SNOWFLAKE
TOURNEY
JOHN DAY
GOLF CLUB
KICKS OFF
NEW YEAR
PAGE A7
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
MyEagleNews.com
153rd Year • No. 1 • 16 Pages • $1.50
COMMITTEE
CONFLICT
Budget Committee member who voted against increasing commissioner
salaries last year may be replaced by commissioner’s subordinate
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
BOB QUINTON
Served on
the Grant
County Budget
Committee
for about two
years.
Todd McKinley waits to be sworn in as Grant
County Sheriff Monday at the county court-
house.
JIM
HAMSHER
County
commissioner
and Prairie
City mayor
CHRIS
CAMARENA
Prairie
City’s Public
Works
Director
A new
sheriff
in town
McKinley, Raschio are
sworn in for new positions
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
Steven Mitchell and
Eagle file photos
SAM PALMER
County
commissioner
SCOTT MYERS
County judge
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
G
rant County Court recently
reappointed 20 incumbents to
various boards and commit-
tees, but the members are con-
sidering replacing a Budget Committee
member who voted against increasing
county commissioner salaries last year.
County Court members asked two-
year incumbent Budget Committee
member Bob Quinton to reapply for his
seat as they consider another applicant,
Prairie City’s Public Works Director
Chris Camarena.
County Judge Scott Myers said
appointing Camarena to the Budget
Committee could create a direct con-
flict of interest because County Commis-
sioner Jim Hamsher, who is also Prairie
City’s mayor, is Camarena’s immediate
supervisor.
Quinton, vice president and commer-
cial loan officer at the Bank of Eastern
Oregon, said he did not see the county
publicly advertise his seat.
He said the court sent him a letter
nearly two months ago asking if he would
continue serving on the committee.
Quinton said he filled out the form,
stating that he would “absolutely”
like to continue serving on the Budget
Committee.
See Committee, Page A16
There’s a new sheriff in town.
Roughly 20 people showed up at the
Grant County Courthouse Jan. 4 to see a vet-
eran lawman Todd McKinley be sworn in as
the county’s new sheriff, along with other
elected officials.
“It was quite a journey to get here,”
McKinley said in a phone interview from
the sheriff’s office in between swearing in
his deputies.
“(The job) began immediately after being
sworn in,” he said.
McKinley said his new deputies were
“relieved” to finally have a chance to sit
down and talk to him since he could not do
so after November’s election.
He said the conversations have been pos-
itive, and he is excited to take the helm.
He said his first conversation was with
outgoing Sheriff Glenn Palmer.
“It went well,” McKinley said of his con-
versation with Palmer. “I’m going to leave
it at that.”
McKinley, who defeated Palmer by about
500 votes, said he wants there to be less tur-
moil coming out of the sheriff’s office.
“There is always some turmoil in a sher-
iff’s office, but I don’t want the office to be
the cause of it,” he said.
He said he wants people in the commu-
nity to feel like they can reach out to their
sheriff’s office.
See Ceremony, Page A16
John Day Logging company sues, halts distributions to Black Oregonians
Great Northern Resources
claims COVID-19 fund is
‘racial exclusionary policy’
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
A John Day-based lawsuit
has halted further distributions of
COVID-19 funds earmarked by the
governor for Black-owned busi-
nesses and families.
The state’s $62 million relief fund
for Black Oregonians will no lon-
ger issue grants, as it deposited the
remaining $8.8 million with a federal
court Dec. 17 as legal challenges to
its constitutionality continue.
John Day logging company Great
Northern Resources, which lists Tad
Houpt and Grant County Commis-
sioner Sam Palmer as agents, filed a
lawsuit alleging race-based discrimi-
nation when its grant application was
denied. The lawsuit is ongoing.
Great Northern and a Port-
land-based, Latino-owned coffee
company and restaurant had asked
U.S. Judge Karin Immergut to issue
a preliminary injunction or restrain-
ing order to stop the fund distribut-
ing money based on race, according
to a complaint filed in U.S. District
Court Dec. 11.
Immergut denied those requests
in November, according to an
amended class-action lawsuit filed
with the U.S. District Court Dec. 6.
In those instances, the Oregon Cares
Fund set aside $200,000 for Great
Northern if they prevailed in their
legal challenges, according to a legal
brief filed Nov. 10. This led Immer-
gut to find that they couldn’t show
the irreparable harm needed to war-
rant an injunction in a Nov. 20 legal
opinion.
This time around, Great Northern
Resources — the original plaintiffs in
the case — joined with Salem electri-
cal contractor Dynamic Service Fire
and Security and sought class-ac-
tion status for the suit, according to a
complaint filed Dec. 6.
According to the amended
class-action lawsuit, the plaintiffs
applied for grants from other fed-
eral and state sources but were
unsuccessful.
EOMG file photo
See Lawsuit, Page A16
Tad Houpt, part owner of Great Northern Resources, addresses a crowd in
John Day in 2016.