Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, May 29, 2019 -- THREE
~ Letters to the Editor ~
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Mayoral faux pas
continues
To the editor:
Mayor Marcia Kemp
of Lexington and her inef-
fectiveness continues to fly
in the face of laws, rules,
regulations, order and, well
. . .maturity.
Her ability to control
the town council meet-
ings, maintain order, act
within her authority with-
out coloring outside the
lines, and treat her fellow
council members and the
public with respect is all but
non-existent.
She continues to act
without authority by pass-
ing motions without a sec-
ond, discussion or council
vote, tables agenda items
without motions, unilater-
ally kills motions that have
been seconded, attempts
to exert her vote where
she has none other than to
break (not create) a tie, per
the Lexington town charter,
and the list goes on.
However, all that aside,
the way she treats fellow
council members and the
public attendees of the town
council meetings is most
reprehensible. These are
the people she was elected
to represent and work in
concert with. Should you
feel compelled to disagree
with her, rather than rising
to the stature of the office
she holds for the people she
represents, Ms. Kemp sim-
ply takes the low road and
invites you to “take it up at
the ballot box and get rid of
her.” She even went on to
explain how we, the people,
could recall two council
members who disagree with
her, leaving herself out of
that possibility.
This is absolutely no
way to be the leader, face
and example of a commu-
nity. It more resembles a
school yard bully than a
town mayor.
May I make two sug-
gestions? First, I highly
recommend Ms. Kemp add
“Robert’s Rules of Order”
to her summer reading list
and am happy to donate a
copy to her so she can learn
how to properly conduct a
meeting. Secondly, her re-
call suggestion certainly has
merit and I strongly urge the
community of Lexington to
consider it . . .for her. She
has certain qualities that
are an asset to the office
(such as her ability to seek
out and secure grants, etc.),
but Lexington deserves a
mayor who represents all of
the community and respects
the oath of office.
In closing, I would like
to address a couple of spe-
cific items discussed at the
last town council meeting.
-Jake Brakes making
noise: it would behoove
Mayor Kemp to do a min-
ute or two of research.
While there are no signs
or town ordinance against
their use, it literally took
less than 10 seconds for me
to find the relevant Oregon
statute for this. Pursuant to
2-17 ORS811.492: Engine
Braking:
1. A person commits
the offense of engine brak-
ing if the person is oper-
ating a motor vehicle on
a highway and uses an
unmuffled engine brake.
(Last time I checked, Hwy.
74 and Hwy. 207 are both
state highways.)
2. The offense de-
scribed in this section, en-
gine braking, is a Class A
traffic violation.,
3. A person is not in vi-
olation of this section if the
person uses an unmuffled
engine brake in an emer-
gency situation to avoid im-
minent danger to a person
or property. (1993c.31457)
-Council position still
unfilled: This subject in
my opinion, needs to be
addressed and remedied
immediately and the po-
sition filled post-haste by
either of the two people
who have submitted letters
of interest: Curtis Thomp-
son and Sheila Miller. This
council needs to be able to
make progress for the com-
munity and the continued
vacancy is only impeding
that ability.
Finally, I would like
to extend profound thanks
to Mr. David Sykes for
his exemplary coverage of
the town meetings and Mr.
Lemmon for his very on-
point letter to the editor in
the May 22 issue of the G-T.
Perhaps with continued
coverage and public opin-
ion, Ms. Kemp will finally
become the mayor Lexing-
ton deserves or vacate the
office to a more qualified
individual.
(s) Cheyenne M.
Rogers
Heppner, OR
Heppner could be
bedroom community
To the editor:
Hopefully we had a
beautiful spring holiday
weekend. For this is the
greatest country in which to
celebrate such an important
anniversary and it’s a great
time to be alive. It’s time for
some ‘Trumped-up” ideas
that might counter a force
trying to destroy our strong
republican leadership. But
this where this little engine
begins to lose power like a
slow pulse needing more
oxygen.
From my excellent
viewpoint on one of Hep-
pner’s fabulous green hills
it’s a wonder that some
Amazon investor has not
yet constructed a sprawling,
show-stopping dwelling
overseeing the town. This
could be the beginning of a
type of bedroom communi-
ty since the Hermiston area
is growing and groaning. It
is like the fat lady having to
wear a size too small bikini
on wash day. Instead of the
future of Heppner being re-
duced to smaller offerings,
here is an alternate, perhaps
entertaining, lifestyle.
Take the nearby Blue
Mountain OHV Park that
is notoriously busy for just
part of the year. Picture,
if you can, some hot babe
astride her motorbike just
blasting down the hill into
Main Street Heppner. Oth-
ers could also find open
air shopping to their liking
whether it’s the corner bis-
tro or the latest in upscale
hot tub exercises. Take your
pick.
What about summer’s
dust you say? Everything is
going to be piled thick with
crop residue from hemp,
our new cash crop. And the
advantage there is to have
a little “boot-scooting-boo-
gie” on the side.
Perhaps I might add to
A View from the Green
Senior golfers play
at Echo Hills
Several senior golf-
ers from Willow Creek
Country Club played in the
Columbia-Blue Senior Golf
Association tournament on
May 13 at the par 72 Echo
Hills Golf Course.
Winners from Willow
Creek in the Columbia
Division (handicap 18 and
below) gross category were
Ron Bowman in third with
82; Barry Munkers with 83,
fourth; Dennis Peck with
85, sixth and Dave Pranger
with 87 in seventh place.
In net John McCabe took
fourth with 71; Dale Boyd,
seventh with 72 and Mark
Schlichting eighth with 73.
Blue Division (handi-
cap 19 to 24) winner was
Delbert Binshus in eighth
place net with a score of 91.
In the Senior Division
(handicap 25 and above)
Roger Ehrmantraut took
seventh in gross with 100.
Jeff Cutsforth and Greg
Greenup tied for third with
a score of 68 in net. Also
in net, Mike Sweek was
seventh with 70 and John
Collin was eighth with 71.
The next Columbia
Blue Senior Golf Associa-
tion tournament will be at
Willow Run Golf Course in
Boardman on June 10 with
tee times at 7 a.m., 11 a.m.
and 3 p.m. Pre-registration
is required for the morning
tee times by calling 541-
481-4381 to register and
request a riding cart. Lunch
will be available at the golf
course.
Over the Tee Cup
Fourteen of the Willow
Creek Country Club ladies
attended the May 22 play-
day where the weather was
cold and damp.
Low gross on the field
went to Judy Harris, low net
to Karen Haguewood and
least putts of the field went
to Bev Steagall and Jackie
Allstott.
Flight A low gross win-
ner was Karen Thompson
with Eva Kilkenny winning
low net.
Flight B low gross went
to Sarah Rucker and low net
to Pat Dougherty.
Sharon Harrison took
low gross on flight C and
low net was Jean Creswick.
Least putts went to Josie
Kindsfather and Sue Edson.
The mystery net winner
was Sarah Rucker and mys-
tery gross went to Sharon
Harrison.
Men’s golf group
holds scramble
The Willow Creek
Country Club Men’s club
hosted a three-man scram-
ble event on Sunday, May
26.
The team of Jerry Gen-
try, David Creswick and
Roger Erhrmantraut won
first place with a score of
55. Tom Shear, John Ed-
The Umatilla National
Forest, in partnership with
the City of Ukiah, local
businesses and community
members, are hosting a
Free Kids Fishing Day at
Twin Ponds on Saturday,
June 1, from 8 a.m. to 1
p.m. Fishing instruction,
a raffle, snacks, activities
and prizes make this event
a day of fun for children and
adults alike.
The first 100 children
will receive complementary
buckets with free fishing
tackle. The event will also
include a raffle featuring
various prizes donated by
local residents. Addition-
ally, there will be many
giveaways for children that
have been donated by area
businesses. Participants of
all ages may enter the raf-
fle and the winners will be
announced toward the end
of the event.
The Kids Fishing Day
is free for children ages 16
and under. This event falls
on Oregon Department
of Wildlife’s free fishing
weekend so no license, tags
or endorsements are need-
ed. Children participating in
this event must be accom-
panied by an adult. Fishing
poles will be available on
loan for those who do not
have one and volunteers
will be on site to provide
instruction to first-time
anglers. Free hot dogs and
soda pop will be provided
to all kids who register and
participate.
“The Kids Fishing Der-
by is a great opportunity for
families to visit Ukiah and
the North Fork John Day
Ranger District. The com-
munity’s response to the
return of the derby has been
enthusiastic and generous,
so come out and spend the
day with us,” said Paula
Guenther, North Fork John
Day District Ranger.
Twin Ponds is located
6.7 miles south of Ukiah,
OR. Drive south on Camas
Creek Road/County Road
531/ FSR 52 for 6.7 miles
and turn right onto a flagged
unnamed road. Roads will
be marked with banners.
For more informa-
tion on the 2019 Ukiah
Kids Fishing Derby, please
contact Steve Boe at 541-
427-5305 or stephan.boe@
usda.gov. For additional
information on the Umatilla
National Forest, please visit
https://www.fs.usda.gov/
umatilla.
Morrow SWCD
to meet
Morrow SWCD will meet Tuesday, June 4 at 1 p.m. at
the Ag Service Center, in Heppner. Agenda items include
comments from the public, minutes of the April meeting,
financial report, partner reports and staff reports.
Meetings of Morrow SWCD are open to the public.
mundson and Gene Orwick
For
questions
or more information, contact Kevin Payne
scored 59 to take second.
at
541-676-5452
ext. 111.
Each team had a low,
medium and high handi-
cap player and the tee-offs
were set at back, middle
United Methodist volunteers will serve lunch on
and forward locations for
Wednesday,
June 5 at St. Patrick’s Senior Center. Lunch
each of the handicap levels.
will
be
an
open
face turkey sandwich, mashed potatoes,
Players seemed to enjoy the
green
salad,
mandarin
oranges, cranberry salad and apple
modified scramble format.
cobbler for dessert.
Milk, coffee and tea is served at each meal. Suggested
donation is $3.50 per meal. Menu is subject to change.
Community lunch menu
Speech therapy
screening offered
Pioneer Memorial
Therapy Services is offer-
ing free speech therapy
screening Friday, May 31
from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The
screening is open to chil-
dren two years of age or
older.
While kids aren’t ex-
pected to be able to speak
perfectly, they should be
producing certain sounds
at certain ages. Speech
delays in preschoolers can
often persist into school
years if not addressed early.
Ukiah kids fishing
derby to be held
NOTICE!
Speech therapy services can Morrow County road department will be
help school age kids speak conducting a chip seal project which will
more clearly and improve impact Kunze, Wilson and Tower Road in
self-esteem. This screening
Boardman and Columbia and Patterson
will help give parents the Ferry in Irrigon area on and around June
tools to know if their child 3 to July 4th Morrow County Road Dept.
may need speech services
would like to remind all motorists that
and provide information with any road maintenance project to be
about private speech thera-
aware of the workers, they are very
py options.
important to us. Watch for signs, flags and
Pioneer Memorial
work-zone employees and equipment.
Therapy Services is located Morrow County's goal is to provide a safe
at 150 Rock Street, Hep- roadway. However, it is always up to the
pner. Walk-ins are welcome motorist to drive according to conditions.
or parents can call 541-676-
Be patient and plan ahead. Leave early
2945 to schedule a time.
if you know you will be driving through a
Congratulations!!
Heppner
Ione
Saturday, June 1
Friday, May 31
2:00p.m.
7:00p.m.
work zones. Please use extreme caution
and common sense. They will do their
best and would appreciate your patience.
ATTENTION!
FOR THE GRAD!
- HALLMARK - Gift Ware -
- Cards - Party supplies -Balloons -
- Floral arrangements -
the fun and games part that
can amuse our kind of peo-
ple. For instance, let’s give
Congresswomen Omar the
opportunity to dress in her
finest outfit complete with
stately turban and flowing
robes. She could be the
star in a game of chase.
Add some undetected ba-
con grease and invite the
nearest wolf pack in. One
could also invite House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi to be
a final participant. Viva the
delightful Democrats.
Merlyn Robinson
Heppner
Morrow County would like to notify residents that, due to
bridge deck and guardrail replacement that will be taking
place on the Keene and Snyder bridges, both on Rhea
Creek Road, between Brenner Cyn Rd and Social Ridge Rd
will be CLOSED from May 13th- June 7th 2019. Please use
alternate routes.
Any questions of concerns, Morrow County Public Works
Dept., 365 W. Hwy 74, Lexington
541-989-9500
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