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