Truck tips over in Lexington
HEPPNER
G T
50¢
azette
imes
VOL. 138
NO. 42 8 Pages
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Citing council obstruction,
Lexington mayor resigns
‘Council has illegally stopped me from fulfilling my
duties,’ Kemps says
By David Sykes
In the midst of a recall
election seeking her remov-
al, Lexington Mayor Mar-
cia Kemp has announced
her resignation.
Citing a council that
has “vowed to fight me ev-
ery step of the way,” Kemp
issued a letter to the news
media (see below) saying
it was time for her to “step
aside and resign.” A resig-
nation letter has apparently
not been received by either
the council or delivered to
the town hall, however le-
gal counsel says the public
letter is enough to effect
Kemp’s resignation. “I am
unaware of any state law or
any provision in the town
charter that specifies the
method in which a council
member or the mayor must
submit their resignation. It
is my advice to consider
it valid,” Jayme Hafner,
Assistant General Counsel
for the League of Oregon
Cities said in an email to
a councilmember when in-
formed of Kemp’s method
of resignation.
Kemp has been at odds
with most of the coun-
cil since she was elected
mayor by write-in vote last
November. The town went
through a brief shutdown
with both sides blaming
each other which height-
ened tensions and sparked
the recall against her.
In her resignation letter
Kemp says the council act-
ed “illegally” in blocking
her from “fulfilling my
duties”. Kemp also said she
had contacted several state
agencies including the De-
partment of Environmental
Quality, Ethics and Con-
duct, State Revenue and
Secretary of State to report
what she said were viola-
tions in doing city business,
by the town council.
One of the councilmem-
bers who has at many times
been at odds with Kemp on
various issues, recently sur-
vived a recall election and
will remain on the council.
Kemp did not attend last
Tuesday’s council meeting,
writing on the bottom of
the agenda handed out at
the meeting that she was ill.
Recall ballots had al-
ready been mailed out prior
to Kemp’s resignation so
the election is still moving
forward with the ballots due
back by October 22.
The complete text of
Kemp’s letter:
“Personally I would
like to thank the community
members who have helped
make a positive impact on
the Town of Lexington with
our goals of providing safe
neighborhoods attracting
more families to move in,
clean water, safe streets,
children’s’ park, recruit-
ing more firefighters and
promoting and supporting
businesses.”
“Last November, I was
elected by a write in vote
for mayor. When I took the
oath of office as mayor of
Lexington, I promised to
follow all the rules, laws
and regulations of the State
of Oregon, as well as the
Town of Lexington and
Morrow County. As mayor,
I found that the town coun-
cil had not been following
some rules and guidelines. I
contacted the state agencies
DEQ, Ethics and Conduct,
State Revenue, Secretary of
State and with the League
of Oregon Cities lawyers,
our auditor and was advised
to correct the violations.
I also sought out county
assessor, clerks, planner, for
further direction and guid-
ance and was supported by
county government.
“When I started to
change the council way of
doing business, the personal
attacks against me started at
council meetings, on social
media and in the newspaper.
Council members vowed to
fight me every step of the
way. The present council
has illegally stopped me
from fulfilling my duties
by taking actions with no
resolutions, changing the
town charter and making
decisions outside of council
meetings.
“Recently, Lexington’s
town recorder and mainte-
nance personnel resigned
due to a hostile work en-
vironment, which is my
biggest disappointment as I
was unable to protect them.
“Many in our town
have been working hard
applying for grants and
established partnerships
to help us make Lexington
great with a bright future.
As much as I would like to
pursue improving the Town
of Lexington, the council
has prevented me fulfilling
my duties, so it is time
to step aside and resign.
However, I will continue
to be an active community
member and on a positive
note, I have been recruited
to help other communities
and organizations with their
goals and missions and look
forward to contributing my
time and effort.”
Marcia Kemp
Gazette-Times Trophy Corner
DEADLINE:
MONDAYS
AT 5PM
A truck bound for JVB Dairy tipped over on Hwy 74, spilling corn silage onto the highway.
-Photos by Bobbi Gordon.
By Bobbi Gordon
A semi truck and trailer
overturned at the intersec-
tion of Highways 207 and
74 in Lexington Thurs-
day morning. According to
witnesses it appeared the
truck was unable to slow
enough to make the turn
from Highway 207 onto
Highway 74, causing it to
flip onto its side. The truck
was headed to JVB Dairy
near Ione when it tipped
over and spilled corn silage
onto the highway.
Morrow County Sher-
iff ’s Office was on the
scene and reported Kevin
Mendoza was arrested for
failing to perform duties
of a driver. MCSO was
assisted by Morrow Coun-
ty Public Works, ODOT,
Heppner Fire Department
and Morrow County Grain
Growers. The incident was
cleared from the highway
but is reportedly still under
investigation.
City considers taking credit/
debit cards for utility
payments
But how many will pay the $2.95 service charge?
By David Sykes
The city of Heppner is
considering taking credit
and debit cards for payment
of sewer and water bills,
but the city council is won-
dering how many people
will pay the $2.95 service
charge that goes with it.
At its meeting Monday
night the council heard
a proposal for the city to
purchase a new service al-
lowing people to pay their
sewer and water bills by
debit or credit cards. If im-
plemented paying by credit
or debit card would still be
optional and citizens could
still pay their bills by check
or cash.
City Manager Kraig
Cutsforth said the new pro-
gram would cost the city “in
the range of $2,000” to set
up and then a $125 monthly
charge. In addition, any citi-
zen that used credit or debit
cards to pay their bill would
be charged an additional
$2.95 per payment.
However, before spend-
ing the money and signing
a three-year agreement,
councilmembers wondered
how many people would
use the payment option.
“Are people going to use
it?” councilmember Teresa
Hughes asked. She said
she didn’t like signing a
three-year contract, having
the city pay out the $2,000
setup fee and then spend-
ing $125 per month before
knowing how many might
use the payment option.
Cutsforth said there are
690 water users in the city
of Heppner, and he guessed
about 10 percent would use
credit or debit cards. He
said people could also pay
for their burn permits with
credit cards. Burn permits
are $5.
“It’s a convenience all
right,” said councilmember
John Bowles. “But do you
think people will use it?”
he asked. Citizen Marty
Brannon, who was at the
meeting, suggested the city
do a survey to find out how
many would participate.
The council held off signing
a three-year agreement and
spending the money until
they got a better feel from
the community.
1,400 square foot building
will be $400 per month for
the first year. Under terms
of the agreement the com-
pany will have the option
to renew the lease for an
additional three years after
that at $425 per month. Be-
fore voting its approval of
the lease, Heppner citizen
Jay Keithley, who was in
attendance at the meeting,
asked if the building had
been advertised to the pub-
lic as available for rent.
He was told that it had not
been. The council voted
4-1 in favor of the lease.
Public works moved out of
the building some time ago
and now has its offices in
the old fire hall building on
Willow Street.
City leases former shop at 140 Gale Street to new HVAC busi-
ness coming to Heppner.
In other business at the
meeting the council agreed
to lease the former city
shop building at 140 Gale
street to Zack Wilson of
Columbia Basin Heating
and Cooling of Umatilla
who plans on opening an
HVAC business in Heppner.
Rent for the approximately
In other city business
the minutes of the last po-
lice commission meeting
on Sept. 26 were presented
to the council. Some of
the business at the meet-
ing included a report from
the sheriff that juvenile
-See CREDIT/DEBIT
CARDS/PAGE SIX
Kegan Steagall and Wyatt
Steagall, with bucks they shot.
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.
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
MORROW COUNTY GRAIN GROWERS
350 MAIN ST
LEXINGTON, OR 97839, CONTACT: JUSTIN BAILEY
541-989-8221
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