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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (March 15, 2017)
INSIDE SPORTS HERMISTON STORM BASKETBALL TEAM WINS THE CHAMPIONSHIP Hermiston Herald ld WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 2017 HermistonHerald.com $1.00 INSIDE THREE MINUTES WITH... MEET HERMISTON’S NEW CHOIR TEACHER JORDAN BEMROSE-RUST IN OUR WEEKLY PROFILE. PAGE A2 WHO’S IN CHARGE LEADERSHIP AND CONTROL OF THE EASTERN OREGON TRADE AND EVENT CENTER IS UNDER DISCUSSION IN SEVERAL MEETINGS. PAGE A6 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SEVERAL HERMISTON RESIDENTS OFFER THEIR SUPPORT TO SCHOOL DISTRICT’S BOND MEASURE ON THE MAY BALLOT. PAGE A9 PLAYER OF THE YEAR STAFF PHOTO BY JADE McDOWELL Sam Roberts, left, shows Umatilla residents a map where they can place stickers to indicate their favorite place in the community. Grad students gather feedback on Umatilla area revitalization UMATILLA’S KADEN WEBB EARNS PLAYER OF THE YEAR HONORS IN EASTERN OREGON LEAGUE. PAGE A10 BRIEFLY By JADE McDOWELL Staff Writer alking trails along the river, a mari- na and a nationally recognized robotics team were all strengths listed by Umatilla residents at an open house Friday night. The event, held at Umatilla High School, en- couraged residents to draw pictures, write on posters, put stickers on maps and add to a photo album to show what are their favorite things about Umatil- la. The information is being gathered by Portland State University graduate students who are writing a downtown revitalization plan for Umatilla as a fi - nal project. City councilor Mark Ribich “We’re working really hard to cre- ate a document by the community, for the com- munity,” PSU student Laura Voss said. “We have our own ideas, but we want to hear from people who live here.” “We are going to make changes to downtown one way or another, so we want it to be something the community wants.” See UMATILLA, A16 Plenty of elected positions vacant as fi ling deadline approaches Hermiston Herald STAFF PHOTO BY JADE McDOWELL Notes written by Umatilla residents make suggestions for what they want to see more of downtown. Citizens quiz school offi cials on proposed $104 million bond By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN Staff Writer Of those that attended Friday’s sessions about the proposed Hermis- ton school bond, many seemed to feel that the proposed changes are valid, while others are worried that tax in- creases are getting out of hand. The $104 million bond would re- place Rocky Heights and Highland Hills elementary schools, expand Hermiston High School and build a new school on district-owned proper- ty on Theater Lane. The bond would add 90 cents per $1,000 of assessed value to the $4.09 Hermiston resi- dents already pay in education taxes. Superintendent Fred Maiocco reminded voters that the tax will be shared as Hermiston continues to grow. “As new businesses are added to the tax rolls, there will be more peo- ple to help with the tax burden,” he said. The district is currently paying off two other bonds, one started in 2004 to fund the construction of Desert View Elementary School and one in 2008, which built new Sunset and West Park elementary schools and Armand Larive Middle School. That bond was $69.9 million, and will be paid off in 2029. Maiocco also said one of the rea- sons the district wanted to pursue the bond is to qualify for a matching grant, funded by the state of Oregon. “Oregon is one of the fi ve states without some kind of formal match- ing process,” he said. If the district gets the bond approved, they can then apply to receive $5.7 million from the matching grant program. Without the bond, they’ll be ineligible for that money. Several other area school districts, like Umatilla, Echo, Pilot Rock and Milton-Freewater, passed their bonds and received matching grants. Some in the audience were upset at the prospect of more taxes and asked why the district hadn’t thought of more creative solutions to some of the issues. “I haven’t seen any out-of-the-box thinking. It’s just spend, spend, tax, tax,” said Geri Weigum, a longtime Hermiston resident. “In my opinion, we’re not utilizing what we have.” Weigum said she wanted to see Hermiston look into a year-round school or four-day per week school calendar to make better use of district resources. “We’re being taxed to death,” she said. “I will not vote for it.” See BOND, A16 With hours remaining before the candidate fi ling deadline, several seats are available on school boards and taxing districts across Umatilla County. Out of the 124 seats up for election in May, nearly 40 percent have yet to draw a single candidate. Plenty more feature a single candi- date running unopposed. While many of seats without candidates are from small, rural fi re and ceme- tery districts, more promi- nent boards have vacancies as well. The position 3 seat on the Hermiston School Board — currently fi lled by board member Don Rankin — has drawn no candidates. Incumbents Jason Middle- ton, Bonnie Luisi and Karen Sherman have all fi led for their respective seats. The Blue Mountain Community College Board of Education Zone 5 seat, which represents Umatilla County, has no incumbent or candidate either. Incum- bents Bob Savage, Heidi Van Kirk, Kim Puzey and Tony Turner have fi led for re-election. The fi ling deadline to run for any of the elected po- sitions is Thursday, March 16. The election is May 16.
