april16 2015
VERNONIA’S
volume9  issue8
www.vernoniasvoice.com
reflecting the spirit of our community
Merkley and Bonamici Hold Town Hall

US Senator Jeff Merkley
and US Congresswoman Suzanne
Bonamici held a joint Town Hall
at the Vernonia School on Friday,
April 3, 2015.

Over sixty people were in
attendance when Senator Merkley
opened the meeting by making a
presentation of a United States
flag to high school principal Nate
Underwood. The flag had previ-
ously been flown over the Capi-
tol Building in Washington, D.C.
“This school contributes so much
to the strength of this community,”
said Merkley. “This is really in
appreciation for how every facet
of the community came together
to make this happen.”

Merkley and Bonamici
both made opening remarks and
then took questions from the audi-
ence.

In his opening remarks
Merkley stated that not much has
been passed through the Senate
since January. He noted that the
Senate had spent almost a month
working on the Keystone Pipeline
issue which President Obama had
said he would veto and did, spent
a month on a Homeland Security
bill which everyone agreed on but
then had unrelated immigration
policy riders added, and spent a
few weeks on a new trafficking
bill which everyone agreed on
but then an unrelated social is-
sue was added to it, and then time
was spent on the budget. Merk-
ley also mentioned conversations
about authorizing military force
in Syria, the Iran nuclear weapons
treaty, and the attempt to fast track
the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade
agreement.

Congresswoman
Bon-
amici noted during her opening
remarks that she serves on the Ed-
ucation and Science Committees.
She said she has been working
on the reauthorization of the “No
Child Left Behind” act, which she
inside
12
free
said needed some “big changes,”
and said instead of focusing on
standardized testing we should
provide a well rounded education
for students. She has introduced
telligence and in cyber security.
That huge investment in defense is
not the right direction.” Bonamici
also mentioned the importance
of the permanent fix to the reim-
a bipartisan amendment to the re-
authorization that would eliminate
low quality and redundant testing
and better inform instruction; the
bill has passed through the Educa-
tion Committee. She also has been
working on the reauthorization of
the Older Americans Act which
provides funding for senior service
programs like Meals on Wheels,
which she said helps seniors live
independently for as long as pos-
sible. Bonamici said she serves
on the Environment, and Research
and Technology subcommittees of
the Science Committee and said
she had a bill that she sponsored
pass in the House. The bill, the
Tsunami Warning Research and
Education Act, has strong biparti-
san support. She said she is also
working on the Weather Forecast-
ing Improvement Act which would
assist in agriculture and fishing
and has been passed out of com-
mittee. Bonamici said she did not
support the budget bill which she
said made too many cuts to safety
net programs and made too much
additional investment in defense
spending. “We need to
keep our country safe, no
doubt about it,” said Bon-
amici, “but the way to
do that is through good,
smart investments in in-
bursement formula for Medicare,
which passed the House and will
be considered in the Senate. “This
is something that has needed to be
done for many years,” said Bon-
amici. Bonamici noted that tem-
porary funding for Secure Rural
Schools was added to the bill, and
that she is committed to working
on that as well.

Throughout the meeting
both Bonamici and Merkley men-
tioned the importance of their bi-
partisan work in Congress in order
to try to get things done and men-
tioned examples when they have
worked across the aisle on legis-
lation.

When the Senator and
Congresswoman began taking
questions from the audience, the
first question came from Vernonia
High School senior Alexis Baska,
who asked if they could help pro-
vide more funding for education in
rural areas like Vernonia. Senator
Merkley responded that the fed-
eral government funds programs
like Title One, Head Start and No
Child Left Behind. He said that in
the new budget he will be push-
ing for more funding for education
and trying to block more funding
for defense through the appropria-
tions process. He expressed con-
vernonia marathon
13
vhs spring sports
18
the boot leather bull
23
easter egg hunt
continued on page 12
May 19 Elections
Give Voters Some
Interesting Choices

The upcoming May 19 election will offer local
voters the chance to elect representatives to the Vernonia
School Board, The Vernonia Rural Fire Protection
District, the Mist-Birkenfeld Fire District and the
Columbia County 9-1-1 Communications District. There
are also three ballot Measures for voters consideration.

Ballot Measure 5-243 is a county wide measure
that would increase the Natural Resources Depletion
Fee by thirty-five cents ($.35) per ton to a total of fifty
cents ($.50) per ton. The current fee primarily provides
revenue for county roads. The increase is intended to
cover the costs to the infrastructure of Columbia County
that result from mining activities. The additional fees
would be used as follows:
• Ten cents ($.10) for road improvements and maintenance
of existing roads and bridges.
• Twenty-five cents ($.25) for Columbia County Rider
Transportation.

The initiative requires that none of the proposed
increased funds could be used for other county general
fund purposes.

Measures 5-245 and 5-246 would raise funds
for the Vernonia Rural Fire Protection District. Measure
5-245 is a ten year bond for the purchase of fire apparatus
and is estimated to cost taxpayers an average of $0.2621
per thousand of assessed value each year. For the owner
of a home or property owner, the estimated annual
average cost would be $26.21 per $100,000 of taxable
assessed value. Measure 5-246 is a five year levy which
would fund the salary and benefits package of a Training
Captain. This person would be responsible for the
District’s training program and responding to incidents.
This measure is estimated to cost taxpayers an average
of $0.32 per thousand of assessed value each year. For
the owner of a home or property the estimated annual
average cost would be $32 per $100,000 of taxable
assessed value.

The Vernonia School Board will have a few new
faces. Katie Cook is running unopposed for Position 3
and Brittanie Roberts in running unopposed for Position
7. Those seats are currently held by Tim Bamburg and
current Board Chair Bill Langmaid who both chose not
to run. Greg Kintz, who currently occupies Position 2 is
facing a challenge from Thomas E. Jones of Birkenfeld.
Jones is the husband of Mist School teacher Joan Jones.

The Vernonia and Mist-Birkenfeld Fire District
Boards will see no changes as Joel Glass and Terry
Lindauer in Vernonia are both running unopposed for
their currently held positions and Larry Boxman, Joan
Jones, and Barbara Smith are all running unopposed for
positions they currently hold on the Mist-Birkenfeld
Fire Board. The same is true on the Columbia 9-1-1
Board where Kathy Denkla is running unopposed for the
position she currently holds.
School Board to Make Charter School Decision

The Vernonia School Board
will meet in a special meeting on April
21 at 6:30 PM to decide whether to
sponsor a Charter School and submit an
application to the Oregon Department
of Education (ODE).

The Vernonia School District
formed a Steering Committee earlier
this spring made up of citizens, school
staff, School Board members and
parents to discuss the possibility of
submitting an application to the state to
become a Charter School. The Steering
Committee held discussions, decided
to move forward, and prepared the
formal application which was reviewed
by a School Board Subcommittee for
completeness. Following two public
hearings, the full School Board is
currently evaluating the application on
its merits and will make a final decision
about submitting it to the State at the
special meeting on April 21.

The proposed application
would leave the Mist School separate
from the charter. The charter would
encompass the entire K-12 Vernonia
School. The new Charter School
would require the formation of a
separate Board of Directors and require
independent accounting processes.

Vernonia District Superinten-
dent Aaron Miller elaborated on the
Charter School application process dur-
ing a recent conversation. Miller said
the Steering Committee included sever-
al community partners and was what he
deemed “a representative group” that
included “a wide range of people from
the community.”

According to Miller the
continued on page 16