Heppner gazette-times., February 26, 2003, Image 1

H ealth d istrict board stops short of
censuring member for critical editorial
Eesaie . .e t ic li
U o f J Ne v s p a o a r L i i a r y
Euôün,, uR 97 4J3
VOL. 122
NO. 9
10 Pages
Wednesday, February 26, 2003
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Tempers flare as Ione-Morrow Co.
school district split turns acrimonious
It lo o k s as i f th e
p ro p o se d sp lit b e tw e e n th e
M orrow County School District
and the lone community will not
escap e acrim o n y as the tw o
entities begin to lawyer up. In an
e m e r g e n c y M C S D B o a rd
m eeting held Friday night, Feb.
2 1 , at th e d is tric t o ffic e in
L exington, the board voted to
oppose a bill that the lone S elf
D eterm ination C om m ittee had
h o p ed to sp eed th ro u g h the
O regon L egislature and w ould
not allow public com m ent. The
bill would immediately create a
new lone school board, but the
two entities differ on what would
result from the wording o f the bill.
B o a rd C h a ir J u lie W e ik e l,
Boardman, and board mem bers
Larry M ills and Burke O ’Brien,
both H eppner, Pat M cN am ee,
Irrig o n , G ary F re d e ric k so n ,
B oardm an, and John R enfro,
Lexington, all voted to oppose
the bill. John Rietm ann o f lone
declared a conflict o f interest.
As tempers on both sides
o f the issue flared, Mills likened
the issue to a divorce and the
lone bill to “a wife taking the first
shot” in the divorce proceedings.
“I don’t argue with you seceding
from the district,” said Mills. “I’m
not going to stand in the way. I
d o h o w e v e r h a v e a lo t o f
questions about the bill.” “ I don’t
th in k w e ’re going to have a
difference o f opinion (as to how
to divide assets). I think w e’re at
the point in this divorce w here
y o u r a tto r n e y ta lk s to o u r
attorney,” said Joe M cElligott,
member o f the SelfDetermination
Committee and chief petitioner o f
the b o u n d a ry c h an g e w hich
w ould create a new district.
T h e s c h o o l b o a rd
indicated their wish to stall the bill
so that the district has time to hire
a la w y e r to re v ie w it a n d
determine its consequences.
The board voiced fears
that hasty passage o f the bill in
the legislature may allow lone to
escape their fair share o f the
d istrict’s liabilities, includes a
d if f e r e n t d e s c r ip tio n o f
b o u n d a r ie s th a n th e lo n e
c o m m itte e p re se n te d to the
school district and w ould not
a llo w a n y r e m o n s tr a n c e
(opposition) by the public.
T he bill does, indeed,
p ro h ib it re m o n s tra n c e . T he
school b o ard m ain ta in s th at
push in g the bill th rough the
legislature shuts the public out o f
due pro cess. M ills said that
several questions remain, “Why
do you w ant to circum vent the
public? W hy are you trying to
avoid letting anyone else have a
voice? Isn ’t it true that w hat
y o u ’re concerned about is that
you co u ld n ’t win an election?”
“ With approximately 80 percent
o f the voters (in the lone area),
yes we do think w e can w in a
county electio n ,” replied Joe
M c E llig o tt. T h e lo n e S e lf
D eterm ination Com m ittee said
that 465 registered voters had
signed a secession petition that
would proceed through the ESD,
including 34 Boardm an voters,
33 I r r ig o n v o te r s a n d 42
Heppner voters. W hile no board
m em bers opposed lone forming
its ow n district, they indicated
that they preferred that lone
p ro c e e d w ith th e se c e s s io n
through the E ducation Service
District. “I fully support what you
want to do,” said O ’Brien. “ But
I’ve got to say I don’t agree with
this bill.” “We all understand what
y o u ’re trying to do. This bill
d o esn ’t do it. It’s not a good
situation and w e’re going to have
to stop it. W hat w e ’re saying is
we d o n 't like the process,” said
Mills. “The appropriate thing to
do is to follow existing law. The
end result is the same— there will
be an lone school district,” said
Renfro. “This issue can be best
re s o lv e d lo c a lly by g e ttin g
together and discussing issu es..
.L et’s w ork together so it all
w orks in the best interest o f
everybody.” “ I think this bill as it
is leaves no choice that we have
to b e a g a in s t i t ,” a d d e d
M cNamee.
The secession process
through ESD specifies a 120-day
w aiting period and allow s for
public rem onstrance and a vote
o f the entire school district if any
rem o n stran ce is m ade. Jerry
R ie tm a n n o f th e lo n e S e lf
D eterm ination C om m ittee says
that the aspect o f the bill that
p ro h ib its re m o n stra n c e w ill
sim ply prevent the issue from
dragging on for years. He says
that the lone SelfD eterm ination
C om m ittee is anxious to get on
w ith the process o f form ing a
district and educating children.
T h e s c h o o l b o a rd
maintains that the wording o f the
bill is not clear concerning the
division o f assets and liabilities
and fears that it m ay relieve the
lone com m unity o f som e o f its
liabilities. Rietmann says that lone
is not trying to escape their fair
share o f liabilities and maintains
that the issue will be determined
by law a n y w a y a n d w o u ld
ultim ately have to be sorted out
by the tw o en tities’ respective
lawyers.
The
lo n e
S e lf
Determ ination C om m ittee says
th a t its w o rd in g in th e bill
concerning the boundary issue,
“the lone attendance area,” is
m erely the w o rd in g that the
district used. The school district,
however, is not so sure.
A t th e F rid a y n ig h t
m e e tin g , th e lo n e S e l f
Determ ination C om m ittee said
that the board knew about the bill
and added that they d id n ’t feel
they should have to “spoon feed”
the board information. They also
s a id th e y h a d p r e s e n te d
in f o r m a tio n
to
M CSD
Superintendent Dr. Jack Crippen,
but he neglected to inform the
b o ard . T he b o a rd h o w ev er,
m aintains that they w ere not
presented information in a timely
manner and were side-swiped by
th e
S e l f D e te r m in a tio n
C om m ittee’s introduction o f the
bill and the rush for its passage in
the legislature. “You told me we
w ould be kept up to speed and
now th ere ’s a bill that is not in
the best interest o f the district and
the patrons o f the district. I’m
very disappointed,” said G ary
Frederickson. “T he EO (East
Oregonian Newspaper) reported
continued on page three
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
T he M o rro w C o u n ty
H e a lth D is tr ic t B o a rd o f
Directors, at its regular meeting
F e b . 2 4 , s to p p e d s h o rt o f
censuring board m em ber Ed
G le n n , B o a rd m a n , fo r h is
controversial editorial “ Health
District continues to bleed,” that
appeared in the N orth M orrow
Tim es free tabloid new spaper
criticizing the district and its board
m em bers, but in the end only
chastened Glenn for his editorial
inaccuracies. Glenn initially said
that he “had never believed that
baloney about unbiased press”,
but later apologized to the board
a n d th e d istric t e m p lo y e e s,
several o f w hom had appeared
at the m eeting in protest. In an
editor’s note within the article, it
said, however, than Glenn “offers
no apology for the implications
our readers might draw from this
article.”
P io n e e r
M e m o ria l
H ospital D irector o f N ursing
T am m y H e n d e rso n , w ho
appeared at the M onday night
m eeting, called G len n ’s article
“heart breaking” , “ egregious"
and the “ultim ate betrayal” and
asked
w hy
he
w o u ld
“ d e lib e r a te ly s a b o ta g e th e
d istric t.” She also countered
G lenn’s statem ent in the article
that the h o spital did not set
b r o k e n b o n e s o r p r o v id e
“traditional hospital services.”
(See H enderson’s letter to the
editor, this issue.)
G le n n ’s a rtic le a ls o
insinuated that M C H D is near
financial dem ise and criticized
several m em bers o f the board
because they approved changing
the district board from zones to
at-large positions. Board Chair
Larry Mills, Heppner, put forth a
motion that would have censured
Glenn for writing the article that
Mills deemed “inflammatory, not
factual and a conflict o f interest”,
but it failed to entertain a second,
d e s p ite M ills, C E O V ic to r
Vander D oes, C h ie f Financial
O fficer N icole M ahoney and
board m em bers Linda LaRue,
lone, and Ken Matlack, Irrigon,
p o in tin g
out
n u m e ro u s
inaccuracies in G lenn’s editorial.
B o a rd m e m b e r Jo h n P ra g ,
Boardman, a long-time friend o f
Glenn’s and who is married to the
publisher o f the North M orrow
T im es, Lynn Prag, defended
G lenn as m erely expressing his
opinion. M ills suggested Glenn
resign im m ediately “ in the best
interest o f the district.” Later in
the meeting, Matlack commented
on the inaccuracies in the article
and said to Glenn, “ If you don’t
w ant to be here and m ake it
work for you, maybe you should
resign.”
Mills, who often knocks
heads w ith G lenn at the health
district meetings, criticized Glenn
for his negativity. It had been
rumored that Glenn and others in
north M orrow County may have
wanted Pioneer Hospital to close
and that Glenn was angry with the
district for not agreeing to more
m oney for Dr. Robert Boss, a
friend o f G len n ’s w ho ow ns a
clinic in Boardman and who has
a contract to provide m edical
services for the district. In the
article, Glenn claimed the board
had an “institutional bias” against
Dr. Boss.
“ We cannot sustain all o f
w h a t w e ’re d o in g n o w
in d e fin ite ly ,” sa id G len n in
response to his purported desire
to have the hospital close. “ We
cannot continue to do all o f what
w e’re doing.” Matlock, however,
added the following, “I have a real
Sill!
concern w hat’s going to happen
if the nursing home and hospital
close, w hen people dow n here
d o n ’t have anyw here to go.”
“ We are all here for more than a
bottom lin e ,” ad d ed V ander
Does. “ We are really here for
more than a bottom line.”
Glenn had also opposed
the district changing from election
by zones to an at-large election,
which, some fear would not result
in the election o f a Boardm an-
a re a m em ber. H ow ever, the
d is tric t c h a n g ed to a t-la rg e
elections because o f advice from
their attorney and an opinion from
the attorney general. LaRue said
that G lenn m isquoted her as
sa y in g she w as in fav o r o f
changing to an at-large board.
“ You u se d my n a m e in an
absolute falsehood,” charged
LaRue. M ills took offense at
G lenn’s implication in the article
that the reason Mills favored the
at-large election was because he
and LaRue faced election this
year. The city o f Boardman has
officially opposed the action and
in d ic a te d th a t th e y w e re
investigating withdrawing from
the district. Vander Does said at
the m eeting, that because the
district provided medical services
in the Boardm an area, it was
unlikely that the city w ould be
allowed to secede.
Vander Does and M ills
both countered Glenn by saying
that while they were concerned
about the financial situation o f the
d i s t r ic t, th e s itu a tio n h a s
im proved d ram atically from
s e v e r a l y e a rs a g o . L a R u e
com m ended Vander Does with
the im provem ent and said that
w hen he first w as hired by the
district Vander Does often went
w ithout cashing his paychecks
and his w ife, N ancy Vander
Does, who helped in the transition
o f the district’s billing system and
fin a n c ia l o ffic e , often w ent
without any pay whatsoever.
In the article, Glenn said
he opposed the district using the
“modified accrual" bookkeeping
system. However, Mahoney said
that system was recom m ended
by their accountant, Michael R.
B e ll a n d C o m p a n y , w h o
specializes in accounting for
m edical districts. G lenn also
claimed that figures he used in his
article w ere "directly from the
audit report by M ichael R. Bell
& C o m p a n y ” , h o w e v e r,
M ahoney disputes this, saying
that the figures he used were
d e fin ite ly not a part o f the
district’s audited financials.
G le n n
s a id
th a t
considering the district’s financial
situation, it is clear that the district
m ust m ake som e changes and
suggested that the district might
not be able to “do everything” as
in the past. Som e charge that
G lenn has had the closure o f
Pioneer M em orial Hospital in
mind since he was elected to the
board. However, Glenn and Prag
pointed out that G lenn has not
o p p o se d p u rc h a se o f item s
d e e m e d n e c e s s a ry to th e
hospital's operation or to improve
serv ices or a salary increase for
nursing staff that was approved
to attem pt to m ake the district
m ore co m petitive in the jo b
market.
LaRue chastised both
M ills a n d G le n n fo r th e ir
a d v e r s a r ia l p o s itio n s an d
expressed the desire that they
curtail their antagonism during
board meetings. “ I don't like the
divisiveness. W e’ve got to take
another approach,” commented
LaRue. Prag concurred, saying,
“The reality is that you’ve got to
quit fighting.”
In other business the
board:
-approved a raise for
Vander Does, which includes a
tw o - p e r c e n t r a is e a n d an
additional week's vacation, up to
five weeks.
-approved the January
financials which show a $1,724
lo s s fo r th e m o n th a n d a
$ 1 5 4 ,2 9 2 loss for th e y e a r
( c o m p a re d to a $ 1 5 6 ,2 4 6
budgeted loss for the year.)
Booster Club and PTC creates
an Adopt a Teacher fund
Deb Gutierrez (left), member of the PTC and Al Scott (right), member of the
Booster Club present checks to Kirsten Harrison (center), committee
member for the Adopt a Teacher program.
T h e H e p p n e r H ig h
S c h o o l B o o s te r C l u b a nd
H eppner E lem entary School
Parent-Teacher Club is creating
an “ A dopt a Teacher” fund to
help raise money towards paying
the salary for a teacher or aide in
Heppner.
T h e B o o s te r C l u b
d o n a te d $ 2 4 0 and the PTC
donated $200 to help fund the
start-up costs for creating the
fund.
M onies are currently
being held in a no n -in terest
bearing savings account. The
group is in the process o f getting
a “tax id num ber" so that a fund
can be set up. Donations will stay
in H e p p n e r and be u sed in
Heppner schools for personnel.
{MB
Donations can be m ade
at Klamath First Bank. For more
inform ation you can contact
Jeanine Collins at 676-8037.
Fiddle show to be
held in Heppner
The Blue M ountain Old
Tim Fiddlers are putting on a
fiddle show, March 14, at 7 p.m.,
in Heppner at the Fair Pavilion.
Thi s is a fu n d ra ise r for the
C hapter 59 O SEA scholarship
fund.
All fiddlers, pickers and
g rin n ers, yo u n g and old are
w elcom e. If you w ish to play,
please bring acoustic instruments
only.
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Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396 i»fan»<»»>"»«.m«m»a«n.img
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