Recall petitions filed for three
school board members
De33lo ÏÏe ts e ll
U o f U H0.73p v o r L ib r a r y
Lumino, OU 9 • '103
VOL, 120
N 0.25
lOPages
Wednesday, June 20,2001
Morrow County, Heppner. Oregon
lone's planning to get the blues
lone's planning to get the
blues-in a big way—with the
annual lone Fourth of July Blues
Festival. This year's festival will
offer will not only offer "big-
time music and small town
hospitality," but will also honor
World War II veterans.
The kickoff for the
celebration will be the Fourth of
July Golf Tournament at Willow
Creek Country Club in Heppner.
cost is $30 per golfer. Contact
Jim Swanson, -541-422-7410 to
sign up or for more information.
Also that day there will
be music in the lone City Park
with "Wood", featuring lonians
Dustin Padberg, Jeff Eyentich
and Dave Anderson. Food
vendors will also be on hand.
July 4 festivities get
underway bright and early with
the 7 a.m. Dawn's Early Light
Fun Run beginning at the lone
School. Contact Dale Holland,
541-676-5034. to sign up for for
Too Loose, featuring Bill Runyon, who grew up in Pendleton and
more information.
At 7:30 a.m. muffins and still has family and friends in the area, will perform at the lone
coffee will be available in the Blues Festival at 2 p.m. on July 4. Runyon and his brother, Steve,
previously had a band, "Silver Foxes," which played at many of
park, sponsored by ICABO.
The horseshoe tourney the local rodeo dances. Steve Runyon will be coming from
will begin at 10 a.m. Contact California and their sister will be coming from Salem for the
festival.
Monty Crum, 541-422-7286.
At 11 a.m. the parade
will get underway with World
War II veterans as the grand
marshals and the Blues Cruise
Classic Car Show. Contact
Chuck Nelson, 541-989-8148.
A host of events begin at
noon with food vendors in the
park; pie and coffee in the fire
hall, sponsored by the Catholic
ladies; children's games; frog
jumping; a straw money pile for
children ages three to eight; a
dunk tank from noon to 2 p.m.
(contact Theresa Hams, 541 -422-
7038); tricycle races (contact
Terry Mewhinney, 541-422-
• 7259); and Bingo (contact Harold
Rietmann, 541-422-7472).
Swimming in the lone
Pool will be available beginning
at 2 p.m. with a charge for
admission.
Also at 2 p.m. music
begins in the park with "Too
Loose", Robbie Laws, "Too Slim Too Slim and the Taildraggers
and the Taildraggers" and
featuring Sonny Rhodes.
The fireworks will begin
at dusk.
children involved in explicit sex
The case against a former acts. Schilling said. None of the 12
Morrow County sheriffs dispatcher boys, ages 10-15, are believed to
indicted
on 12 counts of encouraging be from Morrow County.
A regular meeting of the sexual abuse
continued again
"We're of the opinion that he was
Morrow County Health District on Thursday, was
June
14, to give the manipulating it and getting it ready
Board will be held on Monday. defense time to review
evidence. to launch a Web site," David C.
June 25. at 7 p.m. at the Morrow
The
evidence
primarily
is a Allen, district attorney, said "His
County Annex Building in duplicate of the computer hard drive
lawyer is saying he was just
Imgon.
by the suspect. Hector Pacheco organizing it for his own
The agenda will include used
Morales, said Tammy Schilling, pornography files."
a budget meeting; May assistant
The next court date for Morales
financials; a county treasurer County. district attorney in Morrow
is set for Aug. 9. Schilling said she
investment resolution; staffing
Morales is accused of attempting expects a trial date to be jet at that
concerns; CEO report; and an to build
a Web site with photos of time.
executive session.
Health district
board to meet
Sex abuse case involving former
dispatcher delayed
Mike Armato of Heppner
has filed petitions for recall of
Morrow County School District
Board Members Pat McNamee,
Gary Frederickson and John
Rietmann.
Armato was listed as
chief petitioner.The petition was
co-signed by Marcia Kemp, who
was listed as treasurer for the
chief petitioner's political
committee.
Armato said that
petitions will be available for
registered voters to sign this
Thursday and Friday from 4-6
p m. in front of Central Market in
Heppner and later at other
locations.
Armato said that his
committee must obtain 404
signatures per board member in
order for the issue to be placed
on the ballot. Petitioners have
until September 30 to collect the
signatures, he said. According to
Armato, after the signatures are
submitted, the county clerk has
10 days to verify the signatures,
afterwhich the clerk will send
notice to the board members.
Then board members may resign
or state why they don't believe
they should be recalled, he said.
If they don't resign, a recall
election will be set, he said.
"They (the board) are
trying to illegally recall (school
board members ) Keith (Lewis)
and Barney (Lindsay)," said
Armato. "We're going to show
them the right way to do it."
"This is not just a
reaction to Keith and Barney.
This started way back to
February 2000. That's when
things started to go sour. Several
hundred people showed up and
we spoke for several hours. They
refused to listen to us," Armato
said, referring to a board meeting
which resulted in the board
cutting teachers, mainly in south
end schools in response to a
budget shortfall. Armato and
others protested the cuts.
"Bruce (Anderson, the
Morrow
County
School
superintendent) is exercising
poor leadership," added Armato
Armato is married to
Lewis' step-daughter.
The statement on the
recall petition reads as follows:
"We are all patrons of
the Morrow County School
District. We pay school taxes
directly or indirectly. We entrust
the education of our children,
grandchildren, and our neighbor’s
children to the schools. We
entrust our futures to the ability
of the schools to do what is right
in order to help these young
charges become productive
members of society.
"In order for us to trust
this institution, we must have a
board of school directors that is
responsive to our legitimate
concerns. This is not the case.
Patrick McNamee (Gary
Frederickson and John Rietmann
were listed in separate petitions)
has abused the public trust by
failing to adequately oversee the
district superintendent. He has
engaged in unprofessional
conduct towards other board
members, participated in the
abuse of Oregon's open meeting
laws, ignored public input,
favored administrative spending
over student needs and finally, he
is attempting to overturn the
rightful election of two other
board members. It is time to
correct this situation. We need a
school board that understands
that our children's needs are the
first priority and realizes its
authority comes from us. We
must take back our schools."
Armato's action on June
14 followed the school board's
decision to seek the decision of
an independent judge concerning
residency disputes between the
board and Lewis of Heppner and
Lindsay of the Lexington area
At an earlier Morrow
County School Board meeting,
the board said they had received
an anonymous letter claiming
that Lindsay lived in a different
school district zone from which
he was elected. Lindsay was
elected from Zone 6, but the
letter claimed that he actually
lived in Zone 2. While
researching the issue, the district
said they discovered that Lewis
actually lived in Zone 6. not
Zone 4, from which he was
elected.
Lewis has said that prior
to his registering for election for
the school district spot, the
district had confirmed that he
lived in Zone 4.
Lindsay's residency issue
revolves around whether he
actually maintains his residence
at 73968 Feedlot Lane in Zone 6
or at 68062 Lindsay Road w hich
is in Zone 2.
Lindsay and Lewis had
previously been at odds with the
majority of the school board over
budgetary issues and teacher cuts
and had accused the board of
holding an illegal meeting They
claim that the residency issues
may actually be politically
motivated. They also suggested
that the issue may be influenced
by "north-south” alliances.
Lindsay and Lewis represent the
Heppner and Lexington areas in
south
Morrow
County.
Rietmann represents lone in
south Morrow County, although
some detractors have said that
he is forging alliances with north
Morrow County. McNamee
represents the Imgon area and
Frederickson. Boardman, both in
north Morrow County School
board members must live in the
zone from which they are
elected, but are elected county
wide.
Armato said that his
committee decided against
attempting to recall board
member Julie Weikel because
she had been on the board only a
brief period.
An independent judge,
hired by the Morrow County
School District, heard testimony
Tuesday concerning the dispute
over legal residency of two
Morrow County School District
Board members.
Judge Warner Wasley, a
retired judge from LaGrande who
presided over the hearing, said
that he would return by July 1
with a decision concerning the
residency issues of board
members Barney Lindsay,
Lexington area, and Keith Lewis,
Heppner.
The judge's decision,
however, is not binding and
Lindsay and Lewis have said that
they would not be bound by the
judge's decision and may be
"forced" to take the issue to
court.
The school board,
represented at the hearing by
Crook-Deschutes ESD attorneys
John Witty and Steve Herron,
maintains that school board votes
may be challenged because they
claim that Lindsay and Lewis do
not live in the zones from which
they were elected.
Lewis, represented by
attorney Douglas E. Hojem, and
Lindsay, represented by attorney
Ed Sullivan, maintain that the
board is attempting to change the
outcome of an election, which it
has no authority to do.
According to the district,
the board received an anonymous
letter claiming that Lindsay
actually lives at 68062 Lindsay
Road, which is in Zone 2, rather
than at his residence at 73968
Feedlot Lane, which is in Zone 6,
the zone from which he was
elected.
The district then
investigated the residences of all
board members and consequently
discovered that L ewis' residence
at 440 Terrace Drive in Heppner
is actually in Zone 6. not Zone 4,
the zone from which he was
elected
Lewis, who has been a
board member for tw o years, said
at the hearing that the district had
earlier confirmed that he lived in
Zone 4 prior to his running for
the director's position.
Lindsay, who is in the
middle of his second four-year
term as director, said that his
residency had been investigated
before and it had been
determined that his legal
residency was at the Feedlot
Lane address within Zone 6 At
that time, the school district
superintendent was Chuck Starr
and the school district's attorney
was Bill Kuhn Kuhn testified at
the Tuesday hearing on Lindsay
and Lewis' behalf
Lindsay said at the
hearing that his residence had
been at the Feedlot Lane address
since he returned home from
college in 1993. Lindsay said that
when his grandmother became
ill, however, he and his wife and
children moved to another
family-owned residence outside
his zone to be near her. When his
grandmother died, he, his wife
and children moved into her
residence on Lindsay Road to
allow him to do remodeling work
on the house, which had fallen in
disrepair since the grandmother's
illness. He stated that they had
moved there upon direction of
his father and employer, Larry
Lindsay, and intended to move
back to his Feedlot Lane
residence when the remodeling
was complete. All of the
residences are owned by Lindsay
Ranch-L.indsays' parents and the
grandmother, now deceased.
Lewis and Lindsay's
attorneys charge that the
residency issues are politically
motivated because the two are
often at odds against the board
majority and superintendent
Bruce Anderson.
Hearing held on school
board residency issues
Sale price good through July ~th
Willow Creek
Water The Park
News
Bank of Eastern
Oregon is sponsoring community
days at the Willow Creek Water
Park during the month of July.
Every Monday in July the pool
will be open to the public at no
charge from 1-5 p.m.
Also, scholarships for
swimming lessons are available.
Those interested should inquire
at the pool.
A new policy is now in
effect at the pool concerning
temperature. If the temperature
shown on Heppner TV channel 3
(available only in Heppner) is
below 60 degrees, the pool will
not open that day, according to
manager Merry Brannon.
Mural dedication,
open A house
slated
dedication of the
Agricultural
Equipment
Collection mural and an open
house will be held on Tuesday,
June 26. at 6:30 p.m. at the
museum on Riverside Avenue
and Hinton St. in Heppner.
The open house is hosted
by the Morrow County Arts and
Crafts Council and the Museum's
Farm Foundation Board.
Everyone is invited to
attend Refreshments will be
served
for only
Morrow
County
Crain
Growers
Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396
f r i m equipment, visit our web site at www mc|g net