A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2015
FROM PAGE A1
CHARTER
ple decide what we get to vote
Smith said few people at-
on and nobody else.”
tended the two public sessions,
Hawkins said allowing vot- but three voiced concerns
continued from page A1
ers to decide was the purpose about the judge change and
ers. Some of the proposed of a democratic system.
also recommended a require-
revisions, however, such as
“We are a democracy, and ment the judge be an attorney.
changing the mayor’s term when you start setting up these He said Lions Club members
from two years to four and little autocracies, you tend to voiced the same concerns, but
appointing rather than elect- get away from the whole pur- Rotary club members pointed
ing the municipal judge, were pose of you guys being there,” out that an appointed judge
discussed at greater length by he said to the councilors. “You could avoid potential prob-
the council before the mem- were put there by the taxpay- lems counties have with elect-
EHUV DUULYHG DW WKH ¿UVW GUDIW ers. ... Let us choose who we ed department heads. He said
Because the charter will have want as a judge.”
the Noon Kiwanis club did
to be approved by Hermiston
Councilman John Kirwan not mention the judge issue,
voters before taking effect, said voters ultimately will have except to recommend the term
councilors expressed concern WKH¿QDOGHFLVLRQZKHQFKRRV- of the appointed judge have a
that the municipal court judge ing whether or not to ratify the limit to allow regular review.
issue might prevent the other document on the ballot. After
Smith said he recommend-
necessary changes from being Smith provided his feedback HG PLQRU PRGL¿FDWLRQV WR WKH
enacted.
from the outreach sessions, draft charter, stating the judge
$IWHU WKH ¿UVW GUDIW ZDV however, it was Kirwan who must be an attorney who would
completed late last year, the recommended that a possible be appointed by the council for
council instructed City Man- change from an elected to an a four-year term.
ager Byron Smith to present appointed judge be placed on
Councilman
Douglas
the information to residents the ballot as a separate amend- 6PLWKDUHWLUHGSROLFHRI¿FHU
at several outreach sessions to ment, so the issue did not said he had experience with
gauge public opinion about the prevent the rest of the charter judges, but most people would
proposed changes.
from being approved.
not. He said he understood the
Before Smith delivered the
feedback he received during
the outreach sessions at Mon-
day’s meeting, resident Perry
Hawkins spoke out during a
public comment period, urging
the council not to change the
municipal judge from an elect-
ed to an appointed position.
He said it was a “Bolshevik
socialist idea” to remove the
power to elect the judge from
the residents.
“We seem to kind of forget
a little bit of history that we
had just a few years back when
there was a little bit of concern
— Perry Hawkins
of cronyism,” he said. “... We
Hermiston resident
don’t need to have eight peo-
“We are a democracy, and when you
start setting up these little autocracies,
you tend to get away from the whole
purpose of you guys being there. You
were put there by the taxpayers. ... Let
us choose who we want as a judge.”
CRIME:
continued from page A1
nity Accountability Board
has decreased through the
years, but almost all of
those youth successfully
completed the program.
In 2014, 16 juveniles
completed the CAB pro-
gram, and 20 were referred.
In 2013, 20 juveniles com-
pleted the program, and 25
were referred.
“I’m trying to be a glass
half-full, but it is tough to
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why things are working,”
he said.
One thing Edmiston said
he would like to empha-
VL]H KRZHYHU LV WKH ÀRZ
of information between the
Hermiston School District
and the police department.
He said the two agencies
work well together, which
is one reason why the city
could be experiencing such
D VLJQL¿FDQW GHFOLQH LQ MX-
venile crime numbers.
“You guys are making de-
cisions to be the best school
district in Oregon,” he said.
“Having said that, I’ve got to
believe that this movement
throughout the last several
\HDUVLVVSHFL¿FWRWKHZUDS
around services that you
guys are authorizing.”
Edmiston said the CAB
only works because of the
people who volunteer their
time. He commended the
School Board on all its ef-
fort to support the program.
On a similar note, Ed-
desire to vote for the position
but cautioned the results could
be based on name recognition
UDWKHUWKDQTXDOL¿FDWLRQV
Mayor Dave Drotzmann
said it is the city’s job to man-
age all of its departments, in-
cluding the municipal court.
He said allowing the council to
appoint the judge would allow
LW WR VHOHFW WKH EHVWTXDOL¿HG
candidate through interviews
and a hiring process.
Kirwan said only four
other cities in Oregon have
elected municipal judges and
that the revision process was
intended to modernize the
charter. After further discus-
sion, he recommended the
judge issue be placed on the
ballot as a separate amend-
ment, so the voters could
decide whether they want
an elected or an appointed
judge.
Drotzmann cautioned it
might be confusing for voters
if there were two separate bal-
lot measures, but the council
agreed it would be better to
have two measures than one
that was voted down because
of the judge issue.
“I think putting it on there
as an appointed position could
be enough to bring it down,
and I don’t want that,” Coun-
cilman Doug Primmer said.
The council directed city
staff to prepare the ballot lan-
guage for the revised charter
in which the judge is elected,
as well as language for a mea-
sure that would amend the
revised charter making the
municipal court judge an ap-
pointed position.
miston said the city has had
some success with the It’s
Just Dinner program, which
it implemented last year. In
that program, youth meet
regularly with mentors and
their families for dinner
in the hope that it will in-
spire positive change in that
child’s life. The program is
headed up by HPD chaplain
Terry Cummings and other
police chaplains.
Of the four youth who
have been put into the pro-
gram, Edmiston said two
INFLUENZA:
continued from page A1
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according to the CDC.
This year, however, about 70 percent of
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changed from the original virus that was used
to create the vaccine, according to the CDC.
The H3N2 viruses that changed or “drifted”
did not appear until after the vaccine was
created for the Northern Hemisphere and,
as a result, did not make it into the vaccine.
Therefore, the vaccine isn’t as effective as it
normally would be, but it still provides some
perks.
According to the CDC, the vaccination can
VWLOO SUHYHQW VRPH ÀX VWUDLQV DQG FDQ UHGXFH
severe illnesses that can lead to hospitaliza-
tion and death. Schulz said people are 23 to 33
percent less likely to get sick if they receive
the shot. If people do get sick after they had
the shot, she said those people generally don’t
get as sick or for as long.
7KH&'&UHSRUWVWKDWQDWLRQZLGHWKHÀX
activity this season has been similar to that of
the 2012-13 season, with it being “moderately
severe.”
According to a Jan. 15 press release, the
CDC stated that while manufacturers of an-
tiviral medications reported there was no na-
tional shortage of the medications, anecdotal
UHSRUWV RI VSRW VKRUWDJHV IRU ÀX PHGLFDWLRQ
have been reported. The CDC advised, for
patients and doctors, it may be necessary to
FRQWDFWPRUHWKDQRQHSKDUPDF\WR¿OODSUH-
scription for antiviral medication.
Schulz said she recommends, in addition to
JHWWLQJWKHÀXYDFFLQHWKDWSHRSOHFRQWLQXDOO\
wash their hands and keep them away from
their eyes, nose and mouth. She said if people
are sick they should also stay home from work
or school.
7KHÀXVKHVDLG³OLNHV´WKHZLQWHUVHDVRQ
She said the wide spread of the virus results
from people being in close proximity to each
other as the temperature drops.
remain. He said of the two
who are no longer in the
program, one probably
ZDVQ¶W D JRRG ¿W WR EHJLQ
with, and the other didn’t
have the support from
home for it to be successful.
He said, however, he thinks
it is important that the pro-
gram continue. Edmiston
said it is also important for
the district to maintain a
relationship and constant
interaction between Youth
2I¿FHU(ULFD6DQGRYDOWKH
students and the staff at the
Juvenile Department. He
said it is only through that
constant communication
and support from all agen-
cies that HPD can be suc-
cessful.
As a result of the down-
ward juvenile crime trend,
however, Edmiston said he
thinks it would be appropri-
ate to conduct a six-month
study on the CAB program
WR VHH LI DQ\ PRGL¿FDWLRQV
need to be made to ensure
the program remains effec-
tive.
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