The city of Pendleton on Jan. 21, 2025, appointed defense attorney Craig Russell as pro tem judge to the municipal court. Russell, owner of Russell Law Group, LLC, and a former Umatilla County deputy district attorney, will serve in his judicial role as needed and when his schedule permits.  

PENDLETON — The Pendleton City Council looks to approve a booking policy for the city’s convention center and support the League of Oregon Cities’ recommendations for revising Measure 110.

The two items are part of the council’s consent agenda at its meeting Tuesday, Feb. 6, starting at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers at city hall, 500 SW Dorion Ave.

The council at a workshop Jan. 23 learned about the league’s policy recommendations to promote revisions in Measure 110 that would provide tools to prohibit public drug use and also provide penalties for the behavior.

“A Comprehensive Approach to Addressing Oregon’s Addiction and Community Livability Crisis” is four pages long and makes 11 proposals, including reclassifying drug possession as a Class A misdemeanor, creating a new A misdemeanor for using drugs in public to align with the law prohibiting public use of alcohol and marijuana, prioritizing funding for Oregon’s specialty courts and the establishing opioid overdose quick response teams.

The booking policy for the Pendleton Convention Center is an effort to avoid potential conflicts when two groups or more seek to reserve the center on the same dates.

Also on the consent agenda is the adoption of a $100,000 grant from the Oregon Department of Transportation’s to pay for shelter cleaning and inflationary costs for Elite Taxi’s contract renewal on July 24.

The grant is for two years and does not require matching funds. The council’s agenda states these are the last ODOT funds related to the pandemic the city can expect.

The council also is holding two public hearings.

The first is to seek input regarding the city’s proposed fee schedule.

Every year, the city reviews its schedule that establishes the rates for a variety of services. Each city department head reviews fees associated with their department and makes recommendations for change as appropriate.

Most fees have received a 3% increase, some departments have requested specific changes, but a few have remained unchanged.

The second hearing is on rezoning 1.26 acres off Goad Road from low density residential to light industrial to facilitate construction of the East End Water Booster Station that will serve the east side of Pendleton with water pressure enabling construction of housing.

The council will also hear several staff reports.