A14 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
ELECTIONS:
continued from Page A1
private sector providers to
the area and working with
state representatives to im-
prove laws and funding.
Manuel Gutierrez
Gutierrez is inishing his
irst full four-year term as
a city councilor (he previ-
ously served part of a term
before resigning in 2008
because he had planned to
move outside city limits).
He works as an advocate at
Domestic Violence Services
and represents the council
on city committees, includ-
ing the Hispanic Advisory
Committee.
Gutierrez said water has
been, and will continue to
be, one of his top priorities
for the city. Hermiston has
invested in new water infra-
structure in recent years and
helped secure legislation to
pull more water out of the
Columbia River for agricul-
ture, but he said it will be
important to stay vigilant on
the issue.
He also said the city
needs to focus on economic
development, particularly in
“bringing Main Street alive”
and being “aggressive” in
working to bring new busi-
nesses to the area through
initiatives such as tax breaks
and creating a city-owned
natural gas company.
Gutierrez said he sup-
ports the city’s planned
$1.5 million festival street,
connected to the new senior
center, as a means of bring-
ing more life to downtown.
Rod Hardin
Hardin, who serves
as principal of Hermis-
ton Christian School, irst
joined the city council in
1992 and is its longest-serv-
ing member.
He said he hopes to have
the opportunity for one
more term to see current
projects such as the new
bus route to completion,
and also to provide stabili-
ty and institutional memory
while Hermiston City Man-
ager Byron Smith, who just
inished his second year on
the job, continues to settle
in.
Hardin sits on the small
cities steering committee
for the National League of
Cities and said the position
gives him an opportunity
to visit and stay in con-
tact with other small cit-
ies around the country and
see how they are handling
similar issues as are facing
Hermiston.
Hardin said he has al-
ways been concerned with
making sure Hermiston’s
streets are properly main-
tained and hopes to contin-
ue to work toward the goal
of having no unpaved roads
in city limits.
Hardin also said urban
renewal, code enforcement,
transportation and inishing
the Eastern Oregon Trade
and Event Center are all
priorities for him.
center. He hopes to be
able to see those proj-
ects through.
Doug Primmer
Primmer said one
of his biggest goals
when joining the city
council four years ago
was to improve public
transportation, so he is
pleased to be help the
city plan a free ixed
bus route through town
in partnership with
Kayak Transit and the
Confederated Tribes
of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation that will
begin in 2017.
Primmer, who has
worked for the Depart-
ment of Corrections
for 27 years and is
also a reserve deputy
for the Umatilla Sher-
iff’s Department, also
pointed out that the
city council’s account-
ability has been much
improved during his
time on the council.
He said making sure
EOTEC is inished on
time needs to be a pri-
ority for the city in the
coming year, while also
preserving the Hermis-
ton Conference Center
as a public asset. He is
also anxious to see the
new senior center built
in 2017.
Primmer said he
works hard to listen to
citizens’ point of view,
gathering
feedback
through social media
and on the street, and
will continue to do so
if re-elected.
———
Contact Jade Mc-
Dowell at 541-564-
4536.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2016
FROM PAGE A1
POT SHOPS UP TO VOTERS
By ANTONIO SIERRA
Staff Writer
Two years after Umatilla
County voters rejected Mea-
sure 91 and marijuana legal-
ization, voters in Hermiston,
Pendleton and Milton-Free-
water will get a chance to
have their say on both medi-
cal and recreational marijua-
na sales in their communities.
Jim Moore, a political
science professor at Paciic
University, believes voters
here are to remain steadfast
in their opposition to retail
marijuana.
“It hasn’t really become
a part of the culture in the
same way as the local liquor
store,” he said.
The fact that many local
voters still aren’t personally
familiar with dispensaries
will work against the ref-
Other local issues
Local ballots for the November
election will include several other
issue local voters will be asked to
decide as well. Among them are:
• Measure 30-115: Umatilla School
District bond
Voters in the district will decide
whether to issue $10.5 million in
bonds to receive a $4 million state
grant for repairs, remodeling,
security updates and other
erendum’s passage, Moore
said. According to a study
by DHM Research, only 7
percent of people statewide
have purchased recreational
marijuana at a retail store.
Another factor that could
work against it is a lack of
campaign visibility — among
improvements to district facilities.
• Measure 30-121: West Umatilla
Mosquito Control
Voters in the district will be asked
whether to approve a 5-year local
option levy at a rate of 5 cents per
$1,000 of assessed valued to pay for
mosquito abatement programs at
current levels, do vehicle upgrades
and maintenance, maintain public
outreach/education programs and
increase surveillance for emerging
diseases, like Zika virus.
the dozens of communities
across the state with marijua-
na ballot issues, Moore said
it’s rare to see campaign signs
for or against it.
That’s certainly true of the
three local cities, where signs
for the Umatilla County sher-
iff’s race and council race
signs are ubiquitous while
marijuana-related signs are
virtually nonexistent.
Hermiston has one ques-
tion about the ban on med-
ical and recreational mari-
juana but does not include a
question on sales tax.
In addition to the state’s
25 percent tax, 10 percent of
which goes to local law en-
forcement in cities with legal
marijuana sales, voters can
impose their own local 3 per-
cent tax. Those dollars would
go straight to city coffers.
The November vote —
no matter the outcome —
won’t affect the legal status
of marijuana in any city. It
will still be legal to consume,
possess and grow marijuana
for personal use.
Ballots will start going
out to voters Oct. 19.
One week left to register to vote in Oregon
By JADE McDOWELL
Staff Writer
Oregonians have less
than a week left to make
sure they have a voice in
the November election.
The deadline to register
to vote or change your ad-
dress with the state is Tues-
day, Oct. 18. The state will
begin mailing out ballots
the next day.
Citizens can check to see
if they are already regis-
tered to vote, make changes
to their registration or reg-
ister to vote online at www.
oregonvotes.gov. They can
also ill out a paper form at
libraries, post ofices and
county elections ofices.
More than 230,000 Or-
egonians who have never
illed out a registration form
are still registered to vote
under Oregon’s new Mo-
tor Voter law, which auto-
matically registers eligible
citizens to vote when they
receive a driver’s license or
other form of identiication
from the Department of
Motor Vehicles.
The Secretary of State
has also registered voters
who visited the DMV in
2015 and 2014. As of Sept.
13, the state announced
232,181 new voters had
been added to the rolls
through the program, with a
goal of 250,000 by Election
Day.
Voters
automatically
signed up through the DMV
are mailed a card notifying
them of their registration
as a nonafiliated voter and
giving them the opportunity
to choose a political party
or opt out of the program.
Once ballots are mailed
out between Oct. 19-25,
voters have until 8 p.m. on
Tuesday, Nov. 8, to return
their ballots. Ballots that
are placed in the mail must
be received — not just post-
marked — by Nov. 8 and
must have proper postage.
For Umatilla County
residents who wish to drop
off their ballots in person,
this year’s election will be
easier than ever with the
addition of new drop sites,
which include Umatilla
City Hall, Stanield City
Hall, and Echo City Hall.
They join the drop-boxes
already established at plac-
es like Hermiston City Hall
and the rear parking lot of
the Umatilla County Court-
house in Pendleton. The
outdoor boxes are available
24 hours a day until 8 p.m.
on Election Day.
Contact Jade McDowell
at 541-564-4536.
John Kirwan
Kirwan is in his irst
term as city councilor, and
said in the nearly four years
he has sat on the council
the city’s transparency and
relationship with its citi-
zens has greatly improved.
Council meetings have
gone from 10 minute cur-
sory sit-downs where little
was discussed to meetings
that usually stretch over an
hour, he said, and there is
less discontent on the coun-
cil and in the city.
Kirwan said during that
time the city has completed
a long list of major proj-
ects, from rewriting the
city’s charter to creation of
the urban renewal district
downtown.
Now the city has formed
a committee to create a pri-
oritized list of needed cap-
ital improvements. Kirwan
said a major focus of his,
should he be re-elected, will
be making sure the city has
the infrastructure it needs
to keep up with its rapid
growth and attract new eco-
nomic development.
He said another big fo-
cus for the city council has
been improving Hermis-
ton’s livability through a
robust parks and recreation
department and investment
in projects like the senior
SN13461 Pasco
Jaycees
At Sacajawea Park
October 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22, 28, 29
Open from 7pm-11pm
• Admission $13 per person, 5 and under free
• Cash or Credit/Debit only
• Dress warmly and wear comfortable
walking shoes
• Parking is in the port of Pasco
• Proceeds benefi t local charities
More information at www.pascojaycees.org
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October
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