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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 28, 1998)
EIGHT - Heppner Gaz*tt*-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, October 28,1998 court? Why? While our present judge has been able to handle the juvenile court load and other county issues, with the growing population in Morrow County and the increasing juvenile court case load it may be approaching the time to begin looking at other options. When you consider the increasing demands being placed on the county's judge and commissioners, I feel the county may be better served by allowing the judge to spend more time on county-wide issues and less time on juvenile issues. Therefore, as a matter of practicality at some time in the future the county may need to look at other options, including the possibility of transferring this responsibility over to the circuit court. Candidates' Forum Rea is currently employed as a Morrow County Commissioner created by the plan to paralegal with the Schroeder candidates, Dan Brosnan, incinerate chemicals at the Law Offices in Boardman. She Heppner, and Leann Rea, Army Depot? How would you works primarily on property and Boardman, will face off address this problem? water right issues. Major Problem=lack of Tuesday, November 3, at the has served as a 4-H leader, polls as will the two candidates planning and proper allocation a She member of Morrow County for Morrow County Judge, Terry of resources from the state and Fair Committee, a Director on Tallman of Boardman, and John federal levels. the Oregon Water Resources Mollahan of Lexington. M ajor Stumbling Congress Board and as co-chair Following is a candidate's forum Block=Oregon Office of for the Rural Residential Sub- concerning the two positions. Emergency Management. We Committee for the Lower must involve management of Umatilla Basin Groundwater OEM’s Parent agency, the Management Area. She is Oregon State Police, and the ( currently serving on the OSU governor's office in demanding Extension Advisory Board, is a cooperation and accountability director of the Umatilla/Morrow from OEM. Counties Oregon Farm Bureau, a Outline a brief plan to allocate member of the Umatilla/Morrow Morrow County's tippage fees, Counties Oregon Farm Bureau or, if you are satisfied with the Water/Wetlands Advisory present plan, explain that. Committee and is a member of I support the present plan of the Trail Advisory Committee using the SCERT process to for the Morrow County prioritize projects to bring to the Columbia River Heritage Trail. county court for funding. The Rea is also a commissioner on county court should then be the Morrow County Planning responsible and accountable for Commission, and was appointed making sure that all regions - to the Umatilla Basin Watershed urban and rural - get a fair share Council in December of last year of the fees. by the Umatilla County Briefly outline a plan to Commissioners. allocate county services, such Other qualifications include Dan Brosnan as road construction and familiarity with rules governing Dan Brosnan, 55, Republican maintenance, among the public entities, responsibility for candidate for Morrow County communities. the development and Commissioner, lives in Heppner. (A transportation plan that implementation of public He and his wife, Doris, have two takes into consideration and experience dealing children, Damon, 30, and Darci, expected growth, as well as the budgets with various and state 26. Brosnan graduated from present condition of the county agencies, such federal as BPA, ODF&W Heppner High School and wide transportation system, has and Oregon Water Resources. attended Blue Mountain been adopted; absolutely critical Why would a voter select you Community College. He served to wise allocation of resources.) over your opponent?: with the U.S. Air £orce, 1. ) View the county as a single A voter would select me achieving rank of #-4, for two unit with parts. because a fair and honest years in Louisiana and two years 2. ) Encourage all citizens to individual, I am willing to listen to all in Japan. remember that we all are sides of an issue and make Brosnan was employed with members of one county. decisions based on the best the Oregon State Police for 25 3.) Ensure that county available information. I am a 1/2 years, retiring in 1993 at the departments and agencies are long-time county resident with rank of captain. Brosnan is a responsive to changing needs personal knowledge of all areas member of the Oregon Livestock and proactive in planning. of the county, having lived or Growers, served on the St. 4.) Maintain close worked in all five of the county's Patrick's Parish Council; was communication among the communities. I will take this job vice-chair for the Heppner county departments and citizens. very seriously and will devote as Coordinating Council one year; 5.) Base allocations on need. time and energy as is was a member of the Heppner Are you in favor of much needed to give the residents of Chamber of Commerce Board establishing a road between one year; and is presently the lone and Boardman? Why or Morrow County what they deserve. chair for the Morrow County why not? If elected, what is the biggest Museum Committee. * I believe that the county should challenge facing you?: Brosnan's other qualifications secure rights of way across the While budgetary issues are include supervision of 130 involved properties, so when the employees; oversight of an road is needed and affordable, always a challenge for our county, at this time the rapid annual 7.5 million dollar budget; the county can put one in. and extensive experience I favor a direct link between the growth in the Columbia River working on natural resource Willow Creek Valley and the communities is creating some issues with other states, the north end's industrial base and major strains on community's federal government and transportation system, to foster infrastructures. It is an ongoing to maintain adequate Northwest Indian tribes. growth and economic struggle services stay within the Why would a voter select you development in the south end of budget and restrains that are over your opponent? the county. However, we must mandated by recent legislation. Past professional experiences, be about expenses and Therefore, one of my biggest depth of natural resource must realistic listen to citizens. will be to continue experiences, and depth of Do you agree the with the current challenges the work our current county supervisory and budgetary system of two commissioners court has initiated in attempting experiences. and a judge elected at large? to obtain "Impact Fees" from the If elected, what is the biggest Why or why not? federal government for the challenge facing you? I favor the current system. It is impacts with the and is responsive to the disposal of created Unifying and preparing working chemicals at the needs and desires of the county Umatilla Army Depot. At Morrow County to meet the residents. Under a home rule same time we must work the challenges posed to us, such as system, administrators to be protect our right to prudently use crime, family violence, safe and hired and not be would timely destruction of agents at answerable to voters. directly our natural resources, including Ordinance and defending Do you think the present water, timber and lands. against attacks on our continue major project would you County juvenile court What responsible use of our natural Morrow like to see accomplished? system should be retained or What is your resources. priority?: jurisdiction be I would like first What major project would you should to see transferred to circuit court? regarding incineration all of issues like to see accomplished? the The present juvenile court chemicals at the Army Depot A lowering of domestic system should be retained. resolved. This would include violence and juvenile crime in Transferring jurisdiction to the obtaining impact fees, all Morrow County. circuit court would mean necessary safety equipment and What is your first priority? relinquishing local control over training for our first responders, Destruction of chemical agents our troubled youth. Circuit at Ordinance. The first priority judges are not members of court installation of the Tone Alert our the must be to get all safety communities and are less Radios in all areas near the equipment in place and familiar with our problems. Depot and the completion of the functional and to provide protection facilities at all of the adequate training to citizens and local schools. My first priorities first responders. are to provide a safe Please outline a brief plan to environment and economic help North Morrow County stability for all of our county's accommodate growth: residents. 1. ) Allocate necessary resources Please outline a brief plan to to ensure infrastructure adequate help North Morrow County to meet expansion. accommodate growth: 2. ) Allocate adequate resources City and county planning to meet law enforcement, health commissions need to coordinate services, and land-use planning their efforts to ensure an needs, organized growth in both the 3.) Use Port of Morrow cities and in the urban areas. resources to attract desirable This would include all of the employers with fair family-wage necessary infrastructures. job« and to secure grants and Leann A. Rea Special attention needs to be loans to site those employers. Leann A. Rea, 57, Democratic given to ensure all residents How can yon assist South candidate for Morrow County have a safe drinking water Morrow County in retaining Commissioner, lives in supply. Cities may need to and creating jobs? with her husband of extend water and sewer services Use the Morrow County Boardman 39 years, Jerald Rea. They have and some subdivisions may need Economic Development Coordi four grown children, Rick, 38, to consider community wells. nator for searching out Darla, 36, Terrell, 32, and We need to take advantage of businesses looking to relocate Robert 28. available grants and loan and for accessing state and Her parents resided on the programs to assist with the federal agencies' resources such Padberg family homestead on establishment as job retraining, economic lower Rhea Creek when she was businesses. of new small studies and job feasibility bom. She graduated from lone How ¿an you assist South studies. Assist communities in High School and attended Blue Morrow County in retaining securing loans and grants to upgrade services and facilities. Mountain Community College. and creating jobs?: What Is the major problem We need to remain alert to any possibilities for new industries expressing an interest in our rural areas. Management of our forest lands needs to be encouraged to maintain the operation of the Kinzua mill in Heppner for as long as natural resources are available without jeopardizing future generations. What is the major problem created by the plan to incinerate chemicals at the Army Depot? How would you address this problem?: While a chance of an accident during incineration is remote, we still need to be totally prepared for the worst-case scenario. An accident of this nature would not allow for mistakes without loss of lives. One of the major problems is going to be the large influx of people for a short period of time. This will place a strain on all county services, including the schools, roads, law enforcement, local water and sewer services. We need to vigorously pursue every avenue to obtain impact fees from the Army to assist in resolving this situation. Once the incineration program is completed, many of these workers may move to other areas. If we are unable to obtain these impact fees, this may leave our local citizens with large bond payments for the necessary upgrades that have been made to the infrastructures of our communities. Outline a brief plan to allocate Morrow County's tippage fees, or if you are satisfied with the present plan, explain that.: I believe the current plan of allocating the "tippage fees” is well managed. A committee of citizens, one from each of the communities, has been formed to review all requests for tippage fees. This committee is responsible for making recommendations of allocation to the county court with the final decision for dispersal being made by the county court. The county court has retained a small portion of the fees for disposal at their discretion. This method of dispersal makes your elected officials ultimately responsible for the fair and equitable disposition of the fees. Briefly outline a plan to allocate county services, such as road construction and maintenance, among the communities: All residents of the county deserve to have safe roads. However, cost-versus-use needs to be factored into the plan. A review plan needs to be developed whereby roads are considered not only on use but also on their general condition. It is better to spend money on maintenance rather than to wait until a road needs to be totally rebuilt. Safety factors must always have a priority in making decisions regarding the maintenance and construction of our county roads. Regarding other county services, I feet the Morrow County Sheriffs Department is doing a great job in providing services to the entire county. Are you in favor of establishing a road between lone and Boardman? Why or why not?: Yes. This road would greatly benefit the farmers in the lone area by making a more direct farm to market route. It would also create an opportunity to increase population in the lone area, by providing a shorter and more direct route to job opportunities that are in the north end of the county. This would be a definite benefit to the lone school systems. Boardman would also see benefits with the connection of these two communities. Do you agree with the current county system of two commissioners and a judge elected at large? Why or why not? If not, what system would you propose?: Yes. With the small population base in our county I feel the "at large" system is appropriate, At some time in the future, if the population base increases considerably, then it may be appropriate to divide the county into three districts (as equal in population as possible) and have an individual elected from each of these three districts. Do you think the present Morrow County juvenile court system should be retained or should jurisdiction be transferred over to circuit Terry K. Tallman Terry K. Tallman, 52, Repub lican candidate for Morrow County Judge, lives in Boardman. He and his wife, Cheryl, have three children, Jonathan, 22, Crystal, 19, and Derrm, 17. Tallman, who came to Morrow County in 1978, graduated from Adrian High School, Adrian, in 1964. He attended Treasure Val ley Community College, the Uni versity of Oregon and Oregon State University. Tallman served with the U.S. Navy as a petty officer 2nd class, and saw both US and overseas duty. He served in Vietnam from 1967-71. He was honorably dis charged in 1971. He has been self-employed with Keith Tallman and Sons from 1974 to present. He has been a Little- League coach, Columbia Youth Basket ball coach, is a member of the Riverside High School Booster Club and the Boardman Chamber of Commerce. Tallman has been mayor of the city of Boardman from January 1997 to present. His political ex perience also includes: planning commission, city of Boardman, 1985-96 (chair 1991-96); budget committee, city of Boardman, 1987-89; Morrow County School District Computer Technology Advisory Committee, 1989-90; board member, Port of Morrow/ Umatilla Development Fund Committee, 1990-95; board member, Morrow County Unified Recreation District, 1995-present; Morrow County Budget Commit tee, 1997-present; Morrow County Transportation System Planning Committee, 1997; Boardman Community Strategic Planning Committee, 1997- present; and Boardman Area Emergency Planning Group, 1997-present. If elected, what is the biggest challenge facing you? My big gest challenge will be keeping everyone happy in Morrow County. Communication and open access will be key in accom plishing this goal. We can self- destruct if we fight rather than cooperate. What major project would you like to see accomplished? What is your first priority? The major project of the next judge will be finding enough money to fund all the services the citizens of our county have come to ex pect and do it without cutting per sonnel. We need to deal with our youth problems, roads and eco nomic development. Please outline a brief plan to help North Morrow County ac commodate growth; how can you assist South Morrow County in retaining and creat ing jobs? Most growth is going to take place within the bound aries of our cities. We need to be ready to assist them, when we can. Growth throughout the county is going to come about because of the efforts of the Port of Morrow. We need to maintain open communication with the I port manager and the commis sioners. I see the county’s job as keeping informed, helping find funding and staying out of the way, letting the port function as the “economic engine.” Our county economic coordinator will also assist and lead the way to help with finding funds for the county and cities, if they want and need the help. What is the major problem created by the plan to inciner ate chemicals at the Army De pot? How would you address this problem? My major efforts will be to keep the citizens of Morrow County safe. In order to do that, we must have help from the Army, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Chemical Stockpile Emer gency Preparedness Program (CSEPP). The Army has been mandated to safely bum these chemicals and CSEPP is to keep the citizens safe as this is done. I intend to make sure both carry out their responsibilities by seeking the proper equipment and train ing and reasonable storage fees as allowed by law. Outline a brief plan to allo cate Morrow County's tippage fees, or if you are satisfied with the present plan, explain that: Presently, I do not think I would change the process for allocation. There is a need for some discre tionary funds and then allocate the rest through the State Eco nomic Revitalization Team (SERT) process. Everyone needs to know what the ground rules are for this process and have access based on those rules. Briefly outline a plan to allo cate county services, such as road construction and mainte nance, among the communities: As with any service, a need must be established and where needs often outrun resources, priorities must be determined. This implies a plan. In the example of road and maintenance, we need a formal road plan based on priorities and greatest need. The three commis sioners would establish the policy and county employees would carry out these policies. Are you in favor of establish ing a road between lone and Boardman? Why or why not? I would support the road. The ma jor issues facing the county will be the route and funding. The route is being planned. The Com missioners are as close as they have ever been to getting this road started.The funding will come from us, the citizens, and be de termined by a vote. The road his short and long term impacts for economic development for Mor row County as well. Do you agree with the cur rent county system of two com missioners and a judge elected at large? Why or why not? If not, what system would you propose? We have had a vote in the recent past to determine if we needed a change. I don’t think it is broke. I would not change our present form of county govern ment. Do you think the present Morrow County juvenile court system should be retained or should jurisdiction be trans ferred over to circuit court? Why? What are your qualifica tions for serving as juvenile court judge? I would leave the court in its present system. We maintain local control with no change. The circuit court has its hands full now. Another judge would be needed and we would have to find more money if we made a change. If I am elected, I believe I can perform those du ties needed to be juvenile judge. John F. Mollahan John F. Mollahan, 62, Democrat candidate for Morrow County Judge, lives in Lexington with his wife, Christina Sharp Mollahan. He has a grown son and daughter, seven grown step- continuad paga 9
