Dorran rocks the boat with his first vote
By Terry Murry on Thursday, January 7th, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – The first 2021 vote by the Umatilla County Board of Commissioners saw the newest member of the board voting no in opposition to the election of officers. The motion he opposed was to make George Murdock chairman and John Shafer vice chairman. Commissioner Dan Dorran of Hermiston took issue with that, expressing the belief that one officer should come from the west side of the county.
“It’s always been my feeling that that when you’re selecting board officers you don’t generally make somebody who’s attending their first meeting as a commissioner an officer,” Murdock said.
Murdock lives in Pendleton. Shafer recently moved to Pendleton from Athena, where he served as mayor. Murdock says the charter does not divide the county into districts, pointing out that theoretically, all three commissioners could come from Helix according to law. He said that the geographical divide in the county is not helpful to either side.
“We need to get past east vs. west or Hermiston vs. Pendleton and recognize that the charter calls for us to represent the whole county,” Murdock said. “That’s what we try to do.”
