The city of Pendleton planners, at the direction of the city manager to identify excess property, made the decision to return a very small piece of property at the bottom of Northwest Seventh Street back to the private sector in an effort to generate additional revenue with its sale and subsequent property taxes.

Rather than continuing the sale, the city council bowed to the pressure of a few North Hill residents, who proceeded to spend countless hours, city resources, and a $10,000 grant preparing a study on how they wished the city to manage the property along the north side of the Umatilla River.

When this project began, the council made it pretty clear that no financial support would be provided, but did approve the formation of a committee, volunteered the Parks and Recreation superintendent as an advisor, and subsequently added some administrative support. Though consistently touting the river and its walkway as a treasured asset of our community, maintenance along the riverbanks, both north and south, with the exception of the goats and occasionally emptying the trash, is nonexistent as evidenced by the abundance of dead and dying trees left after the recent floods. Even that new “must-have” walkway under the Eighth Street Bridge still has areas covered with sand and gravel from the high water in February.

Historically, North Hill residents have pretty much run the city, and that trend seems to continue. Although some would argue that point, just take a look at the makeup of our city government. Six of our eight city council members, as well as the mayor and city manager, reside on the north side of town.

With very little public support in the rest of the city, why do you suppose City Hall was so reluctant to stop this needless waste of resources at the beginning, and why is there now so much interest at City Hall in the management of the north bank of the Umatilla River — or is there?

Rick Rohde

Pendleton