SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, November 23 , 2022
~ Letters to the Editor ~
A View from the Hill
By Doris Brosnan
October ended with enjoyable Halloween activities
at Willow Creek Terrace. With appropriate door decora-
tions and the carved pumpkins the residents had created,
they awaited and then greeted the brave trick-or-treaters
who ventured up to the hill community. Numbers of
little ghosts, goblins, princesses, heroes and others were
higher this year, and the residents who sat by their apart-
ment doors with treats were delighted with the parade
of revelers.
With that holiday that is geared toward the young-
at-heart behind them, the residents turned their thoughts
toward Thanksgiving. They have now been working on
the painting of Thanksgiving-themed wall signs. A festive
day to look forward to, as well as the traditional feast
they will enjoy.
As the community discusses reasons for giving
thanks, they always think of their neighbors nearby. So,
the kitchen staff is preparing for the “Tie One On” activ-
ity enjoyed each November, this year on the 23 rd . Each
neighbor receives a loaf of the Terrace bread with a note
thanking them for being such good neighbors.
Of course, the residents and staff will be thankful
when some new employees join their ranks, hopefully in
time for these two months of holiday festivities. Interested
individuals are encouraged to contact the Terrace at 541-
676-0004 or to come by with their questions.
Everyone is glad the “Welcome” mat is serving a
purpose: On Monday, they welcomed Sandi Hanna, a
long-time Heppner resident who has recently returned to
join the community. And they expect to welcome another
familiar face this week. As some wise person probably
said in the distant past, “There’s always room for one
more,” which seems to hold true at the Terrace. One more
apartment is presently available. Interested persons can
inquire by calling or coming by.
An added bonus this month is that Flossie Watkins
will close out the month of November with her birthday
celebration on the 30 th , to which all her neighbors will
be invited.
As the weather changes to chilly, the Community on
the Hill can stay toasty while still socializing at the various
in-house activities and games, and they seem to view this
fact as a definite bonus to life at the Terrace.
How MCSD decides
about closures
-Continued from PAGE ONE support of the resources
weather, the district
consistently checks for
updates to help determine
school delay/closure deci-
sions.
-Oregon Department of
Transportation—the district
has regular communication
with ODOT to receive spe-
cific road updates. These
start as early as 3 a.m. and
provide specifics regarding
the state roads.
-County Road Depart-
ment—MCSD is contact
with the county road de-
partment to get updates be-
fore 5 a.m. to decide about
full-day cancellations and
before 8 a.m. for potential
cancellations after a three-
hour delay. They provide
specifics on county roads,
which can vary by geo-
graphical location.
“What we have discov-
ered over the past couple
of years is that there is a
vast difference in a 2-Hour
Delay and a 3-Hour Delay,”
the website states. “The
3-Hour Delay is a tremen-
dous benefit, allowing us
to assess the situation and
make decisions after there
is more daylight, with the
listed above. Also, we have
found that the additional
hour makes a significant
difference in temperature.”
Ultimately, the district
collaborates with Mid-Co-
lumbia Bus Company to
make a final decision, with
advisement from all of the
crews out driving the roads,
most of which include bus
routes.
“Lastly, the Morrow
County School District
understands that if our fam-
ilies are worried about the
safety of their children, we
support your decision to
do what you think is best
for your children,” MCSD
concludes.
When a delay or clo-
sure occurs, the most accu-
rate sources from which to
get information are:
- Morrow County
School District website:
https://morrow.k12.or.us/
- MCSD District Face-
book page: https://www.
facebook.com/morrow-
countysd/
- Automated call/text
messages sent via the auto-
mated calling system.
BEO announces
dividend for 2022
“I am pleased to an-
nounce that the board of di-
rectors of BEO Bancorp has
voted to declare a one dollar
per share dividend for 2022.
The dividend will be paid to
shareholders of record as of
December 9, 2022; payable
on or before December 15,
2022,” said President and
CEO Jeff Bailey.
According to Board
Chairman Brad Anderson,
“BEO Bancorp has paid
a dividend 36 of the past
37 years. Dividends reflect
the financial stability and
profitability of the bank. We
are very happy to be able to
provide this dividend to our
shareholders.”
“The dividend of one
dollar per share is equal to
the dividend paid in 2021.
The board of directors and
employees work hard to im-
prove the overall strength
of the bank, add value to
our shareholders, as well
as provide the brand of
banking that our customers
appreciate and expect from
Bank of Eastern Oregon,”
said Bailey. He concluded
by saying, “The support of
our shareholders, commu-
nities and employees have
made it possible for us to
continue to be successful.”
Justice Court Report
Morrow County Justice of the Peace Glen Diehl has
released the following report:
-Jacob B. Roy, 40, of Heppner was cited for Violating
the Basic Rule and fined $165.
-Michael D. Lynch, 64, of Heppner was cited for Dog
as a Public Nuisance and fined $265.
-Chris A. Jackson, 34, of Heppner was cited for Dog
as a Public Nuisance and fined $265.
-Continued from PAGE THREE
these qualities every single
day, and as Morrow Coun-
ty’s commissioner she has
done more of the same.
To me these qualities are
the reason she was elected
to serve in the first place.
Since day one as commis-
sioner, I have seen first-
hand her overwhelming
dedication to the county.
Now that doesn’t mean she
always made the decision
that pleased everyone—in
some cases, the opposite.
But that dedication to the
county and her voters meant
she had to weigh many el-
ements and make the hard
decisions. Through those
hard decisions and instanc-
es where she faced back-
lash, one thing has stayed
the same. The county has
always come first and will
continue to come first given
the opportunity to serve out
the remainder of the term.
My mother has done
nothing but serve the coun-
ty to the best of her ability
and a recall of this nature
sets a bad precedent that’s
damaging to the future of
this county. As Melissa’s
son and one of her biggest
supporters, I ask that we
as a county let our original
vote stand and show up in
support at the upcoming
vote.
Jacob Lindsay
Lexington, OR
Doherty and
Lindsay have
done the right
thing
To the Editor:
First of all, I’d like to
thank commissioners Jim
Doherty and Melissa Lind-
say for doing their jobs. It’s
why we voted for them in
the first place. I’d like to
address Corol Mitchell and
Ann Spicer-Kuhn for start-
ing a petition to get these
two recalled. They did this
because the commissioners
were responsible for firing
the former county admin-
istrator, Darrell Green, be-
cause he didn’t do his job.
The commissioners did the
right thing, getting rid of
him. As previous Gazette
articles have shown, Dar-
rell Green was forewarned
numerous times to change
his actions and he inten-
tionally didn’t. This is all
publicly recorded. Now,
the county is looking at
a $750,000 lawsuit from
someone that didn’t do his
job and was rightly fired.
It doesn’t make any sense.
Of course, we have already
paid his wife, who also
didn’t do her job correctly.
In the private sector, if you
don’t do your job, you don’t
have a job and you don’t
get paid. Maybe the county/
governmental sector ought
to follow the same suit
quickly.
I would also like to
point out that Commission-
er Lindsay has done more
for the community than the
two women who led the
recall petition have ever
done. As a matter of fact,
I’ve never seen these two
do anything at the commu-
nity-level outside of this
recall, which is costing the
county between $15,000-
$20,000.
Commissioner Lindsay
has brought a multitude of
funds to the county and
specifically to Heppner. I
would have wished that
prominent recall figures,
who gathered pages of sig-
natures for the recall, under-
stood the profound impact
that Commissioner Lindsay
has had in Heppner before
letting personal and self-in-
terested bias cloud his judg-
ment. We are now recalling
the two commissioners who
are not implicated in a larg-
er ethics investigation.
It seems that the recall
group mentioned above—
Ann and Coral are pawns
who are either blindly or
intentionally distracting
Morrow County citizens
from the larger issue of
other elected officials’ cor-
ruption.
Vote no on the recall.
Support commissioners
Melissa Lindsay and Jim
Doherty on a job well done.
It just makes sense.
Jay Coil
Heppner, OR
Russell will
gain from
recall
No one has more to gain
from this county commis-
sioner recall than Com-
missioner Don Russell.
Russell is chair of the Co-
lumbia River Enterprise
Zone (CREZ 2) which de-
termines who receives the
$10,000,000 yearly tax
abatement from Amazon.
CREZ 3 is in the process
of establishing the new tax
abatement for the six new
Amazons coming to Mor-
row County. The CREZ 3
board, all from Boardman
(two from the Port, two
from the city of Boardman,
and two from the county
commissioners) have with-
out precedent stalled all
negotiation with Amazon
until Missy Lindsay is ei-
ther recalled or off the board
of commissioners Jan. 1,
2023. This is unacceptable.
Commissioners Lind-
say and Doherty have pub-
licly stated they will require
a better deal from Ama-
zon, which includes bond-
ing, something Umatilla
County has already been
granted, largely because of
Lindsay’s uncompromising
stand for Morrow County.
Lindsay and Doherty have
also confronted Russell
over continual conflict of
interest decisions votes he
makes for the benefit of
himself (CEO of Windwave
for instance, that continues
to contract all Amazon fiber
optics) and those that bene-
fit from his political power.
This is the reason Rus-
sell orchestrated the re-
call frenzy. If Doherty and
Lindsay are recalled, Rus-
sell will control Morrow
County. His buddy Darrel
Green will get a massive
settlement at taxpayer ex-
pense. Boardman Fire Chief
Hughes will get the Am-
bulance Transport License
that he has publicly refused
to apply for through the
required Established Doc-
umented Need. Amazon
will get another sweetheart
deal and county taxpayers
will be stuck with the bill.
Why go through the proper
channels when Hughes can
use his public position to
convince the public lives
will be lost without this
license? Hughes and those
that support his agenda will
ruin the funding for the
Morrow County ambulance
service, putting all Morrow
County in jeopardy of am-
bulance service. Make your
voice heard. Our way of life
and liberty is at stake.
Stuart Dick
Irrigon, OR
volunteer making sure the
citizens of Morrow County
have the best quality of life
to live and work in. Melissa
educates herself and asks
deep questions to get to the
core of
the issue. Some of these
questions may not set well
with others, but that’s why
she is elected—to ask the
hard questions. We respect
that as part of her duties.
We should be focusing
on all the good she has
brought to the table. For
us, one that stands out is
how she cares for local
small businesses and their
successes. She was instru-
mental in putting together a
partnership with Tillamook
for business grants for those
effected by COVID. This
is what she does; she hears
the needs and finds solu-
tions. We appreciate her
hard work at accomplishing
what’s best for the citizens
of Morrow County. We
believe both Melissa and
Jim Doherty have been
completely transparent in
disproving the allegations
of this recall.
Please join us today in
voting no on the recall.
Mark and Jan Hud-
dleston
Heppner, OR
Vote no on
recall
To the Editor:
The letters (to the ed-
itor) are indicative of the
support of Jim Doherty and
Melissa Lindsay. They’ve
worked hard and deserve
better that what they’ve got.
Missy has lived here
her whole life. She follows
through with what she says
she’s going to do.
I’m voting “no” on the
recall.
Kelly Boyer
Lexington, OR
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Focus on the
good Lindsay
has done
There are many quality
traits to describe Melissa
Lindsay, but one that sticks
out foremost at this time is
integrity. Melissa has lived
by this standard her entire
life, built on family roots.
She gives more than 100
percent in doing what is
right for our county and
communities. She is one of
the hardest-working people
we know, who dedicates
countless hours as a public
servant and as a community
HEPPNER ELKS 358
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