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.