welcome/opinion
from the editor
This month Vernonia’s Voice is
celebrating our 5 th anniversary.
In the spring of 2007 I met
Evan Doyle for the first time. Together
we created a vision for a newspaper
that would talk about the good things
that were happening in Vernonia. A
newspaper that would celebrate the
events and activities in this community
that were vibrant and fun. A newspaper
that would include stories about the
people and businesses in our town. We
envisioned a colorful publication, with
lots of photographs. A publication that
would embody the spirit of our town—
and make outsiders want to come visit.
I will always remember the first
trip I made to visit local businesses, to
find out whether there was really any
financial supporting and advertising
dollars for a new publication in town.
With the help of local graphic designer
Rebecca Wright, Evan and I had created
a mock version of what the front page
might look like. I headed to the south
end of town and walked into the Wauna
Federal Credit Union office. As luck
would have it the Advertising Manager
for Wauna just happened to be visiting
the Vernonia branch that day. She
listened to my brief introduction of our
idea, took a look at the design of the
front page and said, “Sure, we would
like to advertise in this—let me email
you the ad we want to run.” And that
was it—we were on our way!
So many local businesses
stepped up to the plate and offered
their support in the beginning. I would
be remiss if I didn’t mention Gordon
Smith and Randy and Sharon Parrow
at the Sentry Market— their backing
at the beginning of our venture was
instrumental to our successful launch.
So with the support of local
advertising dollars, and no previous
experience publishing a newspaper,
in June of 2007 Evan and I started
Vernonia’s Voice. I would also be remiss
if I didn’t mention the initial help we
received with design, advertising
creation and layout from Rebecca
Wright. Her expertise, experience and
wonderful sense of style were crucial
to bringing our vision of a colorful and
vibrant newspaper to life. We could not
have done it without the professional
services of flighwright design.
Over the last five years much
has changed. Evan decided to leave
after one year. In January of 2009 we
went from publishing once a month, to
twice each month. We began covering
more local politics and made a conscious
decision to make space and time to
report on school activities. Advertisers
have come and gone—but there is a
large group, whose ads you see in this
issue, who have been with us since day
one. And as I looked back recently over
all of our back issues--hopefully my
writing and reporting has improved!
I also have to mention two
other groups of important people. One
is our contributors. Over the years
we have featured written columns,
published occasional submissions,
received editorial and proof reading
assistance and printed photographs by
many different local business owners,
writers and citizens. Their support and
willingness to share their talents have
been instrumental, I believe, in making
our publication a success. And truly
making this Vernonia’s voice.
And finally it’s time to
acknowledge you—our loyal readers.
Without you there certainly wouldn’t be
a reason to print this publication. Your
encouragement and feedback--both
positive and negative—are often what
keep us going each month, and have
helped us reach this mini milestone of
five years.
We have been proud to attempt
to reflect the spirit of this great town and
the people who live here. It is an honor
to serve you and a responsibility we do
not take lightly.
They say it takes a village to raise
a child, and at five years old, Vernonia’s
Voice is still very much a child. We have
been nurtured, inspired and motivated
by all parts of this community, and by
our families and friends, over the last
five years.
Thank you for your continued
support.
By Scott Laird
the wastewater treatment upgrade. This
will appear on your water bill as $31—it
was $12.
The argument that “...there
must be some other option...” is really
no longer valid. The city has looked
at almost all other possible solutions
and none of them are viable. Or less
expensive.
At some point a municipal
government has to commit to a plan and
begin the process of moving forward
when it comes to large infrastructure
projects. In fact, the Vernonia City
Administration has worked extremely
hard over the last few years to figure
out the least expensive way to solve our
wastewater treatment dilemma. Which in
the end will not be inexpensive.
By the way, this isn’t the last
sewer increase we will see before this
project is complete.
Hoping that DEQ will let us
slide isn’t a real solution either—this
community has been hoping DEQ would
just go away for about twenty years
now—and they haven’t.
The Vernonia City Council did
not pass these increases without a lot of
debate, discussion, and agonizing. They
knew exactly what they were doing
when they increased our, and their own,
sewer bills by $19 earlier this month.
The Public Works Committee
and City Council took the time this
spring to create a water rate study
to analyze usage and recommend a
tiered rate system that will more fairly
distribute costs among water customers.
They put a lot of energy into debating
and discussing that change in rates as
well. And a lot of agonizing.
What this council did with
these rate increases was to maybe make
it impossible for some families and
residents to continue to live here. Which
is extremely sad. This was not a decision
they made lightly.
Scott Laird
Editor and Publisher
An Opinion: Rate Increases Were Necessary
Any day now Vernonians who
get their water and sewer service from
the City will receive their next bill. That
bill will reflect recent changes in both
the water and sewer rates that we pay. I
won’t deny that when that bill arrives it
is going to hurt. But, as painful as it is
to see even higher rates for our utilities
here in Vernonia, these changes that the
Vernonia City Council recently approved
were necessary and needed.
The “can” that is the financing
for the upgrades to our wastewater
facility has been kicked down the road
too far and for too long. And the longer
we try to avoid dealing with the issue of
paying for the needed improvements, the
more expensive completing the project
becomes.
The latest increase, is to make
full payments on the sewer loan for
work previously completed in Phase I of
june26
2012
3
Publisher and Managing Editor
Scott Laird
503-367-0098
scott@vernoniasvoice.com
Contributors
Mark Brown
Chip Bubl
Mackenzie Carr
Gayle Rich-Boxman
Sonia Spackman
Nicholas Welch
Photography
Scott Laird
Gayle Rich-Boxman
Want to advertise?
Have an article?
Contact: scott@vernoniasvoice.com
One year subscriptions
(24 issues) $35
Vernonia’s Voice is published
on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday
of each month.
Vernonia’s Voice, LLC
PO Box 55
Vernonia, OR 97064
503-367-0098
www.VernoniasVoice.com
But what they also did was take a brave
stand and decide to not kick that can any
further down the road. They decided to
create a water rate system and collect
sewer fees that actually reflect the cost
of operating those utilities. And they
decided they weren’t going to pass this
problem on to someone else down the
road—when it would cost even more
money to solve.
They decided to do what was
necessary and deal with the issue that
was in front of them.
It is going to hurt when that next
bill with those increases arrives. But
increasing the rates was the right thing
to do.
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