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WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2020 HermistonHerald.com EasternOregonMarketplace.com 2020 ELECTION EDITION HERMISTON CITY COUNCIL Five candidates discuss city issues at forum MORE ANSWERS For candidates’ answers on how the city should deal with homelessness in the community, see page A12. For a video of the full fo- rum, visit the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce’s YouTube channel. By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR Ballots for the Nov. 3 election go out Oct. 14, and Hermiston residents got to hear from the fi ve can- didates running for four seats on the Hermiston City Council during a candidate forum hosted by the Herm- iston Chamber of Com- merce on Tuesday, Oct. 6. Topics ranged from encouraging more citizen participation to spending taxpayer money. Candi- dates answering questions were incumbents Rod Har- din, Doug Primmer and David McCarthy, and fi rst- time candidates Nancy Peterson and Maria Duron. Peterson, who is an accessibility specialist for the disability rights offi ce at Columbia Basin College, spoke throughout the night about how she believes her personal experiences, from a past as a single mother to three months of homeless- ness, will help her represent a wide variety of Hermiston residents. “As a full time job I work as an accessibly spe- cialist helping college stu- dents with disabilities have equal access to their edu- cations, so I spend a lot of time studying laws, mak- ing sure that their rights are respected, sometimes doing some creative problem solving, and also making sure that the school’s needs are met as well,” Peterson said. “And if if you think about it, that’s a lot of what government is. It’s taking care of the needs of the peo- ple, making sure the rules are being followed, and using what resources are available in creative ways, and I’m to that point where I feel like I can offer that to a broader community.” She said she wants to see Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald Candidates for the Hermiston City Council discuss the council’s duty in regard to city projects during a candidate forum at the Hermiston Community Center on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020. Primmer Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald Ron Hardin, a candidate for one of four open Hermiston City Council positions, speaks during a candidate forum at the Hermiston Community Center on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020. Hardin has been on the City Council for 28 years. the city ask the school dis- trict what it can do to sup- port the schools and see more solutions for afford- able housing needs. She said the city needs to “go where the diversity is” in the community and listen to residents from all differ- ent backgrounds and social groups. Duron, the other new- comer to the race, spoke of her past experience as a Hermiston School Board member and how past jobs have helped her work closely with the city, par- ticularly the Hispanic Advisory Committee. She described herself as a “hardworking Latina” and a “servant leader” who wants to help the city continue to grow. She also said she would like to work on more outreach to Spanish-speak- ing residents. Peterson Durón Duron said Hermiston’s growth comes with many challenges, from infra- structure needs to increased crime, and she wants to see the city study how other communities are handling those problems. She said she wants to encourage more citizen involvement in city council and commit- tee meetings. “A lot of the time we draw our own conclusions based on what someone else might have said said, but I think you have bet- ter understanding as to how they arrived at the decision when you get to hear their interaction and all the work that has been done behind the scenes,” she said. McCarthy, who was appointed to his seat on the McCarthy council in June, cited his service to the community in roles such as Kiwanis Club president. He said he is particularly passionate about education, and about expanding access to tech- nology. He said the city needs to start talking about what “going back to nor- mal” looks like after the pandemic. “One thing that shut- downs have taught us, and distance learning and Zoom meetings and live streaming, have all taught us is that we may have been very ill prepared for this, but we also didn’t ever expect this is some- thing we would have to prepare for,” he said. “We have to examine the effects if something like this were to come into place again. We have to fi nd ways of making things like that more accessible. We have to fi nd ways of making ser- vices more accessible to people.” When asked what he would do if the city had increased resources, he said he would like to see the city increase visibility and lighting around pedestrian crossings in town. Doug Primmer, who has served on the council since 2012, said he has a strong sense of justice and of pub- lic service developed over a career that has included working for the Depart- ment of Corrections, being a rescue diver and a reserve for the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Offi ce. When asked about the future of Hermiston, he said getting more water for agriculture and indus- try in the area is a key to the city’s future growth. He also said he wants to make sure the city continues to monitor its spending care- fully and attract new busi- ness growth to make sure it has available funding for future projects. “That’s the best thing we can do is to keep the money available to us and watch- ing how we spend it,” he said. “As opposed to just throwing money at prob- lems, we look at how prob- lems are solved and the best way to pay for that.” Rod Hardin, who has See Council, Page A15 Candidates makes their case for county commissioner By ALEX CASTLE STAFF WRITER ONLINE For the fi rst time this elec- tion cycle, candidates for Uma- tilla County commissioner met in person to make the case to voters this November during a candidate forum at the Hermiston Commu- nity Center on Tuesday, Oct. 6. Long-time county fair board member Dan Dorran, fi rst-place fi nisher in the May primary, and Three Percenter HollyJo Beers, who fi nished second, were also joined by Pat Maier, a Hermis- ton businesswoman who fi nished third but is running as a write-in candidate. The candidates offered differ- ent perspectives on the county’s response to COVID-19, their pri- orities for building a stable econ- omy, along with their ability to represent the county’s communi- ties of color. Beers and Maier each critiqued Umatilla County’s handling of the pandemic and the current com- missioners’ decision to follow mandates imposed by Gov. Kate INSIDE For a video of the full forum, vis- it youtube.com/watch?v=2tXh- 751jAs on the Hermiston Cham- ber of Commerce’s YouTube channel. Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald Candidates for the Umatilla County Board of Commissioners Pat Maier (from left), HollyJo Beers and Dan Dorran speak at a candidate forum at the Hermiston Community Center on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020. Brown. “I would have tried harder to help the small businesses and make things a little more open,” said Beers, who held a maskless protest outside the county court- house in Pendleton in August and A3 City council discusses Hermiston Energy Services rate increase spent the summer working on the most recent failed campaign to recall Brown. Maier argued that the county’s leadership was “wrong” and failed its Latino and Hispanic popula- tions by not communicating guide- A8 Second Amendment ordinance on the Nov. 3 ballot lines quickly enough in Spanish and “Mexican dialects” or funding agricultural workers to stay home when sick. While declining to criticize the county directly, Dorran said he would have liked greater commu- A10 Statewide candidates a mix of incumbents and newcomers nication and transparency from the beginning of the pandemic, and suggested forming a small economic recovery committee to assist the commissioners in prior- itizing next steps of recovery. All three candidates said the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Offi ce and the county’s public safety bud- get should be protected from any pandemic-necessitated cuts. Dor- ran also highlighted the need to protect the Umatilla County Public Health Department’s budget. “If we’re talking immediate shielding, I would protect that to make sure that we fl ow through these times that we’re in right now and come out on the other end,” Dorran said. See Commissioner, Page A15 A11 Umatilla County commis- sioners feel blindsided by vote on industrial property
