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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (April 5, 2018)
4 letters to the editor/community bulletin board april5 2018 Upcoming Events Seed 2 Supper Free Gardening Class Series - Thursdays, 4/5 - 5/10, 6:30 - 8:30 pm at the Vernonia Christian Church. Must pre-register at S2Scolumbia@gmail.com or call Debi at (503) 543-3294. Bees! - Tuesday, April 10, 6:00 pm at the Vernonia Grange. OSU Extension Service guest speaker Linda Vahl will speak on honey bees and Vernonia’s Sye Laird will talk about mason bees and pollination. Free Sustainable Forest Practices with Peter Hayes of Hyla Woods - Thursday, April 26, 6:00 pm at Vernonia Springs, 54658 Nehalem Hwy. S, Vernonia. P.E.O. Spring Tea - Saturday, April 28, 1:00 pm at the Cabin in Vernonia. Tickets are $10/$7 available at R&S Market or from any P.E.O. member. “God’s Country and the Woman” - Saturday, April 28, 7:00 pm at the Vernonia Grange. 1936 dramatic- comic theatrical film with logging footage from Cowlitz County. Presented by the Vernonia Pioneer Museum. TOPS Group (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) meet Fridays at the Mist- Birkenfeld Fire Dept. 8:30 am weigh in, 9:00 am meeting. Men and women invited to join. (503) 429- 7505 The Vernonia Library will be closed Readers Lend Their Voices... To the Editor, Paulette Lichatowich seeks your support in the upcoming election for Co- lumbia County Commissioner. Here is why she deserves it. Paulette embraces thoughtful job creation that preserves the quality of life in our communities. As a citizen member of the Columbia County Planning Commission and the Port of St. Helens, she has seen the pressure on the county and the cities to support ill-conceived projects that would snarl Highway 30 traffic with high volume train transport, threaten the health and well-being of our children while they are in school, and degrade the environment. Paulette is not comfortable with this. She understands that our residents pay, by far, the largest share (>70%) of Colum- bia County’s property taxes yet often are not considered or listened to when ques- tionable developments are proposed. Paulette has consistently welcomed citi- zen participation in decisions. This is a tipping point election. Ballots come to your home at the end of April. We need her vote on the Columbia County Board of Commissioners. And to get there, she needs ours. Vote for Paulette for Com- missioner and encourage your friends, neighbors, your adult children and their Auction Notice Storage Too 58645 Nehalem Hwy. S. Vernonia, Oregon 97064 503-429-7867 CC8 - 5x10 - F. Cecil Auction will be held Friday May 4, 2018 Monday, April 30 – Saturday, May 5 for new carpet installation Please call prior to confirm the auction E-mail: library@vernonia-or.gov Cash or certified check only Phone: (503) 429-1818 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. Columbia Humane Society Featured Pet Grover came to the shelter from one of our shelter partners. He does well with other dogs and is pretty fun to be around. He is around 6 years old and weighs about 70 lbs. He is a fun loving guy that wants to spend his days laying in the sun and just hanging out. CHS is committed to the highest level of care for all the pets that we house in the shelter. Out of respect for our dogs, and this being their home, our kennels are not open for public walk through. If you are interested in Grover meeting one of our kids we would be more than happy to talk to you about our adoption process by either phone or email. We want to be sure that we are making the best matches possible, not only for you the adopter, but also for our pets. 2084 Oregon Street, St. Helens, OR 97051 Phone: 503-397-4353 E-mail: info@columbiahumane.org Web: www.columbiahumane.org friends to do so as well. This is a vote for our future. Chip and Nancy Bubl Warren, OR To the Editor, It’s time for a breath of fresh air in our Columbia County politics. That’s why I’m voting for Paulette Lichatowich for County Commissioner, Position 2, in the upcoming election. Business as usual has resulted in stagnation, lack of transparency and, worse yet, a continu- ing dependence on old ways of doing business. Alex Tardif, the newest and youngest commissioner, has brought vi- tality and modernization to our county politics and the way the county itself does business, but he can’t do it alone. He’s been dynamic, ethical, transparent, and engaged with local governments and addressing their needs. We need more of that, especially the transparency and engagement. Ms. Lichatowich has already demonstrated her engagement with local causes with her work around the proposed high-pressure pipeline a couple years ago, as well as her work on the Planning Commission and Port. A few of the points that she pro- poses addressing that are more relevant to the Upper Nehalem Valley areas are: A) PCC: Where do our taxes go? B) Continuing to develop access and im- prove access to the river, parks and rec- reation areas; C) Find new ways of sup- porting small businesses; D) Extra atten- tion to environmental issues; E) Expand transportation—CC Rider; F) Tourism expansion. Let’s take a deep breath and vote for a Commissioner committed to mov- ing us forward into the 21 st Century. I’m tired of being left in the dark, wondering if anyone is listening to the people who actually live here in the county. How about you? Erika Paleck Vernonia, Oregon To the Editor, YES. I will be casting my vote for Henry Heimuller for County Commis- sioner. WHY? I was employed for 44 years by a large corporation – Boise Cascade. In this job I worked with union and envi- ronmental agencies to make sure we kept jobs and protected the environment. Companies like ours provided high pay- ing jobs which gave employees time for supporting their families and volunteer- ing time to coach Little League, volun- teer for various causes like the Booster Club, Kiwanis/Lions/Rotary and other service clubs, Columbia Art Guilds and St. Helens Arts and Cultural Commis- sion, and the many other worthwhile local charitable organizations in this county like Scappoose Bay Estuary, United Way, CASA and Chance to Be- come Scholarships. What’s happening now is that our residents spend an extra two hours a day commuting to compa- nies they work for who do NOT invest locally. Not everyone can work in the county of course but it is an unfortunate truth that seventy percent of our workers commute out of Columbia County. On the other side of things, I served on the fire board for 34 years and had a chance to see yet another side of our society – those with urgent and non- urgent medical needs. I advocated for Sacagawea, a school-based health cen- ter, to get our children medical insurance and many other causes that allowed a better understanding of community and citizen needs. FINALLY! I am the widow of a former County Commissioner. It was a 24-7 job. We often got calls in the middle of the night or early Sunday morning – citizens who needed help/advice. Our elected of- ficials try to balance the needs and wants of our citizens. In summary I understand what it means being a public servant as well as the importance of local industry from an economic and social standpoint. Our three Columbia County Commissioners represent nearly 50,000 people with diverse interests and con- cerns. They need to listen and make de- cisions based on FACT and what is in the best interest of the majority of peo- ple. Henry is that man. He is completely honest. He is will always make sure he has done his homework. He values fam- ily, love of God and country, and people in general. As a former paramedic he took care of the sick and injured and you will often see him visiting our veter- ans and elders around the communities. Most importantly Henry listens, studies the issue, and only then makes a deci- sion. You will never see Henry swayed by political pressure. Some of you will certainly disagree with him from time to time but he will always respect you for your opinions. These are the qualities necessary to successfully govern. Please join me in voting for Henry Heimuller on May 15 th . On a side note - I’ve loved jig- saw puzzles and this election process can be puzzling at times but for me it means studying and putting the right pieces in place. We can do it – and in the end we have a beautiful picture – that’s continued on page 6 NOTICE OF BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING A public meeting of the 2018-2019 Mist-Birkenfeld RFPD Budget Committee will be held Tuesday evening, May 15, 2018, at 7:00 PM at the Mist-Birkenfeld Main Station located at 12525 Highway 202. This is a meeting where delibera- tion of the Budget Committee will take place. Any person may attend this meet- ing and discuss the proposed programs with the Budget Committee. BUSINESS TO BE CONDUCTED AT THIS MEETING WILL BE: - Election of Officers- Presentation of Budget Message - Presentation of Budget Document - Discussion of the Budget Document - Public Testimony - Scheduling of possible future meetings The proposed budget document will be available for inspection on April 24, 2018 at the Mist-Birkenfeld Main Station at 12525 Hwy 202, Mist, Oregon, dur- ing the hours of 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Dave Crawford Budget Officer
