The Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, April 6, 1978 THREE
License denial possible for Sundown
; The Oregon Motor Vehicles
, Division has notified Sundown
Pontiac Motors of Hermiston
that it does not intend to
renew the dealer's license for
1978.
The firm has been given 60
days under the state's Admin
istrative Procedures Act to
request a hearing on the
decision. As of Tuesday, this
request had not been made, a
spokesman for the state agen
cy said.
Harold L. Grover, adminis
trator of the Motor Vehicles
Division, also has told Sun
down by certified letter that
his department was immedi
ately withdrawing the firm's
authority to act as an agent
for the division in issuing
temporary Oregon registra
tions and in inspecting vehicle
identification numbers on out-of-state
licensed vehicles com
ing into Oregon.
Graver's actions followed a
continuing investigation of
the Hermiston firm that be
gan when the licensing agency
received a complaint about
the firm's alleged operations.
Randy DeWees, new opera
tions manager for Sundown
(Bob Paoli, former manager,
remains as dealer), feels most
of the errors made by the
Hermiston dealership were
County
The Morrow County Court
'dealt with a full agenda of
business at its meeting held at
the courthouse on Wednesday,
March 29.
The court approved two
requests for zone changes for
land from qualified farm to
farm. The County Planning
Commission had already gi
ven the go-ahead on the
requests made by Earl Blake
of Heppner and Dewey West of
, Boardman,
After discussing once more
the county -wide need for dog
control, the Court decided to
talk again to the mayors of the
cities in the county about the
problem. The City of Irrigon is
making arrangements to do
nate a one-acre parcel of land
to the local humane society for
use as an animal shelter for
the joint efforts of Morrow and
north Umatilla Counties and
the Court has been asked for
county financial assistance.
In another matter, the
county received a letter from
the City of Irrigon asking to
enter into an agreement with
Morrow County for the Justice
Court to handle the state
traffic violations within the
city and asking the county to
allow the newly elected Irri
gon Minicipal Judge to con
duct court from 8 a.m. to 2:30
p.m. every Wednesday to
may sans
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"clerical and procedural" and
that none were made with the
intent to defraud.
"If we're guilty of anything,
it was doing too much busi
ness," he said.
Sundown moved into Her
miston, not with the intent of
"stealing business" from other
dealers, but to capitalize on
the area's "tremendous
growth potential" and to build
a modern facility, DeWees
said.
Sundown had projected
initial sales of 50-60 cars per
month, about double the pre
vious dealership's volume.
This was expected to increase
to around 150-200 cars per
month in a few years time.
The future came quicker
than anyone anticipated, how
ever, as sales immediately
zoomed to around 100 a month
when the dealership opened
last October. It was some
thing "we weren't prepared
for," DeWees said.
Sundown was especially
surprised by the volume of
Washington business it was
getting. DeWees feels this led
to some mistakes because the
salesmen weren't familiar
with the procedures involved
in selling cars to Washington
residents. .
DeWees responds to com
Court OKs zone changes
handle city ordinance viola
tions. No action was taken on
the proposals.
The Court reappointed Al
fred Nelson as inspector of the
Lexington Blow District. Bill
Rietmann was named alter
nate inspector.
Sheriff Larry Fetsch and
Deputy Wayne Maxam met
with the Court with prelimi
nary plans for a new jail,
prepared by architect Jack
.Miller, the Court recommen
ded the . architect - include a
juvenile office in an alternate
plan.
Mel Boyer, operator of the
Lexington Airport, discussed
with the Court the airport
lease which expired Nov. 1,
1977. A rental amount of $150
per month $1,800 annually
was agreed on and a new lease
will be prepared.
In business pertaining to the
Road Department, the Court
approved a markup of 15 per
cent over the cost of culverts
that are sold. The Court also
agreed to terminate the lease
on crushing at the Brenner
site on Rhea Creek but to keep
the lease open for rock
stockpiled there. The lease on
the Hanna site up Hinton
Creek will also be terminated.
The Court reviewed a re
quest from Kent Goodyear
that a larger culvert be placed
more t Bisn
mmm m
J
plaint's of high pressure sales
tactics by noting his salesmen
are "aggressive" and that the
dealership's approach is to "go
after the business and do
what it takes to get it." The
firm operates on the concept
of "high volume, low profit,"
he said.
This formula has apparent
ly paid off for the new
dealership which has risen to
the top of its "planning
potential" in Pontiac and GMC
sales.
Complaints have been made
to the Consumer Protection
Division about repairs at
Sundown but DeWees said he
has checked with Pontiac,
Buick and GMC and that the
firm's record is "outstanding"
in this area and that it has
''fewer service complaints on
a sales basis" than other
dealerships. '
"We're doing everything
we can to operate a dealership
and to stay in Hermiston for a
long time to come," he said.
Plans have already been sub
mitted to General Motors for
a "huge modern facility" on a
6 acre site about midway
between Hermiston and Uma
tilla. It would employ about
50-75 people.
DeWees said Sundown was
trying to rectify its past
across the road which drains
near his property near Hepp
ner High School. Goodyear
had also said there was need
of a stop sign at the junction of
the road from the High School
and Fuller Canyon Road. The
Court and Roadmaster Doc
Sherer agreed to both the
larger culvert and the stop
sign.
The Court decided to inform
Jack Wallace that at this time
it did not want to sell a lot in
Lexington owned by the coun
ty which he had asked to
purchase.
Don Scott of the Lcyal
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mistakes and "insure they
won't happen in the future."
The Sundown investigation
began March 7. Grover said it
showed the firm had not
renewed its license for 1978.
The division also alleged
Sundown had not complied
with some laws and rules
relating to titles and registra
tion procedures.
As a result of the investiga-.
tion, a citation was issued on
March 7 by the Oregon State
Police to the firm for operat
ing without a dealer's license.
The firm was advised not to
sell vehicles until a license
was obtained. This is a Class
A misdeameanor under Ore
gon law and carries a maxi
mum penalty, upon convic
tion, of $1,000, or a year in
jail, or both.
Two days later, Sundown
was again cited by the State
Police for not having a deal
er's license and for failure to
notify DMV of acquistion of a
vehicle. The latter is a Class B
traffic infraction and carries a
maximum $500 fine upon
conviction. DMV says it un
derstands the firm has plead
ed innocent to the charges and
trial date is to be set.
Grover said DMV investi
gator Merle Graham told
Sundown officials on March 9
Government Personnel Insti
tute was retained by the Court
as the person to negotiate
matters of union agreements
with the road department and
sheriff's department.
In other action, the Court:
approved the expenditure of
$7,180 for lumber from Pea
cock Lumber Co. to rebuild
' three bridges in the county;
approved the purchase of a 920
loader from Inland Machinery
for $20,000 with trade-in allow
ance; and signed a contract
for auditing services with
Witherell, Witherell, Morrison
and Fife.
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Lexington
that they had continued to sell
vehicles after the first citation
and that that represented
another violation. It was then
the dealer closed its display
and sales room until a tempor
ary license was issued March
13.
Grover said the division had
turned over to the Consumer
Protection Division com
Martin campaign
meet is Saturday
Promising a campaign the
likes of which "hasn't been
seen in this county in recent
years," Steve Peck, co-chairman
of the Morrow County
Roger Martin for Governor
Committee, invites all interes
ted persons to attend an
informational committee
meeting to familiarize voters
with the candidate and his
campaign. The meeting will
be held Saturday, April 8,
beginning at 7:30 p.m. at West
of Willow restaurant.
Peck said the purpose of the
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plaints submitted to it which
allege unethical or illegal
business practices by the
Hermiston firm. DMV also is
cooperating with the state of
Washington in looking at
alleged cases of Sundown
providing Oregon addresses
for Washington residents in
order to evade Washington
taxes.
meeting will be to talk about
the Roger Martin campaign
and get as many people
involved as possible.
The candidate will be mak
ing a return to visit to Heppner
Saturday, April 22, and will be
available to meet the people
beginning at 5 p.m. at West of
Willow. The previous day,
Martin wil be involved in a
three-way debate with Repub
lican gubernatorial primary
candidates Victor Atiyeh and
Tom McCall. The debate will
be televised live from Port
land on KGW-TV.
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Atiyeh to make
3 county stops
Morrow County will host yic
Atiyeh this Friday, April 7,
and Saturday, April 8, during
the Republican gubernatorial
candidate's campaign sweep
through Eastern Oregon.
Atiyeh 's itinerary includes a
no-host dinner in Heppner
Friday at 7:15 p.m. in West of
Willow; a Saturday breakfast
at 7:15 a.m. in Beecher's,
lone; and a noon luncheon in
Boardman Saturday at the
Nomad Restaurant. At each
stop, the candidate will speak
on issues facing Oregon in
general and Morrow County in
particular and will provide
time to answer questions from
each audience.
The Morrow County Port
Commission plans to guide
Atiyeh on a tour of the
coal-fired plant facility near
Boardman.
Atiyeh, current Oregon Sen
ate Republican Leader and a
20-year veteran of the Oregon
legislature, has said his re
cord proves his top priority is
the people of Oregon. He
believes it's time bureaucra
cies start assisting Oregon
citizens instead of trying to
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over-regulate them.
, The candidate says the high
cost of state government is a
major campaign issue, point
ing out the state budget has
increased from $490 million to
2.126 billion during the past
two administrations.
Atiyeh has served on many
committees dealing with the
concerns of Oregon and has
chaired such committees as
the Committee on Trade and
Economic Development.
A Beaverton businessman,
Atiyeh has been active in
community organizations in
cluding the United Fund, Red
Cross, Oregon Boy's Club, the
Isaak Walton League and is
best known for his long time
involvement in the Boy
Scouts.
Atiyeh ran unsuccessfully
against Bob Straub for gover
nor in 1974 as the Republican
nominee.
Don Peterson, chairman of
the Morrow County Atiyeh for
Governor Committee, urges
all county residents to take
advantage of this week's
opportunities to meet the
candidate.
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