Mark Pratt
Candidate for Morrow
County Sheriff
Kenneth W. Matlack
Candidate for Morrow
County Sheriff
Age: 45
What education and/or
degrees do you have that
qualify you for the position?
90 credit hours of high-
er education. Currently
hold an executive level law
enforcement certification
from the Oregon Depart-
ment of Public Safety Stan-
dards and Training (highest
possible). In order to obtain
this certification DPSST
requires an extensive list
of training courses, which
many must cover leader-
ship. DPSST also requires
the completion of college
level courses. This level of
certification is usually ob-
tained by Chiefs or Sheriffs.
National Emergency
Management Academy
graduate: I completed this
month-long course held
in Maryland at the FEMA
training center. This course
was designed for Emergen-
cy Management Directors.
Over 2400 hours of
law enforcement training
covering many different
topics to include leadership,
ethics, and Federal Emer-
gency Management Agency
courses. I have also held
law enforcement instructor
responsibilities for sixteen
years, teaching Emergency
Vehicle Operations, certify-
ing users on Taser devices
and being a Field Training
Age: 71
Education/Degrees/
Certificates:
Bachelor of science
degree in education, East-
ern Oregon University;
graduate from Northwest-
ern University’s School of
Police Staff and Command
(Management Program);
graduate of United States
Department of Justice Drug
Enforcement Administra-
tion, School of Narcotics
and Dangerous Drug En-
forcement; State of Ore-
gon-Department of Public
Safety Standards Training;
certificates: basic, interme-
diate, advanced-trooper,
senior. trooper; supervisor-
detective sergeant, patrol
sergeant; management-first
sergeant; executive-sheriff.
Prior Criminal Justice
Experience:
Oregon State Police-25
years; Hermiston, Coos
Bay, Baker City, The Dalles
and Arlington; Oregon De-
partment of Corrections,
3 ½ years; background
investigator for Officers
and Management Staff at
Two Rivers Correctional
Institution; Eastern Oregon
Correctional Institution;
Morrow County Sheriff,
elected Nov. 2004, serving
from Jan. 2005 to present,
15 years
50¢
VOL. 139
NO. 41
10 Pages
Wednesday, October 7, 2020
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Getting to know your county candidates
Ballots go out next week, October 14, for the November 3 election. Among other decisions voters will have to
make are races for several Morrow County positions. To help with the decision process, the Heppner Gazette-Times
asked the candidates for the county to tell us a little more about themselves. Here are their answers:
Jim Doherty
Joel Robert Peterson
Glen G. Diehl
Theresa Crawford
Morrow County Commis- Morrow County Commis- Morrow County Justice Morrow County Justice of
sioner, Position 1
sioner, Position 1
of the Peace
the Peace
Age: 55
What education and/or
degrees do you have that
qualify you for the position?
An associate degree in
Production Ag, BA in busi-
ness and history. In addition
I received high honors, (two
merit cords) after com-
pletion of the Association
of Oregon Counties/OSU
County College, a one-year
fast track program for coun-
ty administrators and policy
makers. Certificate from
CLI, County Leadership
Institute.
What, if any, prior ex-
perience do you have?
I am on the homestretch
of my first term as commis-
sioner. In addition, I am
currently the president of
the Association of Oregon
Counties, past Soil and
Water Conservation District
Chair, Jefferson County
and past Morrow Coun-
ty SWCD board member.
Served on the Governor’s
alcohol and drug policy
commission and a NACo
representative.
Do you have family
here? Spouse? Children?
Amazing wife of 34
Age: 63
What education and/or
degrees do you have that
qualify you for the position?
I hold a BS in Physics
Engineering with a minor
in computer science, and
I have completed directors
training through the Oregon
Bankers Association.
What, if any, prior ex-
perience do you have?
My countywide experi-
ence includes over 25 years
on the board of directors
of the Bank of Eastern
Oregon; 16 years on the
Morrow County Planning
Commission; 40 years on
the Oregon Wheat Grow-
ers League, including one
term as Morrow County
President; and two terms
on the Port of Morrow
Budget Committee. I also
have extensive experience
in education policy and
budget oversight, com-
munity development and
church work at the local
level in Ione. I was raised
with cattle and now farm
mainly wheat in the Ione
area; I also oversee family
farmland near Boardman.
Do you have family
-See DOHERTY/PAGE
FOUR
-See PETERSON/PAGE
FOUR
Age: 61
What education and/or
degrees do you have that
qualify you for the position?
Graduated from Hep-
pner High School in 1978,
studied criminal justice at
Blue Mountain Community
College, graduated OSSA
Command College, Oregon
Executive Development In-
stitute, Executive Academy,
obtained basic, intermittent
and advance police certifi-
cations and more than 2,100
hours of approved training
in the field of criminal jus-
tice.
What, if any, prior ex-
perience do you have?
I am currently serving
all of Morrow County as
your Justice of the Peace.
I have over 35 years of
criminal justice experi-
ence working as a patrol
officer, narcotics detective,
a corporal, sergeant, and
lieutenant, in charge of
the Criminal Division, that
included: Three offices, all
patrol deputies , the reserve
unit, neighborhood watch,
search and rescue, ATV and
snowmobile, marine patrol
units, and court security.
I also was responsible for
the management of the di-
vision’s 1.9-million-dollar
Bobbi Childers
Morrow County Clerk
Proposed flood plain
after project completion
to Heppner →
-See PRATT/PAGE FOUR
-See MATLACK/PAGE
SEVEN
Jaylene Papineau
Morrow County Trea-
surer
SaBrina Bailey Cave
Morrow County Trea-
surer
What education and/or
degrees do you have that
qualify you for the position?
I’m a graduate of Hep-
pner High School. I have a
C.E.R.A. (Certified Elec-
tion Registration Adminis-
trator) Certificate through
Auburn University. County
Commissioner College.
What, if any, prior ex-
perience do you have?
I worked for the Mor-
row County School District
for just under 10 years,
then in 2000 I started in
the Clerk’s office as Chief
Deputy Clerk, I was elected
as Clerk in 2004. I am the
current County Clerk.
Age: 39
What education and/or
degrees do you have that
qualify you for the position?
For the past four years
I have been serving Mor-
row County as the Morrow
County assessment and tax
clerk. In addition to that, I
have been working for Pa-
triot Building and Grounds
Maintenance for the last
two years.
Do you have family
here? Spouse? Children?
I was born in Heppner
and graduated from Hep-
pner High School. I grew
up in a house that was
built by my grandparents.
I am a proud 3 rd generation
Morrow County resident.
Age: 50
What education and/or
degrees do you have that
qualify you for the position?
I have an Information
Processing Diploma from
TREND College with ad-
ditional accounting classes
from Portland Community
College.
What, if any, prior ex-
perience do you have?
Four years of temp
work with various corpo-
rate offices where I was re-
sponsible for accounts pay-
able, accounts receivable
and bank reconciliations.
Three years as manager
of a non-profit organization
where I handled all account-
ing records, worked with a
-See CHILDERS/PAGE
SEVEN
-See PAPINEAU/PAGE
SEVEN
-See BAILEY CAVE/PAGE
SEVEN
Age: 42 nd anniversary
Would open up industrial area for new business
development
to Heppner →
-See CRAWFORD/PAGE
SEVEN
-See DIEHL/PAGE FOUR of my 18 th birthday
Large part of Heppner Mill
Site could come out of flood
plain
Current flood plain
Age: 60
What education and/or
degrees do you have that
qualify you for the position?
Associate of Applied
Science degree in Criminal
Justice, graduated in May
2019. Legal secretary di-
ploma.
What, if any, prior ex-
perience do you have?
I w o r k e d f o r Va l
Doherty, attorney at law
for two years as a legal
assistant. I worked for 12
years maintaining juvenile
records and attending juve-
nile hearings while working
in the clerk’s office.
If successful a proposed flood plain reduction project will open up a large portion of the Hep-
pner Mill Site, above, for future development.
By Andrew Sykes
The Port of Morrow has
commissioned a survey of
the Heppner mill site from
the civil engineering firm
Anderson Perry & Associ-
ates, Inc. The survey was
commissioned to identify
areas of the Willow Creek
flood zone around the mill
site that must be mitigated
to bring the site out of the
flood zone as a requirement
before the site can be de-
veloped. Mitigation for this
project mainly consists of
constructing swales along
the creek (a swale is a hol-
low depression, created
to divert water). Another
aspect of mitigation is re-
moval of a bridge to pre-
vent debris collection. This
process will create 80 acres
of buildable land. Anderson
Perry estimates the cost of
the mitigation project will
be $1,097,000. The port is
seeking grants to offset the
costs of mitigation, poten-
tially from FEMA.
The Heppner Ga-
zette-Times spoke with
Kim Cutsforth of the Wil-
low Creek Valley Economic
Development Group (WC-
VEDG), who has taken
a leading role in devel-
opment of the mill site.
Cutsforth was asked by
Morrow County Commis-
sioner and Chair Melissa
Lindsay to support the mill
site development because
of Cutsforth’s extensive
knowledge of flood plains.
-See MILL ZONE/PAGE
TWO
MORROW COUNTY GRAIN GROWERS
350 MAIN STREET LEXINGTON OR 97839
CONTACT JUSTIN BAILEY 541-256-0229, 541-989-8221 EXT.
204
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