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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 6, 2021)
A16 NEWS Blue Mountain Eagle Committee Continued from Page A1 “I thought that was the end of it,” he said. “I’ve never once seen the position advertised publicly.” Myers said Dec. 30 that the court appointed roughly 20 vol- unteers to various boards and committees in its Dec. 9 session. He said the court did not require those volunteers to reapply for their seats. “Those were not declared vacancies,” he said. “They were not put out for new members because the current standing and/or sitting members on those committees agreed to stay on.” Myers said the county’s pol- icy has always been that those incumbent members of those committees keep their seats unless the number of terms lim- its them. March 13 Budget Committee meeting Quinton said he believes County Commissioners Ham- sher and Sam Palmer want him off the committee because he and the other two at-large committee members opposed increasing the number of hours the county pays them during a March 13 Budget Committee meeting last year. According to the approved meeting minutes, the commit- tee discussed the court’s request to change the county commis- sioner position to half-time instead of one-third time. According to the minutes, the three public members that sit on the Budget Committee, which include Quinton, Long Creek resident Amy Kreger and Rob Stewart, said the vot- ers — not the Budget Commit- tee — should decide to increase the commissioners’ hours and pay. The two commissioners and county judge are also on the committee. Quinton said that is his “per- sonal opinion of the matter” and that he ultimately does not know why the county commis- sioners are considering another applicant. According to the Budget Committee meeting minutes, Myers — on two occasions — said both Palmer and Ham- sher should declare a poten- tial or actual conflict of interest and recuse themselves from the discussion. “Scott advised the commis- sioners should not be offer- ing input because this would be a direct conflict of inter- est for them,” according to the approved minutes. Both Palmer and Hamsher recused themselves from the vote. “I don’t know if it did not sit well with them,” Quinton said. “I’m not sure.” According to the meeting minutes, increasing the com- missioners’ hours to half-time would have been a roughly six and a half hours a week increase in paid commissioner hours. Quinton said he remarked at the meeting to both Ham- sher and Palmer — with no dis- respect to either of them — that they knew the number of hours for which the county would pay them before they ran for office. He also said Kreger told the commissioners they both receive full-time health benefits. In the minutes, Kreger also mentioned that raising the com- missioner’s paid hours came right after the filing deadline for the open commissioner posi- tion. The committee stated that maybe there would have been other people who would have filed for the primary if the pay was different. “The bottom line is we felt it was more the voting pub- lic’s decision than the Bud- get Committee’s decision,” he said. “And I would stand by that decision.” Quinton told the Eagle he does not know if that is why the court “mysteriously” has another applicant for the seat. Hamsher and Palmer both said that is not the reason why they are considering Camarena for the position. “When you get appointed to a committee or board, it’s not a lifetime appointment,” Ham- sher said Dec. 30 after a County Court session. Palmer said Thursday that someone he did not name went to the courthouse to apply for the Budget Committee and was told they could not. “If you’re a taxpaying cit- izen in this county and there’s an opening on a board, you should have the right to apply for it, just like everybody else,” he said. “And if nobody Phone and Internet Discounts Available to CenturyLink Customers The Oregon Public Utility Commission designated CenturyLink as an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier within its service area for universal service purposes. CenturyLink’s basic local service rates for residential voice lines are $21.00-$21.43 per month and business services are $28.00-$32.00 per month. Specific rates will be provided upon request. CenturyLink participates in a government benefit program (Lifeline) to make residential telephone or broadband service more affordable to eligible low-income individuals and families. Eligible customers are those that meet eligibility standards as defined by the FCC and state commissions. Residents who live on federally recognized Tribal Lands may qualify for additional Tribal benefits if they participate in certain additional federal eligibility programs. The Lifeline discount is available for only one telephone or qualifying broadband service per household, which can be either a wireline or wireless service. Broadband speeds must be 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload or faster to qualify. applies for it, we’ll look at the reappointment.” Hamsher said he thought the county advertised all open posi- tions on boards and commit- tees to the public. He said he also thought all of the people on the board had an opportunity to apply for reappointment. Predator Control Program Palmer said Dec. 30 that he is “struggling” with who to appoint due to the county’s Predator Control Program’s demise. Last month, predator con- trol officer Nick Lulay accepted a full-time position in Wallowa, according to USDA Wildlife Services District Supervisor Shane Koyle. Palmer said he received phone calls from unhappy res- idents saying they wanted the Budget Committee replaced for not increasing the funding for the predator control officer position. Quinton said that Palmer sits on the Budget Committee as well. Palmer said there was roughly $9,100 left in the preda- tor control program budget, and the committee cut the $40,000 allocated by $5,000. Myers said that other mat- ters precipitated cutting the pro- gram’s budget by $5,000. Myers said, as the budget came forward last year, there was money “left on the table.” “So when you look at a bud- get and the expenditures, and you’re trying to reduce your spending, you’re looking at pro- grams that had money leftover,” he said. “Is there a way to pay for wiggle room? What we did then was we worked on $5,000 out of the $40,000 budget.” Myer said he would “hate” to lose a committee member and potentially others over the decision. He told Palmer that the three committee members are all property owners and can identify with the unhappy con- stituents who called to complain. According to Grant County Treasurer Julie Ellison, the county spent $36,055.64 on the program last year. She said Thursday that, since the pro- gram started in 2017, the county has spent roughly $116,000 on the position. According to Budget Com- mittee meeting minutes, Elli- son estimated high costs for the program unless the county received more contributions. She said the county received a little over $12,000 in total dona- tions for the program from vari- ous organizations. Palmer said he is trying to do what his constituents elected him to do. “We don’t represent our per- sonal thoughts,” Palmer said. “We represent the people and what the people want us to do.” Quinton said the committee discussed the predator control program nearly a year ago. He said the county addressed the possibility of bringing Lulay on as a county employee and addi- tional costs, including a coun- ty-owned vehicle and what the county’s liability would be if an employee were to mistake a per- Wednesday, January 6, 2021 son’s pet with a coyote. Ellison said she remembered the meeting but did not know why there was not a more exten- sive record of the discussion in the minutes. The court intends to meet in early spring to discuss increas- ing the position’s funding to full time. “THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE IS FOR THE PEOPLE. IT’S NOT ABOUT A HIDDEN AGENDA. IT IS THE PEOPLE’S OFFICE.” —Todd McKinley, Grant County sheriff Potential conflicts of interest Hamsher and Palmer both said that Camarena serving on the committee presents no more potential conflict of interest than Quinton’s wife, Amber, who serves as the county’s deputy treasurer. Myers said Quinton is not his wife’s direct supervisor. Ellison said Thursday that she disagrees with Ham- sher and Palmer’s comparison but declined to comment any further. In an email Monday, Quin- ton said it was “interesting” that his wife’s employment came up because it was never an issue before. He said he would have declared a conflict of interest and not voted if there had ever been a budget request for the Treasurer’s Office. He said the only increase to the Treasurer’s budget was the cost-of-living wage increase that all county employees received, which brought him no “extraordinary” benefit. “She is not in my direct employ,” Quinton said. “She has been employed in her capacity as Deputy Treasurer for the past ten years.” As mayor of Prairie City, Hamsher is Camarena’s direct supervisor. Hamsher said he had not spoken to Camarena about his interest in being on the Bud- get Committee. Hamsher said that, should Camarena get appointed to the committee, he would not have to recuse himself from discus- sions on whether the commis- sioners’ paid hours should be increased. “I don’t know how that would have any bearing on any- thing,” he said. “It wouldn’t matter to me if he recused him- self or not.” Hamsher said asking whether Camarena should recuse himself from such a dis- cussion or vote would be ques- tioning his and Camarena’s integrity and suggesting that he would take action toward Camarena based on his decision as a committee member. He said Camarena voting on whether the commissioners should get paid for more hours does not pose a potential con- flict of interest. Hamsher said a conflict of interest would occur if he or a family member were to benefit financially from a decision. Camarena said he would recuse himself from any discus- sions or votes that could be per- ceived as a conflict of interest on anything, including the mat- ter of whether to increase the county commissioners’ number of paid hours. The county will revisit the Budget Committee appointment in its next session. The Eagle/Steven Mitchell Todd McKinley, left, is sworn in by Grant County Judge Scott Myers Monday at the county courthouse. Ceremony Continued from Page A1 McKinley said he was surprised at the number of people who showed up for the swearing-in ceremony. He said he wanted to be careful how he phrased it when he said that it gave him “some new hope” for the county. “The sheriff’s office is for the people,” he said. “It’s not about a hidden agenda. It is the people’s office.” Incoming Circuit Court Judge Rob Raschio took the oath in Burns. Raschio said he was on the bench “making deci- sions” hours after being sworn in by outgoing Cir- Lawsuit Continued from Page A1 Great Northern applied for a grant through two Ore- gon-based community orga- nizations designated by the state to review and admin- ister funds earmarked for Black-owned businesses and families, the Contingent and the Black United Fund of Oregon, in early October. According to the Dec. 6 complaint, the online appli- cation asked what percent- age of owners of this busi- ness identify as Black? Great Northern answered zero. The complaint goes on to say that Great Northern sued the state on Oct. 29 to “stop them from enforcing their racial exclusionary pol- icy.” The complaint states the Contingent denied Great Northern’s application on Nov. 9. The logging company intends to reapply for a relief grant when “the courts enjoin the enforce- ment of the racial exclusion that renders Great Northern ineligible for relief for the Fund.” Salem-based Dynamic Service Fire and Security saw their business go from cuit Court Judge William D. Cramer Jr. “I’m excited to finally be on the job. I feel the grav- ity of the moment,” he said. “I’m going to really enjoy doing the work.” Raschio said his biggest goal right now is to make sure that people in both Grant and Harney coun- ties have “access to justice, openly, fairly and quickly and that the Constitution is front and center in all the decisions that are made in our courtroom.” Incumbents also took the oath, including Trea- surer Julie Ellison, Surveyor Mike Springer, County Commissioner Jim Ham- sher and Assessor David Thunnel. grossing roughly $40,000 a month to nearly $10,000 to $18,000, according to the Dec. 6 complaint. The business tried to apply for relief from the state’s small business grant program in November, but by the time they logged on to the website they could not submit an application as the funds were exhausted, the Dec. 6 complaint stated. The complaint states: “Dynamic Service wishes apply for relief from the fund, but is disqualified from obtaining relief on account of its race.” The complaint goes on to state that the owner Walter Leja is disqualified individually from applying for relief due to his race as well. According to court doc- uments, the Oregon Cares Fund offered to deposit its remaining $8.8 million with the court, which, for the time being, has halted the program while the lawsuit continues. Palmer said in a phone call Thursday that, while he owns equipment and prop- erty with Great Northern, he has not been involved in the lawsuit. Houpt declined the Eagle’s request for comment. 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