Union County Commissioner Donna Beverage reflects on eight years of serving Union County
By Garrett Christensen on Friday, December 13th, 2024 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
UNION COUNTY – After eight years of dedicated work as Union County Commissioner, Donna Beverage will officially be stepping down at the end of 2024. Looking back at all that she’s accomplished over the years, Donna herself wrote the following reflection:
(From Donna Beverage)
Reflection of the last 8 years as Union County Commissioner
When I was honored to be elected to serve the people of Union County in November of 2016, I made a promise to serve ALL of Union County and that has been my goal the last 8 years.
I keep this on my desk: “WORK HARD, WORK SMART, WORK TOGETHER”
One part of that was continuing to hold Mayor meetings so that the County and all of the Cities could communicate on what was important to us and to build relationships that could serve to help in times of need.
Another promise was to help retain and expand existing or new businesses.
Some goals that were met:
Buffalo Peak Golf Course– succeeded in working with Business Oregon and getting a fixed interest rate on the loan and revamping the business plan, helping to make it a destination in Union County and NE Oregon, which in turn helps our economy and our bottom line.
Baum Industrial Park-Worked with ODOT and Business Oregon to get it paved. Started with an empty Park and just received an offer on the last remaining lot.
Finished Grande Ronde Place-Based Water Planning-As one of four pilot planning -projects funded by OWRD, our group was the first to finish our plan and the only group to stay within budget. We are also the first group to receive recognition from the Oregon Water Resources Commission. We just finished a feasibility study and are working on implementing some of our plan.
Natural Resource Plan-Union County needed a Natural Resource Plan for Public Lands and after several years and many meetings, we now have one. It is very important in guiding us on when working with the Federal Government.
Economic Development-I put together a list of Business resources and held a Business Summit every other year to share those resources with businesses. I am still meeting monthly with other Economic entities in Union County. I also served on the Tourism and Union County Chamber boards, as well as the EO Worksource Board and NEODD,
Blue Mt. Forest Plan-I traveled to Wash DC many times with other Commissioners to meet with the Forest Service and have them come to Eastern Oregon and hold public meetings to become familiar with our concerns. It resulted in the plan being discarded. Work is now being done to put together a new plan.
Forest Management-Served on Public Land Committee and the Natural Resource Committee at the State (AOC) and National level. (NACO). Served as District Chair for AOC District 1
River Democracy Act-Worked very hard to stop the Wild & Scenic River Democracy Act which was being pushed forward without the steps needed to see if there was a need and at the hurt of those private and public taxpayers that would have to live with the consequences. Hopefully this fight will continue with the new commission and the Eastern Oregon County Association.
Search and Rescue Building-After many years of working with SAR to find a building, the City of La Grande worked to donate land, and the County helped them fund a building.
Weeds-As a member of the Tri-County Weed board, we worked to pass the weed levy twice to make sure we are working to eradicate weeds in our County.
Liaison to Cities-As the liaison to Cove, Union and North Powder I enjoyed building relationships with them and being of help when I could. I also stayed in touch with the other cities.
Veterans-Worked with all of the Veteran groups in Union County to support and thank them for their service. We have great services in our area and across NE Oregon.
Safe Communities Coalition-Worked with the Safe Communities Coalition to help keep our kids and adults educated about the dangers of drugs and alcohol.
4-H, Extension and OSU Experiment Station-Served on the Advisory Council for all three of these entities that serve Union County and all of Oregon.
Goals still working on:
State Water Data Portal-Working with State agencies to put together on site where all State
Agencies share any water date they have or don’t have. This will make it more assessable to the public and all agencies can use it to help save money and time on data that is already available and data that is needed. (There will be legislation presented this year to move this forward.)
SB2-Find more land suitable to be zoned Industrial and Commercial in the County. There is only a fraction that is Industrial and there is nothing zoned Commercial.
Thank you for letting me serve you for the last 8 years! It has been a pleasure!
