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.