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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2018 ܂ SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK Children’s choir ready to find its voice New director ‘pumped’ to bring musical excitement Christena Brooks Special to Salem Statesman Journal USA TODAY NETWORK Over the last decade, Silverton’s new children’s choir director, Julia Fabrizio has taught music in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Central America. One thing is the same wherever she goes. “It’s that look a child has in their eyes when they’re excited to be singing,” she said. “There is this beautiful glow in their eyes. It’s not like Christmas morning or when they get a birthday present. It’s something from inside themselves that is priceless.” Fabrizio said she’s “pumped” to bring musical excitement to the children of Silverton at the city’s first community children’s choir, starting Oct. 11. Hired this fall by Silverton Friends of Music, she’ll lead weekly rehearsals for local kids, from kindergartners through Julia eighth-graders. Fabrizio All kids are invited to participate in the choir’s fall semester, which starts now and culmi- nates in a holiday concert on Dec. 15. The cost is $100 per child, $50 for those who receive free and reduced lunch at school, or free for anyone qualifying for a full scholarship. “We want to bring the community together with music,” said Silverton Friends of Music president Sa- rah Weitzman. “Julia has traveled around the world, so she has lots of experience will all sorts of different mu- sic. The choir will be a really cool way for kids to learn to work together, to have proper stage skills and to pro- ject their voices.” Since incorporating in 2016, Silverton Friends of Music has focused on advocating for music instruction during the school day. Some Silver Falls schools don’t offer any formal music classes, while most offer less than the recommended one-hour-per-week by the Oregon Music Education Association. “We’re still very much focused on advocacy and wanting to have the district bring music back to the majority of schools,” Weitzman said. “That said, we see the demand for this kind of after-school musical offering has intense interest. There’s a need, and we have the capability to do this as a nonprofit.” This summer, the group also brought weekly con- certs to Old Mill Park as part of its Music Mondays se- ries. At the same time, Weitzman and Silverton Friends of Music’s four other board members began hearing from parents wishing Silverton had its own See CHOIR, Page 2A Marion Co. joins lawsuit Burgess, Willis battle on Detroit Dam project for county commission It’s name recognition vs. financial backing Bill Poehler Salem Statesman Journal USA TODAY NETWORK Marion County will join a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ plans to drain Detroit Lake to build a cooling tower. U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS Agency wants to drain lake to build cooling tower Bill Poehler Salem Statesman Journal USA TODAY NETWORK A federal magistrate has allowed Marion County to join in a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ plans to drain Detroit Laketo build a cool- ing tower. The City of Salem previously filed a similar motion on June 25 and was accepted on July 30. “We are technically a defendant, but not necessar- ily a co-defendant with the U.S. Army,” Marion Coun- ty public information officer Jolene Kelley said. Mar- ion County filed the motion in U.S. District Court of Oregon on Sept. 6 and it was approved Sept. 25. The plaintiffs are Northwest Environmental, Wil- dearth Guardians and Native Fish Society. Among the construction alternatives the Corps has presented is drawing down the water level at Detroit Lake to 1,310 feet above sea level for a period of one or three years to build a water cooling tower. In the drought of 2015, Detroit Lake dropped to 1,425 feet, its lowest summertime level in history, and much of the economy of the region suffered. “You don’t factor the human need as the No. 1 need,” Marion County Commissioner Sam Brentano said at a Detroit project presentation in August. “Factor in your costs the injunctions because we’re going to do every- thing possible to stop you.” An estimate by Marion County Economic Develop- ment Coordinator Tom Hogue says 70 percent of jobs in the Detroit Lake area are recreation based and could lead to $11 million in loss in those industries an- nually. The Corps is performing the project to correct wa- ter temperatures in the North Santiam River and aid fish passage as part of a legal agreement reached in 2008. As part of that Biological Opinion, the Corps must modify dams in the Willamette Basin to improve habi- tat for salmon and steelhead and allow the species to return to the habitat they occupied before the dams were built. There is another lawsuit involving National Marine See DETROIT DAM, Page 2A County worker claims sex discrimination A Marion County employee has accused a supervi- sor of sexual discrimination, saying he told her during a recent job interview her “biggest strength” was her “sexuality.” Union officials are calling for Marion County com- missioners to fire Public Works Operations Manager Don Newell. Medium Equipment Operator Jamie Namitz de- tailed her allegation against Newell at the Marion County Board of Commissioners’ meeting Oct. 3. Namitz went before commissioners after human resources officials investigated Newell and recom- mended firing him. He is still employed by the county. She told commissioners that she applied in August for an operations road supervisor position within the county. She got an interview. At the end of the job interview, Na- mitz asked her department manager, Newell, what he felt her strengths and weaknesses were in regards to the job she was seeking. Jamie “This is where the discrimination Namitz reared its ugly head,” she told commis- sioners. “He told me my biggest weak- ness was that he didn’t feel my crew would respect me as a supervisor. He didn’t want to have to tell them for two years why he would have given me this position. “And then, he proceeded to tell me my biggest See DISCRIMINATION, Page 3A Online at SilvertonAppeal.com Vol. 137, No. 42 News updates: ܂ Breaking news ܂ Get updates from the Silverton area Photos: ܂ Photo galleries Serving the Silverton Area Since 1880 A Unique Edition of the Statesman Journal 50 cents ©2018 Printed on recycled paper Bill Burgess has name recognition in Marion County; Colm Willis has the financial backing. Willis, a Republican, is a 32-year-old attorney from Stayton; Burgess, a Democrat, is the 67-year- old sitting Marion County Clerk from Salem. The candidates for seat No.2 of Marion County Commission to replace Janet Carlson, who is not running for re-election, in the Nov. 6 general elec- tion are playing to their strengths. Burgess, a pharmacist by trade, was Colm Willis on the Salem City Council from 1990 to 1998, and he previously ran for Marion County Commissioner in 1998, 2000 and 2002, winning the primary each time, but lost in the general election. He was elected Marion County Clerk in 2004 and has served in that position since 2005. “It, especially, is a lot like pharma- Bill Burgess cy,” Burgess said. “We’re very detail oriented. We’re very process oriented because we want to be active. We want the best for our patients. And this is the best for democracy and the best for the voters. “It was like I was meant for this work.” Burgess has two years remaining on his term as Marion County Clerk, but he welcomes the opportu- nity to help set policy for the county. Though Willis has never held public office, he learned in the political arena. After graduating from Boston College in 2008, he worked as a data analyst for economists on the U.S. Senate in the joint economic committee. “Just a really interesting experience,” Willis said. “But I didn’t feel comfortable with the decision of U.S. Congress to use U.S. tax dollars to bail out the largest banks and corporations who caused the downturn.” Willis returned to Oregon and took the position as political director for Oregon Right to Life – an anti- abortion group – and worked for that group while at- tending law school at Willamette University. In Willis’ first political race in 2016 for U.S. Con- gressional District 5, he lost to incumbent Kurt Schrader by 10 points, but carried 43 percent of the vote. For this campaign, Willis has raised $129,877 and has $1,401 cash on hand as of Oct. 4; Burgess’ cam- paign has raised $11,241 and has $5,727. Willis’ campaign has received individual dona- tions of $10,000 from Oregon Right to Life and Moun- tain West Investment Corp, each transaction nearly eclipsing the total amount Burgess’ campaign has raised. “I feel pretty confident about my campaign,” Willis said. “I’m grateful for the support that I’m getting. I feel like we have a good campaign plan and I think I’m going to win.” Though Burgess doesn’t have the financial re- sources to match Willis, he has name recognition from his decade-plus as Marion County Clerk. “Certainly I can’t run the same kind of campaign,” Burgess said. “My opponent can do mailings, big, mass mailings. They’re somewhat out of the ques- tion for me unless I get sponsors to do the mailings for me.” There are several issues the county commission- ers are facing now and will for years to come. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has proposed draining Detroit Lake to 1,310 feet – which is below the drought of 2015 – to build a cooling tower near See COMMISSION, Page 3A
