Port board
members not to
be fined by Ethics
Commission
‘Letters of education in lieu of
civil penalty’
50¢
VOL. 140
NO. 25
8 Pages
Wednesday, June 23, 2021
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
By David Sykes
The Oregon Govern-
ment Ethics Commission
has chosen not to levy fines
Heppner holds Town and Country awards event
Locals recognized for achievement, contributions to the community
The Heppner Cham-
ber of Commerce’s Town
and Country Awards took
place last Thursday, June
17, 2021, at the Gilliam
and Bisbee Building in
Heppner. The event was
postponed from an earlier
date due to COVID.
During the event,
themed “An Evening with
the Stars,” several lo-
cals were recognized for
long-standing contributions
to Heppner and the sur-
rounding area. Winners of
the prestigious awards were
Melissa Lindsay, Woman
of the Year; John Bowles,
Man of the Year; Andrea
Nelson, Citizen-Educa-
tor of the Year; Madelyn
Nichols and Roy Collins,
Youth Achievement Award;
Morrow County Public
Health Department, Busi-
ness of the Year; and Matt
Combe, Lifetime Achieve-
ment Award.
The Woman of the
Year, Melissa Lindsay, was
described as being involved
in numerous organizations
in the community since she
returned home to work and
raise her family. Melissa
was instrumental in keep-
ing Heppner Day Care up
and running, helps at St.
Patrick’s, assists the lady
Elks with dinners and other
tasks, is a proponent of Wil-
low Creek Valley Economic
Development and is tire-
less in her role as Morrow
County Commissioner.
Man of the Year, John
Bowles, was selected be-
John Bowles
Melissa Lindsay
Matt Combe
Madelyn Nichols
Roy Collins
Andrea Nelson
cause he is considered a
man of action, listening to
his community and gen-
uinely caring about their
opinions and concerns. He
is considered a pillar of the
community, demonstrat-
ing dedication, hard work,
commitment and depend-
ability, not only in his job
with the Morrow County
Sheriff’s Office, but also in
his involvement in the com-
munity. He is a member of
the Heppner City Council
and Heppner Elks Lodge,
always helping out with
parades, fund raisers and
other local events.
This year’s Citizen-Ed-
ucator of the Year award
was presented to Andrea
Nelson. Andrea is a union
representative and a profes-
sional learning community
leader, who is always trying
to improve herself and push
her peers to do the same.
Besides teaching, she has
started two extracurricular
groups that reach a wide
range of students, giving
them opportunities to gain
valuable skills that will
help them in their futures.
She also finds time to be
Morrow County Health Department employees (L-R): Diane Kilkenny, BSN, RN, COVID vaccine PODs, Susie Thompson,
RN, COVID vaccine PODs, Elizabeth Schultz, emergency management intern, Erin Anderson, RN, immunization and repro-
ductive health, Yvonne Morter, RN, CACOON and Ione SBHC immunization, Ana Pineyro, CD contact monitor and tracing
preparedness, Nazario Rivera, public health director, Deb Green, office assistant, Darrel Green, Morrow County administra-
tor, Vickie Turrell, office manager and immunization coordinator. Not pictured are Patricia Ortiz, CARE coordinator contact
monitor and tracing, Ian Murray, RN, contact monitor and tracing, school CARE, Michelle Quiriconi, RN, reproductive
health coordinator and Yuritzi Pagan.
Irrigon starts work on new multi-purpose
pedestrian and bike path
Safe area for bicyclists and pedestrians
The city of Irrigon
has started work on a new
10-foot-wide multi-purpose
paved path along the west
side of Division between
US 730 and SE Wyoming
Avenue. The path will a
clear and safe area for bicy-
clists and pedestrians and a
needed safe zone especially
for children going to and
from school, according to
a city news release.
“For several years, the
city has been working to
secure funding for much
needed public and safe-
ty improvements,” a city
spokesperson says.
Also, in the works are
plans to pave SE Idaho
Avenue from SE Division
Street down to SE Fourth
and up to US 730. This will
take place during the month
of August. The project will
include a shared bike and
pedestrian path and will be
in preparation for the future
US 730 sidewalk project
in 2022. A Small City Al-
lotment (SCA) grant was
awarded by ODOT for this
project.
City Manager Aaron
Palmquist urges anyone
with questions about either
of these projects to please
contact him at city hall.
Call 541-922-3047 or email
him at manager@ci.irrigon.
or.us.
an active member of the
community who is involved
in the historical society,
farmer’s market and Hep-
pner Day Care.
Madelyn Nichols and
Roy Collins were named as
the recipients of the annual
Youth Recognition award.
Both high school seniors
were described as mature,
tough, smart, hardworking,
role models, thoughtful,
respectful, positive, athlet-
ic, dependable, humble, a
leader, cooperative, a prob-
lem solver, self-motivated,
creative, committed, dili-
gent, charismatic, generous,
honest, trustworthy and
compassionate. They are
involved in student council,
honor society, 4-H, sports,
youth groups, class offi-
cers, FFA, drama, TSA and
FBLA. Between the two of
them they have more than
600 hours of community
service.
The Business of the
Year honors went to the
Morrow County Public
Health Department. The
group poured their heart
and soul into the commu-
nities of Morrow County
during the past 15 months
of the COVID pandemic.
The magnitude of effort
the team put in shows in
the leadership role this
entity took to manage all
aspects of the pandem-
ic, communicating with
community-based organi-
zations, schools and busi-
nesses while continuing to
perform all of their regular
duties. Their commitment
to the health, success and
safety of the community is
exceptional.
The recipient of this
year’s Lifetime Achieve-
ment award was Matt
Combe, who was de-
scribed as being strong,
conscientious, supportive,
hardworking, patient and
compassionate with strong
leadership skills. He is ac-
tive in many organizations
that support the community,
including Little League and
youth basketball. He can be
found at community and
sporting events coaching,
cheering from the side-
lines or barbecuing for the
booster club. He believes in
accountability, hard work,
dedication and excellence
in his job at the Morrow
County School District.
DEADLINE:
MONDAYS
AT 5PM
on each the Port of Mor-
row Commissioners for
violations of the open meet-
ings law, President Rick
Stokoe told the Heppner
Gazette-Times last week.
Following an article in
last week’s paper saying
$2,000 fine would be lev-
ied against each of the five
Port commissioners, Stokoe
contacted the Gazette to say
this was incorrect. Although
the Ethics Commission was
authorized to assess the civ-
il penalties, it gave several
reasons why it would not.
In a forwarded email to
the Gazette the Ethics Com-
mission stated that the Port
board would be relieved of
any fines for the following
reasons: “The stipulations
that you (all port commis-
sioners) signed did identify
two violations, which under
the statute could qualify for
a civil penalty of $1,000
each (totaling $2,000). We
did not, however, impose
any civil penalty. Instead,
because this was your first
offense, you cooperated,
and you were receptive to
being educated, the Com-
mission approved issuing
Letters of Education in lieu
of any civil penalty,” Susan
Myers, an investigator with
the Ethics Commission,
wrote to Stokoe, who for-
warded the email to the Ga-
zette-Times last Thursday.
The G-T did not receive this
information until after last
week’s article had already
been published.
The Ethics Commis-
sion posted its investiga-
tion results on its website
Monday June 14, which
revealed that the Port had,
on two occasions last year,
violated the Oregon open
meetings laws by announc-
ing an executive session
for one reason, and then
discussing a different topic
once the public was exclud-
ed from the session.
Stokoe responded to
the ethics report and vi-
olations with an email to
the Gazette-Times. “The
Port Commissioners ac-
knowledge that notice of
executive session was pub-
lished incorrectly in March
2020. This was a technical
advertising error and was
unintentional. The topics
discussed were allowable
under executive session
laws with citing of ORS
statute, but we did not list
the proper sub section of the
statute. This first attempt
at a video meeting due to
building closures occurred
at a time when there was
tremendous stress with the
early COVID-19 pandemic
announcement. Our goal
was to figure out how to
continue to operate as es-
sential workers for water,
wastewater and freezer
-See ETHICSPAGE TWO