Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 31, 2005)
Back to school! llilHliHliliilllHinllilmll Bessie Wetzel 1 Newspaper Library University o f Oregon Eugene, OR 97403 Brian Rill (left) and C.J. Kindle, both seven years old and in the second grade at Heppner Elementary School, have fun during noon recess Tuesday. VOL. 124 NO. 35 8 Pages Wednesday, August 31,2005 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon It was back to school time Monday, August 29, for Morrow County and lone students. The lone School District (K -12) reported 161 students in attendance on the first day of school. The Morrow County School District had a total of 2148 students in attendance Recall election set for Lex. mayor Edwards, councilwoman Taylor R ecall p e titio n s against Lexington M ayor John E dw ards and Lexington Council member Luella Taylor were filed at L ex in g to n C ity H all by Lexington resident Charlie Sumner on Monday, August 22, and were sent to the Morrow County Clerk for signature verification. Sixty- one recall signatures were subm itted for Taylor; 57 were determined to be valid by the clerk . Six'ty-tw o signatures were submitted for E d w ard s; 58 w ere d e term in e d to be valid. Eighteen valid signatures were required. Once the signatures were verified by the clerk, then Edwards and Taylor had to either resign or submit a statement or justification. B oth have su b m itted statem e n ts ra th e r than resign, which set a recall e lec tio n in m otion. A cco rd in g to M orrow C ounty C lerk Bobbi Childers, the recall election w ill be held T uesday, September 27. Ballots will be mailed Friday, September 9. T he last day any L ex in g to n re sid e n t can re g is te r to vote in that election will be Wednesday, September 7. Ballots must be returned to the clerk's o ffice by T uesday, Septem ber 27, at 8 p.m. Ballots may be dropped of at the clerk's office or mailed to arrive at the clerk’s office by 8 p.m. that day (Sept. 27). The clerk’s office will not accep t b allo ts that are postmarked September 27, but arrive after that day. The Gazette-Times has received copies of the recall petitions that Sumner filed w ith the Town o f Lexington against Lexington Mayor Edwards and Council member Taylor and has also obtained copies of rebuttal statem ents from Edwards and Taylor filed with the clerk’s office. A cco rd in g to the re c all p e titio n , S um ner stated that “John Edwards fails to follow public meeting laws and the town charter. Meetings under his direction become derailed because he allo w s c itiz e n s to be disrespectful during council m eetin g s. He v erb ally harasses and demeans other council members and town employees during council m eetin g s and at o th er community contacts. “ John E dw ards shows no interest in pursuing items brought up by certain council m em bers for the improvements of the town. He fails to follow council’s d ire c tio n s on c ertain projects. He directed the city recorder to write a letter tu rn in g dow n an approximately $96,000 loan at fo u r p ercen t in te re st w ith o u t the co n sen t or knowledge of the council. “John E dw ards re fu se s to re co g n ize petitions or questionnaires signed by the citizens (even a majority of voters) for the improvements or ideas for the town. He has said, ‘If the people in this town were that concerned then they should be at the council meetings’ and ‘I don’t care what the people in this town want.’ “John Edwards does not represent the town in an a p p ro p ria te m anner at meetings or functions he has attended in or out of town for a person in the Mayor position.’’ In Mayor Edward’s statem ent filed w ith the M orrow C ounty C le rk ’s Office, he said, “How do I violate the town charter; our current charter has NEVER been signed by town officials and is doubtful if it is really legal. I don’t believe you could elect a council person legally according to it. “If someone is over 21 years of age, they should act a cco rd in g ly . There should not be the need to baby-sit at council meetings. “Everyone council person in town shows little interest in other people’s projects. I only get to vote in a tie. All council business should go through City Hall. “To use a loan one should have plan on how to spend the money, BEFORE they get it. Not after. The town has been reprimanded before for trying to hold elections. Secretary of State L etter dated 11-01-1999 applies; you accept letters of intent not petitions. “ P lease give the people the dates and places these functions took place, that you were at and know this for the truth! We have w aited over three years, Charlie, for your list of all the good things you were going to list about a previous town mayor. “ I was elected to guide the tow n fo r the benefit of the majority and not the chosen few.” (signed) John Edwards. Mayor Edwards told the Gazette Tuesday that he did not b eliev e that the petition had 63 signatures as stated last week in the East Oregonian and believed that “more than a few of them” were invalid. “I know the council meetings get loud,” said Edwards, “but I think the community has the right to respond, because, after all, they are the ones who pay the bills. The citizens elected me and they will have to un elect me. The process will go through one way or another. The people knew who I was w hen they elected m e.” Edwards also disputed the legality of the recall, but said that he believes that ORS rules are not enforced. THE HEPPNER G-T WILL BE CLOSED MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5th FOR LABOR DAY ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: THIS FRIDAY, SEPT. 2nd AT 5:00 P.M. In the recall petition ag ain st Taylor, Sum ner stated , “ L u ella T aylor v erb ally h arasses and demeans council members and town employees during council m eetings and at other community contacts. She d isp lay s a negative attitude while working with other council members due to p erso n ality co n flicts. (Example: Improvements of the Town water system) On one o ccasio n L u ella threatened to run over a council member with her care because they did not agree with her. “On more than one occasion Luella Taylor has th re a ten e d to fire town em p lo y ees w ithout the c o u n c il’s co n sen t or knowledge. She has at times tried to control who town employees could speak with, at the expense of their jobs. “Luella Taylor only follows public meeting laws and the Town Charter when it suits her needs. She does not co n d u ct h e rse lf in professional manner which her position requires. Many times Luella does not gather all the facts or consider all the angles before making important decisions. Luella is close m inded about decisio n s that affect the Town today and for the future.” In T a y lo r’s statement, which she filed with the Town of Lexington Monday, she said, “These allegations are false, libelous and the outcome of gossip and disagreem ent. I have never harassed or demeaned any c o u n c ilo r or town employee. I have defended myself as a private citizen against a councilor, and then only after I was threatened. I did not try or say I would run over a councilor with my car. I have told employees that they should stand up for themselves and not bellyache their complaints and then do nothing. I did not threaten termination. “ I have w orked within the council, made no unauthorized contracts or agreements and have never cost the town money, by my individual actions. I support the town water project, but not by taking out another loan, when grants have not been ad d ressed or considered. If I disagree with an issue, I say so. "M y pro fessio n al manner and knowledge base equals that o f any other councilor. I have supported L exington at the state, county and city level. I support the fu tu re of Lexington, and do not want to see it ban k ru p t and in so lv en t because of excessive dept.” (signed) Luella Taylor. Taylor reiterated her statem ent published in a letter to the editor to the Gazette-Times Wednesday, August 24. Taylor said, “I have d ev o ted my tim e, efforts, money and even my health to the town. In return, I have had my property v an d alized , trash ed and egged. I have received hang up phone calls, threats, false allegations and even been physically assaulted. Last November. I was reelected for another four years and have done n o th in g to warrant these actions. “In conclusion, there is no basis for these allegations, as they are false, malicious and libelous. I will not resign nor will any of my votes be c o n tro lle d by individuals or by the local Lexington cult." on the first day of school. Heppner Elementary (grades K -6) had 190 stu d en ts; H eppner High (g rad es se v e n -12) had 232; Sam Boardman Elementary (K- fo u r)-4 1 0 ; W indy R iver E lem entary, B oardm an (five-six) 148; Riverside High School, B oardm an (s e v e n -12 )-435; A.C. H oughton E lem entary, Irrigon ( K -fo u r)-3 2 0 ; Irrigon Elementary (five- six )-1 3 3 ; Irrig o n H igh School (s e v e n -11 )-272; M orrow E ducation students-eight. The first day attendance records were slightly below the unofficial enrollm ent figures which show 2284 stu d en ts enrolled. MCSD Executive Secretary Julie Ashbeck said that m ore stu d en ts are ex p ected to atten d , especially at the Morrow Education Center. Last year 2291 students were enrolled on the first day in M orrow County Schools. TV members say yes to merger Heppner TV members voted 57 to 5 last Tuesday night to be taken over by Windwave Communications o f B oardm an. It was estimated that the merger would take place in 30 to 60 days. Board members said the tak eo v er was n ecessary because Heppner TV was going broke. The company lost $ 18,000 last year, mostly because of people dropping cable for satellite TV. Under the arrangement Windwave will acquire all of H eppner TVs assets and assume the delivery of TV signal to the 403 current subscribers. No money will change hands in the deal and it is expected that Windwave will keep H eppner TV continued page two We utiii he cimed fHtmday, Sepl. 5lk Have a gteal£aht Day! Morrow County Grain Growers Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396 For farm «q uipm .nt, »(fit our w ab w tt at w w w m e m not
