The City of Milton-Freewater: "But We Did It!"
Quotes Courtesy of Linda Hall
Linda Hall’s deep gratitude for her adventure as City Manager is palpable as she reflects on her 16-year tenure. Born-and-raised in Milton-Freewater, Linda went away to college and got her degree in Organizational Psychology and Business Administration. She worked on the West side of the state after graduation, but was homesick for Eastern Oregon. Linda “came back at a time when job opportunities were not plentiful”, and she worked in Human Resources for one of the former canneries. She went on to become the Office Manager with Wilbur Ellis, doing all typical duties but also running the only Aqua Ammonia Converter in the state of Oregon, a “very very very dangerous process.” Eventually, a position came open for the Executive Secretary to the City Manager, the same position that her mother held for 26 years; she thought, “I’ll apply for this position for the experience, but will never get it due to the irony of my mom having the job and I got the job!” It was a life changing event for me!” She continued to work up through the ranks to Assistant City Manager, and the City Manager position came open. Linda threw her “hat in the ring” and became our City Manager!
Since then, Linda has held several values close as she navigates the road before us: transparency, financial stability, and the continued slow-but-sure rebuilding of our infrastructure. “Even through Covid and the economic crisis of 2007-2008, we remained solvent and didn’t dip into our reserves. We’ve never cut services, never raised the permanent tax base, and we’re operating on the same permanent fixed tax levy that we had in 1950. [Our taxes] are lower than Athena, Weston, Pendleton, and Hermiston. We have 24/7 emergency dispatch, police coverage, electric utility, water, solid waste, sewer, and landfill. We have an 18-hole golf course, an aquatic center, 60+ acres of parks, and we offer the best view of the Walla Walla Valley.”
Along the way, Linda has faced extraordinary challenges and received epic support from the community, “We’ve never been told ‘No’ by voters. When we have a problem, we as a city have an incredible reputation and track record for stepping up the plate. That means spending our own money, taxing ourselves, and putting our own work gloves on and getting dirty. We save ourselves in this town.” At one point, FEMA classified all of Milton-Freewater as a flood plain. “Businesses quit coming here, every citizen had to pay flood insurance. We had to repair and recertify the levy- a 3-year period of incredibly difficult tasks, burdens, and battles, but we did it!” Linda credits God, her high-functioning City Councilors, and the community of Milton-Freewater for all of her success. “My legacy will be: if it never happened before in the history of Milton-Freewater, it happened on my watch.”
Linda wants to speak about graffiti and gang tagging: “[Recently], we got hit, and we got hit hard.” True Value was broken into and 40+ cans of spray paint were stolen. Graffiti artists and taggers spent a couple of nights defacing buildings and homes all over Milton-Freewater, and even spray painted on top of one of MFCDA’s murals at Freewater Square. Despite security footage showing the perpetrators, they are unidentifiable in black clothes and ski masks. However, there are already several interventions underway: “We are going to do more plain clothes patrols (officers in plain clothes and unmarked vehicles). Interim Chief Shurtz and his Sergeant are organizing neighborhood watch groups. We can’t be everywhere with eyes on the town, and we need our citizen partners.” Linda encourages everyone to call the Police if they see anything even relatively suspicious, “Call in real time! You’re not bothering us! We need to catch them.” Additionally, the City of Milton-Freewater posts the security footage to their Facebook page, in hopes of identifying the perpetrators or seeking information about the incidences.
As Linda considers the near and distant future, she looks forward to “the new Police Station and Dispatch Center being completed in late Fall of this year; it will have a room that citizens can go into with an officer and have some privacy, and space for dispatch and training.” As vineyards move in, houses are built, families join the community, and our economic landscape changes, Linda would “like to see the next stage of growth for our utilities. They’re well-poised right not but we need a larger North Reservoir. We also need a deeper, bigger well for the South Hill.” With her foot on the gas and her focus on the future, Linda’s wisdom sings, “When bad things happen, you think this is the end of the world. When you trust in God and look back, you see all of these supports come out of the woodworks, and you’re a stronger community because of it.”
For more information, check out The City of Milton-Freewater website, or call (541) 938-5531
