Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, August 12, 2020 -- SEVEN
Scavenger hunts scheduled in August
The Heppner Outreach
Council has scheduled a
scavenger hunt each week
in the month of August.
Each week, there will be a
theme where residents can
decorate their front win-
dow, front yard, front door
or anything visible from the
street. Then the Heppner
Outreach Committee will
hide their buddy, HOC
(pronounced Hawk), in a
decorated yard.
To help locate HOC
in Heppner each week,
residents are asked to help
by posting a picture on the
Heppner Outreach Council
Facebook page showing
HOC’s location. Those who
help locate HOC and post a
picture with their name will
be entered into a drawing to
win the same themed basket
as that week.
Some rules for the
Scavenger Hunts are:
-Do not touch our bud-
dy, HOC. The Heppner
Outreach will be in charge
of moving him each week.
-Do not post the pic-
ture until the next day. So
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188 W Willow Street
Heppner, OR
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if you see HOC on August
6, take a picture and post
it on Facebook August 7.
This way everybody gets a
chance to find HOC them-
selves. HOC will be in his
one location every Thurs-
day from 6 a.m. – 11 p.m.
so that all families have
time to try and find him. If
you try to post it early your
name will be taken out of
the drawing.
-You must post the pho-
to on The Heppner Out-
reach Council Facebook
page, if you post it on your
own, we do not get notified
which means you will not
be entered into the drawing.
-HOC will be making
his appearance August 6,
August 13, August 20 and
August 27. Drawings for
prizes will be on August 9,
16, 23 and 30.
-You have to post the
picture from HOC’s loca-
tion from that week. You
can’t post HOC’s location
from the previous week.
You will not be entered into
the drawing if you do this.
-Make your picture
unique by doing a selfie
within your parked car.
Remember duplicate photos
being posted will not be
entered into the drawing.
The Heppner Outreach
Council is so excited to see
what HOC is going to be up
to during the month of Au-
gust and to see their com-
munity’s yards decorated.
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I wanted to reach out to my fellow community members and let you know what I believe in and represent. I will bring over 22 years of full-time law enforcement
experience, with nearly 13 years of those being a supervisor, and 20 years of those serving the people of Morrow County. Through my years in law enforcement, I have had
been around many great leaders who have shown me what it takes to lead. Leaders are not defined by titles, but by their actions.
The number one lesson I have learned is it is not a them versus us. It is a “WE.” We must work together, hand in hand to effectively work towards our common goals. I am
committed to working with the communities by building partnerships and utilizing those partnerships to provide better services, while reducing inefficiency.
As Sheriff, I will reorganize some staff in order to become more efficient. I will eliminate the Traffic Deputies positions, reassigning them to general patrol. Having
Deputies assigned to write mainly speeding tickets on I-84 and Highway 730 is not good use of our County resources. The Sheriff’s Office should NEVER be in the
business of generating revenue, as this leads to distrust by the people. I fully support the School Resource Deputy positions as I want to expand upon their role within the
schools to include a teacher/mentor. I am also supportive of the Blue Mountain Drug Tasks Force. I will continue providing a Deputy and other resources as
needed for this vital role, as the drug epidemic continues to ruin lives.
Part of the reorganization will lead to 24 hours patrols by the Deputies, with dedicated south county patrols. The south county patrols will encompass a Deputy’s
entire shift. Not simply an hour or two. The citizens of Morrow County deserve equal services.
I will challenge our community members to engage with the Sheriff’s Office staff, and vice versa. I will reactivate the Volunteer Search & Rescue Program, and create a
Volunteer Citizens on Patrol Program, and implement a youth law enforcement mentoring program. I feel these programs, are worthwhile as they are a positive
example of what can be accomplished when working hand in hand with our communities.
With that being said, Oregon law forbids law enforcement officers from working with federal immigration officials solely regarding immigration enforcement. My stance on
immigration enforcement is straight forward. It is a federal issue and needs to be resolved within the federal government. Local resources should not be used for
immigration enforcement when the only crime is a person’s legal status. However, I do support the idea of being able to work with immigration officials when trying to
remove violent criminals from our communities.
As Sheriff, I will ensure the Sheriff's Office becomes accredited through the Oregon Accreditation Alliance. This will help bring up the quality of service while reducing
liability. I will only hire/promote qualified people for positions, and make sure they obtain/retain state certifications for their respective positions. I will not promote
employees to supervisory roles if they have a family member working within the same division. I will work diligently to end any nepotism or appearance of nepotism with-
in the Sheriff's Office.
While there have been some people spreading false information about my intent on moving the Sheriff’s Office from Heppner to the north end of the County, I assure you
this is inaccurate. The Sheriff’s Office must work closely with other government entities on an on-going basis. Many of these are based in Heppner, thus is it vital the
Sheriff’s Office in Heppner remains an anchor point for the services it provides. However, I do support the need to have a full-time clerical person assigned to the north
end to handle administrative paperwork which the Patrol Deputies are currently performing. This will allow the Patrol Deputies to concentrate on keeping our
communities safer.
Lastly, I often get asked how I feel about the 2ND Amendment. I can assure you I will ALWAYS defend YOUR Rights granted to you under the Constitution of the United
States, and the State of Oregon. I am a firm believer in a person’s right to protect themselves and others. This includes the right to own and possess firearms, as
granted to them under the US Constitution. I do not support any laws which restrict a person’s Rights, whether it is regarding firearms or any other Constitutional Rights. I
WILL NOT permit any law to be enforced by my staff, which is in violation of the US or Oregon Constitution.
If you have any questions or comments, I may be reached at either 541-561-0792 or
MarkPratt@PrattforSheriff.com. Please visit and follow my campaign at: PrattforSheriff.com &
Facebook.com/PrattforSheriff
Sincerely,
Mark Pratt