Morrow County sheriff’s candidate forum
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Bessie Wetzell New spaper Library
Univ ersity o f Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
VOL. 127
NO. 42
10 Pages
Wednesday, October 15,2008
The H eppner G a
zette-Tim es recently sent
a list o f questions to both
candidates running for the
position o f Morrow County
sheriff, Kenneth M atlack
(incumbent) and Larry Sam
ple. Election ballots will
be mailed out on Friday,
October 17. The following
questions w ere posed to
both candidates:
Q u estio n 1: Are
you satisfied with the con
tract to provide protection
to the City of Heppner?
If not what needs to be
changed?
Kenneth Matlack:
Yes. I returned the third posi
tion to the
C ity and
the money
was used
for oth er
m u c h
needed
c ity s e r
vi ces. 1
asked the
City sev Sheriff Kenneth
eral times Matlack
if t hey
were satisfied with the cov
erage or did they want to
replace the third position.
They felt the money for the
third position was better
used for other city services.
Other hours are provided for
free. The money belongs to
the city and it’s their deci
sion.
Larry Sample: No!
1 think in order to patrol a
city the size o f Heppner ef
fectively you need to have
at least three deputies to
get the required coverage.
The deputies should be ro
tated every three months.
When you have only two
deputies and both live in
the North part o f the county,
you lose four hours o f pa
trol time due to driving to
and from Heppner. Patrol
hours need to be scheduled
during the evening hours
when thefts, burglaries and
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
criminal mischiefs are being
committed, some o f which
are being committed by ju
their doors to community veniles after curfew.
Question 2: What
concerns. The mayor runs
is the biggest law enforce
the tow n
ment problem you see fac
without
ing
Morrow County?
any oppo
sition, ap
poi nt i ng
council
m em bers
o f her
By April Sykes
choice
Sam Boardman El
w h i l e
ementary teacher Pam Files
the tow n
made a presentation to the
Lexington City Council: Meet the candidates
Editor s Note: Sam
uel Martin, who is running
against Marcia Kemp fo r
Position 4 Councilor, could
not be c o n ta c te d f o r an
interview or picture. John
Edwards could not be con
tactedfor a picture.
This election year
there are three councilor po
sitions that have opposition
for Lexington City Council.
The candidates were con
tacted to find out why they
are running and what they
hope to accomplish if they
are elected. Their responses
are as follows:
Q uestion 1: Why
did you decide to run for
your position?
Councilor, Position
1:
R uth H a s k e tt: I
wanted
s o m e
th in g to
do on the
side. I like
to learn. I
w a n t to
h e lp o u t
the town.
Robert Taylor: The
way they’ve been conduct
ing business the last 6-10
months, it has been kind of
sad. They can’t start meet
in g s on
tim e be-
c a u s e
so m eo n e
is not there
or is late. I
hope that
if we get
enough
in th e r e
th a t w ill Robert Taylor
change
their habits, we can have the
meeting start on time. They
don’t read the minutes out to
the public. The bills aren’t
ex p lain ed to the public.
They’ve got a lot o f phone
expense. There’s room for
a lot o f changes. Also, half
o f the business is conducted
behind the scenes.
Councilor, Position
3:
John E dw ards: I
don’t particularly care for
the way the council that is
in office now is doing busi
ness.
Charma Marquardt:
I am run
n in g b e
cause the
mayor
(Val D o
ll e r t y )
asked me
c o u n c i l Marcia Kemp
to.
ignores
the current town charter,
Charma
ordinances and laws. The
Marquardt
council would not endorse
or support a local Lexington
Councilor, Position Neighborhood Watch pro
gram. Recently, the Lexing
4:
Marcia Kemp: There ton City Council was invited
is no clear direction on where to attend a jo in t meeting
the Lexington Town Council hosted by the Willow Creek
is taking the town. The cur Valley Economic Group and
-Continued on Page THREE
rent town council has shut
Maben shoots first buck
Treston Maben, 12, killed his first buck on the opening day
of buck season at 8:30 a.m. This buck is a 4x5 with a 23 inch
spread. -Contributed Photo
The Heppner Gazette-Times wants to see pictures o f your trophy-
animals from this hunting season Stop by to have your picture
taken, drop o ff photos, or email them to editor@rapidser\e net
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
Kenneth M atlack:
The revolving door of crimes
committed by repeat offend
ers. Much o f the crime is
the result o f drug addicted
or affected people. Property
crimes, vandalism, thefts,
burglaries and other crimes
are constantly upon us. 1
advocate mandatory prison
time for these offenders.
Serve the time, dry out then
perhaps treatm ent and a
second chance. Otherwise,
it may be a repeat life o f
mandatory time working on
a prison farm.
Larry Sample: I be
lieve drugs,
and drug
related
crimes are
th e b i g
gest prob
lem facing
Morrow
County.
H aving a
D .A .R .E . Larry Sample
p ro g ram ,
more time
spent working drugs in Mor
row C ounty, m ore rural
patrol, and communications
with communities are tools
to help with this problem.
Question 3: Are you
satisfied with the county's
relationship with BENT?
Kenneth Matlack:
Yes. BENT has been des
ignated as H1DTA (high
intensity drug trafficking
area) taskforce. They re
ceive federal dollars for
work on major drug opera
tions. This saves the county
money because H1DTA pays
for the substantial overtime
costs and related expenses
when w orking the larger
cases. We still get local sup
port, drug houses contacted,
assistance on cases when
needed while they fight the
methamphetamine epidemic
on a larger scale.
Larry Sample: The
Sheriff’s Department had a
good working relationship
with the BENT taskforce
in the adm inistration and
it can be again. When I am
elected I will be contact
ing BENT officers, and the
BEN T B oard to try and
get things worked out so
more narcotic investigations
are occurring in M orrow
County. I will reestablish a
good working relationship
with them in order to get
this accomplished. 1 worked
in and supervised the BENT
taskforce for 10 years and I
know the drugs are plentiful
in Morrow County and it
needs to be addressed.
Question 4: What
is the biggest change you
have made in the Sher
iff's Office since you were
elected?
Kenneth M atlack:
V isibility and activity. 1
knew when elected sheriff
I would not receive addi
tional manpower. 1 decided
that both the sh eriff and
u n d e rsh e riff w ould take
calls for service. As the calls
for serv ice came in and the
deputies needed help, the
sh e riff and u n d e rsh e riff
provided the relief and the
assistance they needed. To
gether they have averaged
between 600 and 1000 calls
for service each year since
taking office. This substan
tially changed the MCSO
operation.
-Continued on Page THREE
Student assessment scores to be tied
to graduation state-wide by 2012
M orrow C ounty School
Board Monday night that
outlined a student assess
ment tool which has helped
her id e n tify a s tu d e n t’s
strong and weak areas and
then, as much as possible,
direct the student’s course
o f study.
Files said she can
use the MAPS testing sys
tem which allows her to see
where students are deficient
and w here they excel to
determine what area each
student should focus on. The
data can be used to inform
parents how their students
are doing and how they
compare to other students,
she said. The MAPS sys
tem monitors students from
kindergarten through third
grade and starts with the
first skill as skills increase
through the third grade, said
Files.
Files said that she
can use the data to see how
close the students come to
meeting their benchmarks
by the end o f third grade.
“That is very impressive,”
commented board member
Bill Kuhn, after hearing
Files’ presentation.
This “data driven”
assessm ent is becom ing
more and more important as
students' ability to graduate
will become tied to their
RIT scores by 2012. The
RIT (Rausch Instructional
Units) scores are units o f
measurement to determine
how students do in statewide
assessments,” said Morrow
County School Superinten
dent Mark Burrows. Bur
rows said that a third grader
should achieve a RIT score
o f 204, while a 10th grader
should achieve a RIT score
o f 236. Indeed, by 2012
all Oregon students must
have a RIT score o f 236 to
graduate from high school.
“If you don’t have it, you
w on't graduate,” said Bur
rows. “The level o f concern
for high school graduates is
great,” he said.
In light o f the new
RIT requirem ents loom
ing for students statewide,
a “ 236 C o m m itte e ” has
been created by the Mor
row County School District
to develop a plan to assist
students in meeting those
graduation requirements by
2012. The “236 C om m it
tee" has developed a plan,
still in the developmental
stages, which could include
additional learning time on
Friday or after school, dur
ing summer school, and ulti
mately, possible retention.
A cco rd in g to the
“ 236 C o m m ittee's” draft
presented at the m eeting
Monday night, students who
do not meet or exceed the
reading and math require
ments after the first and
second testing will be given
an additional four hours
o f learning time on Friday
or after school. Students
who do not meet or exceed
the standard after the third
testing will be provided an
additional four w eeks o f
instruction during summer
school. Students who do not
meet or exceed the standards
and who do not participate
in the Friday or after school
programs or summer school
and attend school less than
90 percent o f the time will
be review ed via a place
ment hearing with the su
perintendent and principal
“to determine appropriate
placement.” In other words,
the student may be retained
and may not be allowed to
graduate.
Administrators and
the committee said that they
included a student’s atten
dance as a factor because
attendance is important to
student success. However,
they said that retention may
or may not be considered
when a student who attends
school at least 90 percent of
the time is still not meeting
benchmarks, perhaps as in
the case o f special needs
students.
He p p n e r High
School Daye Stone added
that Heppner High School
has “ serio u s a tten d an ce
issues,” which he laid to
community values. “All of
our intervention has done
nothing in this community,”
he said.
The “236 Commit
tee's" first emphasis will be
to disseminate the informa
tion to parents and students
via a wide variety o f m e
dia, such as parent-teacher
-Continued on Page THREE
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