Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, September 30, 2015
COUNTY COURT CHANGES
-Continued from PAGE ONE egon Counties, according
a collaborative way. It’s not
just a legal matter,” he said.
“We’re trying to take into
account a family and see
if we can’t help them. That
takes a lot of time.”
“I’m just saying I have
my doubts,” he said.
Commissioners also
said an impetus to mak-
ing the changes now was
the filing period for next
year’s election. The filing
period for the judge posi-
tion opened Sept. 10, and
the county court wanted
to make the change before
anyone had filed for judge.
Tallman said he was con-
cerned that the decision had
been made too quickly.
“There are things we
haven’t discussed about
how the administrative po-
sition will work. I think
we need to discuss those
things,” he said.
In fact, one thing that
has some citizens upset
is the lack of public en-
gagement in the changes.
Discussion on both of the
changes started more than
six months ago but, while
both items were discussed
at length at county court
meetings, the court did not
hold public hearings or oth-
erwise advertise the issues.
“Don (Russell) re-
searched it and found it
wasn’t something we had
to go to the public with,”
said Rea, while conceding
that, “We probably need to
have a public hearing to let
people know.”
In fact, Rea said much
of the discussion concern-
ing the new county ad-
ministrator happened in
executive session, because
of the “hiring process and
discussion of applications.”
The position was not
advertised to the general
public, but was advertised
in-house as well as on the
League of Oregon Cities
website, which is also used
by The Association of Or-
to county human resources
director Karen Wolff. Wolff
said the job was also posted
to the Local Government
Personnel Institute website.
Tallman said he was
concerned by the lack of
public discussion and input.
“I pointed this out and
said I thought we should
invite the public to discuss
some of these things. I don’t
think we should make a de-
cision on yes or no without
this being brought before
the people. I would still
like to hold some public
meetings,” he said. “I’m
not looking for a fight but I
think we should be thinking
of all the county of Morrow.
In this case I don’t believe
we have.”
However, both Rea and
Russell said they spoke
with members of the gen-
eral public often, if unof-
ficially.
“From the people I’ve
talked to, they’re very posi-
tive about it,” said Rea.
“I can’t say I’ve talked to
everyone.”
“Every public meeting
I’ve been to, I’ve talked
to people about it. I’ve
brought it up at a Willow
Creek Valley Economic De-
velopment Group meeting,
talked about it at planning
commission, talked to as
many people about it as I
could think of,” said Rus-
sell. “I’ve talked to them to
see if they had an opinion
about it and what that opin-
ion is.”
“Most people, if they
have an opinion at all, think
this is the way we should
go,” he added. “A lot of
people didn’t even have an
opinion.”
Russell, who began his
term as commissioner in
January of this year, said
he has been busy learning
all he can about county
government, even taking
classes geared toward new
commissioners.
“Through that process,
I’ve been able to talk to
people from other counties
and try to learn as much
about county government
as I can,” he said. “Most
counties—not all but
most—have got a public
administrator. The 36 coun-
ties in the state of Oregon,
they probably all do it a
little bit differently.”
Morrow County has
been one of eight Oregon
counties that has a county
court government com-
prised of a full-time judge
and two part-time commis-
sioners, and one of only
four in which the county
judge has had jurisdic-
tion over juvenile court
cases. Nineteen counties
have a county commission
structure with three to five
commissioners who work
either full or part time. An-
other nine counties have ad-
opted “home rule” charters,
wherein voters have the
power to adopt and amend
their own county govern-
ment organization.
According to the job
description for the position,
the new county administra-
tor will serve as a kind of
county manager, the new
administrator will perform
“executive management
level leadership supporting
the County Court with the
planning, coordination and
implementation of coun-
ty operations and works
as an integral member of
the County Management
Team.”
The administrator
would, among other things,
participate in county budget
development, attend county
court meetings, and provide
“leadership and administra-
tive guidance to all elected
and appointed department
heads and processes as
assigned by the County
Court.” The administrator
also would serve as a liai-
son with elected officials
and would supervise all
department heads and other
specific employees.
One other requirement
placed on the new admin-
istrator will be that the ad-
ministrator must live within
Morrow County.
“For me personally,
if they didn’t want to live
in Morrow County, they
wouldn’t be an adminis-
trator in Morrow County
very long,” explained Rus-
sell. “They wouldn’t have
anything invested in the
county.”
While the two county
commissioners said they
didn’t remember the ex-
act wage the administrator
would receive, at its June
10 meeting the county court
voted to approve Pay Range
27 of the Reclassified Non-
Represented Employee
Wage Scale, 2014-2015
($6,852 per month) for the
Administrative Officer #5-2
position—or approximately
$82,224 per year.
Judge Tallman said
he isn’t sure that will be
enough.
“We don’t’ know yet
how much we’re going
to have to spend to hire
an administrator. I was
anticipating that we may
pay $100-120 thousand,”
he said. “I think that’s the
major reason they’re talk-
ing about half time.”
“In the long run, you’re
not going to end up saving
the county any money,” said
Tallman.
The commissioners
said the court held Skype
interviews with several
candidates at the end of
September and has nar-
rowed the pool to three
candidates, whom they
hope to bring to the county
for interviews in the next
couple of weeks. However,
Rea said she doesn’t expect
the position to be filled and
functional until around the
first of the year.
VA medical center holds flu shot clinics in
the Boardman area
Walla Walla, WA—The
flu season is here, and the
Jonathan M. Wainwright
Memorial VA Medical Cen-
ter is holding a flu shot
clinic for Veterans in the
Boardman area on Friday,
Oct. 16, at the Morrow
County Telehealth Clinic
(2 Marine Dr., Ste. 103 at
the Port of Morrow) from 9
a.m. to 3 p.m. Veterans can
get a free flu shot by show-
ing valid identification.
Health officials say the
single best way to prevent
the flu is to get a flu shot
each season—and it’s never
too early to get a flu shot.
Because it can take about
two weeks after vaccination
for antibodies to develop in
the body to protect against
influenza virus infection,
it is suggested to get vac-
cinated as early as possible.
As always, anyone with
questions is asked to con-
tact their provider team.
The Walla Walla VA’s full
flu shot clinic schedule is
available at www.wallawal-
la.va.gov, or watch Walla
Walla VA’s Facebook and
Twitter pages for remind-
ers of all upcoming flu shot
clinics.
Get additional flu facts
at www.flufacts.com and
www.cdc.gov/flu.
Holly Rebekah Lodge to resume card parties
Holly Rebekah Lodge
will resume its monthly
pinochle card parties this
Saturday, Oct. 3.
Play will start at 7 p.m.
sharp at the lodge hall in
Lexington. For $5 a per-
son can play cards, visit
with friends and have a fun
evening.
Community members
are also asked to mark their
calendars for Thursday,
Oct. 8. The lodge will be
starting Bunco on the sec-
ond Thursday of the month,
also at 7 p.m., as its fun-
draiser for the Vocational
NIFTY AND SHIFTY,
LOOK WHO'S 50!
Oh my, how the years have passed.
Jay Gibbs is 50 at last!
The roads he has traveled, places he’s been,
Those youthful times he will never see again!
Those brown hairs have turned mostly grey,
Those aging bones & muscles make it hard to play!
So rest in peace those years of youth,
His birthdate surely tells the truth!
On October 3rd, say Happy Birthday to Jay,
We, his family, are sure he won’t know What to say
Happy 50th Birthday to a son, brother, uncle & dad,
Jay Gibbs—-your 50th birthday can’t be that bad!
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
- FIVE
‘Kennewick Man
to Sacagawea’ tour
planned for October
The Morrow County
Historical Society invites
local history buffs to par-
ticipate in a “Kennewick
Man to Sacagawea” tour on
Saturday, Oct. 24. The tour
will begin at the East Ben-
ton County, WA museum
and end at Confluence Art
Project at Sacajawea State
Park. Group members will
eat lunch at Keewaydin
Park, Kennewick’s oldest
park, weather permitting.
Participants can bring their
own picnic lunches or order
a box lunch for $11.
Morrow County Spe-
cial Transportation buses
will leave Heppner Senior
Center at 8 a.m., and a bus
will depart from Stokes
Landing Senior Center in
Irrigon at 9 a.m. Buses will
return to Morrow County
by 4 p.m. or earlier. Each
bus can hold 14 passengers.
If you wish to participate,
contact Don Eppenbach,
Irrigon, deppenba@msn.
com, 541-571-0375, or
Dave DeMayo, Heppner,
ddemayo@centurytel.net,
541-676-8017, to reserve a
seat on the bus. Make your
reservation by Oct. 17, and
pay the tour fee on the bus
at departure.
The tour fee is $10 for
Morrow County Historical
Society Members and $15
for non-members. Tour fee
includes museum admis-
sions and driver donation.
Box lunch reservations
must be made by Tuesday,
Oct. 21. Contact Carol Mi-
chael cnrmichael@gmail.
com or 541-481-9457 to
order a box lunch.
Special Transportation
seeking help with logo
Morrow County Spe-
cial Transportation is asking
the help of youth kindergar-
ten through 12 th grade.
Special Transportation
is getting a new name—The
LOOP—and it needs a new
logo. Children and teens are
invited to submit designs in
a logo contest, with the win-
ner to receive $100.
Suggestions are to have
the OOs look like wheels,
such as the wheels on a
bus, but the design can be
anything that could pertain
to transporting veterans,
seniors, persons with dis-
abilities and others.
Designs should be put
on an 8-1/2 x 11 piece of
paper with the entrant’s
name and address on the
back side of the paper.
They should be mailed to:
Morrow County Special
Transportation, Attn: Anita
Pranger, PO Box 495, Hep-
pner, OR 97836. Entries
must be received in the Spe-
cial Transportation office
before October 29, 2015.
Any questions, call
541-676-LOOP or toll-free
at 855-644-4560.
Free tai chi classes in
Heppner
Free Tai Chi Moving for Better Balance classes are
still available Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12:30-1:30 p.m.,
at St. Patrick’s Senior Center in Heppner. No experience is
required and participants need not pre-register. However,
participants should wear flexible-soled shoes and light,
comfortable clothing.
Morrow SWCD to
meet
The Morrow SWCD
will hold a regular board
meeting Tuesday, Oct. 6,
at the Port of Morrow Riv-
erfront Center, 2 Marine
Drive, Boardman, begin-
ning at 6 p.m.
Time will be set aside
at the beginning of the
SWCD meeting to receive
comments from the public.
The agenda for the
SWCD meeting includes
review and approval of
the minutes of the June 25
conference call and Sept. 1
meeting minutes, bank rec-
onciliation for August and
September, budget report,
staff reports and partner
reports.
A board position repre-
senting the Irrigon area is
currently vacant. Interested
landowners are encouraged
to apply.
Meetings of Morrow
SWCD are open to the
public.
School Scholarships that
are awarded to graduating
seniors from both Heppner
and Ione high schools.
The cost to play is $5
for this event also.
The lodge will furnish
sandwiches, chips and nuts,
or candy at both of these
Morrow County Justice of the Peace Ann Spicer has
events. The public is in-
released the following Justice Court report:
vited to bring other snacks
-Patricia Hankins, 56, of Umatilla, OR was found
to share.
guilty of Violating the Basic Rule (VBR) 70/55 and was
For further informa-
fined $160.
tion, contact LaRae Kindle
-John Jacob Gintz, 46, of Enterprise, OR was found
at 541-676-5223.
guilty of VBR 78/55 and was fined $260.
Justice Court Report
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