A12 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
ELECTION:
continued from Page A1
IRRIGON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT JOINS CITY COUNCIL
the ring and I hope you
keep being involved,”
Drotzmann said.
“I promise I will,”
Gomolski replied.
Gutierrez
thanked
Gomolski as well, saying
the tight race encouraged
the councilors to really
get out in the community
and campaign.
Voters may have had
interesting
down-bal-
lot races to consider last
week, but discontent with
America’s choices for
presidential candidates
was evident in a rise in
third-party votes, write-
ins and voters who turned
in a ballot with the presi-
dential section blank.
Umatilla County was
no exception. More than
10 percent of voters
chose a third-party can-
didate or wrote in a name
instead of choosing the
Democratic or Repub-
lican nominee. Another
two percent left the sec-
tion blank.
In 2012, when voters
faced a choice between
Republican Mitt Rom-
ney and a second term
under Barack Obama,
only three and a half per-
cent of Umatilla County
voters chose a third-par-
ty or write-in option and
less than one percent left
the section blank.
The choice to not sup-
port a major-party nomi-
nee seemed to hurt Clin-
ton the most.
Sixty two percent of
Umatilla County voters
chose the Republican
nominee in both 2012
and 2016, but only 28
percent of voters chose
Clinton compared to 34
percent who voted for
Obama.
———
Contact Jade Mc-
Dowell at 541-564-
4536.
High school senior
elected to position
BUS:
He said the city has sur-
veyed taxi ticket riders the
past three years and has
discovered that more than
half of their rides take place
in the afternoon, and two
thirds of rides are either to
Wal-Mart or Good Shep-
herd Medical Center.
Morgan said one in five
Hermiston residents live in
a “food desert” at least one
mile away from a grocery
store, and those people are
disproportionately Hispan-
ic residents living on the
continued from Page A1
“This is a great start,”
city councilor Rod Hardin
said. “It’s something that’s
been needed here for years.”
The city expects to
spend $125,000 on the
first six months to get the
system up and running,
then apply for federal 5311
transportation funding that
CTUIR planning director
J.D. Tovey told the council
he doesn’t “see any reason”
would be withheld. If those
funds come in and other
projections hold true the
city expects to spend an es-
timated $150,000 per year
to subsidize both the bus
system and the city’s taxi
ticket program for senior
and disabled residents.
Mayor David Drotz-
mann said fiscal conserva-
tives might question why
the city would not charge
for bus rides. But Tovey
said Kayak Public Transit
currently has a ridership
of 80,000 per year and has
calculated that it would not
be cost-effective to charge
riders until it hit 250,000
per year due to the rules of
the tribal transit grant that
funds the majority of the
system.
“Any income we take in
counts against that grant,”
he said.
He said routes and
schedules will be found
on the CTUIR’s website
for now, but they are also
working on a separate web-
site and a mobile app that
would allow riders to use
GPS to track where the bus
is and when it will next ar-
rive at a stop.
Assistant city manager
Mark Morgan said the city
would love to add more
hours to the bus schedule
but for now this is what it
can afford. He said some
people had questioned
why the route did not start
earlier or end later to ac-
commodate the work day,
but pointed out that many
Hermiston residents with-
out cars do shift work. The
Wal-Mart Distribution Cen-
ter, Hermiston’s largest em-
ployer, runs shifts from 5
a.m. to 3 p.m. and 3 p.m. to
1 a.m. for example.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2016
FROM PAGE A1
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Staff Writer
Marlina Avila Serratos
had no choice but to grow up
quickly.
Born in Hermiston and
raised in Irrigon, Avila Ser-
ratos was 12 years old when
her mother was deported to
Mexico. Her father, Juvenal
Avila De La Paz, worked
long days as a farm laborer,
which left Avila Serratos in
charge of cooking, cleaning
and taking care of her 9-year-
old sister after school.
Now 18, Avila Serratos
said her abbreviated child-
hood gave her a strong sense
of independence and matu-
rity. It has served her well at
Irrigon Junior-Senior High
School, where she joined
the National Honor Society,
Key Club and started her
own group to help first-gen-
eration college students
learn about financial aid
and resources. Avila Serra-
tos also works two jobs, at
Oregon Potato Company in
Boardman and Washington
State University’s GEAR
UP mentorship program.
After the Nov. 8 election,
her next challenge will be
representing her peers on
the Irrigon City Council.
“I can’t believe it. It’s
like my body’s numb,” said
Avila Serratos, reacting to
the news between classes at
IHS.
Avila Serratos is still a
senior at the high school
and is planning to become
a registered nurse. Winning
a seat on the council came
as a surprise, she said, but is
something where she feels
she can make a positive dif-
ference.
“I want (Irrigon) to be a
place where people said it
grew so fast, and became a
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Irrigon High School senior Marlina Avila Serratos won a seat on the Irrigon City Council and will be sworn in to her new
position in January.
place where people could
bring their kids,” Avila Serra-
tos said.
Out of four council seats
up for election, four can-
didates — including Avila
Serratos — ran on the ballot,
meaning she was essentially
unopposed. Incumbent May-
or Sam Heath, councilor Dar-
en Strong and councilor Ken
Matlack were also re-elected.
Avila Serratos will fill the po-
sition vacant since Christine
Sorenson died in January.
Councilors are elected to
four-year terms. Avila Serra-
tos will be sworn in at her first
meeting on Jan. 17.
“To me, it’s going to be
scary,” she said with a ner-
vous smile.
Avila Serratos said she
openly wondered whether
she would be able to with-
stand the pressure of the job.
But her father encouraged her
to use her voice as a young
Hispanic woman to speak for
those in the community who
can’t speak for themselves.
According to the 2010
census, nearly a third of Irri-
gon’s population is Hispanic
or Latino. The town currently
has 1,826 residents.
Don Eppenbach, who
served as Irrigon’s mayor for
18 years during the 1970s,
’80s and early ’90s, said he
can’t recall another Hispanic
councilor having served the
city. Barb Huwe, longtime
community volunteer and
businesswoman, said she was
glad to hear Avila Serratos
will be joining the council.
“We need the Hispanic
culture to get involved here
in Irrigon,” Huwe said. “We
need to get them out to help
our city grow.”
Avila Serratos said she
became interested in apply-
ing for the position earlier
this year, while helping her
dad move their mobile home
from one property to another.
They made numerous trips
together to City Call, where
she met and became friends
with Aaron Palmquist, the
city manager.
It was Palmquist who in-
troduced her to the concept of
city government.
“I thought, maybe it’s time
for a change,” Avila Serratos
said. “I’ve been told, ‘Maybe
you were meant to do this.’”
Palmquist said he is look-
ing forward to working with
Avila Serratos and believes
she will bring new ideas to
the council.
“From my perspective,
she’s going to bring some
freshness coming from a
younger generation,” he said.
“She also has connections to
the Hispanic community. We
look forward to that.”
Avila Serratos isn’t the
only young newcomer to
city government in Morrow
County.
Cody High, 31, was also
elected mayor of Heppner on
Tuesday, defeating incum-
bent Skip Matthews.
High, who works as the as-
sistant manager at Heppner’s
only bar, Bucknum’s, said he
hopes to turn the city into a
more suitable place for young
people to work and live.
“If we want younger peo-
ple to stay in our towns, they
have to have a personal stake
in it,” High told the East Or-
egonian.
Avila Serratos said Irrigon
could appeal to more families
if they focus on improving
their schools and creating
more community events that
get young people active and
engaged.
The job will not be easy.
But Avila Serratos, who still
visits her mother and sisters in
Mexico, said she has received
some sound advice.
“Nothing is impossible.
You can do it. Don’t let any-
thing hold you back,” she
said.
———
Contact George Plaven at
541-966-0825.
west side of town. The bus
system can help them get to
the store without carrying
groceries more than a mile.
Councilors and the may-
or said they were excited to
see the system finally come
to fruition after years of
work. Doug Primmer said
gathering input from the
community and working
with the transit advisory
committee that put together
the recommendation was
“the best process I’ve ever
been involved with.”
“Where else are you go-
ing to get this much bang
for this much buck?” he
asked.
The council voted unan-
imously to approve the
contract with the CTUIR. A
survey asking for opinions
on names for the new bus
system is still open at www.
hermiston.or.us until Nov.
28.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at 541-564-4536.
When they say “Close game!”
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405 N. 1st St., Suite #107,
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