Gilliam Co. Judge Patnode, Commissioner Wilkins sworn into office

Judge Cris Patnode and Commissioner Grant Wilkins were sworn in at the Gilliam County Courthouse on Monday. No guests or family members were present, likely because Judge Patnode and Commissioner Wilkins have been on the job for several months.

Cris Patnode was appointed to the position over six months ago by Governor Tina Kotek, following the recall election of former Gilliam County Judge Elizabeth Farrar. Commissioner Wilkins joined the court in August.

Patnode had served for more than twenty years as Justice of the Peace and won the primary election in May for Gilliam County Judge by a wide margin.

A native of Condon, Patnode graduated from Condon High School. But she also has roots in Arlington and sees an opportunity to unite the county around shared goals.

Here is a transcript of an interview with Judge Patnode following the swearing-in ceremony:

Times-Journal (TJ): Judge, first I'd like to offer our congratulations.

Judge Patnode: Thank you.

TJ: You've been on the job awhile now, so it's not new, but could you talk about the top things that are really you're honing in on and what goals and priorities you have for the coming years.

Judge Patnode: Well, we're having our town hall meetings, one in Condon in January, the other in February in Arlington, and I hope to glean information from the community. Fair Winds Consulting, which is Cori Mikkalo's company, will be facilitating those meetings, and I hope to glean information to make sure that our vision aligns with the community's vision. I can tell you we will have some community economic development activities coming up, definitely over the next year, there's some negotiations with the Leaning Juniper II which is AVANGRID on a SIP agreement on a repower. There will be negotiations with Waste Management on a the host fee agreement. The current agreement, I believe, has been in place for 10 years. So those will be significant, long lasting activities, and some other significant economic development activities coming up as well.

TJ: Fair Winds Consulting has been active on projects around the county, that seems to be a great resource and an opportunity to engage someone who is returning home to the area.

Judge Patnode: It is, and I think that she has a good rapport on both ends of the county, and I think she's trusted. I think it's important to have somebody who the community knows to help feel comfortable and safe in communications.

TJ: There's some potentially big things happening too, some that you can't talk about (because of a non-disclosure agreement), but some big potential for economic development and community infrastructure. Is there hope that, things like housing, childcare, some of those things that the previous court started or wanted to start, and the Port of Arlington started or wanted to start, are coming to reality – where the rubber is about to meet the road?

Judge Patnode: Yes, I agree with that. And I think economic development, housing and child care, community, broadband, all of that go hand in hand and has to be all developed for the greater good and for the future. We need to work with the cities because community development, child care, as well as housing, all involve the city and the county. So working in concert is going to be very important.

TJ: Talking about broadband, this is a big issue. The amount of money the previous court was looking at spending for countywide fiber was close to $35 million. Do you think that this Court and yourself are interested in pursuing that path, or is it likely that another technology will come along and give residents another option that is cheaper for the county?

Judge Patnode: So we're currently in a study through BTAP. We're doing a study currently that is north and rural fiber. Rally Network is servicing south and rural, but only to the driveway in some homes. So we're going to need to address connectivity in South rural county at at some point. And one of my thoughts on that is to create a plan with certain areas. What's it going to cost to do, for example, maybe the Mayville area, or the County Court has put in place poll set agreements with Columbia Basin as well as Pacific Power. We're just about ready to finalize the poll agreement for Pacific Power, which will put us in a great position for the BEAD funding (Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program)

through Business Oregon. So we're excited about that possibility. There's two things at play. We have the BEAD funding in North rural county, so that is a Columbia Basin as well as Pacific Power, but South rural county will be Columbia Basin. Columbia Basin's agreements are already in place. This will be aerial fiber, from Rally Network. Getting them to take (fiber) to the driveway is significant as far as cost goes, but it affected the ability to apply for the entire BEAD funding for all of rural Gillam County.

TJ: So getting something from the driveway to the residence, like a line of sight signal if there's our cluster of homes, in places like Mayville, Lonerock, or Mikkalo. Is that right?

Judge Patnode: We'd have to study the feasibility of the cost. Let's just say there's one home that may be very hard to reach. Is it going to be economically feasible to to connect that that home? One school of thought of it, it's like a utility. It's like electricity would be. Another school of thought is, it's a choice whether a person would want that. Because now we do have Starlink. Now, I'm still a layman on this, but I'm told that fiber is still the best technology, and it will continue to be.

TJ: Right, that it's needed as a backbone, like the redundant lines for electricity, right?

Judge Patnode: Yes, I believe that's right. So there may be some wireless in there. We're just going to have to find out. We're gonna have to make sure that we have studies in place, the proper people doing those studies, to make sure that we have a plan for all of Gilliam County. So, I support what our prior Court did, as far as that vision. And also, going through COVID and living in rural county and seeing how dependent we are on (the internet), I basically had to go to town to use internet at that point. That was before we had Starlink.

TJ: Can you talk a little bit about the importance of schools? The court invested in the housing projec the Arlington school. Just talk about a little bit about, how do you see the court continuing to support schools? I know each year, both of them apply for for grant funds – how important is it to see the schools at both ends do well?

Judge Patnode: Yes, we have to take the lead and work with them, to see what their ideas are and their vision and be sure that they align with Gillam County's. I think having meetings with both superintendents ahead of time to find out what's going on, what's working, what upcoming projects they have, so that we're prepared for what they may bring forth.

TJ: Is that solely for grant applications? Do you see grant funding as the primary way of supporting them?

Judge Patnode: I'm one member of the County Court. I think that grant funding has worked really well county wide over time. From what I've gleaned, it appears that the original model, the North and South end Special Projects Grant, ended up being expanded into what we have now, with a use of the SIP funds (Strategic Investment Program). So as long as that continues and we have a funding stream, I'm in support continuing that funding to the schools.

TJ: Can you talk about the county's partnership with the Port of Arlington. They've obviously come a very long way in the last two years and have strong leadership and a proactive board. Do you see the Port of Arlington as an economic development arm of the county, or at least a strong partner for county economic development projects?

Judge Patnode: I believe they are. I do think that Cori Mikkalo, through Fair Winds Consulting, assisted the Port of Arlington with their strategic plan. So, we would have to look at that. I haven't studied it myself, but since they're a separate entity, it would be whatever their goals and strategies include as long as they align with Gillam County's. We are definitely community partners.

TJ: Last question, and I know it's probably a bit hard to talk about in some ways. The Greater Idaho Movement – Voters in Sherman County voted to consider it, later voters approved it in Wheeler County. I'm sure that they're knocking on the door in Gilliam County, right?

Judge Patnode: I haven't heard anything yet, so I haven't dug into that at all. I just am not prepared to comment, because over the last six months, there's been a lot of work done just to get our feet under us, and this is just one that hasn't emerged over the prior six months. But I will be willing to listen, as I said, whoever comes to us, but we're a body that makes decisions together, and we would need to make that decision once we have an approach that's informed by the people in Gilliam County.