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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 11, 2020)
WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2020 HermistonHerald.com EasternOregonMarketplace.com Meet the new council Hermiston City Council appoints Phillip Spicerkuhn to fi ll Ward IV seat after election By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR Three new faces will be joining the Hermiston City Council — two who won their seats in the Nov. 3, election and one appointed by the council on Nov. 9. The 2021 city council will be comprised of new- comers Phillip Spicerkuhn, Nancy Peterson and Maria Duron, along with incum- bents Rod Hardin, Doug Primmer, Jackie Myers, Roy Barron and Lori Davis. Mayor David Drotzmann was elected to another term in the May primaries. Incumbent David McCa- rthy will not be on the council in January, after coming in fi fth in the fi ve- way race for the council’s four at-large seats, and then being passed over by the council for appointment to a recently vacated seat rep- resenting Ward IV. During their Mon- day, Nov. 9, meeting, the city council interviewed Spicerkuhn and McCarthy for an interim appointment to the council seat repre- senting Ward IV that was recently vacated by Doug Smith. Because Smith had more than two years left in his term, a special election will be held in March 2021. Both McCarthy and Spicerkuhn told the coun- cil they intend to run in March, but from December to March, the council chose Spicerkuhn to hold the seat in a 4-1 vote. “Both of you guys are extremely impressive and it’s a really hard decision to make but I hope both of you do run for the spe- cial election and I think it’s great that both of you will now have council experi- ence as well,” Councilor Roy Barron told them. In his remarks to the council on Monday, Spicerkuhn said he has lived in Hermiston for 10 years now as an adult, but was also born in Hermiston and raised in Eastern Ore- gon. He is an attorney for Kuhn Law Offi ces, a past Lions Club president, on the board of directors for the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce and also a board member for Umatilla Mor- row Head Start. He said he brings a pas- sion for serving the com- Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald, File A voter places a ballot into a drop box in Hermiston on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. INSIDE For complete election results, see Page 10A Spicerkuhn Peterson Durón Hardin Primmer Barron Davis Myers “I DON’T RULE; I SERVE. I’VE NEVER VIEWED MYSELF IN ANY OTHER MANNER. I’M HERE TO SERVE THE PEOPLE AND I APPRECIATE THEIR TRUST IN ME.” Doug Primmer, Hermiston City Council member munity, leadership experi- ence and knowledge from his work at Kuhn Law Offi ces, which provides representation for several small cities in the area. “I feel that being a mem- ber on the city council is the next step in being able to serve the community of Hermiston and being a part of this community, helping guide it moving forward,” he said. Spicerkuhn will be sworn in during the coun- cil’s Dec. 14 meeting and immediately take his seat that night. Councilors elected in the recent elec- tion will also be sworn in on Dec. 14, but their term will not begin until Jan. 1. On Tuesday, Nov. 3, incumbent Doug Prim- mer was initially coming in fi rst in fi ve-way race for the council’s four at-large seats, but after the last votes trickled in ended up second with 20.66% of the vote. On election night, Prim- mer said he took his lead at the time as a sign that peo- ple trusted him to represent their interest on the council. “I don’t rule; I serve,” he said. “I’ve never viewed myself in any other manner. I’m here to serve the people and I appreciate their trust in me.” This will be Primmer’s third four-year term. He comes to the council from a background in law enforce- ment, and recently retired from a job with the Depart- ment of Corrections. When the last votes came in, newcomer Maria Duron ended up in fi rst with 20.88% of the vote. Duron, a family engagement spe- cialist for Hermiston School District and former Hermis- ton School Board member, said Tuesday night, Nov. 3, that she mostly wanted to thank God, her family, and everyone who supported her during her campaign. She described people who helped her launch a “dig- ital campaign” during the pandemic, put up yard signs and printed up fl yers for her to hand out. “It has been an incred- ible journey for me,” she said in a text message. In third place was another newcomer to the council, Nancy Peterson, with 19.66% of the vote. Notifi ed of the fi rst round of election results, the accessi- bility specialist for Colum- bia Basin College said she was thrilled to be doing so well. She said she thought See Council, Page A10 New CEO settling in at Good Shepherd By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR When Brian Sims, Good Shep- herd Health Care System’s new CEO, was 10 years old, he spent a lot of nights in the hospital. It wasn’t because he was sick, but because his single mother was a nurse at a small rural hospital in Arkansas, and she got permission to let him sleep there some nights. As he watched the hospital staff work, from doctors to cus- todial staff, he wondered if he would have what it took to work in health care. “I saw how all the folks came to work every single day and gave everything they had, and some- times left their hearts right on the INSIDE fl oor,” he said. After he left Arkansas he joined the Air Force instead, but Sims said he eventually ended up directing the recruitment of doc- tors, nurses and other medical professionals for the Air Force, which lent itself to transitioning to hospital administration once he left the service. In his most recent job as CEO of Lucas County Health Cen- ter in Chariton, Iowa, the hospi- tal was recognized nationally as a “Top 20 Critical Access Hospi- tal for Quality” by the National Rural Health Association. Sims said when he went to pick up the award, he met the recruiters that would end up convincing him to visit Good Shepherd and con- A3 Hermiston Energy Services to raise rates in January sider applying for position that longtime CEO Dennis Burke was leaving behind. “I said, ‘You know, I could actually see myself here,’” he said of his visit. Good Shepherd’s board named Sims as the health care system’s new president and chief executive offi cer in July, and he took over the role on Oct. 1. He said he has been greatly impressed with what he has seen in his fi rst month, including a recent drive-thru fl u shot clinic that resulted in more than 600 vaccinations in just a few hours. A hospital is just a building, Sims said, and it’s the people who make it what it is. He said he feels good about the people Good A6 Friends and family of Graciela Garcia hold a vigil to mark one year since her disappearance Shepherd has in place, and said his philosophy mirrors that of one of his heroes, American Air Force General Curtis LeMay: If you take care of the people, the peo- ple will take care of the mission. Sims said he’s still in the lis- tening stages of getting to know the hospital system now, so he doesn’t have a list of big changes he’s planning to immediately come in and make. “I’m sure over time some things are going to change, but it will be gradual,” he said, calling it an “evolution, not a revolution.” When people visit a hospi- tal or clinic it’s often because they’re worried or hurting, he See Sims, Page A10 A6 Dough Cookies opens a storefront in Hermiston Contributed Photo Brian Sims took over as CEO at Good Shepherd Health Care System in October. A11 Dan Dorran wins Umatilla County commissioner seat
