County halts
Amazon ‘gift
money’ payment to
BMCC
Previously approved $627,518
disbursement put on hold
50¢
VOL. 141
NO. 17
12 Pages
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
By David Sykes
With a 2-1 vote the
Morrow County Commis-
sion last week reversed
Getting to know your Morrow County candidates
Ballots go out this week for the May 17 election. Among other decisions voters will have to make are races for Morrow County Commis-
sioner positions two and three. To help with the decision process, the Heppner G-T asked the candidates to tell us a little more about themselves.
Here are their answers:
Jeff Wenholz, Candidate for Melissa J Lindsay, Candi- David Sykes, Candidate for Gus Peterson, Candidate for Mike McNamee, Candidate
Morrow County Commis- date for Morrow County Morrow County Commis- Morrow County Commis- for Morrow County Com-
sioner, Position 2
Commissioner, Position 2
sioner, Position 3
sioner, Position 3
missioner, Position 3
Melissa J Lindsay
What education and/or
degrees do you have that
qualify you for the position?
Mt Hood Community Col-
lege, Associates Degree in
Social Science San Diego
State University; Bache-
lor’s Degree in business
administration, finance fo-
cus Graduate of Association
of Oregon Counties - OSU
Extension County College.
What, if any, prior ex-
perience do you have? 2016
elected Morrow County
Judge, 2017-2022 Mor-
row County Commissioner,
2022 Oregon Land Conser-
vation and Development
Commission Appointment
to Local Officials Adviso-
ry Committee, 2018-2022
Greater Eastern Oregon
Development Corporation
Board, 2017-2022 Local
Public Safety Coordinat-
ing Council - Chair/Vice
chair, 2021-2022 Elected
Treasurer of the Association
of Oregon Counties, 2021-
2022 AOC State of Oregon
Regional Solutions adviso-
ry committee, 2018-2022
Community Counseling
Solutions advisory board ,
2020 Census Committee,
Morrow County Committee
Chair, 2013-2016 Morrow
County Planning Commis-
sion, 2015-present Chair,
Morrow County Cultural
Coalition, Morrow Coun-
ty School District Budget
Committee
Do you have family
here? Spouse? Children? I
have been married to Todd
Lindsay of Lexington for
34 years, we farm and live
on a generation farm. We
are proud of our two chil-
dren, a son, Jacob Kenneth
who just moved home,
graduated from OSU and
a daughter Maddie Ryan,
a chiropractic student at
Western States.
Why are you running
for a county office? I have
served for nearly six years
and believe I still have
work to complete on behalf
of county citizens. I have
-See WENHOLZ/PAGE TWO been involved, taking in
information across the very
broad spectrum of areas
that a county commission-
er serves. I believe I owe
it to residents to use that
experience to continue and
complete a number of proj-
ects and initiatives. I have
earned the trust of our state
and federal delegates, as
well as fellow commission-
ers and judges, who support
me in carrying Morrow
What education and/
or degrees do you have
that qualify you for the
position? Four and a half
years education at Portland
State University majoring
in accounting
What, if any, prior ex-
perience do you have? Over
20 years volunteering on
various county commis-
sions and committees. Over
18 years serving on boards
of directors of several not-
for-profit and for-profit
companies. Over 25 years
as self-employed business
owner.
Do you have family
here? Spouse? Children?
Yes, dad John, wife Melanie
and her mother.
Why are you running
for a county office? I filed
for this position when I
learned the incumbent was
going to not run again. As
a longtime Morrow County
resident, I want to combine
my years of knowledge of
issues affecting Morrow
County with my years of
experience of serving on
boards of directors to make
Morrow County a great
place to live, work and raise
a family.
What do you feel is the
biggest challenge facing
the office you are running
for in Morrow County? The
biggest challenge I see is
the break down in the rela-
tionships between county
commissioners, county em-
ployees and other entities
the commissioners work
with, such as cities and the
port.
How would you address
that challenge if you win? I
would repair these relation-
ships by listening to people,
let them do their jobs with-
out interference, treat them
fairly and with the respect
they deserve.
Why do you feel you are
the best candidate for the
job? My years of serving
on boards has taught me
the role of a board member,
how a board is supposed to
David Sykes
What education and/or
degrees do you have that
qualify you for the position?
HS diploma and 3.5 years
of college where I majored
in journalism.
What, if any, prior ex-
perience do you have? 10
years as chairman of the
Morrow County planning
commission. 39 years as
a member of the Willow
Creek Valley Economic De-
velopment Group. Current-
ly on the County Board of
Property Tax Appeals and
the Heppner City planning
commission.
Do you have family
here? Spouse? Children?
Wife April lives in Heppner,
Why are you running
for a county office? I have
owned businesses, raised a
family and lived here for
the past 42 years. I want
to use my experiences and
relationships developed in
Morrow County to make
this a great place to live
for ourselves, children and
grandchildren.
What do you feel is the
biggest challenge facing the
office you are running for
in Morrow County? Find-
ing and keeping qualified
employees for county gov-
ernment. With my business
background I have experi-
ence in this area.
How would you ad-
dress that challenge if you
win? First I will make sure
Morrow County is paying
competitive wages and then
I will strive to empower
department heads and ad-
ministrators in working
with employees so they can
thrive and succeed at their
jobs, thus providing the tax-
payers of Morrow County
the best possible services
from their government.
Why do you feel you are
the best candidate for the
job? In my job as a newspa-
per reporter, I have attended
and written articles about
many county commission
and other county related
meetings and activities. I
will bring that long-time
knowledge with me for use
on the very first day on the
job.
Any other comments or
notes you would like to pass
on to the voters: Morrow
County has a diversified
economy of renewables
(wind and solar generating),
agriculture and industry,
which has given us a high
per capita income. This
is a good thing, and I will
work to keep our economy
-See LINDSAY/PAGE TWO diversified and providing
good jobs and a high quality
of life for our citizens.
Gus Peterson
Mike McNamee
What education and/or
degrees do you have that
qualify you for the position?
I have a bachelor’s degree
in political science from
Oregon State University.
What, if any, prior ex-
perience do you have? I am
not running upon my past
experiences or accomplish-
ments, but rather upon the
ideas for the future that I
have and the commitment
I will bring to leading well.
Do you have family
here? Spouse? Children? I
am the son of Joel Peterson
and Lea Mathieu, and a
fifth generation farmer in
Morrow County. My wife
is Sami Peterson.
Why are you running
for a county office? I am
running for county office
because the future of Mor-
row County matters to me,
and I want to play my part
in ensuring that the future
we share together is one
where we all prosper to-
gether.
What do you feel is the
biggest challenge facing
the office you are running
for in Morrow County?
The biggest challenge cur-
rently facing the office of
commissioner is a county
that is divided and fighting
with itself. Pretending that
there is no conflict does not
resolve it, and there are ten-
sions between the port, the
board of commissioners,
the north part of the county
and the south.
How would you address
that challenge if you win?
These tensions within the
county will not be resolved
with vague promises to
be respectful. Respect is
needed but it goes beyond
words. I would address
these issues by planning
ahead long term with all
parties involved in an issue
Editor’s Note: Re-
sponses to the candidate’s
questions were not re-
ceived from Candidate
Mike McNamee prior to
the deadline.
Mike Gorman, Candidate
for Morrow County Assessor
Mike Gorman
What, if any, prior ex-
perience do you have? 20
years in Assessor’s office,
8 ½ years as Assessor
Do you have family
here? Spouse? Children?
Significant Other
Why are you running
for a county office? To
continue my public service
What do you feel is the
biggest challenge facing the
office you are running for in
Morrow County? Morrow
County’s growth
How would you address
that challenge if you win?
By continuing to work with
county and community
leaders
Why do you feel you
are the best candidate for
the job? Knowledge and
experience
DEADLINE:
MONDAYS
AT 5PM
-See PETERSON/PAGE
TWO
-See BMCC GIFT/PAGE
TWO
E L E VAT E YO U R A DV E N T U R E
CALL
541-989-8221
ext 204
NEW
2022
FOR
Jeff Wenholz
itself and put the brakes
on a previously authorized
$627,518 payment to Blue
Mountain Community Col-
lege (BMCC). The payment
was a part of a disbursement
package passed in March by
the commissioners dividing
up a $11.5 million windfall
recently received by the
county from Amazon Inc.
The county had re-
ceived the unexpected large
payment when it was dis-
covered Amazon incorrect-
ly underpaid its taxes last
year. An error was made
by the Oregon Department
of Revenue when valuating
new equipment installed at
Amazon’s data facility near
Boardman. Under law the
company wasn’t required
to pay the money to the
county, but decided, as
a show of a good corpo-
rate citizenship, to do so
anyway. After receiving
the funds, the commission
classified the payment not
as taxes collected, but as
a “gift” which gave them
wide latitude on how they
could spend the money.
A disbursement plan
was developed and passed
by the commission March
23 which saw the $11.5
million go out to every
taxing district in the county,
however, it was not based
on the amount of tax money
each district would have
received had the Amazon
error not been made.
At the time of approv-
ing the original disburse-
ment plan, Commissioner
Melissa Lindsay was not
pleased $627,518 was go-
ing to BMCC saying she
wanted to keep all the Am-
azon money in Morrow
County. “I love BMCC.
I love the work they are
doing, and I know their
budget is in trouble,” Lind-
say said at the March 23
meeting. “However, I don’t
want to see six hundred
thousand dollars going to
Pendleton via BMCC.”
Under the original disbursal
plan, BMCC’s general fund
would have gotten approx-
imately $468 thousand and
its bond payment another
$159 thousand. “I think this
was for a county-wide dis-
bursal,” Lindsay said of her
original understanding of
how the county would pay
out the Amazon windfall.
“My goal is to eliminate
those that are not local.”
She said BMCC was not
where she intended for the
money to go.
At last week’s April
20 meeting Lindsay again
brought up the payment
to BMCC saying since the
March 23 meeting she had
heard that BMCC might
be scaling back its work
force training program in
Morrow County, which
prompted here to push for
for more
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