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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (July 25, 2018)
WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2018 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3 NEWS Bounds no longer candidate for judge By JADE MCDOWELL STAFF WRITER Hermiston native Ryan Bounds will not become a judge on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell withdrew his nomi- nation shortly before a scheduled vote on Thursday. McConnell did not appear to have enough votes, according to national media outlets, after Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina expressed reservations. Bounds’ nomina- tion had come under fire after the lib- Ryan eral advocacy group Bounds Alliance for Justice brought to light col- lege writings from the Stanford Review in the mid-1990s, when he criticized student groups for eth- nic minorities, mocked the idea of “sensitivity” after a gay pride statue was vandalized and argued that universities should not dis- cipline students accused of sex- ual assault unless it was proven “beyond a reasonable doubt.” After the Alliance for Justice report Bounds apologized for the “overheated” writings and said they did not represent the views he held as a grown-up. But Demo- cratic senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley declined to return a “blue slip” of approval customary from home-state senators and took to the Senate floor last week to speak out against Bounds’ nomination. Bounds, who graduated from Hermiston High School, drew local support and endorsements when he was nominated. Mayor David Drotzmann said in an email Thursday night that it was “unfor- tunate” to hear Bounds was being pulled from consideration as a “victim of the ugly, partisan poli- tics” in Washington, D.C. “The senate had an opportunity to appoint a good person to the 9th circuit with a long history of great, and moderate decisions,” he wrote. “Hermistonians and all Orego- nians lost today. A circuit court jus- tice should be able to interpret the spirit of the law that best respects the points of view of ALL people in that region. Mr Bounds would have done that fairly and honestly.” HERMISTON City may loosen rules for food trucks Extra licenses, food pod approval headed for council vote Aug. 13 By JADE MCDOWELL STAFF WRITER City staff are drawing up changes to the city’s mobile vending rules and looking at options for a food truck pod after the Hermiston City Council decided it’s time to allow more food trucks in town. The council directed staff to bring back an updated ordinance for a vote at the next meeting that would increase the number of licenses for mobile ven- dors from the current cap of three. The number of basic year-long licenses available would be raised to six, with an option to appeal to the city council for an additional license if the six are already in use. The city would also add temporary 90-day licenses, which would be available for food trucks but also allow for push-cart operations like a hot dog stand. And city plan- ner Clint Spencer said the license cap would not apply to public property, meaning a food truck “pod” (a gath- ering of mobile vendors in one place) on city property would not count toward the license maximum. “We’ve had people express interest,” Spencer said of the pod idea. He said staff were look- ing at the city-owned lot on Orchard Avenue across from the post office for a possible pod, and would like to put out a request for proposals to have a third party manage the pod instead of the city, similar to how Mitco Invest- ments is running the farm- er’s market this year. Mayor David Drotzmann said he liked that idea, so that people could bring in some different business plans for the council to consider. “We’re flexible, if it’s reasonable and affordable,” he said. The recommendations were based on the results of an online survey that had more than 900 responses. Eighty-six percent of respondents were in favor of increasing the number of mobile food vendor licenses, and even higher percentages of people were in favor of the other suggested changes. Water tower financing On Monday the city council only had four of its eight members present, plus the mayor, which gave the council enough of a quorum to conduct some business but not enough to pass an ordinance. Two ordinances on the agenda — a new noise ordinance and an ordinance regulating accessory dwell- ings — were tabled until the council’s next meeting on Aug. 13. The council was able to authorize the mayor and city manager to sign a $4.5 mil- lion loan, however. The funds will be used to build a 1 million gallon water storage tank north- east of town off Punkin Cen- ter and add approximately two miles of transmission mains. According to infor- STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Alex Benitez (left) and Javier Diaz fill orders in a Tacos Xavi food cart on in Butte Park during the Fourth of July Celebration in Hermiston. mation provided by the city, the project will increase the city’s water storage capac- ity by 25 percent and make housing development more affordable on more than 300 acres of developable resi- dential land. Assistant city man- ager Mark Morgan said the 15-year loan will be paid off much earlier than 15 years because the city and Uma- tilla County have pledged to each contribute their $500,000-per-year pay- ments in lieu of taxes from Lamb Weston’s expansion (which should start in 2019). The county will contrib- uted $2 million over four years under that plan and the city will cover all expenses beyond that, estimated at about $2.5 million. County commissioner George Murdock couldn’t make the meeting due to illness but expressed in an email to the East Oregonian that the county was “solidly behind the project” that will use Lamb Weston funds to promote economic devel- opment in the community where the food processor is expanding. “Both the City and the County clearly identified housing as the major issue, which is why we were able to forge an agreement that as we see it will begin with infrastructure and capacity and then lead to hundreds of new homes,” he wrote. Councilor resignation One absence on the council dais Monday was a reflection of the resigna- tion of councilor Clara Beas Fitzgerald, who submitted a letter of resignation earlier this month. She stated in her letter that she had become overwhelmed with her duties, including a full-time job, various committees and caring for an ailing family member, and decided to step back early from the council to make way for someone who could give the position more of their time. The council voted to accept her resignation, and Drotzmann said he knew that Beas Fitzgerald would continue to represent the city of Hermiston well on other committees she is on, including the Oregon Com- mission for Women. “We’re always sad to lose a city council member that has been a good, hard worker for the city,” he said. City manager Byron Smith said usually the coun- cil would take applications for two weeks and then have a committee review them before choosing someone to fulfill the remainder of the term. However, in this case there are only about five months left in the term, and voters already chose Roy Barron to fill the seat for the new term starting Jan. 1. As a result, he suggested voting to suspend the council rules and name Barron to fill the remainder of the year. Councilor John Kirwan said he wasn’t comfort- able suspending the council rules with so many council- ors absent, and the council agreed to hold off on a vote until the next meeting. Smith said he had met with Barron and Barron had said he was willing to fill the seat early. The two had another meeting set for Barron to take a tour of city facilities and get up to speed on city issues. City finances On Monday the council also listened to an informa- tional presentation by city finance director Mark Kraw- czyk about the 2017-2018 fiscal year, which ended June 30. He said the city had until the end of August to settle outstanding bills but not much should change. Krawczyk, who started with the city in December after former finance direc- tor Amy Palmer left, said he was extremely impressed with the city’s handling of its finances. “I would put our results at year end — regardless of size of operation — against anyone in the country,” he said. The city’s investments are performing well, it brought in more revenue than pro- jected and every department in the general fund spent under what was budgeted. “Everyone is under bud- get. Nobody is over that’s made up for by somebody that was under,” Kraw- czyk said, noting that was extremely rare for a city. “... That tells me we have an exceptional staff.” The general fund’s end- ing balance came to about $3.37 million — well above the $1.7 million minimum the city has set, despite the city shelling out hundreds of thousands of dollars extra in 2017-2018 toward the new senior center and for equip- ment at the Eastern Ore- gon Trade and Event Cen- ter. Smith said the city couldn’t afford to spend like that every year but had the money available to spend down some of the general fund this past year while still staying comfortably above the minimum reserve. ——— Contact Jade McDowell at jmcdowell@eastorego- nian.com or 541-564-4536. 5 Theater Cineplex Check wildhorseresort.com for showtimes $5 Matinee Classics Every Wednesday Credit & Debit Cards accepted Cineplex gift cards available 541-966-1850 Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216 MEDICAL DIRECTORY PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY Call Today! 541-289-5433 1060 W. 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URGENT CARE Sports & Dot Physicals • Minor Injuries • Family Care • Minor Surgeries We accept Medicare & some Advantage Medicare plans NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY HOURS: Mon.-Sat. 7:30am-7:00pm 541-567-1137 236 E. Newport, Hermiston (across from U.S. Bank) To advertise in the Medical Directory, please call: Jeanne at 541-564-4531 or Audra at 541-564-4538
