Electric Co-Op announces
retirement and promotion
HEPPNER
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azette
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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