Ballots go out in mayor recall
Kemp cites positive efforts to ‘make Lexington Great’
50¢
Ballots have gone out
in the recall effort against
Lexington Mayor Marcia
Kemp. The mail-in ballots
are due back to the clerk’s
office by October 22.
The recall was initiated
by Lexington resident Will
Lemmon who says, among
other things, Kemp has
failed in her oath of office,
exceeded authority and is
uncommunicative with oth-
er members of the council
(see below for complete
text of the charges). Kemp
has responded by citing
the positive things she says
are being accomplished in
Lexington (see below).
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Reason for recall:
“Kemp has failed her oath
of office regularly exceed-
of the hay truck swung wide turn into the path of the ing the authority of the
left to make the turn when grocery truck, causing them Mayor. Kemp refuses to
the vehicle was struck by to collide. Sunlight on their work with nor even com-
a grocery truck that was windshields may have been
following.
a contributing factor.
The grocery truck driv-
OSP, MCSO, ODOT
er apparently assumed the and Heppner Ambulance
hay truck was moving to the and Fire all responded.
left and proceeded forward There were no injuries and
Morrow County Health
in the right lane, which neither driver was trans-
District was recently award-
put the trucks somewhat ported. There was minor
ed Top Performer in quality
side by side. The hay truck leakage on the roadway
reporting and improvement
continued with his right from a radiator.
efforts by the Oregon Office
of Rural Health. The Ore-
gon Office of Rural Health
recognizes Critical Access
Hospitals (CAH) in Ore-
gon for their outstanding
work as proactive leaders
in ensuring CAH’s are pre-
pared to meet and exceed
present and future quality
measures.
“I would like to thank
our Quality Manager,
Becky, and all of our staff
HEPPNER
G T
azette
imes
VOL. 138
NO. 41 6 Pages
Trucks collide near Lexington
An accident along
Highway 74 between Lex-
ington and Heppner had
traffic blocked Monday
morning after a collision
between two semi trucks.
According to the Mor-
row County Sheriff’s Of-
fice, who assisted Oregon
State Police on the accident,
a hay truck was signaling
and turning right into a
driveway between mile-
posts 39 and 40. The driver
municatee with 3 of our 4
councilmembers circum-
venting the authority of the
council in absolutely clear
violation of the town char-
ter. She has publicly slan-
dered their character and
by her own admission based
solely on hearsay. She has
created an us vs. them at-
mosphere. Kemp continues
to put her own personal
feelings, issues and agenda
above the whole electorate
of the town of Lexington.
We deserve better!”
Mayor Kemp’s re-
sponse: “When I took the
oath of office in January
2019 to become Lexing-
ton’s mayor, I promised
to follow all the rules and
regulations of the State
of Oregon, the Town of
Lexington, and Morrow
County.
“With the help of Lex-
ington community mem-
bers, we are improving the
livability of the town by
having safe neighborhoods,
attracting more families
to move to our communi-
ty, providing clean water,
maintaining our streets,
parks to enjoy and promot-
ing and supporting busi-
nesses. We are actively
applying for grants and
establishing partnerships to
help us.”
“Lexington has a bright
future and together, we can
make Lexington Great, a
town to be proud of.”
Another recall, this one
against councilmember Bill
Beard concluded last week
with voters rejecting that
effort 54 to 43 (see related
story).
Morrow County Health Dist.
earns Top Performer award
Heppner weather slightly
colder last month
Low temperatures above normal
members for their outstand-
ing quality reporting, and
especially their leadership
among rural Oregon quality
teams. This award demon-
strates our promise of ex-
cellence and unwavering
commitment to the health
and safety of our communi-
ty,” said Bob Houser, CEO
of Morrow County Health
District.
Morrow County Health
District’s Quality Manag-
er, Rebecca Sanders was
present to accept the award
at this year’s ORH Awards
luncheon at the 36 th Annual
Rural Health conference.
Rebecca Sanders, Quality
Manager, Morrow County
Health District accepts the
Top Performer award.
Lexington says ‘no’ to
councilmember recall
Voters have spoken 54 to 43
According to prelim-
inary data received by
NOAA’s National Weather
Service in Pendleton, tem-
peratures at Heppner aver-
aged slightly colder than
normal during the month of
September.
The average tempera-
ture was 61 degrees which
was 0.6 degrees below nor-
mal. High temperatures
averaged 72.7 degrees,
which was 3.9 degrees be-
low normal. The highest
was 88 degrees on the 6 th .
Low temperatures averaged
49.4 degrees, which was 2.8
degrees above normal. The
lowest was 33 degrees, on
the 29 th .
Precipitation totaled
0.71 inches during Septem-
ber, which was 0.15 inches
above normal. Measurable
precipitation, at least .01
inch, was received on 14
days with the heaviest, 0.19
inches reported on the 16 th .
Precipitation this year
has reached 11.71 inches,
which is 1.77 inches above
normal. Since October, the
water year precipitation at
Heppner has been 15.72
inches, which is 1.72 inches
above normal.
The outlook for Octo-
ber from NOAA’s Climate
Prediction Center calls for
below normal temperatures
and near to above normal
precipitation. Normal highs
for Heppner fall from 71 de-
grees at the start of October
to 58 degrees at the end of
October. Normal lows fall
from 42 degrees to 35 de-
grees. The 30-year normal
precipitation is 1.14 inches.
Arrest solves nine cases
After investigations
into multiple crimes led the
Morrow County Sheriff’s
Office to Chalen James
Ottmar, 24, Hermiston,
a search warrant was is-
sued to search the Ottmar
residence at 19 Westview
Drive in Hermiston. The
search recovered property
involved in approximately
nine criminal cases in Mor-
row and Umatilla County.
A theft reported to the
Morrow County Sheriff’s
Office on August 6 by Bar-
ton Leveling, Inc near Pole
Line Road and Homestead
Lane outside Boardman
began the investigation.
Deputy Wasserman found
the stolen item was sold on
eBay by Ottmar to a party in
Fairview, Illinois. With co-
operation between MCSO,
the individual in Illinois and
the Fulton County Sheriff’s
Office, the property, valued
at approximately $20,000,
was returned to Oregon and
the owner.
During the course of the
investigation and searching
the property, many sto-
len items were recovered,
solving cases from multiple
agencies, including MCSO,
Umatilla County Sheriff’s
Office, Hermiston Police
Department, Oregon State
Police and US Fish and
Wildlife.
Ottmar was lodged at
the Umatilla County Jail
Chalen James Ottmar
on charges of two counts
each of aggravated theft
I, unauthorized entry into
a motor vehicle and crim-
inal trespass II for a total
bail of $54,000. Additional
charges are pending follow-
ing further investigation.
The voters have spo-
ken and Lexington has
rejected an effort to recall
councilmember Bill Beard.
Beard was the target of a
recall effort initiated by
town maintenance man Ed-
die Dickenson. The recall
campaign grew contentious
but in the end the voters
turned down the recall by
a vote of 54 no to 43 yes.
According to County Clerk
Bobbi Childers there were
189 ballots mailed out and
99 ballots returned for a 52
percent voter participation
rate.
Next up is a recall
against Mayor Marcia
Kemp, with those ballots
having been mailed out this
week and due back Oct 22.
Columbia Basin Electric
announces rate increases
The Bonneville Power
Administration recently
announced a 3.6 percent
increase to its transmission
and other fixed-fee rates to
your local electric cooper-
ative, effective October 1,
2019. While it is Columbia
Basin Electric’s intention
to keep electric bills as
affordable as possible for
our members, it is now
necessary to recapture these
increases from the BPA
via a monthly base charge
increase to our members.
Effective with the Oc-
tober 2019 billing cycle,
these increases calculate to
a $1.50 increase per month
to our residential class base
fee, a $3 per month increase
to our residential 3-phase
class base fee, a $1.50 in-
crease per month to our
commercial class base fee,
a $6.60 per month increase
to our commercial 3-phase
class base fee, a $2.20 per
month increase to our gen-
eral demand class base
fee, and a $2.20 increase
per month to our industrial
class base fee.
As BPA has not in-
creased the kilowatt (kwt)
power rate at this time,
there will be no increase
in the kwh consumption
rate to our members. These
increases will be effective
with your October electric
bills, due on November 11.
If you have any ques-
tions or concerns, contact
your local Columbia Basin
Electric office at 541-676-
9146 in Heppner, or 541-
384-2023 in Condon.
The Heppner Gazette-Times wants
pictures of your trophy animals from this
hunting season for our Trophy Corner. Stop by
to have your picture taken, drop off photos, mail
them to PO Box 337 in Heppner, email them to
editor@rapidserve.net or text cell phone
photos to 541-980-6674.
Girls selling poinsettias
Heppner High School students Kylie Boor (sopho-
more) and Hailey Wenberg (freshman) are selling poin-
settias to offset their player fees for Columbia River Heat
ASA 16U softball.
These big, beautiful plants are $20 each and available
in red, white, pink and jingle bell (red/white mix). Jingle
Bells are limited due to orders already received.
Delivery will be November 21, in time for the Thanks-
giving holiday. To place an order or for more information,
call or text Shannon Boor at 541-377-5879, Sheena Shank
at 541-980-5881 or speak to one of the girls.
MORROW COUNTY GRAIN GROWERS
Hailey Wenberg (left) and Ky-
lie Boor are selling poinsettias
to earn money for their player
fees.
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
350 MAIN ST
LEXINGTON, OR 97839, CONTACT: JUSTIN BAILEY
541-989-8221
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