200 attend a successful
Town and Country Awards
in Heppner
50¢
VOL. 144
NO. 6 8 Pages
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Wrapping up the commissioner recall meetings
By Chris Sykes
Another contentious
recall meeting was held in
Irrigon, this time with the
presence of County Com-
missioner Roy Drago and
Lisa Pratt, Board Chair of
Boardman Fire, who were
new faces at the meeting.
The ASA plan
and transparency
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Citizens for Morrow Coun-
ty Liberty and Justice want
a resolution rather than a
recall. He proceeded to
outline numerous concerns
that his group has with the
county commissioners. One
issue he brought up was the
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plan, which, according to
him, lacked clear justifi-
cation.
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that the lack of commu-
nication and transparency
from the commissioners
was deeply concerning. He
criticized their failure to
involve the Morrow County
Health District in the deci-
sion-making process, which
he believed was an essential
stakeholder in such matters.
The commissioners’ disre-
gard for honesty and ad-
herence to established rules
was seen as problematic by
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was the first to speak on
behalf of the county. He
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plan and emphasized that
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ago, this issue was on his
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this matter was in dispute,
he sought the guidance of
their county council who
advised them that the issue
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of an attorney. The attorney
said that it was indeed the
county’s responsibility to
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was the course of action
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he believed it would be
neglectful towards the res-
idents of Morrow County if
the commissioners were to
disregard the legal advice
given to them and there are
no ulterior motives, I don’t
have any, and no conspira-
cies are going on.
He then reiterated his
statements from prior meet-
ings and talked about the
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are currently in the process
of having their proposal
reviewed by the Oregon
Health Authority (OHA).
Once approved, they will
proceed with selecting a
healthcare provider for the
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disappointment over the
health district’s decision
to discontinue their am-
bulance service before the
John Murray MCHD
Commisssioner Roy Drago
issue could be fully re-
solved. Despite the coun-
ty’s request to continue the
service in the interim, the
health district chose not to
comply.
Regarding transparen-
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held four public hearings
to gather input, even though
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in place at the time. He
assures the public that a
plan will be presented, and
they will hold five more
public hearings in each city,
as necessary. The current
plan can be found on their
website, but it is not yet
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authority in such matters.
John Murray, repre-
senting the Morrow County
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He stated that the district
has been operating ambu-
lance services for 30 years
without any intervention or
assistance from the county
court. They have achieved
this while maintaining one
of the lowest healthcare
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egon. 61 cents per 1,000
permanent rate and 99 cents
per 1,000 rate with supple-
mental levy.
Murray announced that
after the recent Health Dis-
trict board meeting held
last Monday, they have
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commissioners. He said
the contract is intended
to facilitate the signing of
an agreement that would
provide coverage for the
entire county and guarantee
uninterrupted service.
Murray compares the
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districts in eastern Oregon,
highlighting that Morrow
County’s rates are consider-
ably lower. He emphasizes
that the health district has
diligently and efficiently
managed its funds, even
utilizing critical access
Medicare dollars from the
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However, Murray raises
concerns that the health
district’s funding may be
jeopardized if the Board of
Commissioners develops
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against federal rules that
provide for these federal
dollars or they will drasti-
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the health district.
Murray concluded by
emphasizing that the ulti-
mate decision-makers for
the county’s healthcare fu-
ture are the Board of Com-
missioners, not the health
district’s board of directors.
The responsibility falls on
the commissioners to make
informed choices that will
sustain the rural healthcare
system and consider the
long-term impact on the
community.
Morrow Commission-
er Drago approached the
microphone and said, ac-
cording to their records,
the last time OHA (Oregon
Health Authority) approved
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tion was not his statement,
but the official stance of
OHA. Drago read a letter
from OHA to the county
commissioners stating that
they had not received an up-
dated plan and he claimed
that letter was sent to the
county in 2021.
Commissioner Drago
said he was not directly
accusing anyone but high-
lighted that the commis-
sioners had inherited this
issue and are actively work-
ing towards resolving it.
Murray returned with a
rebuttal, stating that he can
obtain copies from OHA
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emphasized that it is the
responsibility of the county
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OHA.
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his desire to hire a lawyer
who would provide him
with answers that align with
his preferences. He pro-
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yers in a room to determine
whether they could reach a
consensus or at least arrive
at a similar opinion about
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Additionally, Murray men-
tioned that other healthcare
lawyers in the state may
not necessarily agree with
the views of the county’s
lawyer.
He also had concerns
about the County Adminis-
trator, Matt Jensen, and his
contingency plan to secure
interim ambulances in case
an agreement couldn’t be
reached. Murray questioned
how the selection process
Morrow County issues a statement on the
Health Districts ASA contract
Morrow County - Jan-
uary 31, 2024, Morrow
County Health District
(MCHD) submitted a con-
tract on January 30, 2024,
to continue ambulance ser-
vice for the County past
their 90-day notice to termi-
nate service on March 12,
2024. The contract received
is a long-term contract that
was self-serving, unlawful,
could not be terminated for
5 years, and was not in the
best interest of the residents
of Morrow County. There
was no discussion regard-
ing MCHD paying for legal
counsel to draft the contract,
as that was MCHD’s choice
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received was a surprise and
a disappointment. While
the contract is described
as an effort to continue
service leaving no area of
the County out, it is better
described as an effort to
interfere with the County’s
legal obligation to imple-
ment a new Ordinance and
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law, and uses what MCHD
apparently perceives to be
an advantage it created by
giving its 90-day termina-
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items include the following:
• MCHD is attempting
to strongarm the Coun-
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non-terminable agreement
for ambulance services,
and for control over ambu-
lance services within the
County. This is contrary
WR 256 D
which requires the County
to “consider any and all
-Continued to PAGE FIVE
was conducted. He again
mentioned that MCHD
had sent a contract to Mor-
row County, indicating
that MCHD’s proposal
was likely to be shelved.
This would create a gap in
service, and the contract
signing deadline. During
this time, the county would
be searching for another
provider and initiating the
process in mid-February.
Murray raised concerns
about the committee mem-
bers responsible for select-
ing the service provider
during the interim period,
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assigned yet. He was con-
cerned about who would be
chosen to provide services
and the implications it may
have. Murray confirmed
that there had been no pub-
lic meeting regarding this
matter to his knowledge.
He pointed out that deci-
sions like these were often
made behind closed doors,
making it challenging to
trust the information being
conveyed and the discrep-
ancy between public state-
ments and actual actions
was a recurring problem
that needed to be addressed.
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saying that this is still a
work in progress, and ev-
eryone is guessing what
is in and is not in the new
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been approved yet. When
it is rolled out, everyone
will be able to look at it. He
reiterated that the Morrow
County Health District
set the drop-dead date for
ambulance service, and
the county wanted to keep
working with the MCHD
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county did not kick them
out.
Jody Ferguson spoke
and said that there is no
way Morrow County is
ready to replace the service
by March. MCHD voted
on Monday on a contract,
they sent it to the county
on Tuesday morning and
she said she had not heard
whether they have said
anything about it or not.
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of Morrow County deserve
to have equal ambulance
service that they have had
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not personally care how
much the contract cost but
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we would not be in this
position if this would have
been handled in good faith
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said she would agree that
most people in the county
would agree with her and
said again to sign the con-
tract. “You three commis-
(L-R) Cameron Proudfoot, Janet Wilson, Tim Dickeson,
Beth Dickenson, Molly Rhea, Faviola Juarez, and Jackie
Juarez Emmel. -Photo by D2 Photography
By Chris Sykes
On Thursday, February
1st, the Heppner Cham-
ber of Commerce held its
annual Town and Country
event to honor residents
and business owners who
consistently went above
and beyond to help the com-
munity. The atmosphere
was fun, and the Gilliam
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with around 200 people in
attendance. Tears of hap-
piness were shed as the
deserving recipients took
to the stage to receive their
well-deserved awards.
Families came from
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to witness their loved ones
being recognized for their
outstanding contributions.
Beth Dickenson’s family
joined the event virtually
from Iowa, connecting via
video conference to con-
gratulate Beth and Tim.
After a thorough run-
down of remarkable ac-
complishments for lifetime
achievement, presenter Jer-
ry Conklin was abruptly
interrupted by Molly Rhea,
the recipient of the Lifetime
Achievement award. Fed
up with waiting, Molly
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snatched the microphone,
delivered a funny speech,
and thanked everyone.
During the entire event,
the crowd consistently
stood up, applauding and
cheering for the well-de-
serving award winners.
The drinks were served by
Bucknums, while Alvin
Lou from Happy Pappy
took charge of preparing
-Continued to PAGE THREE
Rep. Smith appointed to
ACSR joint committee
Representative Greg Smith speaking at the senior center in
Heppner, Or - Contributed Photo
O n F e b r u a r y 2 nd ,
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ed Representative Greg
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on the Joint Committee on
Addiction and Community
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mittee will have the task of
reviewing Measure 110 and
proposing solutions to the
public safety and behavior-
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Oregon is facing.
very serious issues. My
approach will be one of
justice and mercy,” said
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press release, “Oregon must
hold people accountable for
the crimes they have com-
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also ensure that people in
crisis have adequate access
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ance between criminal ac-
countably and the need for
“This is going to be behavioral health resources
a very challenging com- will be key to this commit-
mittee, as we are tackling tee’s success”.
Mustang sports this week
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Night for basketball. The
games are on Feb. 8th
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7:30. The theme is blue,
-Continued to PAGE EIGHT and gold so please wear
blue and gold to support
your teams. There is also
district wrestling on Friday
Feb. 9th in Echo. It con-
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WKH ¿QDOV ZLOO WDNH SODFH
We encourage you to sup-
port our Heppner wrestling
team.
CALL
541-989-8221
ext 204
for more
information