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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 18, 2019)
Armato to run for county commissioner HEPPNER G T 50¢ azette imes VOL. 138 NO. 51 8 Pages Wednesday, December 18, 2019 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Juli Kennedy appointed Lexington Mayor Denis Lien hired as town recorder By David Sykes The Lexington Town Council last week appoint- ed Juli Kennedy as mayor. She replaces Marcia Kemp who resigned. “I’m com- mitted to our town and really looking forward to working with the coun- cil and community mem- bers,” Kennedy told the Gazette-Times following the meeting. The mayor position is four years, but she will need to run for election in next year’s No- vember general election to keep the seat. In other business at last Tuesday’s meeting the council introduced Denis Lien as the new town re- corder. Lien is the former Heppner postmaster from 2005 -2015 and is current- ly a school bus driver for Mid-Columbia Bus. “He’s doing an excellent job,” Juli Kennedy said councilmember Bobbi Lexington town council Gordon. Lien’s hours will for reasons most of this town knows,” she wrote. She thanked former Mayor Kemp and Sam Bellamy for “trying to make our town a better place to live.” The council did not make an appointment to fill the position but has re- ceived two letters of interest from community members. The council decided to postpone the appointment until next month’s meeting. Also at the meeting the council heard a presentation from County Assessor Mike Denis Lien Gorman. Gorman went over be 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday the entire budgeting process through Friday. He took and talked to the council over the job from Kevin about the town’s calendar, McCabe who had been fill- publishing requirements, ing in part time until a new deadlines and important recorder could be hired. aspects of the budgeting The town maintenance po- process. He said there is a sition is still vacant and last good training session put month the council decided on by the state later in La to advertise the position as Grande and urged coun- part time. cilmembers to attend and In other business the learn more about budgeting. council received a resig- He also said the Oregon nation letter from coun- Department of Revenue has cilmember Marcia Sticka. a web site with information “I remove myself from the about the budget process. In other business the council voted to accept a $6,692 bid to install the chlorination system from Lexington Pump. The council also dis- cussed a proposal from a construction company that wants to buy 600,000 gal- lons of water per month to be used in building the new Wheatridge wind farm. The company will begin build- ing the wind and solar gen- erating facility in Morrow County soon for NextEra Energy, and needs the water for construction purposes. Wind farms require large amounts of water to make cement for the wind tower bases. Lexington does not have that much water to spare from its main water well source, however the company is interested in developing a well the city controls near the airport. At an earlier meeting the coun- cil discussed the proposal and wanted testing done on the well before giving its approval. Local priest suspended The Diocese of Baker was recently informed by the Archdiocese of Oklaho- ma City of a substantiated charge of sexual abuse with a minor against Reverend Papa Rao Pasala, a priest of the Diocese of Nellore, India, who has been serving as a pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Heppner and St. William Mission in Ione since 2014. The abuse occurred in the Archdiocese of Okla- homa City in 2001, and the statute of limitations has expired. Upon receipt of this information, Bishop Liam Cary of the Diocese of Bak- er immediately removed Father Pasala from his par- ish and suspended him from ministry. He will no longer be allowed to minis- ter in the United States and will return to the Diocese of Nellore to face further disciplinary actions by his bishop there. According to Rever- end Richard Fischer, Vicar General of the Diocese of Baker, there have been no accusations made against Father Pasala during his time in the Baker Diocese. If any person has informa- tion regarding violations from 2014 until now, he or she is asked to contact the civil authorities and Leah Bickett, the Child Protec- tion Coordinator for the Diocese of Baker, at 541- 388-4004. ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. Joseph B. Armato has filed for election for Mor- row County Commission- er, position one. Joe is an active, lifelong member and sixth generation resi- dent of the Morrow County community. He is an elect- ed member of the Willow Creek Park District board of directors where he helps establish and balance the budget of nearly $300,000. Armato also serves on the board of the Heppner Community Foundation, where he has assisted in overseeing the restoration and renovation of the his- toric Gilliam and Bisbee building in Heppner. As a 911 dispatcher for the Morrow County Sheriff’s Department, Joe has been afforded the opportunity to better understand the needs and the diversity of the communities of the county. “He serves with integri- ty, compassion, and good judgement.” In his spare time, Joe is an assistant coach for the Heppner Mid- dle School football team. Joe is an active and in- volved member of his com- munity. His numerous civic and personal commitments reflect his ability to dedicate himself to helping improve a community. These expe- riences have provided him with a unique view of the diversity, needs, and great- ness that Morrow County and its residents share. Joe hopes to serve our communities, north and Joseph B. Armato south, by focusing on eco- nomic development, im- proving access to county resources and maintaining a fiscally responsible county government. With your sup- port, he looks forward to the opportunity to be a part of the continued growth of the county and its communities. Judge Spicer to retire After nine years serv- ing as the Morrow County Justice Judge, Ann Spicer is banging her gavel for the last time on December 31. Ann served as Justice Judge from January 2011 to December 2019. With her retirement, Ann ends a long legal career serving the citizens of Morrow and Umatilla County. Ann and her husband Bill Kuhn moved to Hep- pner in 1977. Ann worked first as the city attorney for the city of Umatilla, then as Morrow County Deputy District Attorney for one year, followed by two years as the Morrow County District Attorney. For twenty-seven years she practiced law with her husband in their Heppner and Hermiston offices. She capped her career with her service as Morrow County District Judge. Ann was always ac- tive in professional orga- nizations, serving on the Oregon State Bar Continu- ing Legal Education com- mittee, Oregon State Bar Ethics committee and the Umatilla Morrow Family Judge Ann Spicer Law Advisory committee. She was an Oregon Legal Services pro bono intake volunteer, Hermiston Do- mestic Violence Victims attorney and was a member of the Oregon Justice Judg- es Association. Spicer has been ex- tremely active in commu- nity organizations including board member and chair of the Oregon Trail Library District, Heppner Sorop- timist and Willow Coun- ty Service Club, Heppner Economic Development Commission, 4-H cooking club leader, Heppner and Hermiston Chamber of Commerce, St. Patrick’s committee and auction co- chair and the Domestic Violence board of directors. According to the press release, as Justice Judge, Ann is proud of the efficien- cy she has brought to her office. She is also extremely proud of the truancy pro- gram she developed with the Morrow County School District. She enjoyed coun- seling truant children and their parents about the im- portance of education and the need to attend and finish their public schooling edu- cation. It was also reported that she felt her greatest satisfaction as judge when she could keep children attending school. She says her retire- ment pace will not be lei- surely. She plans to travel extensively and take up the hobbies she never had time for while practicing law, particularly quilting. She has three grandchildren who will want all the time she can give them. She looks forward to continuing to work with community organizations and she said she just might find some mornings to sleep in. Bailey elected as CBO officer The Community Banks of Oregon (CBO), which represents banks headquar- tered in Oregon, elected its 2019-2020 board officers and directors during its annual meeting on Decem- ber 6. The CBO membership elected Ron Green, pres- ident and chief executive officer of Oregon Pacific Bank in Florence as chair. Jeff Bailey, president and chief executive officer of Bank of Eastern Oregon, Heppner, was elected sec- retary-treasurer. Immediate past chair is Kenneth D. Trautman, Jr, president and chief executive officer of People’s Bank of Com- merce, Medford. New directors elected to four-year terms were Randy Compton, Kate Sa- lyers and Jim Schlotfeldt. Re-elected for director four- year terms were Trey Maust and Joseph J. Postlewait. Currently serving directors are Jarrett Stuchlik and Craig Wanichek. “Oregon’s communi- ty banks are fortunate to have this accomplished group of bankers leading the Community Banks of Oregon. Their commitment and passion for community Jeff Bailey banking will be invaluable to our organization and the communities we serve,” said Linda Navarro, pres- ident and chief executive officer of CBO and the Or- egon Bankers Association. G-T closed for Christmas The Heppner Ga - zette-Times will be closed December 24, 25 and 26 for the Christmas holiday. The paper will be deliv- ered Tuesday, December 24 instead of Wednesday, December 25. The deadline for all news and advertising for the December 24 issue will be Friday, December 20, at 5 p.m. The office will be open for normal business hours December 23 and 27. The G-T wishes ev- eryone a safe and happy holiday season.