May 18 election sees
only 30 percent
voter turnout
Stokoe, Healy retain Port seats;
Cain, Davis win school spots;
Ione bond gets yes vote
50¢
VOL. 140
NO. 21
10 Pages
Wednesday, May 26, 2021
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Port and Morrow Development plan new
industrial park facility at Heppner
By David Sykes
In a joint venture be-
tween the Port of Morrow
and the Morrow Develop-
ment Corporation a new
10,000 square foot “flex
space building” is being
planned for the South Mor-
row County Industrial Park
site near Heppner. The fa-
cility is to be constructed
across the highway from
the old Kinzua mill site up
higher next to the former
mill office building now
housing the Oregon State
University Extension of-
fices.
According to Port Man-
ager Ryan Neal the building
will be 50 X 100 ft and have
20-foot-tall eaves and be
dividable into 2,500 sq ft
suites for rental to different
businesses. “Each space
will have room for a small
office and warehouse space
along with a large rollup
door for activity in and out
of the warehouse along with
office and customer park-
ing,” Neal told the Heppner
The new planned flex space building is to be located across the highway from the former mill
site next to the current OSU Extension office. The building will be located outside of the flood
plain with visibility from the highway.
Gazette-Times.
Under the development
arrangement Morrow De-
velopment will finance and
own the facility with the
Port managing and over-
seeing its development.
Neal says the Port has also
requested funds from Or-
egon’s federal delegation
for help with development
of a potable (drinkable)
water system for the South
Morrow County Industrial
Park during this current
legislative session. Morrow
Development Corporation
was founded in 1994 to pro-
vide gap financing to busi-
nesses in Morrow County. It
has a five-member board of
directors consisting of Jerry
Healy, Karen Pettigrew,
John Moffit, George Koffler
and Ryan Neal.
For more details and in-
terest in potentially leasing
space in the new facility,
Neal says to contact the Port
at 541-481-7678 or email
leases@portofmorrow.com.
Health District problems aired in front
of packed board meeting
A large crowd crammed
into the Morrow County
Health District Board meet-
ing room in Heppner Mon-
day night, some to protest
the resignation of Dr. Russ
Nichols, some to criticize
the practice of a current
physician, some to praise
that physician and some to
vent their frustration with
the district. Over 25 people,
in addition to board mem-
bers and staff, attended the
meeting.
Staff, board and many
in the community had earli-
er received an inflammatory
letter from a disgruntled
health district employee,
who may have composed
the letter on company
time on a company com-
puter. The Heppner Ga-
zette-Times also received
that letter but chose not to
publish it due to a lack of
a signature, as per the G-T
policy.
Sheridan Tarnasky,
who worked for the district
for many years as an RN
and then as a provider, said
that she was saddened by
the current situation and
noted that the district “will
be losing a lot of revenue”
with the departure of Dr.
Nichols. In addition to clin-
ic and hospital duties, he
also performed upper and
lower endoscopies. “Where
was the plan when you
knew you had a problem?”
asked Tarnasky. Tarnasky’s
mother was an early admin-
Victor VanderDoes, interim
administrator
istrator at the hospital.
Toni Young, medical
assistant at Pioneer Me-
morial Clinic, chided the
board, saying “You guys
Boardman Food Pantry holds
appreciation dinner
‘Pantry was formed by whole community of
Boardman coming together’
Debbie Radie (far left) Vice President of Operations at Boardman Foods, visits with Boardman
Food Pantry Board Chair Mary Killion, while Madison Hynes (left) and Karla Jimenez get
ready to serve visitors at the appreciation dinner held last week. -Photo by David Sykes
To show appreciation
for all those who made it
a success, the Boardman
Food Pantry held an ap-
preciation dinner at its new
facility, a former church,
last week.
“The pantry was
formed by the whole com-
munity of Boardman com-
ing together and supporting
us. We wouldn’t be here
today without the help we
have had not only from
individuals but businesses,
volunteers, people bring-
ing goods and also donat-
ing financially,” said Food
Pantry Board Chair Mary
Killion.
Since opening in March
of 2020, the pantry has
served food boxes to over
2,100 households and 7,360
individuals. The pantry
continues to help people
providing food boxes to 50
to 60 households per week
averaging up to 160 people,
Killion said.
She also put out the
word for people who would
like to volunteer to help.
“We are always looking for
people to help us in some
way, whether to come and
pack boxes or those who
can help financially,” Kil-
lion told the Gazette-Times.
The Pantry, located in
a former church at 314
Locust Road in Boardman,
is a nonprofit and governed
by a board of directors.
Their phone number is 541-
219-9535, and their pickup
hours are 9:30 to 11 a.m. on
Mondays and 6 to 7 p.m. on
Thursdays.
(the board) have a lot of
explaining to do.”
Dr. Edward Berretta,
who, along with his wife,
Dr. Jeanne Berretta, was
employed by the district
for many years, offered to
step in as a member of the
medical staff remotely.
Interim administrator,
Victor VanderDoes, who
served as administrator in
past years, was in atten-
dance at the meeting. The
district ended the contract
with previous administrator
Ryan Fowler, “effective
immediately” May 7. He
had been with the district
for only short period of
time since previous ad-
ministrator Bob Houser’s
retirement in December.
VanderDoes said at the
Monday night meeting that
the board will be receiving
a weekly update, adding
that he plans to listen to the
community at Chamber of
Commerce meetings and
to “each individual staff
member, privately.”
Dr. Ken Wenberg, for-
mer physician with the
district for “some 30 years”,
also commented on his em-
ployment with the district
and expressed regret con-
cerning the district’s current
situation.
John Murray, MCHD
Board Chair, said com-
plaints have been received
By David Sykes
Last week’s election
saw Morrow County voters
sent current board mem-
bers Rick Stokoe and Jer-
ry Healy back to the Port
of Morrow
for another
term, elect-
ed Jacob
Cain and
Kalie Davis
to the Mor-
Jacob Cain, row Coun-
school board t y S c h o o l
Board and
saw Ione
voters give a yes vote to
an ambitious $18.5 million
bond measure that will see
major new construction on
that school’s campus. Turn-
out was low in the May 18
special election, with just
30 percent
of voters
bothering to
fill out their
ballots. Out
of 6,874 eli-
gible voters,
Rick Stokoe, only 2,108
re-elected to voted.
Port
In the
most con-
tested race in the county,
Stokoe won three out of
five precincts to get the win
with 925 votes at 49 percent
in the three-way election.
Healy won handily with 62
percent of the vote and the
Ione bond passed 177 to
107 with 62 percent saying
yes. See the election spread
sheet in this week’s paper
for a recap of all the con-
tested races.
The school bond for
$18.5 will finance sever-
al proposed
projects at
the school
including a
new 19,000
square foot
high school Kalie Davis,
b u i l d i n g , school board
new gym and
fitness center, library and
public meeting rooms and a
shop remodel. It is also pro-
posed to do
a kitchen re-
model, con-
version of
an existing
stage into a
music room
and con-
struct cov-
ered secure Jerry Healy,
re-elected to
w a l k w a y s . Port
Repairs are
also planned
for both the swimming pool
and the principal’s house.
Since the bond passed,
the school district will now
be awarded a matching
grant of $4 million from the
Oregon School Capital Im-
provement Matching (OS-
CIM) Program for a total of
$22.5 million available for
the proposed projects.
Results for contested elections
in the county
Candidate & Position
Heppner
Ione Lexington
Irrigon Boardman
Total Percent
Port of Morrow Pos. 1
Jonathan Tallman
Rick Stokoe Won
John Kilkenny
54 22
172 138
323 94
21
64
108
117
175
127
108
376
72
322
925
724
16.32
46.88
36.7
123 34
402 204
20 12
41
130
7
172
177
39
212 582
259 1172
49 127
30.88
62.18
6.74
151
302
47
98
249
168
155
370
602
938
39.04
60.83
251
161
47
98
228
165
248
295
798
685
53.59
46
3
2
4
3
0
1
1
0
300
290
309
342
303
293
314
345
24.07
23.27
24.94
27.4
166
64
150
43.46
16.75
39.27
313
195
645
606
51.48
48.36
Port of Morrow Pos. 3
Rick Weiss
Jerry Healy Won
Chandler Schaak
MC School Board Pos. 7
Tia McNamee
Kalie Davis Won
MC School Board Pos. 2
Jacob Cain Won
Marisela Rodelo
Boardman Fire & Rescue
Kenneth Browne Won
Jeff McCauley
Donnie Griggs Won
Lisa Pratt Won
Irrigon Fire Protection
Scott Ezell Won
Steven DeRushe
Tom Arbuckle
166
64
150
OR Trail Library # 4
Anna Browne Won
Stephanie Case
177
188
155
223
OR Trail Library # 3
Jeanette Meyers Won
Nicole Kent
189
144
226
157
259
195
674
496
57.41
42.25
78
413
161
212
217
240
456
865
34.47
65.38
205
165
401 1010
108 553
64.5
35.31
340
198
340
198
62.73
36.53
100
186
259
239
154
100
186
259
239
154
10.66
19.83
27.61
25.48
16.42
421
161
279
421
161
279
48.84
18.68
32.37
177
107
62.32
37.68
OR Trail Library # 5
Ragna TenEyck
William J Kuhn Won
Radio District # 2
Loren Dieter Won
Karen Primmer
208 116
168 61
80
51
Boardman Park At large
David Boor Won
Marie Cain
Boardman Park At large
Teiko Villegas
Mike Hughes
John Christy Won
Norma Ayala Won
Lynn E Prag
Boardman Cemetery
Smokey Joe Wightman Won
Chandler Schaak
Karen Pettigrew Won
Ione School Bond
Yes Passed
No
177
107
from district employees
who said they often didn’t
know what was going on at
the hospital until they read
about it in the newspaper.
Murray suggested the board
move their meeting night to
Thursday, so the employees
would have time to learn
the details before the in-
formation came out in the
Gazette-Times. Life-long
community member Co-
rey Sweeney, who is also
a member of the Heppner
-See HEALTH DISTRICT/
PAGE THREE
