Road warrior reflections
Longtime Malheur County road chief prepares to step down from post
By Larry Meyer
Argus Observer
Thursday, February 28, 2008 10:25 AM PST
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| Richard Moulton (left) new Malheur County road master, and Ken Freese, retiring road master, stand in the road department heavy equipment yard. Freese, who is finishing up his last few days with the county, said he enjoyed the work but finding money to operate the department has been a challenge. |
VALE — After a 31⁄2 year stint, Malheur County Road Master Ken Freese will step down from his post this week.
Freese, who also spent 28 years with the Oregon Department of Transportation Highway Division, has been busy, though, helping his replacement, Richard Moulton, prepare to take over the county road top slot Monday.
Moulton is no stranger to the department. He has worked for the Malheur County Road Department for 41⁄2 years as an equipment operator.
“It seemed like an opportunity to try something different, but stay in the same business — see some different roads,” Freese said about his switch from the state to the county.
“I’ve enjoyed it,” he said. “Any job you’re in has challenges.”
Freese said funding has been the biggest challenge for the department. Money resources were tight before he stepped into the slot, he said, and nothing changed during his tenure.
“Funding for almost anybody is a challenge anymore,” he said. “The biggest frustration is that the ends don’t meet anymore.”
The Malheur County Road Department maintains all county roads not included in any of the four road districts in the Ontario, Nyssa, Juntura and Ironside areas. The department is responsible for roads in the Vale, Willowcreek and Brogan areas, Annex, Harper, Big Bend, Ridgeview and southern Malheur County, totaling more than 1,000 miles.
While the largest amount of money comes from the state gas tax, Freese has said the amount the county receives is based on vehicle registrations. The registrations in Malheur County may not be going down, but they are going up much faster in western Oregon, so the county gets a smaller share of the overall pot of money. Moulton, 49, came to Malheur County from the John Day area, he said.
“I was raised in Dayville,” he said, graduating from high school in a class of eight.
“I worked road construction for about nine years,” Moulton said, commenting he became involved in building and construction in the Bend area. When asked why he sought the road master position, Moulton gave a short and to-the-point answer.
“Just the challenge,” he replied.
