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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 14, 2012)
4 community bulletin board/letters to the editor february14 2012 Upcoming Events 2012 Primary Election Oregonians will have a chance to vote again this spring in a Primary Election on May 15 th . Locally voters will be voting in several non-partisan races including Columbia County Commissioner Seat #1, currently held by Earl Fisher, County Commissioner Seat #3, currently held by Tony Hyde, and Columbia County Sheriff , currently held by Jeff Dickerson. On a state level, Brad Witt is up for re-election for State Representative for Oregon House District 31 and Debbie Boone is running again for State Representative for District 32. The following are some important upcoming dates for this primary election: March 6, 2012 Last day to file candidacy for office April 24, 2012 Voter registration deadline April 27 - May 1, 2012 Ballots mailed to voters May 15, 2012 Election Day Vernonia’s Voice is published twice each month on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday. Look for our next issue on February 28th. Readers Lend Their Voices... To the Editor, I am writing to encourage the city to invest in repairs in our local skate park. Our skate park is a terrific community resource. It provides a fun and healthy hobby for the youth in our town. However, it is presently in a very poor state due to water damage and unsafe ramps. I’m sure there are many priorities competing for funds at this time. However, upgrades to our skate park will bring great happiness to the kids and teens of Vernonia for many years to come. Patrick Morgan Vernonia To the Editor We have recently come into possession of emails and correspondence definitely not intended for the general public. Guess what? We are going to share them with you. There appears to be a lot of missing data but we are still looking. As you are most likely aware, the old CHD board, consisting of Jay Tappan, Gary Heidi, Diane Husten, Lisa Galovich and Laura Tomanka have joined with County Commissioners Tony Hyde, Earl Fisher and Henry Heimuller to bamboozle you out of millions of dollars of tax money which should have been refunded to the special district taxpayers after the passage of measure 5-209 and, if not under that measure, than under the dissolution measure. Please make a note of this website: nohospitaltax.info Everything we are about to tell you can be proven if you log on to this website. The site should contain all this information by February 1. First, back in 2009, Jana Fussell of the Certificate of Need department in Salem cautioned the board and their attorneys that it would not be prudent to develop the Millard Road property until a Certificate of Need (CoN) was obtained from the state. They were denied permits by the county land use 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: scott@vernoniasvoice.com or mail to: Letters, PO Box 55, Vernonia, OR 97064. Terry’s Gym TRAIN LIKE A CHAMPION! VHS Boys and Girls Basketball Playoffs, February 16—First round of the 2A Northwest League playoffs. Boys host either Gaston or Portland Christian; Girls travel to Gaston. Community Dinner, February 18, 6:00-8:00 PM at the Scout Cabin. Chicken Noodle Soup, bread and desert will be served. Dinner is free, everyone Alumni Basketball, March 10, 6:00 is invited. Hosted by the Pioneer PM at the Logger Dome. Alumni vs. Baptist Church. VHS Boys and Girls Varsity Teams. This will be the last game in the Logger Vernonia Events Planning Meeting, Dome before it comes Down—stop by February 23, 6:00 PM at City and take a trip down memory lane! Hall. Planning and discussion about upcoming community events including AARP Tax Aid, March 14, 10:00 AM- Make Vernonia Shine Day, July 4 th , 3:00 PM at the Vernonia Senior Center. Friendship Jamboree, Salmon Festival Qualified tax preparers will be available and Christmas. If you are interested in to assist low and middle income helping to plan, would like to organize citizens this tax season. This service is a new activity, or want to learn more free. To schedule an appointment call about what is happening, please attend. 503-429-3912. Space is limited. department for site preparation. They were also cautioned by one of their consultant firms that this development would not be advisable. They did so anyway - to the tune of over 1.5 million dollars. They were encouraged to proceed with the land development by one of their attorneys, Peter Soloff, who thus far has collected over $350,000 in attorney fees from your taxes. His advise to the board was that Ms. Fussell’s suggestion was just a “matter of semantics”. Second, although the commissioners denied meeting behind closed doors with the CHD in order to vanquish all the money and property before the newly elected CHD took office in July 2011, reference is continually made to meetings with the commissioners and their county counsel, Sarah Hanson Tyson. Contrary to what we were told by the commissioners of their not having made up their minds about transferring public health to the county, they were working to do so way back in March 2011. Now over $500,000 of your tax dollars have been transferred to a private foundation which is overseen by the same group of people who took your money in the first place. They have a new leader in Dan Garrison who has also been hired by the county to do accounting for them. This just does not look good no matter what kind of spin they try to put on it. The balance of the money remaining from the nearly one million Local Properties For Rent 420 A Street - 4 bdrm + bonus room, 3 bath, family room, laundry room. Updated vinyl windows throughout. Formerly a 3-plex converted into a home. $995/month 458 North St - 3 bdrm, 2 bath, wood floors throughout, gas heat, living room with freestanding wood stove, tile counters in kitchen, garage and patio, $895/month INBA World Champion Collin Moeller works out at Terry’s Gym - You can too! 503-901-1705 16720 Noakes Rd. Vernonia T-ball, Baseball and Softball Sign- Ups, February 23, 6:00 to 8:00 PM --at the Washington Grade School Library from. For more information contact:T-ball--Maria Lemay, 503- 429-1067; Baseball--Brooke Morrison, 503-726-8427; Softball--Katie Poetter, 503-429-0700 184 Bridge Street - 2 bdrm, 1 bath, duplex, completely remodeled kitchen & bath, new carpet & paint, garage, w/d hookups. $650/month For more info contact Rhonda at 503-784-9560 VIP Property Management, Inc. dollars, which was still in place after measure 5-209, has been transferred to the county commissioners’ jurisdiction. Now they are using those funds to pay for an attorney to fight the two lawsuits filed on your behalf by the current CHD board, the new trustees and a representative taxpayer. It is our understanding the county has two full time attorneys and a part time attorney. Why are we paying them if more attorneys must be hired every time someone disagrees with the irresponsible manner in which the commissioners are handling our tax dollars? The commissioners are also attempting to give the Millard Road property, free of cost, to the City of St. Helens. How does that make the rest of you taxpayers who do not live in St. Helens feel? We would not appreciate paying for a new park in Scappoose or in Warren or in Goble. We ‘re sure you feel the same. You paid as much in taxes as we did in St. Helens. Thirdly, we are highly offended, as should you be, that your vote electing a new CHD board by a 90 percent margin has been totally ignored. The new board was cut off at the knees: no money, no records and not even an office until a minute space was finally provided in the old courthouse. Now your CHD board has attorneys and they are doing everything in their power to hold the old CHD board and the commissioners accountable for their misdeeds. continued on page 19 VERNONIA PHARMACY Better Service, Less Wait, Same Co-Pay We take Pride in our Quality, Personal service Come on in for your flu shot Call now to Transfer Your Prescriptions! 503-429-0591 Check out our website: www.vernoniarx.com *ONLINE PRESCRIPTION REFILL *PERSONALIZED E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS *DRUG ALERTS AND INFORMATION *AND MUCH MORE Hours of Operation: Mon.-Fri. 9:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. Saturday 9:00 a.m.- 1:00 p.m. Closed Sunday
