CDA representatives, including Greg Smith, are in DC
By Terry Murry on Monday, March 10th, 2025 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
UMATILLA COUNTY – Umatilla County Commissioner John Shafer, who is the vice chair of the Columbia Development Authority, says that the directors of the Port of Morrow and the Port of Umatilla along with CDA director Greg Smith and other officials are in Washington, D.C. this week in an attempt to explain why the Army’s Office of Defense Community Cooperation should not revoke its grant.
The ODCC had given the authority 10 days to respond to its decision that the CDA either return the grant in question or the office would force its return. Shafer said the CDA requested its 10 day deadline be extended to respond. The office gave it 15 days instead.
“Obviously, we don’t know the outcome because the 15-day extension isn’t up yet,” Shafer said. “We don’t know where that’s going to land.”
Shafer said the ODCC’s main concern as expressed in the original letter, is a raise that Smith said the CDA had approved when it appears that the authority had not voted on a raise. Another bone of contention are Smith’s time cards.
“Probably the biggest issue that they had was our executive director (Smith) was being paid from the Army and as a legislator for the same times he was working,” Shafer said. “They said back when this first started you promised us that our funds would not pay for him to be a state legislator.”
The grant is for a little less than $800,000. The money is to be used to bring the former Umatilla Chemical Weapons Depot up to par for economic development. That money is essential as the members of the CDA work to bring water and other infrastructure to that land. Shafer said if the federal government is left no option but to take away the grant, it creates a long-term problem.
“(They) said now we’re going to ask you to voluntarily submit to returning the grant or we’re going to remove it ourselves, and if we have to remove it ourselves, good luck getting more in the future,” Shafer paraphrased in ODCC’s rejection of the letter written by the Port of Morrow, which is the CDA’s fiscal agency. The members of the CDA represent Morrow and Umatilla counties, the ports of Morrow and Umatilla, and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.
Editor’s note: Oregon legislators work part time and Smith represents the 57th District in the House of Representatives. Commissioner Shafer talked in depth about the issue in the second section of the March 6 KUMA Coffee Hour. It can be accessed at https://omny.fm/shows/coffee-hour-podcast.
