TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppnet, Oregon Wednesday, February 21, 1996
Letters to the Editor
The Official Newspaper of the
City of Heppner and the
County of Morrow
Opportunistic grab for power
Heppner
GAZETTE-TIMES
U S P S. 2 4 0 -4 2 0
.
Morrow County’s Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper
Published weekly and entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at Hepp
ner. Oregon under the Act of March 3, 1879. Second class postage paid at Hepp
ner. Oregon Office at 147 West Willow Street. Telephone (503) 676-9228.
Postmaster send address changes to the Heppner Gazette-Times, P.O. Bo* 337,
Heppner. Oregon 97836. Subscriptions: $ 1 8 in Morrow, Wheeler, Gilliam and
Grant Counties; $25 elsewhere
April Hilton-Sykes............................................................................................. News Editor
Stephanie Jen sen ......................................................Typesetting, Layout, Distribution
Monique Devin ............................................................. Advertising layout & Graphics
Penni K eersem ak er...........................................................u ....................................Printer
David Sykes, Publisher
Lexington N ew s
■
__________
_______________ By Delpha Jones
Faye Ruhl is a patient at St.
Charles Medical Center in
Bend, where she underwent
major surgery. She was flown
out last week.
Letters are out concerning
the Morrow County Historical
Society trip. Call Ruth McCabe
or Delpha Jones to sign up.
-:- The Rebekah regular pi
nochle party will be held Satur
day, March 2, starting with a
chili supper for the public from
6-7:30 p.m.
PMNH residents enjoy Valentine's Day
Peggy J . (left) and Ida Lynn
Residents of Pioneer Memo
rial Nursing Home (PMNH)
were treated to a party on
Valentine's Day last week.
PMNH staff members chose a
resident as their Valentine for
the day.
( ,
Rooms and wheelchairs were
decorated and the residents
were treated with chocolate,
stuffed animals, balloons, and
flowers, as well as special
lunches. Some residents dined
out, some lunches were
brought in and some were
treated with special favorite
foods prepared by staff.
"All residents and staff en
joyed this special day," said
Tonya Jones, PMNH activities
director.
Umatilla Basin Watershed meeting set
The Umatilla Basin Water
shed Council will hold its re
gular monthly meeting on
Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. The
meeting will be held at the
Pendleton Convention Center
next to the Round-Up Grounds
in Pendleton. The program will
be on the new Water Quality
Lions raffle rifle
Standards and TMDLs present
ed by Department of Environ
mental Quality personnel.
The W atershed Council
meetings are open to the public
and all interested parties are in
vited to attend. For more infor
mation, contact Luise Lang-
heinrich, 278-3836.
To the Editor:
From the beginning of the
Morrow County Home Rule
Committee, the majority of its
members have sustained a con
stant assault on the present
form of Morrow County gov
ernment. They have never de
fined the shortcomings of our
present system nor, really, the
virtues of the proposed new
charter. Neither have they pur
sued any intelligent discussion
of what good government is
and does, but most important
ly we have collectively failed to
stimulate the open discussion
that a measure of this impor
tance deserves.
To me, the whole tone of the
majority's position has been an
opportunistic grab for power.
Further, the committee's pro
gram seems to have been or
chestrated by "a mover and
shaker" from Boardman, who
is not even a member, and en
ergized by the three members
who refer to themselves as the
"Boardman Contingent." The
focus seems to have been to
destroy a government that is
uniquely suited for a rural
county and to reap the benefits
of the resultant disarray.
After about a year and a half
of undisciplined leadership, we
went to public hearings with a
proposed charter more worthy
of Rodney Dangerfield than us.
It divided the county into five
districts and judging from the
arguments that surrounded
that issue, one would have
gone to Boardman, another to
Boardman's rural area, and one
each to Irrigon, Heppner and
the rural heartland of the
county.
Unfortunately, the voters of
Morrow County stayed at
home in droves and only a very
few came to our public hear
ings. The majority of those who
did attend were county officials
or county employees or rela
tives of committee members. In
my opinion, we would have
best served the county by
declaring them and there that
we had discovered a profound
lack of interest in changing our
county government. The most
often voiced opinion 1 have
heard is, "If it isn't broke, don't
fix it."
Nevertheless, the majority of
the committee has decided that
the county should vote on
whether the people want a new
charter or not, and that will
take place on March 12. The
charter that is now being of
fered is a greatly diluted ver
sion of the monstrosity that
seven of our nine members
fought so valiantly to achieve,
but I really believe that it is pro
bably just a "damage control"
compromise version of what is
really wanted. If it passes, I an
ticipate that county govern
ment will be under continued
frivolous assault by future op
portunistic would-be politi
cians.
Our present county court
system of government is about
as close as we can get in
modem times to Thomas Jeffer-
son's ideal of democratic
government. Anyone can run
for office and we vote almost
directly on every issue as im
plied in the classic model. I like
the concept of a county juvenile
judge and the hands-on gov-,
ernment and management we
now have. I have serious mis
givings about the proposed
system that would be more ex
pensive and modeled after the
school board-superintendent
theme.
Voting no in this election
would not destroy Home Rule
forever. It will always remain
possible, but I hope it will hap
pen, if ever, after a thorough
going give-and-take discussion
befitting its importance.
Sincerely,
(s) William H. Dinkins
member, MCHR charter
committee
Heppner
Lion Club member Jim Wishart shows rifle to be raffled by the
club. Wishart holds a Ruger M77R Mark II Rifle 25.06 with a 3-12
x 40 mm scope. Only 400 tickets will be sold. Cost is $5 per ticket
or five tickets for $20. To purchase a ticket contact Wishart, Steve
Rhea, Bob Kahl, Mike Mills or David Sykes.
FEBRUARY
BfflSHQE BRONZING SU I!
B ro n ze d b a b y s h o e s a r e n o w
m o re p o p u l a r th an e v e r t Your
baby’s sh oes can be richly
preserved in solid metal with
every crease, scuff and wrinkle
retained.
Save 25% Ib is
Jack Strege, Linda LaRue, Lisa
Rietmann, Dan Van Schoiack
and Hal Dinkins, spend two
years researching the pros and
cons of Home Rule and found
it was something each end of
the county could agree on.
As chairman of the commit
tee, I would urge you to sup
port the Home Rule committee
by voting yes for Home Rule in
Morrow County.
(s) Rollie Marshall
Heppner
m onlb onlyf
Sale prices start at Just 1 19.46
(u m o u n te d bright bronze shoe).
Bring your baby's shoes in and
select from a variety of styles and
finished; including bright bronze,
antique bronze, "pewter”, silver,
gold and neWt'porcelainizfng
Vote yes for home rule
To the Editor:
This week ballots will be go
ing out and you will have an
opportunity to vote on Home
Rule for Morrow County. I
have some refreshing news in
regards to drawing each end of
our county closer together. The
Home Rule Committee by an
overwhelming number (the
vote was 8-1) is recommending
Home Rule for Morrow Coun
ty. This committee, made up of
myself, John Prag, Bill Brown,
SALE!
DAVID H A R P E R
APRIL 25, 1992
ENGRAVING Ask for personalized ID plate
with baby's name and birthdate— only 35C per
letter. (Simulated birthstone and zodiac sign
also available.)
S ale t e n d s F e b r u a r y 2 9 ...b rin g s h o e s in to d a y !
<1
Member
Jewelers of America, Inc.
Peterson's
T
Heppner
*g /.
Jewelers
676-9200
Reduce taxes, bureacracy
Golf classes to begin March 7
Beginners Golf Instruction,
sponsored by Blue Mountain
Community College, is slated
to begin Thursday, March 7, for
a six-week run at Willow Creek
Country Club (WCCC). The
class is scheduled for Thursday
evenings from 5-6:30 p.m.
The class is intended for peo
ple with little or no prior golf
ing experience. It will cover the
basics of the rules, play and eti
quette of the game. The skills
of putting, chipping, pitching,
G
e n u i n e
C
approaching, fairway shots and
teeing-off will be covered.
School students in grades five
and above may enroll in the
class with the instructor's per
mission on a space available
basis and if an adult enrolls in
the class with them.
Cost of the class is $20 plus
$20 for a temporary member
ship to WCCC for all non
members. John Edmundson
will be the class instructor.
To register for the class, con
tact Anne Morter, 422-7040.
h
e v r o
l e t
Remember when your word was your Bond. -
You sealed a deal with a handshake - That's still
the way we do business today.
C O M F O R T A B L E • T R U S T F U L L • H O N E S T • C A R IN G
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To the Editor:
Morrow County has a chance
to change our form of county
government. A yes vote for
Home Rule will move our
county from rule by Oregon
statute to local control. Just as
importantly, our county com
mission (with salaries and
benefits) will move from a
troika running day-to-day
operations and vested in the
county bureaucracy, to a five-
person commission (nominally
compensated) with the appro
priate distance to govern the
county's business. The day-to-
day management wil be turn
ed over to professional man
agement serving at the will of
the commission.
Home Rule will open the
door to reduced taxes and re
ducing the bureaucracy. The
elected positions of treasurer,
clerk, assessor and surveyor
will no longer be elected, or
even have to exist if efficient
management finds ways to
consolidate their functions.
Historically, these elected posi
tions have been filled by the
same person for a full career.
They generally are elected
without opposition and answer
to the county commission on
ly on budget matters. This
leads to limited accountability
and a constant desire to have
bigger departments by adding
employees to the county pay
roll.
No form of government is
perfect, but keeping the tax
payers in charge and opening
the commission to citizens who
want to be involved, without
looking at it as a career move,
has to be an improvement.
Please join me in voting yes
for Home Rule.
(s) Jerry Rietmann
lone
D EA D LIN E
E X T EN S IO N
i
t '
ALL EMPLOYERS INSURED BY
THE STATE ACCIDENT
INSURANCE FUND
CORPORATION (“SAIF”) AT
ANY TIME BETWEEN JULY 1,
1981 THROUGH
SEPTEMBER 2, 1982
The class action settlement is now pending in the Circuit
Court of the State of Oregon, Marion County. You may
be a member of this class and thus eligible for monetary
relief as part of the pending settlement, but only if you
were insured by SAIF at any time between July 1, 1981
and September 2, 1982
St. P a t's A u c t i o n C o m m i t t e e w ill b e
s o l i c i t i n g i t e m s for the
St. P a t s A u c t i o n
o n F e b . 2 7 f r o m 3*5 p . m .
W c w ill b e d riv in g through tow n to p ic k
up th e s e item s.
F o r m ore inform ation o r to request an in for
Please support our main fund raiser for the
St. Patrick’s Celebration!
1-800-831-0170
For earlier pick-up, please call Steve Rhea, 676-9113;
Dan Brosnan, 676-5389; Mike Mills, 676-9141;
or John Murray 676-9158
m ation p acket please call:
DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT OR THE
C LER K ’S OFFICE FOR INFORMATION