Heppner celebrates homecoming
HEPPNER
G T
50¢
azette
imes
VOL. 134
NO. 37 8 Pages
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Heppner celebrated homecoming last week with plenty of festivities as well as victories on the
volleyball court and the gridiron. Pictured back L-R are Junior Princess Emily Cecil with fa-
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon ther Raymond Cecil, Senior Princess Sydney Maben with father Jason Maben, Senior Queen
Jessica Kempken with mother Donna Sherman, Senior Princess Riley Kollman with father
Brian Kollman, and Junior Princess Riane Dompier with father Jon Dompier. In front (L-R)
are Kolby Currin, first-grade pennant bearer Jett Stewart, Patrick Collins, first-grade pennant
bearer Maya Payne, C.J. Kindle and Logan Grieb. –Photo by Sandra Putman
Changes ahead for county
government
County judge position eliminated, county administrator to be
hired
By Andrea Di Salvo
to not deal with day-to- has a budget of $40,000 needs to remain in the coun-
Morrow County gov- day operations but to set for lawyers, but the state ty,” said Tallman. “Where
ernment will undergo some policy and maybe
pays for lawyers in the judge resides has a large
drastic changes in the wake even go to Salem to
circuit court cases. impact on services. It’s no
of a decision by the Morrow lobby for things that
“We’re already reflection on these judges.
County Court recently.
are important to the
paying taxes to the They’re good solid judges.
At its Sept. 16 meeting, county.
state for the circuit They simply don’t live here
the three-member court
“Look at the
court to do this,” in Morrow County. I do.”
voted unanimously to three largest cities in
said Russell.
Tallman said another
eliminate the long-standing our county—Hep- Leann Rea
Another consid- concern of the commis-
county judge position. The pner, Boardman and
eration was reliev- sioners was the fact that the
position will be terminated Irrigon—and they’re all run ing the county judge of the county judge isn’t a lawyer.
at the retirement of cur- by paid administrators,” he time commitment involved
“One of the contentions
rent Morrow County Judge added. “The mayor and the in juvenile cases. The only is that I wasn’t trained as a
Terry Tallman at the end of city council don’t deal with other three counties in the lawyer. They don’t think
2016. The commis-
details of the day- state in which the county these skills are learnable;
sion intends then
to-day operations.” judge has jurisdiction over they think a lawyer should
to have three part-
While the vote juvenile cases are Wheel- do it,” said Tallman. “That’s
time commissioners
was unanimous, er, Gilliam and Sherman okay, but to suggest that a
and hire a paid, full-
judge Tallman said counties, all of which have citizen of Morrow County
time county admin-
h e s t i l l h a s h i s populations significantly wouldn’t want to learn
istrator. The current Terry
doubts that it was smaller than Mor-
the skills it takes to
structure has two Tallman
the right move.
row County, which
conduct a juvenile
part-time commis-
“It was not an has a population
court—I don’t be-
sioners and one full-time easy decision for me to of approximately
lieve this is thinking
county judge, with no ad- make. I still have mixed 12,000.
of all of Morrow
ministrator.
feelings about it. I think
Russell said he
County.”
The two county com- there’s more than one way talked to multiple
Roy Blaine,
missioners said the heavy to address that issue,” he people from various Don Russell
Trial Court Admin-
workload on the county said, adding that he thought agencies during the
istrator for the Sixth
judge was a major factor in the problem could have decision process, including Judicial District, told the
their decision to make the been solved by hiring an as- Morrow County District county court that the five
change.
sistant for the judge. “Give Attorney Justin Nelson, judges of the district would
“Our county’s growing it a year and see how we current and former county pick up Morrow County’s
to the point that the judge feel,” he added.
sheriffs, district judges, caseload and make the
can’t take care of judge
Another decision re- previous county judges and change “as seamless as
duties and administrative cently made by the county others.
possible.”
duties both,” said county court is to move the re-
“I just talked to every-
Tallman didn’t agree.
commissioner Leann Rea, sponsibility of juvenile one I could think of who
“They (circuit court
who cited “windshield court cases from the county might have an opinion on judges) have trouble being
time” spent on the way to judge to the Sixth Judicial it. And then I just tried to in Morrow County more
meetings as one roadblock District, which serves both talk to a lot of people on than one day a week—and
to productivity.
Morrow and Umatilla coun- the street about it,” he said. that’s criminal cases,” said
Commissioner Don ties. Unlike the other vote,
Tallman cited several Tallman. “Judge Pahl is
Russell agreed.
this decision was not unani- objection to the removal overloaded and he’s the
“I think the county’s mous, with county judge of juvenile duties from the only juvenile judge they’ve
getting big enough that we Terry Tallman providing a county judge, including loss got. We’re going to ask
can’t continue to elect a lay dissenting vote against the of local control, less time in him to spread himself even
person,” said Russell. “Per- change.
court, the need to develop a thinner.”
sonally, I don’t think that
“We’re taking the time
Commissioners Russell legal infrastructure in Mor-
some things were getting and Rea say they voted for row County, and even inac- to reach a decision involv-
done that an administrator the change largely because curacies in Russell’s report. ing a family and doing it in
would do. This allows three it will save the county mon-
“My biggest concern
-See COUNTY COURT
CHANGES/PAGE FIVE
part-time commissioners ey. The county currently is that I think the judgeship
South Morrow schools
see slight decline in
enrollment
Both Heppner and Ione
schools have seen a slight
drop in enrollment for the
2015-16 school year.
While Morrow County
School District Superin-
tendent Dirk Dirksen re-
ports that enrollment is up
district-wide, enrollment
in Heppner schools has
dropped slightly.
Heppner Elementary
reported 188 students en-
rolled last year but only
173 this year. That was due
in part to last year’s un-
usually large kindergarten
class—the 29 students that
enrolled in 2014 made it the
largest kindergarten class in
several years. Enrollment
is down only slightly this
year, with 22 kindergartners
enrolled at HES.
High school enrollment
is also down, though not
by much. Last year’s high
school enrollment was 167
compared to this year’s
student body of 161.
At Ione Community
School, enrollment num-
bers are down slightly
school-wide, with total en-
rollment of 204 compared
to 213 last year.
Lower numbers can be
seen in the entering kinder-
garten class, which con-
tains 11 students compared
with 17 last year. Overall
elementary numbers have
dropped, from 102 last year
to 75 this year, while middle
school is up from 31 to 48.
High school enrollment
is holding steady, officials
report, down only one from
last year’s 80 students.
Ballots go out soon for
November election
Ballots go out Wednes-
day, Oct. 14, for the Nov. 3
general election. The last
day for voters to register
for the election is Oct. 13.
The issues on the bal-
lot for Morrow County this
year are strictly local in
nature, affecting only the
Heppner and Lexington
areas.
Heppner and other resi-
dents of the Heppner Rural
Fire Protection District will
vote on a bond for a new
fire hall in Heppner, while
Lexington residents will be
presented with the renewal
of a five-year local option
tax for the Lexington Fire
Department.
All ballots are due by
8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3,
and must be received, not
simply postmarked, on that
day. For voter convenience,
24-hour drop boxes will be
available in Heppner and
Lexington. Locations are
as follows:
Heppner: Courthouse
parking lot (24 hours) or
the Morrow County Clerk’s
Office, Room 102 inside the
courthouse. Open 8 a.m. to
noon and 1-5 p.m., M-F and
Election Day (Nov. 3) from
7 a.m. until 8 p.m.
Lexington: 365 West
Hwy 74 (Public Works
Parking lot). Turn off Hwy.
74 onto Tom Street and left
into the public works park-
ing lot. Open 24 hours.
Health district hires interim administrator
District passes audit with flying colors
By April Sykes
Bob Houser, retired
John Day hospital adminis-
trator, has accepted an offer
from the Morrow County
Health District Board for an
interim position as district
administrator at a salary of
$180,000 a year, plus the
use of the district house and
other benefits. The board
has filled the CEO position
temporarily until a perma-
nent administrator is hired.
The district has been oper-
ating without a permanent
CEO since the resignation
of Dan Grigg in June. Chief
Financial Officer Nicole
Mahoney has been acting
as CEO, in addition to her
other responsibilities, since
Grigg left to take a position
in Burns.
If hired, the interim
CEO would begin Nov. 1
and would be employed for
at least three months.
Also at the meeting,
Eric Volk, CPA, senior man-
ager with WIPFLI CPAs
and Consultants, presented
the district’s 2015 audit,
which showed no deficien-
cies. Volk praised Mahoney
and her staff for presenting
the financial data for the
audit.
The audit showed the
district had a net increase
of $294,247 for the fiscal
year ending in June 2015,
compared to $319,127 for
2014, and $905,928 for
2013. Gross patient revenue
increased by $954,864 in
2015, compared to a de-
crease of $234,958 last year.
Net patient accounts receiv-
able increased $1,436,949
for 2015, compared to
$1,123,481 last year and
$984,375 in 2013. Net non-
patient revenue, which in-
cludes property taxes, in-
creased by $192,833 this
year, compared to $146,288
in 2014. Total operating
expenses increased by
$565,277 this year, and
$687,936 last year.
The district’s total assets
for 2015 were $6,999,761,
with $2,939,714 in liabili-
ties; in 2014, total assets
were $6,734,458, com-
pared to total liabilities of
$2,968,658; total assets
in 2013 were $6,686,424,
compared to $3,239,751 in
total liabilities.
Total operating revenue
for 2015 was $8,041,299;
with operating expenses
of $6,430,235 in salaries
and benefits, $572,493 in
depreciation and amortiza-
tion, $891,726 for supplies
and $1,463,853 for other
operating expenses, for
total operating expenses of
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
$9,358,307; with non-oper-
ating revenue of $1,476,290
in property tax revenue,
$10,945 in interest earnings,
minus $84,076 in interest
expense, plus $30,527 in
donations and non-capital
grants and $177,569 in
“other” for $1,611,255 in
total non-operating rev-
enue; net position at the
beginning of 2015 was
$3,765,800, compared to
$4,060,047 at the end of
the year.
For 2014, the district
had $7,612,460 in total op-
erating revenue, $8,793,030
in total operating expenses,
$1,499,697 in total non-
operating revenue, net, with
a net position of $3,446,673
at the beginning of the year,
and $3,765,800 at the end
of the year.
The board also accept-
ed the low bid of $48,825
from Cougar Excavation,
Wamic, OR, for re-routing
and replacing four four-inch
sewer lines which exit the
hospital and connect to the
six-inch main line going
into the city’s sewer main.
Specifications also include
cutting and removing the
retaining wall, asphalt and
concrete patio, trenching
and replacing all sewer lines
specified in the request,
backfilling all trenching,
installing new cleanouts
with new cast-iron covers
and concrete retaining rings
flush with surface, includ-
ing applying for necessary
permits and replacing ex-
isting retaining wall using
the 6x16 concrete garden
wall blocks and replacing
the concrete patio with sod.
Cougar Excavation’s bid
for the reduced project op-
tion two, which did not in-
clude replacing the existing
-See HEALTH DISTRICT/
PAGE SEVEN
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