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Electric Co-Op announces retirement and promotion HEPPNER G T 50¢ azette imes VOL. 139 NO. 3 6 Pages Wednesday, January 15, 2020 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Sheriff discusses commission oversight on elected officials Trip to law enforcement conference at issue By David Sykes Morrow County Sher- iff Kenneth Matlack held a lengthy discussion last week with county commis- sioners over proper over- sight by commissioners of his office and elected officials in general. The issue came up when commissioners want- ed Matlack to come before them and discuss an out of state travel request for him- self and Undersheriff John Bowles to attend a Western States Sheriff’s Associa- tion Annual Conference in Reno next month. Matlack said money to cover the conference was covered in his budget and so felt no need to get approval from the commissioners. “I think an elected official needs to be treated differently (by the commissioners) than a department head,” Matlack explained. “We (elected officials) are not employees and should not be treated the same as department heads,” he emphasized. The county has a trav- el policy that defines out of state as anywhere ex- cept Oregon, Washington and Idaho and requires “advance notice either during the budget process or presented to the Board of Commissioners 30 days in advance of the travel date.” Matlack said the money for the conference was already included in his yearly budget, which had been approved by both the budget committee and the commission, so why did he have to ask the commission for approval? Commission- er Don Russell said, accord- ing to the county policy, if the conference were in nearby states the commis- sion probably would not have been concerned. “We want to give department heads cover if they are out of the three-state area,” Russell said. “People might ask why a person is going to this training?” Matlack said, “On the flip side, commissioners don’t have to take blame if the public is upset, they should be upset with the Sheriff Kenneth Matlack elected official.” He pointed out that the commissioners have not been directing him to do certain types of police work and training. Matlack said he would understand their concern if there was a budget issue. “Budgets can change and that is your decision. But that is not a philosophical decision,” he said. County Council Justin Nelson said his opinion on the commission’s interest in sheriff travel plans was not about consent but more of a budgeting and out of state travel issue. Commissioner Melissa Lindsay said the commis- sion was concerned because sometimes county people make “poor decisions” on their travel and she wanted to “keep it transparent in the public’s eye.” Matlack said it was important for Bowles to attend the conference since his office “allows and encourages subordinate supervisors to be exposed and trained in the duties of his supervisor.” He said this training is important so the undersheriff is able to take over if the sheriff is unable to perform their duties for some reason. Some of the subjects covered at the con- ference include policing on public lands, border secu- rity, Immigration and Cus- toms Enforcement, ICE, issues and law enforcement activity involving public lands. The sheriff’s discussion with the commission ap- pears to be part of a larger interaction between the commission and elected officials about the limits of commission oversight and control over elected officials. Previously the commissioners confront- ed county treasurer Gaye Gutierrez, also an elected position, on oversight of her office. Commissioner Lind- say had asked Gutierrez for access to see certain county bank accounts which Guti- errez controlled. Gutierrez at that time resisted, which lead to further and ongoing disagreements between the two over authority and oversight. Subsequently commissioners and the bud- get committee have now said they are considering cutting the treasurer’s sala- ry by as much as 75 percent. While no action on the pro- posed cut has taken place, the talk of cuts did prompt Amanda Rea to drop out of the race as a candidate in the upcoming election running against Gutierrez. Rea cited uncertainty over the salary of the position as her reason (see related story). Gutierrez has filed to run again for the treasurer position, which she has held for many years, and so far, made no announced she is pulling out. If the commission and budget committee go through with the threatened salary cut it could drastically affect the amount of money Gutierrez will receive on retirement. Retirement income is based on the salary the person re- ceived during the final three years of their employment with the county. Last week’s meeting between the sheriff and the commissioners seems to be part of ongoing disagree- ments over the authority commissioners have over elected officials. The com- mission and the budget committee do control the purse strings for each office and department, however beyond that it is still an ongoing discussion. Elect- ed officials in the county include sheriff, treasurer, clerk, assessor, justice of peace, district attorney and surveyor. The surveyor’s position, however, may change from elected to appointed once his current term expires. MCSO rescues woman stuck in snow up Willow Creek Rd Leana Hast of Bend was rescued by Morrow County Sheriff ’s Office personnel after becoming stuck in the snow approxi- mately 20 miles up Willow Creek Road last week. She reported being stuck to the sheriff’s office at approxi- mately 8:30 p.m. on Janu- ary 10, stating she had been stuck since about 5:30 p.m. Hast indicated she was uninjured and would stay with the vehicle until she could be located. Morrow County Search and Rescue, along with A-1 Martin’s Towing, began the search, staging at Cutsforth Park. After several attempts to lo- cate her were unsuccessful, additional units were acti- vated, including a tracked Ranger ATV. Shortly after midnight Undersheriff Bowles and Lt. Harper located the Jeep Cherokee, high-centered and stuck in the snow about 24 miles up Willow Creek Rd. They were able to get the vehicle moving in re- verse and began the trip back. Following a long trek back to Cutsforth Park, all parties were safe and back at the staging area at 1:30 a.m. on January 11. The Morrow County Sheriff’s Office reminds everyone that in hazardous conditions, “be safe, use caution and don’t take un- necessary risks.” If a person gets stuck in the snow they should stay with their vehi- cle and call 911 as soon as possible, said MCSO. The Board of Directors of Columbia Basin Electric Cooperative is pleased to announce that current CFO Andy Fletcher has been selected to succeed Thomas Wolff as the utility’s CEO/ General Manager, follow- ing a four-month national search and recruitment pro- cess. The appointment is ef- fective February 4. Fletcher has been employed with the Co-Op for over five years as the Manager of Finance and Administration. Fletcher, who was raised in Ukiah and Pend- leton, is a UO graduate with an MBA from Idaho State Andy Fletcher University. He earned a CPA license while auditing commercial entities. Fletch- er and his wife Andrea re- side in Lexington with their two high-school aged boys. Current CEO/General Manager Thomas Wolff is retiring after 22 years with the utility. He started his career with CBEC as the Manager of Finance and Administration in Novem- ber 1997 and was promoted to CEO/Manager on Sep- tember 1, 2014. Wolff has served on several industry related state and regional organizations and forums. Wolff and his wife Kar- en look forward to some travel and spending more time with their grandson. A retirement celebration has been set for Friday, January 31 at 6:30 p.m. at the Hep- pner Elks Lodge. Rea drops out of treasurer’s race Proposed salary cut cited as reason Saying uncertainty over the salary is making her “nervous”, treasurer candidate Amanda Rea has dropped out of the race. Rea had earlier filed to run against long-time treasurer incumbent Gayle Gutierrez but decided to drop out after hearing that the county budget com- mittee and commissioners may cut the salary by up to 75 percent. “May not be a full-time job which makes me nervous to give up my normal full-time job,” she wrote in her withdrawal statement. “It has been over a month since the conversa- tion began and I needed to choose for the sake of my normal job.” At a recent meeting, the budget committee looked at three different salary options for the treasurer starting next year. Leave everything the same for a $127,152 per year salary and benefit package, 25 percent cut to $101,609, a 50 percent reduction to $76,066 and a 75 percent reduction to $50,524 yearly pay and benefit package. The budget committee at that time did not take any action on the proposals, however, the county com- missioners said they wanted to make any changes early before the election since there were two people run- ning for the office. The county commis- sion discussed the proposed cut and decided to send the decision back to the next meeting of the budget com- mittee for a decision. There was no reason given on why they wanted to change the salary. Gutierrez was in attendance at the county commission meeting but did not comment about the cut when asked by the commission. Rollover accident turns out okay “What started out as a plan for a fun day sledding and bonfires and s’mores turned into a terrifying reminder that God is good. We had almost reached our destination when we realized the group behind us wasn’t there,” said Nikki Bergstrom of Heppner. Bergstrom and oth- ers, in three separate vehi- cles, had traveled into the mountains near Heppner on Saturday, January 11, when they realized that the group traveling behind them wasn’t there. They turned around and discov- ered a child on the side of the road crying, but there was no sign of the others. Bergstrom said she “bailed” from the pickup and saw daughter Eva walking up the embankment with La- rissa Gray, Amber Boyer and Kyle McPherson, all of Heppner. The pickup had Pickup rolls to bottom of embankment. rolled several times down the embankment towards the creek. “By the grace of God, and seatbelts, everyone is okay aside from being sore,” said Bergstrom. “It was terrifying not seeing my sweet girl right away, and we took an ambulance ride to make sure she was okay with our favorite driv- er (Uncle Rusty Estes).” She said that her husband, Adam Bergstrom, respond- ed with the fire crew. County begins junk vehicle cleanup program Morrow County is holding a junk vehicle cleanup program for the entire county from January 7 through March 20. Types of vehicles allowed are cars, pickups, motorcycles, flatbed trailers and utility trailers. The price will be at a reduced rate and the amount will be decided on a case by case basis. Morrow County depu- ties will be on the lookout for these types of items on properties and will contact the land owner about possi- ble code violations. Those interested in having their vehicles picked up should call the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office 24-hour dispatch at 541-676-5317. Names, addresses and phone num- bers will be added to a list to be contacted by a deputy to arrange pickup. The program is the brain child of county commis- sioner Don Russell who has long been an advocate for cleaning up abandoned vehicles which are an eye- sore in the county. “I don’t think I should be able to tell people how many cars they can have to drive,” Russell said at a recent county com- mission meeting. “But junk cars visible from the road is different.” Russell said in the -See JUNK CARS/PAGE THREE