HERMISTON â The Hermiston City Council will hear a proposal during its Monday, May 10, meeting to help get local restaurants back on their feet. Instead of a straightforward grant, the program would use gift certificates paid for by the city. The idea is to not only provide cash directly from the city, but also to provide people incentive to return to eating at restaurants, likely bringing more paying customers with them when they do. According to the proposal by Assistant City Manager Mark Morgan, the city already did something similar with Hermiston Cinemas and Desert Lanes Family Fun Center last year. The city had partnered with Umatilla County to offer cash grants to small businesses affected by the pandemic, and when fewer than expected applied, they used some of the extra money to purchase large quantities of gift certificates from the movie theater and bowling alley.