LOCAL
A12 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2019
Hermiston Marlette
employee retires
after 50 years
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
When Alex Garcia
started working at Mar-
lette Homes in Hermis-
ton, the Vietnam War was
in full swing and Rich-
ard Nixon had just been
elected president.
Garcia retired on May
6 after more than 50 years
at the manufactured home
plant. He started work
there on Nov. 7, 1968, at
age 21.
He started out installing
fl oors and during the ensu-
ing fi ve decades moved
through plumbing, insula-
tion, framing, painting and
welding.
“The only thing I hav-
en’t done is shingles,” he
said. “I’ve learned just
about everything else.”
Most recently he ran the
tool crib. His job included
keeping track of the facili-
ty’s tools, loaning them out
and repairing them.
Garcia said he has seen
plenty of changes in the
industry over the years,
down to the very tools used
to build the homes.
“We started with a ham-
mer and nails, and now we
use air tools,” he said.
Tom Shimp, produc-
tion manager and Garcia’s
supervisor, said Garcia will
be “very hard to replace.”
He described Garcia as
a “super great guy” with an
impressive work ethic and
attendance record.
“He’s one of those guys
who you don’t have to
manage his time, he man-
ages his own time,” Shimp
said.
He said Garcia was an
important part of the team
and will be greatly missed.
During a barbecue at
Marlette in Garcia’s honor
on May 6, Shimp pre-
sented him with a $500 gift
card to Ranch & Home and
told him that he was wel-
come to come back and
Alex Garcia retired this
week
from
Marlette
Homes after 50 years on
the job.
visit at any time.
Members of Garcia’s
family, who were also
present for the celebra-
tion, thanked the company
and said they had enjoyed
the decades of attending
company picnics and other
events.
General manager Glen
Alessandri said the staff
wanted to make sure Gar-
cia’s family was present
because he is a “family
man.”
He, too, said Garcia
would be missed.
“He’s quiet and unas-
suming — you would
never know he had been
here 50 years,” Alessandri
said.
Christina Mendoza, one
of the many employees at
the barbecue, said Gar-
cia’s job in the tool crib
touched every department
and everyone at the Herm-
iston facility knew Garcia.
“He’s always nice and
always puts a smile on
my face,” Mendoza said.
“He’s just a good guy all
around. If you don’t know
who he is, you’re not going
to make it here.”
Garcia waved off most
of the attention at his sur-
prise party, saying there
wasn’t much to his longev-
ity there.
“I needed the work, I
got a good job and I stuck
to it,” he said.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
The Hermiston City Council approved a contract to resurface West Hermiston Avenue during the council meeting Monday
evening in Hermiston.
Council approves Hermiston Avenue project
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
The Hermiston city council
awarded a contract Monday for an
overlay of Hermiston Avenue.
Pioneer Construction will work
over the summer to resurface the road
between First Street and 10th Street,
with a full rebuild between First and
Third streets. The city has stipulated
the work must be complete by Aug. 2
so as not to interfere with the Umatilla
County Fair parade.
Pioneer Construction was the low
bidder at $597,787 — more than
$80,000 below engineers’ estimates.
During Monday’s council meeting
the council also cleaned up some lan-
guage in its Local Improvement Dis-
trict ordinance in order to comply with
state and federal law. The ordinance
allows the city or neighbors to initi-
ate projects such as sidewalks or street
paving and split the cost between
Umatilla County’s total proposed
budget exceeds $90 million
By PHIL WRIGHT
STAFF WRITER
Umatilla County’s bud-
get for the upcoming fi scal
year will crest $91 million,
an increase of almost $12.6
million from the ongoing
budget.
The county also plans
to boost its ranks of equiv-
alent full-time employees
from 311 to 324.
Robert Pahl, the coun-
ty’s chief fi nance offi cer,
explained revenue from
development deals, boosts
in certain state funds and
increases in capital spend-
ing and a larger beginning
balance contribute to the
total $91.3 million budget
proposal.
The general fund for
2019-20 approaches $32.4
million, a 9% rise, while
special reserve funds reach
$53.8 million, a jump of
almost 18%.
Law enforcement has
the largest share of the
county’s budget, with
the sheriff’s offi ce alone
accounting for nearly
$15.5 million. Pahl said
the county continues its
trend during recent bud-
get cycles of adding law
enforcement positions.
The sheriff’s offi ce is
getting two new deputies,
and the distinct attorney’s
offi ce gets a new position
to handle the state mandate
to record grand jury pro-
ceedings. The Community
Justice Department, which
includes parole and proba-
tion, is getting three new
positions.
Special reserve funds
will pay for 148.4 full-time
positions in the upcoming
fi scal year and the general
fund will pay for 175.6, a
combined increase of 13
positions. General fund
positions have been around
the 167 mark the past two
cycles.
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neighboring property owners.
Two residents voiced concerns
about the city’s ability to charge res-
idents for work and place a lien
on their property if they can’t pay
upfront. But councilors stated that the
city has always had that power and
is not interested in forcing unwanted
changes on neighborhoods. The city’s
last LID was in 2004, and councilors
stated that all of the projects in recent
memory were voluntarily initiated by
property owners.
On Monday the council also gave
needed approval for Umatilla County
to adopt McKinney Avenue as a
county road. The road had previously
been considered a public road but due
to an oversight was not offi cially a
city or county road. The designation
caused problems when the well-used
road behind Safeway developed a net-
work of wide, deep potholes and there
were questions about whose responsi-
bility it was to fi x them.
During Monday’s meeting parks
and recreation director Larry Fetter
gave councilors an update on River-
front Park, which was damaged by
heavy fl ooding in April.
The layers of silt have been
scraped from the parking lot and
trails and large piles of branches and
fallen trees have been carted away.
The work being done now is less vis-
ible, Fetter said, as they unbury and
in some cases replace the park’s sprin-
kler heads and fi x the damaged septic
system. He said they plan to turn the
collapsed section of asphalt trail into
gravel for now and then repair it next
time the city is doing a project involv-
ing asphalt.
Before Monday’s regular meet-
ing, city councilors participated in a
workshop as part of the city’s ongo-
ing work on a strategic plan for the
Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Cen-
ter. On Monday councilors discussed
pricing and marketing for the center.
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