WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
COMMUNITY
Helping agricultural workers
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and an evening forum for farm-
workers and their families to deter-
mine where improvements could be
made. Campos-Davis said OHDC
will analyze the data and complete a
BY SEAN HART
report within the next couple months
HERMISTON HERALD
and try to develop solutions to prob-
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At a previous forum about two
velopment Corporation hosted two \HDUVDJRKHVDLGSDUWLFLSDQWVLGHQ-
forums in Hermiston Monday.
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OHDC Operations Director Mar- HV VR 2+'& SXUFKDVHG ODQJXDJH
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organization gathers feedback from
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its clients and partners to determine (QJOLVKFODVVHV´KHVDLG³0RVWRI
ways to better provide services to WKH FRPPXQLW\ FROOHJHV KDG WKRVH
people with agricultural jobs.
but the hours weren’t convenient.
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ternoon forum attended by agencies +HUPLVWRQRI¿FH,WKLQNZHKDYH
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OHDC hosts forums to
identify and address
service gaps
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Campos-Davis said a lack of trans-
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awareness about available services
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improvement. At the farmworker
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services after 5 p.m. and more En-
glish classes and better interactions
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“Most people are not aware of
what services are available and
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could end up as an action item in the
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how do we bridge (awareness) gaps
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vides training and employment ser-
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primarily working on training and
services for those in the agriculture
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employment and training aspect.
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do have a lot of short-term training
there directly with employers to help
them look at our clients in a different
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He said some clients are unable
work because they do not have
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help. He said OHDC also works
with employers to reimburse up to
half of on-the-job training expenses
for clients.
“We have a good relationship
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he said. “We recognize it takes time
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and I think we have a good record
of helping employers lower their
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the folks we serve that leave the pro-
gram each year are leaving because
they found a full-time job — in the
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mark — and most of them are still
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here are really doing a good job not
just placing them with any job that
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many of Oregon’s farmworkers
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ents who work in agriculture. For
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Hansell supports greater education funding
Senator talks
proposed bills,
other legislation
BY MAEGAN MURRAY
HERMISTON HERALD
Area
superintendents
have been saying for months
that the proposed funding for
education in the coming bi-
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during a town hall meeting
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Sen. Bill Hansell echoed
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more funding should be al-
located to schools.
Hansell was in Hermis-
ton at Stetson’s Steakhouse
to answer questions and
comment on proposed bills
currently working their way
through the Oregon Senate
and House of Representa-
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should be a priority for the
state.
“If you look at Oregon’s
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near the bottom in most
categories of the kids that
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Hansell said it is hard for
politicians to say they want
to support schools when
the proposed funding isn’t
enough to support current
programs and operations.
He said he has been dis-
cussing with Hermiston Su-
perintendent Fred Maiocco
how the proposed funding
would impact the Hermiston
School District.
Hansell said the full Ways
and Means Committee had
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MAEGAN MURRAY PHOTO
State Sen. Bill Hansell talks with Hermiston community members about bills he is sponsoring
this legislative session.
on the education budget.
While the Oregon House
of Representatives passed
a $7.255 billion budget
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have said it isn’t enough to
sustain current operations.
Hansell reiterated super-
intendents’ statements that
$7.5 billion would maintain
current service levels for
students across the state.
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ocrats have the votes to
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forecast shows any kind of
increase of revenue to our
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percent of that and put it into
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not be anything. We need to
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Hansell also explained
to residents a handful of the
dozens of bills he is sponsor-
ing or co-sponsoring during
this legislative session. One
of those bills that hits a lit-
tle closer to home includes
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people to sell baked goods
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setting without having to
meet requirements set for
professional businesses.
“We have a Mennonite
lady in our town in Athena
that likes to make bread and
bakery goods that she sells
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do that because her kitchen
hasn’t been inspected by the
Department of Agriculture.
She also doesn’t have the
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she doesn’t list all the ingre-
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Hansell said the bill
exempts those types of
home businesses. He said
home-business owners who
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income could be exempt.
Hansell is also sponsor-
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credit if they spend their
own money on school sup-
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plies. He’s also sponsoring
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cities to explore alternative
options for taking care of
health hazards in neighbor-
ing areas outside city limits
that do not include annex-
ation or extending city ser-
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particularly affected Mil-
ton-Freewater.
Hansell also talked about
several bills he does not
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with gun control.
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Hansell said he is also
against several “job-killing
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would increase minimum
wage to $15 per hour.
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that the $15 minimum wage
an hour was not going to get
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isn’t on any of the commit-
tees for the proposed bills he
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weigh in for sure on the sta-
tus of those bills.
Area resident Dan Dor-
ran asked Hansell about
whether the Oregon kicker
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gon’s kicker law is triggered
when tax collections exceed
what is expected by at least
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revenue gets returned to tax-
payers.
Hansell said he doesn’t
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“We are some $57 mil-
lion above the threshold
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know for sure in September
whether or not what is going
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Hansell said another bill
he supports but has yet to
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raise interstate speed limits.
He said he believes the Sen-
ate has the incentive to pass
a speed increase for the in-
terstate highway system.
Hansell also talked about
how Oregon needs a new
transportation package. He
said he is not in favor of the
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which he says is impossible
for petroleum companies to
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standards will receive a no
vote from him.
“What the Republicans
said was this: You gotta
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not going to support a low
carbon standard and an ad-
ditional tax on the transpor-
tation package … We’re not
going to give the consumers
a double whammy at the gas
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Hansell said he is optimis-
tic the proposed water leg-
islation to afford the region
more access to water re-
sources will come through.
“It’s still in negotiations
— still putting together the
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Hansell said he feels peo-
ple have done everything
they can locally for the wa-
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is in the budget and Gov.
Kate brown has committed
to it.
Other people in atten-
dance asked Hansell how he
feels Brown is doing in her
new role.
“I appreciate very much
how she has handled the
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“She came in at a very awk-
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know. I kind of use the illus-
tration that we have the ship
of state. We had left port
with the current legislative
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into what is called sign and
die. In that voyage that we
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Hansell said it is to her
credit that she stayed the
course. He said he is pleased
that she also seems to be in-
terested in eastern Oregon.
“She made some indi-
cators of where she wanted
to go — she communicated
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unmanned aerial vehicles in
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said. “I think she has done
very well … A shout out to
her for how she is handling
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Saturday, April 18, 2015
Hermiston Conference Center
5 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Our Annual Meeting theme “Homegrown”
will recognize an array of products grown
and processed in our local area.
Learn about UEC accomplishments in the
past year, and what we expect in the year ahead.
As always, attendance is free to UEC members.
We hope your will join us!
Featured Speaker
J Judy Hill Lovins of
Aspen Colorado, a
A
fine art photographer
and “homegrown”
native of Hermiston,
will share her life story.
