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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
