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county news may3 2018 County Commissioners Election the storage tanks.” Lichatowich said she sees a bright future for Columbia County in jobs and innovation. She noted that the Port of St. Helens has worked with three of its tenants - small but growing manu- facturing companies that offer living wage jobs, good benefits, and good re- lationships with their employees - to ex- pand, including Composites Universal, RainShadow Labs, and Pacific Stainless. She also mentioned the Oregon Manu- facturing Innovative Center (OMIC) being developed in Scappoose, which will provide training internships and ap- prenticeships in collaboration with Port- land Community College. “Because of the livability of our communities, I see people and entrepreneurs coming here and wanting to stay and grow with our communities. I think we’re going to see small business, industry development, and innovative ideas here – that’s our fu- ture.” When asked about economic de- velopment specifically in Vernonia, she suggested tourism and service jobs were helpful. She asked about the possibil- ity of the community supporting small business that feed into the tech industry in Hillsboro and noted transportation routes, lack of developable property, high utility rates, and a lack of quality services (high speed and reliable inter- net) as barriers. She suggested the com- munity work to create a list of limiting factors and ideas of what kind of jobs would be acceptable, which could feed into a county-wide Comprehensive Eco- nomic Plan. Lichatowich said the road con- ditions in Columbia County are “ab- solutely terrible” and said the County does not have stable funding to maintain them. “Columbia County’s Transporta- tion plan projects we have $20 million for the next 20 years to maintain roads. We have to figure out how to do it, whether it’s through grants or is legisla- tion going to be forthcoming? Through a Comprehensive Plan we can restructure our funding and make recommendations on how to find money for our roads.” When asked about the lack of public transportation access in Vernonia and the C.C. Rider system, Lichatowich suggested local volunteers and car pool- ing might fill the gap by providing rides to those in need. When residents in the audience reminded her that the system is supposed to provide affordable pub- lic access for all citizens in the County, Lichatowich backtracked somewhat and suggested the community develop po- tential suggestions they could present to the County to meet their needs. “Trans- portation, whether it’s buses or roads, is something that needs to be available for everyone for health, safety, and econom- ics. Can the community work on that? The Commissioners may not be the best place to look for your solution, the solu- tion might need to come from you to the Commissioners.” Lichatowich said she is an advo- cate for creating new parks in the County and improving current parks in the sys- tem. “I believe there is an outcry to do that,” she said. “I think people see the value and health benefits by having ac- cess to parks since the forests have been shut off. So people need access to trails and we need more trails.” She said citi- zens need to be a strong force and advo- cate for funding for parks and make their wishes known to the Commissioners. “You can become more powerful. You take on this challenge and then you just grow from there by networking together and create groups that are interested in additional issues.” Lichatowich said she doesn’t think the Commissioners spend enough time talking with each other since they only meet officially once a week in a public meeting; if they talk to each other outside of a public meeting it is consid- ered a quorum and has to be publicly announced. “They need to spend more time in work session so they can delve into more ideas.” She said she would also like to see the Commissioners leave St. Helens and meet in the different com- munities around the County, either in a formal meeting or an informal setting. Kimberly Johns – Johns is an interest- ing character in this race with a unique background and perspective. He current- ly owns and operates USIA Underwater Equipment Sales Corporation, currently employing about 20 people manufactur- ing and exporting diving wetsuits, wad- ers, and other waterproof equipment for military and public safety organizations from a small industrial site in St. Helens. A visit to his campaign website, KimberlyJohns.com, provides links to various pages which showcase his other diverse accomplishments – college foot- ball place kicker at Oregon State who received several invitations for tryouts with NFL teams; Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Air Force; television per- sonality and Adventure Expert on “The Oregon Coast Show”; EMT, Staff Chief FULL SPORTS PACKAGE! 3 continued from front page with St. Helens Fire, Columbia County Reserve Sheriff’s Deputy and Search and Rescue team member; Dive Instruc- tor at Reed College; and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Licensed Falconer. Johns said he is concerned about the polarization between the political right and the left and said he doesn’t want to see that happen in his own com- munities. Johns said he doesn’t like ca- reer politicians and is running on a plat- form of two term limits for County Com- missioners, and said he would also like to see the Commissioners take a 4-5% pay cut. “We have a two term limit for our President and I’m not sure why we don’t have it for Congress and the Sen- ate. I think we should have it in Colum- bia County. I’m also not sure why our County Commissioner get paid $87,000 a year, plus benefits. I think that’s outra- geous. I want to show the citizens that I’m serious about changing how money is spent around here.” Johns said while he is pro busi- ness and pro growth, he is also a sports- man and wants to see more public ac- cess to the Columbia River. He said he is not completely familiar with the Port Westward projects, but wants to see any development there be environmentally friendly and protect the clean air and water in Oregon. “I will bring a busi- ness perspective to the Board of Com- missioners. We can be pro business and pro industry here because we have the State of Oregon and environmentalists who are going to put anything we try to do in check. The Commissioners main job is land use - how to figure out zoning regulations and what we can and can’t do in the County. Let’s not impede busi- ness from being here, but cooperate with business to be here.” He said local established busi- nesses should be taking advantage of, and participating in, defense contract- ing; his company USIA has received $8 million in defense contracts from 2000- 2018, almost half the defense funds spent in the entire County during that time period. “I spent three years as a Department of Commerce appointee and I know how to deal with the Federal gov- ernment and I know how the commerce system works on the federal level and how to funnel business here and how to get our products exported overseas.” He said he would like to see the County create more SBA HUB zones and Enter- prise Zones. “Enterprise Zones are en- ticing and they can help a business for a few years to get established and then Publisher and Managing Editor Scott Laird 503-367-0098 scott@vernoniasvoice.com Contributors Superintendent Aaron Miller Photography Scott Laird Want to advertise? Have an article? Contact: scott@vernoniasvoice.com One year subscriptions (24 issues) $35 Vernonia’s Voice is published on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month. Vernonia’s Voice, LLC PO Box 55 Vernonia, OR 97064 503-367-0098 www.VernoniasVoice.com they can start contributing tax dollars back to the community. We can’t be giv- ing business at Port Westward a 15 year Enterprise Zone.” He said he sees two types of businesses, smaller businesses like his that have a responsibility to their employees and the local community, and then businesses that have shareholders who are only responsible to those share- holders. “When businesses come to Co- lumbia County the first thing we should determine is if they’re about the people of Columbia County or are they about their shareholders who don’t live here. Let’s attract medium size businesses that can make it here, paying family wage jobs.” He said he doesn’t understand why public safety has been such a low priority for so long for the Commission- ers. He has served as a Reserve Deputy so he’s seen the dangers of not having continued on page 5 Cedar Side Inn Happy Hour Mon-Fri 4-7 • Specialty hamburgers • 8 Draft beers & mixed drinks • 5 Craft beers on tap • Pool tables & satelite TV • Free Wi-fi • Beer & Kegs to go Sun - Thurs 11 AM - Midnight • 733 Bridge St, Vernonia Taco Tuesday EVENTS from opening until 9pm 3 hardshell or 1 softshell $4.25 Sat, May 19 Ladies’ Night DDT band every Thursday 6pm-close Sat, June 2 Texas Hold ‘em “BIKER FRIENDLY” Fri - Sat 11 AM - 2:30 AM • 503-429-9999 • Free Pool • Free WiFi • Specialty Pizzas iheck our Facebook page for daily specials and upcoming events 756 Bridge Street, Vernonia 503-429-5841
