4
community bulletin board/letters to the editor
may8
2012
Upcoming Events
Broccoli. May 23-What’s Bothering Your Garden? VCLC, 939 Bridge St. A presentation by Paul Rippey
Free to the public. For more info call Chip Bubl 503- based on An Inconvenient Truth. Time will be provided
for discussion and questions.
397-3462.
Camp 18 Loggers Memorial Dedication and
Logging Exhibition, May 12, 10:00 AM 20 new
plaques will be dedicated and local loggers, including An Evening of Art and Community, May 18,
the VHS Forestry Team will compete in the 3rd annual 6:00 PM at the VCLC and Blue House Café hosted
by Hands-On Art. Junior Salmon Auction and art
Logger Exhibition.
exhibition featuring the work of local artist Nathan
Vernonia Grange Spring Rummage Sale, May Bower and VHS students.
The Wizard of Oz by the Vernonia Ballet, June
1, 7:00 PM at WGS. No admission, donations are
welcome.
Last Chance Dance, June 23. Say goodbye to
Vernonia’s
old school buildings with a dinner,
12, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the Grange Hall, 375
fundraising auction and dance. No admission for the
District
Clean-up
Day,
May
19,
9:00
AM
at
the
North Street. All proceeds will go to the Grange for its
District House, 1201 Texas Avenue. Volunteers needed dance.
programs and continuing building improvements.
to trim trees, clear underbrush and remove debris
Growing and Cooking with Herbs, May 12, 1:00 around the new District office building.
PM at the Vernonia Library. An informal gathering for
Youth Tractor Safety Program, May 22, May 29,
anyone interested in sharing info or learning more.
June 5, 6:00-9:00 PM at the Scappoose Fire Station.
Workshop and work parties
OSU Extension Summer Gardening Programs, May Additional lab to be held June 9. For more info or to
every Saturday until fair
16 and 23, 6:30-8:30 PM at OSU Extension Service pre-register call Chip Bubl 503-397-3462.
Help Get Ready for the
Columbia County Fair
office St. Helens. May 16-Beds, Beets, and Beyond
Global Climate Change, May 25, 7:00 PM at the
Readers Lend Their Voices...
To the Editor
We are sorry to announce the
Vernonia Speed and Beauty Car Club
will not host our 20th annual Jamboree
Days Cruise’ this year. The event is
normally held on the school grounds in
downtown Vernonia. Due to extensive
damages from flooding, the schools
in Vernonia are in the demolition
stage and will be moving up to a new
location and new building. During this
demolition process, we do not have
parking space available to put on a top
quality car show.
We are asking for your support
to help make next year’s event (2013)
even more successful than the previous
years. The purpose of this event has
always been to help grow and diversify
the Vernonia Friendship Jamboree.
Please mark your calendar for
the 1st full week-end of Aug. 2013.
Help us provide a drugs and alcohol
free event that will be enjoyed by our
families, your family and the people
of the community. Watch for your car
show registration flyer in the spring of
2013.
We trust you will join us next
year and help in our efforts making this
a successful event.
Thank you so much for your
support and hope to see you next year.
Glenda DeLemos
NVSB Car Club
To the Editor
Every once in a while
everyone comes up against a seemingly
insurmountable problem. No matter
how we try the solution is just out of
reach. The Mist-Birkenfeld Rural
Fire Protection District is pursuing
construction of a four million gallon
reservoir which will hold water
dedicated to fire protection. The project
is designed to answer the need for water
to protect the critical Mist Gas Fields and
its Natural Gas Storage infrastructure.
The project will also enhance the
district’s level of fire protection service
to the residents of our district and
to the businesses located here. Our
insurmountable problem came in the
form of obtaining the required permits.
Two of the permitting state agencies had
diametrically opposed requirements,
each driven by federal law. When asked
how to resolve the issue each agency
simply stated “get the other agency to
change their requirement”. We were
stalemated.
A colleague suggested calling
the Columbia County Commissioners
and seeing what they could do.
When I did, Commissioner
Hyde was in and took my call. He
listened, then asked for a synopsis
of the problem in writing. The next
day I received a call from Bill Fujii, a
member of a trouble-shooting group
created by the Governor. It took some
time and a lot of work, but the problems
were resolved, Our critical permits are
now within reach.
The fire district would
like to express our gratitude to the
Commissioners,
and
especially
to Commissioner Hyde, for the
extraordinarily fast and effective
assistance they provided, As the project
goes forward the fire suppression
needs of the Mist Gas Fields and of
the community as a whole will be
significantly improved. The firefighter
safety is also improved by eliminating
the need for drawing water from fast
flowing streams with muddy banks.
Because of the importance of stored
energy to our economy the improvement
has a positive regional impact as well.
The assistance we received cleared
the road and made the Fleming Pond
Project possible. Thank you!
Chief Dave Crawford
Mist Birkenfeld RFPD
To the Editor
In order to ensure that our
county continues to move forward, it is
imperative that we have a commissioner
who is prepared to push for the needs
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.
Meet at 8:30 AM at the fair office
of our county when decisions are being
made and money is being distributed.
Tony Hyde is a seasoned advocate, a
voice for the county who has earned
tremendous respect from colleagues
at the county, state and federal levels.
The recognition he has earned and the
work he has done have given our county
a foot in the door, access to economic
development opportunities that we
would otherwise not have had. Handing
this position over to an inexperienced
candidate could put our county back at
square one at a time when square one is
a precarious position to be in.
Tony Hyde is not a
Commissioner who is often at his desk;
he is a Commissioner with a proven
track record of getting out into the
community and state, and promoting
Columbia County as a home to those
looking for both a friendly business
environment and outstanding quality
of life. Please show your support for
his tireless efforts and provide him the
opportunity to continue to lead our
county.
Vote for Tony Hyde
Position 3 Commissioner.
Leslie O’Leary
Temporarily relocated
County Property Owner
Columbia
wage jobs to our county, using his role
on the board of the state economic
development department along with
critical relationships he has worked hard
to develop in the Governor’s Office, the
Legislature and Congress.
Tony’s work has paid off for
our county. He has been instrumental
in bringing well more than $1 Billion
(with a “B”) in private investment into
Columbia County. This doesn’t count
the $.5 Billion Tony helped secure
for the Wauna mill just into Clatsop
County, where 80% of the workforce
lives in Columbia county. All of this
investment has brought hundreds of
permanent family wage jobs to the
County. This investment has also
created thousands of weeks of top-
paying construction work for local
workers. All of this investment has
helped support our economy, secured
additional tax revenue and helped
stabilize struggling city budgets.
In recent years, Tony has
deployed his communication skills
to help protect the so-called timber
payments to rural Oregon counties.
These payments were developed to
compensate counties for revenues lost to
changing federal timber policy. Heavily
forested counties, like Columbia, have
depended on this revenue source to keep
schools open and police officers on the
street. This year was to be the last year,
but a strong coalition of local, state
and federal leaders, including Tony,
appear to have secured an additional
year, bringing more that $100 million
to Oregon’s struggling counties and
schools.
Although my history working
with Tony has been more extensive,
I also want to take this opportunity
to acknowledge Earl Fisher, who I
worked with on the Columbia County
Commission on Children and Family.
Earl is a hard worker, very thoughtful
and is a creative problem solver. I
want to commend Earl Fisher in his
role as commissioner. Earl and Henry,
together with Tony have provided solid
and committed leadership who work
well together for the good of all of
Columbia County.
In these challenging times we
need the experience and leadership
Tony and Earl bring to our County.
Please vote for Tony Hyde and Earl
Fisher.
To the Editor
In Challenging Times We Need
the Experience and Leadership that
Tony Hyde and Earl Fisher Bring
Our next crop of county
commissioners is going to be tested
like no other in recent memory. We are
going to need every drop of experience
and every personal relationship to get
our county through the next four years.
It is for this reason I write to ask for your
vote for Commissioners Tony Hyde and
Earl Fisher.
Facing a perfect storm of
falling real estate taxes and the loss of
federal timber payments, Columbia
County stands at a crossroads. We need
practical, proven leadership to guide us
through this difficult time.
I have known Tony Hyde as Mayor of
Vernonia and as a Columbia County
Commissioner. Recruited by Tony
as a volunteer after the 1996 flood, I
watched his bold leadership bring the
Upper Nehalem Valley community
back from disaster, twice.
After becoming a County
Commissioner,
Tony
focused
immediately on economic development. Kim Tierney
He has worked tirelessly to bring family Vernonia City Councilor
