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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (June 29, 2016)
A14 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2016 FROM PAGE A1 No taxi ticket price increase in Hermiston By JADE McDOWELL Staff Writer The Hermiston City Council voted against a pro- posed 25 cent price increase Monday for the taxi program that helps seniors and people with disabilities. The city will pick up the tab for an estimated $6,000 more per year in subsidies to the Umatilla Cab Company instead. The one-way tickets, which qualiied Hermiston residents can purchase from City Hall for rides within city limits, have been $2 apiece since 2010. The city passes that money, along with an additional $4.35 per ticket, on to the taxi company con- tracted to run the program. Mark Morgan, assistant city manager, said the city pays about $100,000 per year to run the program, sub- sidizing an average of 30,000 one-way rides. He told the City Council Monday that in the past two decades Umatilla County’s contribution to the program has dropped from $50,000 to $27,000 per year, increas- ing the city’s burden. At the same time minimum wage has risen from $8.40 an hour and effective Friday, July 1, it will increase to $9.50 an hour, raising the cost of busi- ness for the cab company. “This is just a situation where the Legislature was trying to help low-income workers but ended up hurt- ing some low-income resi- dents,” Morgan said. Jeannette Byrnes, a Herm- iston resident, asked the City Council to ind another way to keep the program going without raising the ticket price. For seniors living on social security checks, she said, every penny counts. “When you’re nick- el-and-diming, 25 cents is a lot,” she said. She said some Hermis- ton residents only leave their FIRE: continued from Page A1 the district won’t see those funds until this November. Once the money is avail- able, the district will be- gin hiring additional crew needed to staff Fire Sta- tion 2 on Diagonal Road around the clock. Stanton described it as a “lengthy hiring process.” Potential hires have to go through a series of mental and phys- ical evaluations as well as complete a stint at the ire academy. The ire district is aiming for a March 2016 target date to have new crew at the stations with veteran ireighters. This week the district welcomed four summer seasonal ireighters from the resident intern program to help reduce the strain on full-time ireighters. “They’ve already made a huge difference,” Stanton said. While additional perma- nent staff support won’t be in place for awhile, other changes are moving for- ward. Re-lettering of equip- ment has begun, new busi- ness cards have been or- dered and a new website is under construction. The new district emblem will be chosen by a committee then sent off for production before it can be applied to uniforms. On Friday, ive new members of the uniied ire board will be sworn in by Umatilla County Commis- sioner Bill Elfering, prior to holding their irst board meeting. Upgrades are still need- ed for the Diagonal station. The station has been around for 30 years, but this will be the irst time in its history ireighters have been there full-time. A paging system, computers and other infor- mation technology projects are slated to begin in the near future. Supporters of the redis- tricting efforts argued ad- houses when they can afford a taxi ride, and if the com- munity could be as generous as it is to its youth, it could surely come up with a few thousand dollars to keep the taxi program from raising its prices. City councilors agreed with her. Doug Primmer and Manuel Gutierrez said they thought the city could ind the money in its budget to help cover Umatilla Cab Company’s increased costs without raising rates. “I think if the city can afford it, we should do it,” Gutierrez said. Morgan said the city had budgeted to start a Dial-a- Ride program, which would run fewer hours and require 24-hour notice, but would also be a less costly option to make sure people could get to their doctor and other regularly scheduled appoint- ments. He said the details were still being worked out but he believed they would be able to start offering the program starting Jan. 1, 2017 for one dollar per ride. City Manager Byron Smith said in the meantime he didn’t think one 25 cent increase in six years was un- reasonable. “The cost of this service keeps going up and I feel like it’s a fair ask to ask our riders to share some of that,” he said. City councilors disagreed, however, and voted unani- mously to keep the price at $2 per ride but increase the city’s subsidy from $4.35 per ride to $4.60. As part of that resolution the council also adopted a set of written policies governing expectations for riders and drivers who are a part of the senior and disabled ride pro- gram. Morgan said he worked with a committee of people involved with the program, including two regular riders, to come up with the rules to clear up confusion that had happened when Hermiston Transit Company went out of business and Umatilla Cab Company took over the program. “A lot of times we had folks doing things that were really unacceptable, but we didn’t have a written policy in place to manage that,” he said. The new policies make it clear that riders who are part of the program cannot bring people along to ride for free. A personal care attendant or child may ride for the price of an additional ticket, and all other guests must pay full fare. Taxi drivers will not drive to a person’s place of resi- dence for free to deliver a lost item, carry more than 25 pounds of groceries in one trip, wait outside a building for someone to complete an errand, go inside and search a facility for the passenger they are picking up, wait more than one minute for a passenger to show up, act as a moving company or serve as a personal care attendant for people not capable of completing their errands on their own. Three no-shows over a 12-month period will result in a suspension from the pro- gram. Morgan said the biggest complaint he hears about the taxi program is that it takes too long for a cab to arrive. He said the new policies will help drivers save time, allowing them to give more rides per day. Rider Dale Orem, who helped craft the policies, said he thought the policies were fair and would be glad to see shorter wait times after sometimes waiting 30 min- utes outside the grocery store to be picked up. “I can’t buy ice cream, for one thing,” he said. ditional staff members and updated equipment will help meet the demand of a growing population and work to shorten response times. STAFF PHOTO BY JADE MCDOWELL Chassiti James, left, and Jasmine Gatewood walk laps at the Hermiston Relay for Life. CANCER: continued from Page A1 Beyond supporting new cancer research, Relay for Life also provides an op- portunity for survivors, current cancer patients and caregivers to make new friends who under- stand what they are going through. Heidi Howard was at Relay for Life with her son and nephew for that very reason, after having a brain tumor removed about a year ago. She said it was her irst time at the event, and she was looking forward to under- standing what it was all about and meeting other local cancer survivors. “I love all of the sup- port for everyone,” she said. “I even noticed some co-workers here. ... My surgery was out of Seat- tle so I didn’t get to know many people around here.” This year’s grand mar- shals were Lou Ann and Bryan Wolfe. Lou Ann faced breast cancer a cou- ple of years ago after be- ing one of the Hermiston Relay for Life’s original co-chairs, and Bryan was diagnosed with Stage 4 mantle cell lymphoma, which can be treated but not cured, in August 2015. During the opening ceremonies Bryan said he was “new to this journey many of you have taken or are taking,” but said he was deeply grateful for the sacriices and research that had allowed him to continue to keep his can- cer at bay. “I’m looking forward to a lot of time left to come, a lot of memories,” he said. Lou Ann said she and her husband were learning to let things go that used to bother them, and to say no sometimes when they needed to. She said she was grateful to the sup- port and friendships that her involvement in Relay for Life had brought when it was her family’s turn to battle cancer. “There is always some- one out there who knows where you’ve been, who knows where you’re go- ing and can stand along- side you and tell you it’s going to be OK,” she said. She said that God’s grace had allowed them to continue to ind fulill- ment in life even when times got tough. “Our days are not al- ways illed with laughter, but they are illed with joy,” she said. “Joy is not dependent on sunny circumstances and good news.” Summer Gift s for everyone on your list! Put a smile on the heart with the power of flowers. HWY 395, HERMISTON 541-567-4305 Mon-Sat 8am-6pm • Sun 12pm-5am www.cottagefl owersonline.com Have a Safe 4th of July! 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