Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (March 8, 2011)
4 community bulletin board/letters to the editor march8 2011 UNWC Annual Meeting The Upper Nehalem Watershed Council’s (UNWC) Annual Meeting has been changed from March 12th to Saturday May 21, 10 AM- 2 PM The meeting is open to the public. UNWC will show the community what they have accomplished and what is planned for the future, explaining their goals, asking for community input, electing new Board Members and amending their Bylaws. VHS CRLE Presentations Senior Career Related Learning Experience (CRLE) presentations are on Wednesday, March 30, 2011. Times to be announced but working schedule is: Senior arena style presentations in the ‘Logger Dome’ are from 9:00-11:00. Public invited. Speeches are at 7:00 PM with students arriving at 6:30 and judges at 6:00 (Student displays will be available for judges to view starting at 5:30). Anyone interested in being a judge contact Rachel Wilcoxen or Dana Hyde at 503.429.3521 or email dhyde@vernonia. k12.or.us, or rwilcoxen@vernonia.k12. or.us Craft Class Scheduled at Vernonia Florist Crochet 101 Susan Mullikin will teach beginners the basics of crochet. You will leave the first class with enough knowledge to crochet a simple project. The three remaining sessions will be adding to your skill with a completed project in the end. Thurs 7-8:30 PM $10 For Intro Session $5 for each additional Session Knitting 101 Kaitlyn Taylor is teaching the basic knitting with the end result being the knowledge you always wanted to knit many different items. Tuesday Nights 7-9 PM $10 For Intro Session $5 for each additional session Sip-N-Knit With Katie Organ, learn to knit while enjoying your favorite beverage and treat, from Katie’s own kitchen. Great selection of yarn and needles available at Vernonia Florist. 1 st & 3rd Thurs 10-Noon. $10 For Intro Session $5 for each additional Session Quilting 101 Mary Pense will be teaching the basics of quilting, a kit will be available, some sewing machines, bring yours if you have one. Monday Nights 7-8:30 $10 For Intro Class $5 For each additional session Please feel free to request any type or color of yarn. Kits for each class and patterns will also be available. At the Vernonia Grange The Grange has a change of date on the April one day rummage sale - it will now be held on Saturday, April 16 from 10:00-4:00 There will also be Bingo at the Grange on Saturday, March 12, at 6:30 PM. Calling All Vernonia Logger Alumni The second annual Alumni Basketball game is scheduled for Saturday, March 12th at 6:00 PM We are looking for men and women to come and show their school spirit. If you are interested in playing please contact Julie at 503-869- 0211. Readers Lend Their Voices... Dear Mayor, I understand from reading the newspaper that you and the City Coun- cil are considering three options for filling the City manager on a permanent basis. I would like to address the op- tions and my recommendation. As the General Manager of West Oregon Electric Cooperative, I have had the opportunity to work with the current Interim City Manager, as well as his lst six predecessors over the past six years. I firmly believe that the City of Vernonia would be well served to continue its relationship with Bill Haack and offer him the full time posi- tion as City Manager. I have found Bill to be easy to talk and work with, honest and forthright, and very knowledgeable. He is well connected, well respected and is willing to do the heavy lifting that others were not willing or able to do. If Bill does not have the informa- tion I need, he doesn’t pretend he does, but admits it and researches to find the answer. He has always been responsive in a timely fashion, professional in his approach, and a man of integrity. I sincerely think it would be a significant loss to the City and the people it serves to not retain Bill Haack as City Man- ager. Thank you for considering my in- put and for your time and energy spent to make this very important decision for the future of our city. Sincerely, W. Marc Farmer General Manager West Oregon Electric Cooperative Dear Editor, I feel a need to inform the citizens of Vernonia of a potential problem. It is that the majority (3) of the new City Council decided not to offer a contract to our Interim City Administrator, Bill Haack, and instead elected to spend $6,000 to hire the League of Oregon Cities to seek out candidates for the position. If there is anyone who can HOW TO SEND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Vernonia’s Voice welcomes and requests your thoughts, opinions and ideas. Please include your name, address and phone number, limit your letters to 300 words or less. Vernonia’s Voice reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted. We will print letters, space permitting. Deadline is the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month. Email to: scott@vernoni- asvoice.com or mail to: Letters, PO Box 55, Vernonia, OR 97064. This is an OSEA Classified Employee of the Vernonia School District fundraiser. Monies go to support conferences and training workshops, Scholarship funds, Boys and Girls Athletic funds and Teacher Appreciation Day. Admission: $5.00 ~ Adults, $4.00 ~ 12 years old through HS, $3.00 ~ K through 5th Grade. Columbia County Commission on Children and Families The Columbia County Commission on Children and Families holds public meetings on the 3rd Thursday of each month at 5:30 PM. The meetings are held at the OSU Extension Office, 505 N. Columbia River Hwy., St. Helens, Oregon. The next meeting is March 17, 2011. Skein Slayers Knitting/ Crocheting Group Upcoming Events Columbia County Small Woodlands Association Tree Sale, March 12, 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM, at Lawrence Oil, 845 N. Columbia River Hwy, St. Helens. Arrive early for best selections. St. Patty’s Day Parade, March 17, 5:15 PM -Gather in front of Pat Knight’s house across from the school. Donkey Basketball, March 18, 7:00 PM --in the High School Gym Make Vernonia Shine Day, April 16 - Vernonia’s annual Sponsored by the Vernonia clean-up day, sponsored by Prevention Coalition, the Kiwanis and Vernonia Pride. community volunteers, Skein Slayers is a knitting/crocheting group whose goals are Vernonia Sportsman’s to invite people of all ages who can knit or Banquet, April 23-- Guest crochet or just want to hang out and talk Speaker, Larry D. Jones. BBQ on the second and fourth Mondays at 6:00 Dinner. Tickets $10, available PM. The hope is that this will become a March 21st at Sentry Market video multi-generational group that talks about department. whatever the hot topics are, particularly teens, and knit or crochet hats and scarves Vernonia Fire Pancake for our students in need and for the Feed, May 15, 8:00 AM-- Community Closet. We’ll have topics that Benefits the VRFPD we’ll talk about each night and a table of supporting materials for the topic; Vernonia’s Voice is i.e. suicide prevention, published twice each bullying, etc. Flyers will be posted around town. Join month on the us Monday, March 8th and 2nd and 4th Tuesday. 22nd, 6:00 PM. Contact: Catherine Helmer, 503- Look for our next 914-9525. attest to the dire need for stability and continuance in the position of City Administrator, it is me. First off, every time there is a new administrator it takes a minimum of six months for them to get up to speed on the running of the city and substantially longer to get acquainted with the number of projects the city is engaged in now. Secondly, there is no guarantee we will find a candidate with the right credentials, capable of dealing with the multitude of concerns and projects Vernonia is facing. The odds are slim to none, especially with the limited salary the City is capable of offering. Now let’s take a good look at who we already have, Bill Haack. He is well versed with management and projects. I found him exceedingly easy to work with and very knowledgeable. His approach to problem solving is calm and forthright. Bill has shown a love of this town uncommon for an “outsider” and has taken the concerns of Vernonia to heart. I say, why switch horses in mid-stream? Why buy a pig in a poke? What’s the damned hurry to set our efforts of cooperation and growth back a year? I’m institution a petition campaign. Be it for or against, with your signature, you’ll be able to express your feelings on the retention of Bill Haack as our City Administrator. I encourage you to let your issue March 22. voice be heard by signing. Questions? Call me at 503-429-8425 or contact a Councilperson. Sally Harrison Vernonia To the Editor, We are writing this letter to ex- press our concern over decisions being made by the newly elected City Coun- cil. We have attended most of the City Council meetings for the last six years. The most important city business at this time is the hiring of a permanent City Administrator. It appears that our new City Council is set to hire someone new. We think they should reexamine their posi- tion on this very important decision. The council has spent a considerable amount of time on this when we already have a very qualified and very dedicated City Administrator. We have worked extensively with current CA Bill Haack and think he would the very best CA for our city. Bill has a good working knowledge of the city and has many programs work- ing right now. If we look elsewhere and spend more money to find someone new we will have to begin all over again. Our city has had seven City Administrators in the last seven years. And is fixing to do it again to make it continued on page 15
