like cash. Business
owners redeem them dollar for dollar. This helps keep our
money in Grant County. Since its inception, 5 years ago, we
have redeemed nearly $50,000 from business members!
Just prior to the 2017 Eclipse, we installed the first TESLA
charging station in John Day. It is located at the Chamber
office and is used frequently by visitors and folks traveling
through Grant County.
The newly remodeled Conestoga Wagon located at the Dixie
Mountain Wayside just east of Prairie City with information
about Grant County and some of our businesses is now being
maintained by the Chamber. A recent Traffic count by ODOT
indicates that there is an average of 150 vehicles visiting there
daily!
So, now you have the facts. If you have any questions please
contact us!
The Chamber board will meet Thursday, October 15th at
10:30 AM at the Chamber office. Masks are required and
social distancing guidelines will be followed.
S211134-1
make things efficient and to
have a streamlined process
for everything,” he said.
At the jail, he said he
helped implement a new
computer program.
“I worked with a lot of
the IT guys there,” Stinnett
said. “And it was it was fun
because I like technology,
and I like efficiency.”
He said he has found
there is always something
“extra” to bring more struc-
ture, protocol and produc-
tivity at every job.
Stinnett, 34, said people
in his generation need to get
more involved in their com-
munities and the political
process.
“This is a great time for
me to get involved in the
county that I’m going to
stay at,” he said.” I don’t
see myself leaving anytime
soon.”
Stinnett said he had
moved away to Boise and
Bend, but something always
drew him back.
He said, if he were to
win the race, he would stay
on as a reserve officer.
“It is just too fun of a
job, and too different of a
job to let go,”he said.
He said long shifts on
patrol and police work’s
unexpected nature has
made it difficult to get back
to people and campaign.
For now, Stinnett said,
people could reach out to
him on his Facebook page.
He said he does not always
get back in the most timely
fashion, but that is still the
best way to get in touch
with him.
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