Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 17, 2018)
SPECIAL 2018 ELECTION EDITION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2018 HermistonHerald.com $1.00 INSIDE ON THE BALLOT HOMECOMING Hermiston High School celebrated Homecoming with a dance, football game, the crowning of royalty and more. PAGES A3, A9-11 DAVIS and GOMOLSKI CONNECTIONS A Project Connect event will offer free haircuts, dental exams and other services to veterans and the homeless. PAGE A4 face off for Hermiston City Council VOTING TIME Five measures will show up on Umatilla County ballots, as well as races for governor and the 2nd Congressional District. PAGES A6, A7 BY THE WAY Watkinds sells Columbia Court Club Two years after he had to shut down the Colum- bia Court Club in Herm- iston due to a fire, Steve Watkinds has sold the building and started a new business inspecting and selling fire extinguishers. Watkinds didn’t dis- close the buyer of the club at 80903 S. Highway 395, but said in the near future they should be announc- ing plans to renovate and reopen it as a fitness center once again. The building served for 38 years as a workout cen- ter, gymnasium, indoor track and Hermiston’s only indoor pool, until a fire broke out upstairs in the summer of 2016. The fire, thought to have been started by an electri- cal short in a power strip, charred the upper floor of the building and put holes in the ceiling that have since led to further water damage. Watkinds said he spent two years and thousands of dollars in legal fees See BTW, Page A12 STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Challenger Mark Gomolski answers a question as incumbent Hermiston city councilor Lori Davis looks on during the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce candidate forum Oct. 10 at BMCC in Hermiston. By JADE MCDOWELL STAFF WRITER H ermiston City Council candi- date Mark Gomolski thinks there are too many unanimous votes at council meetings. He used his opening statement during a candidate forum last Wednesday night to attack his opponent Lori Davis, say- ing she is part of a council where too many decisions seem to have been made before the meeting takes place. “When has she voiced opposition to anything the city council wants?” Gomolski asked. He later added, “She is just there to go along.” Davis didn’t directly address his crit- icism of her voting record, choosing instead to focus on her local roots (she grew up in Hermiston and raised a fam- ily there) and pointed to projects the city has completed in her time on the council since being elected in 2010. “It is exciting to see these goals become a reality,” she said. Gomolski, however, said he has been knocking on doors to campaign and no one seems to know who Davis is despite her two terms on the council. He said the public needs leadership from its coun- cilors, “not just someone who shows up to meetings.” He also accused the city council, including Davis, of already having their minds made up before meetings, and of making decisions “in executive sessions behind closed doors.” According to state law, councils can meet in a private executive session to discuss certain sensitive matters, such as litigation filed against them, but “No executive session may be held for the purpose of taking any final action or making any final decision.” Mayor David Drotzmann told the Hermiston Herald he was disappointed to hear Gomolski’s accusations and that he “absolutely disagrees” that the coun- cil is illegally making decisions outside of open meetings. He said if someone only shows up to a meeting once every six months then it might seem like a vote was “foreordained,” but big deci- sions have usually been discussed in depth at prior meetings and work ses- sions open to the public before the night they come up for a vote. Both candidates were asked the same set of questions on Wednesday at the Blue Mountain Community College campus in Hermiston, ranging from what the city’s biggest challenge is to what the city’s role should be in host- ing events. Davis answered most questions by listing past projects the city has com- See BALLOT, Page A12 Same battle lines in race for commissioner Murdock, Pullen square off for top county job By PHIL WRIGHT STAFF WRITER Umatilla County Commis- sioner George Murdock and chal- lenger Rick Pullen agreed the coun- ty’s election process could use some improvement. Otherwise, they took familiar roles last Wednesday night during a local candidates forum in front of about 40 people at Blue Mountain Community College, Hermiston. The candidates during the span of a half hour answered the same questions, ranging from their achievements to the county’s role in economic devel- opment to how to get state money to take on the mental health crisis. Both fell short of 50 percent of the vote during the May primary — Murdock took about 45 percent and Pullen 31 percent — and in the November run-off are staking similar ground as in their spring campaigns. Murdock said he was proud of his work managing the county’s bud- get. Umatilla County has a history of budget difficulties, but the county in recent years has been providing a stable level of services. Murdock said the county looks to maintain its programs and perhaps implement the sheriff’s long-term staffing plan that would result in coverage just shy of 24 hours each day. Pullen touted his 10 years of See RACE, Page A12 STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Umatilla County Commissioner challenger Rich Pullen gestures while raising a question to the audience as commissioner George Murdock looks on Oct. 10 at BMCC in Hermiston.
