TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, May 25,2005
The Official N ew spaper
o f the City o f Heppner and the County o f Morrow
Heppner
GAZETTE-TIMES
U S P S 240-420
M orrow C o u n ty ’s H om e-O w ned W eekly New spaper
Published weekly and entered as periodical mailer at the Post Office at Heppner.
Oregon under the Act of March 3, 1879 Periodical postage paid at Heppner. Oregon
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David Sykes .............................................................................
Publisher
Katie Foster
.................................................................................................... Editor
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Health District has largest
loss since August
The Morrow County
H ealth D istrict posted a
$102,614 loss for the month
o f April, almost three times
the loss ex p erien ced in
M arch, and the board o f
d irectors was told at its
monthly meeting Monday
night The loss is the largest
since August o f 2004.
The d eficit was
blamed on a drop in patient
revenue of over $67,000 at
the district’s clinics and the
hospital. Operating expenses
were down slightly from last
month, but not enough to
offset the drop in income.
The district has an
average loss o f $30,733 per
month so far this year
In a som ew hat
related matter, the board
'ifi&tissed complaiHts board
members have heard in the
com m unity about the
difficulty getting into see
doctors at the clinic. District
Administrator Victor Vander
Does said he would examine
the problem and come up
w ith
som e
p ro p o sed
solutions at the next board
meeting
The board also heard
a report that Dr Sam Datta’s
w ife has co m p leted her
schooling back East and will
be returning to the area as a
partner at Blue Mountain
Pathology in Pendleton Dr
Datta, who lives in Heppner
and sees p atien ts at the
clinic, has said he wishes to
relocate to the Hermiston
area but still see patients at
the Heppner clinic He has
indicated he wants to see
p a tie n ts M onday and
Tuesday in Heppner and also
take emergency calls at the
hospital. Vander Does asked
the board to extend Datta’s
contract for 30 days to work
out details o f the days to be
worked.
Nazarene Church to host Bible
study on Israel
The
H eppner
N azarene Church will be
hosting a four-week Bible
study video series entitled,
“Israel in Crisis: What Lies
Ahead?” The video series is
based on a book o f the same
title by David Dolan. The
study will begin Wednesday,
June 8 at 6:30 p m , with
each session expected to last
one hour. The study will
conclude on June 29.
D olan, born and
raised in the Pacific
Northwest, is a Jerusalem-
based author and broadcast
jo u rn a list w ho has been
living in Israel since 1980.
Dolan uses his “first-hand
perspective” to answer some
fundam ental q u e stio n s
co n ce rn in g
Is ra e l’s
reappearance on the modern
world stage Some questions
Dolan visits include: Will the
Jewish Temple in Jerusalem
be rebuilt; Will the missing
Ark o f the C ovenant be
found; Is Israel’s physical re
birth really connected to
Biblical prophecy and/or
God; What about Jews living
in the contested territories;
Does the Bible have anything
to say about them settling
there; and If so, is it relevant
to what is happening in the
disputed zones today0
Dolan also discusses
B iblical p ro p h ecy as
connected to the Jewish
Holocaust o f World War II
This study is open to
all in te re ste d in the
com m unity. For m ore
information you can contact
the H eppner N azarene
Church at 676-5529.
Stone moving to Heppner High
School principal job
Letten to the Editor
Editor's note: Letters to the Editor must be signed. The Cazette-Times w ill
not publish unsigned letters. Please include your address and phone num
ber on all letters for use by the G-T office. The C-T reserves the right to edit.
T h e C - T is not responsible for a c c u r a c y o f statements made in letters. (Any
letters expressing thanks w ill be placed in the classifieds under "Card o f
Thanks" at a cost o f $10.)
Rent raise was not an easy decision
To the Editor:
The le tte r to the
Editor in the May 18 Gazette
really u p set me I have
listened as my husband and
o th e r H eppner H ousing
Authority members agonize
over having to raise the rents
on the H eppner Senior
Center apartments. Believe
me, no one thought having
to raise the rent was funny
and no one was uncaring
about the plight o f the
current tenants. These Board
members do this work as
volunteers, out o f a sense of
duty to the community and
do not receive one cent for
th e ir tim e and effort. I
believe it is time people
ed u cate
th em selv es
reg ard in g ev en ts in the
community and attend the
meetings that are open to all
citizens, so that they know
first hand what the facts are
Gossip is a vicious hurtful
thing.
On June 29, 1988,
the City of Heppner and the
H eppner Senior C itizens
C en ter B oard, Inc., an
Oregon non-profit charitable
corporation, entered into a
contract stating the terms of
the purchase o f the Heppner
H otel by the C ity o f
Heppner The contract states
the role o f each entity and
methods o f paying for the
conversion o f the Heppner
Hotel into apartments on the
upper floors and leasing back
to the H eppner Senior
Citizens Center Board, Inc.,
the 4650 square feet o f the
main floor that the Senior
Center Board still manages
It also states the purpose for
the building is to be for the
benefit o f sen io rs and
disabled; there is no mention
- o f “low income” persons.
The City has named
the H eppner H ousing
A uthority
B oard
to
supervise the apartments and
adjacent public areas and to
work with the Senior Center
Board for the main level o f
the building
The
H ousing
Authority Board is charged
with setting the rents in the
apartments and their public
areas at a rate that there is
no expense to the City That
is a part o f that original
contract. The “non profit”
statem ent in the Heppner
S en io r C itizen s C en ter
B oard, In c .’s p ap ers o f
in c o rp o ra tio n
is still
honored The City does not
make any money from the
building However, by the
co n tract, the City is not
allowed to pay for anything
over and above the income
The tenants receive
much for their rent A secure,
clean
b u ild in g ,
th e ir
electricity is paid and that
includes their heat and air
conditioning Their water,
sewer and garbage are also
in clu d ed in th e ir rent
paym ent
A nd, w hen
something doesn’t work a
call b rings re p a irs and
maintenance people June 1,
2005 the rents will be $371
to $424, based on apartment
square footage. This is only
the second rent raise that I
could find since the building
opened
The City now has no
choice but to raise rents
because the Reserve Fund to
pay fo r re p a irs and
m aintenance is now very
low. They must maintain a
R eserve Fund to handle
unforeseen emergencies. It
c o sts nearly $5000 to
refurbish an apartment when
someone moves out. Have
you checked the cost to
recarpet or lay new linoleum,
replace countertops or paint
and the cost o f the labor to
have the work done? The
ro o f is also having a
problem, with a leak in one
o f the apartments and the
man hours to find the leak is
expensive. The money from
the rent raise will go into the
Reserve Fund for all o f those
things and more
Please know that I
feel very badly fo r the
tenants who are having a
problem with paying the
additional monthly rent.
(s) Jeanette Padberg
Heppner
To the Editor:
This is a letter o f
apology to the Heppner City
Council
In my le tte r last
w eek, I a d d ressed the
council and learned later my
q u e stio n s and co n cern s
should have been addressed
to the Housing A uthority
Board Most o f my questions
have been an sw ered It
seems that the rent will be
raised There is no way for
this to be prevented The
board has considered all the
options, I was told
Also, what was said
in the meeting was said. But
it was explained to me that
things were said in haste and
w ith o u t th in k in g I can
understand that We all say
Daye Stone moving to Highs School principal job
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things on the spur o f the
moment that we regret
I am still concerned
that some o f the people will
not be able to pay the
ad d itio n al ren t. Tw enty
dollars a month additional
expense would be hard on
our budget But, it seems
that the apartments were not
intended to be low rent
apartments
So, C ity C ouncil,
you have my apology. I hope
I have not inserted “foot in
m o u th ”
again
w ith
something I have written in
this letter, because I sure
don’t like writing apology
letters,
(s) Ruth Donohoe
Heppner
Rent increase upset tenants & families
To the Editor:
Heppner, we need to
be c o n cern ed ab o u t the
residents o f St. P atrick’s
Senior Center apartments.
Recently they were
notified that their rent was
being increased by $20,
effectiv e June 1, 2005.
According to the minutes o f
the H ousing A u th o rity
B oard, w ho m ade this
decision based on the city
m anager’s report that they
were going behind $1500 a
month and it would take an
in crease o f $78.95 per
m onth, based on full
occupancy. It was voted on
and passed that the rent
would be increased every six
months until the sum o f $80
increase was reached and a
letter would be sent out to
ten an ts. (T he add itio n al
in creases
w ere
not
mentioned in this letter.) The
m otion was carried by a
unanimous vote
Som e . o f
the
residents and their children
met and approached the
board, the city manager and
the mayor. They explained
that an increase in rent would
force some o f the tenants to
move out, since being on a
fixed income left them no
room for increases
The affect this is
having on them cannot be
counted in dollars. Many
m oved to the C e n te r’s
apartments thinking it would
be their home as long as they
could live independently, yet
be near their families. Living
with their children or 60
miles or more away from
Apartment tenant expresses concern their families was not part of
their plan. However, that is
regarding rent hike
what is facing the fortunate
ones who even have a family,
To the Editor:
Here are few of their now.
No matter what our suggestions to us:
After looking into
age, we like to maintain
1.
) Sell your car.
the You
financial dilemma o f the
some pride
and a lot o f d o n ’t need it You have Housing Authority, we, the
independence. But now everything you need- post
that’s even being threatened office, grocery store, drug
The powers that be store, bank, great doctors,
are raising the rent at the wonderful town
Senior Center In fact, it will
2.
) Get the extra
be so high before they get money from your kids. They
through that we w on’t be would do it, but you really
able to afford to live here don’t want them to have to
Our “ set income” is being Independence again
“upset.”
3.
) You need to
budget your money better
Let’s see, $700 minus $800.
lone Community Church
How does that work?
43rd Annual
4 ) You can’t move,
Auction and Barbecue
you
don’t
have any place else
Something for everyone!
to go Whatever happened to
Saturday, June 4, 2005
respect your elders?
Willows Grange Hall
lone, Oregon
(s) Bonnie Gates
Country Store and
Heppner
Silent Auction. 10 a m.
AUCTION. 10:30 a m
Pit Barbecue Dinner 12:30 p.m.
Daye Stone, vice-principal o f Heppner Grade
School, will be moving up to take over the job of Heppner
High School principal
Stone will be taking over the job vacated by Wade
A Smith, who is moving up to be Morrow County School
District Assistant Superintendent
“My wife and I have enjoyed living and working
here in Heppner and we look forward to my new position
as high school principal,” Stone said
Apology to the City Council
families, found that the loss
was due to fo u r em pty
apartments since November
o f 2004. So, the increase is
to make up for the empties.
A lthough the apartm ents
were originally budgeted to
run with three empties. (One
has filled since November.)
The city m anager
arg u es th at th ere is
m ain ten an ce th a t could
re q u ire ad d ed fin an cial
burden The ro o f and the
heat pumps being the ones
he was concerned about. In
2000, the Housing Authority
b o rro w ed $1 5 0 ,0 0 0 to
spruce the place up and
those items didn’t seem to be
in their plan. The Board has,
acco rd in g to th eir A pril
fin an cial
sta te m e n t,
$21,017.54 in the C enter
fund and $8972.41 in the
reserve fund and $12,000
budgeted in a contingency
fund. We suggested that the
$80 rent increase be applied
to the empty apartments and
the tenants rent stay the same
until th ey m oved o u t
Allowing the Board to see if
the apartments would rent at
the increased amount and
keeping them from having
added vacancies, which is a
real
p o ssib ility .
O ur
suggestion was ignored and
when faced with having even
m ore
v a can cies,
the
response to the tenants was
that they would just “close
the doors ”
U n fo rtu n ate ly , it
may be too late when this
does
happen.
As
a
community we need to put
our heads together. If you
have any suggestions, please
contact Corol Mitchell, 676-
5596, Linda Schultz, 676-
5010 or Joann Weisler, 676-
8702.
(s) Corol Mitchell
Linda Schultz
Joann Weisler Heppner