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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (April 12, 2011)
april12 2011 V E R N O N I A’ S reflecting the spirit of our community free volume5 issue7 An Example of Community: Governor Vernonia Police Officer Subject of Conduct Review Salutes Vernonia’s Efforts By Jill Hult Dr. Ken Cox, Superintendent of the Vernonia 47J School District, welcomed Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber and many other distinguished guests to celebrate the future of Vernonia on Tuesday, March 29, 2011. The celebration highlighted the award of a FEMA grant in the amount of $11.2 million dollars for the mitigation of the current Vernonia schoolgrounds, which will be converted into city parklands. The FEMA funds are also being used for the relocation and construction of the District’s new K-12 school campus that is out of the flood plain. The day started with a continental breakfast in the cafeteria, where Dr. Cox updated the guests on the progress of the new school construction. The site has been cleared of timber, some leveling has been completed and forms for the footings of the building can be seen. The building is slated to be completed by September of 2012. He announced that we have reached 80 percent of the needed funds to complete the project. “This is phenomenal, considering fourteen months ago we were at zero,” said Cox. He went on to say that “this is thanks to the commitment of community members for the Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber visited Vernonia on March 29. Photo by Alan MacComb. 13 million dollar bond, the salvation today of the FEMA grant, and to other donors who are making significant progress. We have many things in the works thanks to the Metropolitan Group and the Oregon Solutions who continue to make this Veteran Photos Needed Memorial Day is just around the corner and we need your help. We would like to bring recognition and honor to our own Vernonia Veterans. During the Memorial Day Service we are planning to display photos and short biographies including branch of service, tour of duty, length of service, etc. of each man and woman who served their country with courage inside 7 yes! camp 9 the birk 10 vhs spring sports continued on page 15 and distinction. We would love for you to provide copies of photos of family members and friends, preferably in uniform. If you must send an original it will be returned. At this time when we honor all veterans wouldn’t it be wonderful to get to know our own heroes? Please mail to: Shirlee Daughtry, 1800 Bridge St., Vernonia, OR 97064 (503) 429- 9002 or Diane Marusa, 18085 SW Granada Dr., Aloha, OR 97007 (503) 807-8411 According to a memo handed out by Interim City Administrator Bill Haack (provided during the March 21, 2011, Vernonia City Council Meeting) the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST), following an investigation, intends to conduct a policy review of a member of the Vernonia Police Department. According to the memo, Haack, following the receipt of the information, initiated a parallel personnel disciplinary process and placed the officer who is under investigation on paid administrative leave as of 4:00 P.M., March 21, 2011. Although the officer under investigation was not named in the memo or during the discussion during the Council meeting, both Vernonia Police Chief Michael Conner and Patrolman Shawn Carnahan were present and in uniform during the meeting, leaving those in the room to assume the officer in question is current Vernonia Police Sergeant Mike Kay. The Vernonia Police Department currently only has three officers. Kay has previously served in Vernonia as Interim Police Chief and Police Captain. The memo states, “During the DPSST review process and the city’s personnel process, the city of Vernonia intends to protect the integrity of those processes, as well as the members of the Vernonia Police Department and the City of Vernonia.” “This is a State process, not our process,” said Haack about the DPSST review in a separate interview in early April, “and I am not privy to date when the review will occur. What the City has done is open our own parallel process to take a look at the information that has been brought to our attention by the State to inform us what options we may need to select should disciplinary action be warranted.” Haack requested Council attend a special Executive Session on March 28th to consult with legal counsel about legal rights and duties regarding litigation likely to be filed and to discuss information and records exempt from public inspection. “As soon as the City has more information, we will bring it back to City Council,” said Haack. “I am anticipating that we will have more information sometime in May, 2011.” As of press time, the officer in question remains on paid administrative leave. Vernonia To Create Baseline Measurement of Community Vitality What difference will all of the community projects make in Vernonia? To help answer that question, the Vernonia Economic Development Council has partnered with Extension faculty members from Oregon State University to create a series of indicators that reflect the community’s economic, environmental, social, and capacity goals. The process, known as the Vital Vernonia Indicator Project, will use community input to create measureable benchmarks of Vernonia’s progress towards its vision for a healthy, sustainable future. The project will produce a baseline measurement of vitality and, in the future, the community will be able to continue to monitor how these indicators change. Locally, Vernonia Economic Development Council members Sally Harrison, Karin Davenport, and Chris Scheuerman will be directing this process and will organize opportunities for residents to provide input to the vision and indicators. Additional community members will be asked to serve on an advisory committee for this project. The community will also be asked to collaborate during the data collection process if some indicators are based on surveys. This project was initiated in December of 2010 and is still in the planning phases. The final results, which show how the community is doing on each of its goals, will be presented in late 2012. As Vernonia undergoes many changes, the indicator project may provide information residents and decision-makers need to plan and assess the results of implemented plans against the community-wide vision. This project has successfully been completed through community partnerships in both Wallowa and Tillamook counties in 2009. Tillamook has used the indicator report to improve and inform local decision-making. Oregon State Extension Service has provided the funding to make this project possible. For more information, contact OSU Extension agents Social Demographer Lena Etuk (541) 737-6121, Community Economist Mallory Rahe (541) 737- 1403, or Extension Forester Amy Grotta (503) 397-3462.
