Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 2, 2018)
4 letters to the editor/community bulletin board august2 2018 Readers Lend Their Voices... To the Friends of Trudy Magoff, We thank everyone who attended the graveside service for Trudy Magoff on July 1 and all who sent heartfelt messages. Trudy truly loved the people of Vernonia where she happily lived the majority of her 94 years. Joyce (Trudy’s sister) and Dennis Burns Santa Cruz, CA Dear Fellow WOEC CO-OP Mem- bers, Ballots for director’s posi- tions will be in the mail soon if they are not already. This letter is an en- dorsement for Brett Costley for Di- rector District #4. As you may know, Brett came on as an interim replacement for Dan Murphy when he moved out of the district about 18 months ago. Since then Brett’s become in- credibly knowledgeable about the co-op and its place in the total pic- ture of the grid infrastructure, while working hard to create a sustainable future for the co-op. I’ve known Brett about twelve years and worked with him on several projects. He’s extremely intelligent, flexible, and ethical. He not only grasps facts and details quickly, but he puts them into the total big picture context. He’s truly dedicated to serving and improving his community. If you look at some of the Facebook community pages, you’ll see he’s the one bringing knowledge and answering concerns to a frequently hostile public forum while remaining calm and informa- tive. Right now, there are a lot of impractical ideas floating around like selling off pieces of the co-op or bankrupting it somehow so the Feds will come in and take it over. The Board’s job is to keep the co-op vi- able and servicing its members. If you’ve read anything at all about the state of the American electrical infrastructure, you’ll note the it’s not just our tiny co-op that’s in perilous times. This isn’t the time to be en- couraging the disruptors of Vernonia to come in and bust things up willy- nilly just to see what will happen like a game of Pick-up Stix. It’s not easy to find intelligent people willing to step up to be on the Board under the best of circumstances, but by having Brett Costley on the Board we got really lucky. Please take the time to vote for him as Director District #4. You can still bring your ballots to be counted to the August 18 mem- ber’s meeting at the school commons if you forget to mail it in. Erika Paleck Vernonia To the Editor, Ladies and gentlemen, friends and neighbors: As a follow-up to my letter in the last Voice, I’d like to continue the conversation. If we want to find fault with the workings of W.O.E.C. we should start with its inception in the 40s. There is plenty of fault to go around. Mistakes have been made at every level for years and years. But, crying over spilt milk, reliving the worst mistakes, finger pointing, reprimands, and just general grous- ing doesn’t solve a thing. What we have to do is think outside the box. It’s time to get the Powers That Be that have the power to enact new policies involved in our debate. Let us be frank. W.O.E.C., as it is and as it has been, cannot be fixed! Everything they say about the size of the territory, the TREES, the debt, the Assocs., the very structure they operate under can’t be changed. The debt will go up, the rates will continue to increase, the possibility for Vernonia’s economic growth will stay stunted and effect the very livability of our population. If we decide that W.O.E.C. is broken and therefore no viable fixes for it, no budget cuts that are substantial enough to make a differ- ence, no way to increase usage, no how, no way anything can help, what can we do? As it is we are paying high rates just so W.O.E.C. can exist. I can suggest: 1. Forcing bankruptcy - What would happen after, how would it affect the members? Who would take over? The Feds for the debt? P.G.E.? 2. Could we form a Vernonia P.U.D. like they have in Forest Grove? Would that force O.P.U.D. to give the outlying areas to adjacent P.U.D.s and Co-ops. I don’t know. I do think it’s worth having the conversation and getting some answers. Anything that can be done will not be easy. Anything worth doing usually isn’t easy. There are a lot of people more knowledgable than I that can answer our questions. They just need to know the dire situation W.O.E.C. members are in. Do you have any ideas? Would you be interested in answers to the questions I’ve posed? Your input is important. It’s your money, it’s your Co-op. Please let me know: (503) 429-8425, Sallymh40@g-mail.com. Upcoming Events Upper Nehalem Watershed Council Joint July/ August Board Meeting - Thursday, August 2, 5:30 pm at the UNWC office, 1201 Texas Ave. 2018 Vernonia Friendship Jamboree & Logging Show - Friday, August 3 - Sunday, August 5 Senior Picnic - Friday, August 17, 11:00 am, 12:00 lunch at Anderson Park. Bring a side dish. Ham- burgers, hotdogs, beverages provided. Bear Creek Run - Saturday, August 18, 9:00 am start at Anderson Park. Register at www.RunSign- Up.com. West Oregon Electric Co-op Annual Meeting - Saturday, August 18, 11:00 am at the Vernonia Schools Commons. 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 Sally Harrison Vernonia 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. Auction Notice Storage Too 58645 Nehalem Hwy. S. Vernonia, Oregon 97064 503-429-7867 CC5 - 5x10 - Ryan Anderson CC13 - 5x10 - Ryan Anderson Auction will be held Tuesday Sept. 4, 2018 Please call prior to confirm the auction Cash or certified check only Lawyer in the Law Library: Divorce Law A workshop entitled DIVORCE LAW BOOTCAMP will be held on Wednesday, August 8 from 6:00-8:00 pm in the Columbia County Law Library, which is located at 270 S. First St. in St. Helens. The workshop marks the 21 st in the monthly Lawyer in the Law Library workshops that are hosted by the law library. Our speakers for the workshop on Divorce Law will be local attorneys Aaron Martin and Teri Powers. The workshop is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. No registration is required. Your attendance and questions will be welcome. For more information, please contact Columbia County Law Librarian Pam Davis at 503-396-5344 or davis12000@aol.com. Notice is hereby given that the Mist-Birkenfeld RFPD Board of Directors will conduct a special meeting at 7:00 pm on August 15 at the Mist-Birkenfeld RFPD Main Station located at 12525 Highway 202, Mist, OR 97016. The purpose of this meeting is the discussion and possible approval of a new job description. The Mist-Birkenfeld RFPD Board of Directors will meet for their regular board meeting Tuesday, August 21, 2018 at 7:00 pm at the Main Station, 12525 Highway 202, Mist, OR. Columbia Humane Society Featured Dog Purr-fect Pals Cooper came to CHS via another shelter. He is about 2 years old, does well with other dogs, and is really a sweet kid. Cooper will not do well in a home with cats, as he likes to chase them a lot. Cooper will need to have an experienced dog owner and someone who is going to be willing to give him a job and keep him on his toes at all times. Lulu came to the shelter as an owner surrender. She is about a year old and is looking for an active family that will play with her and let her be the sassy-pants that she is. She is very friendly and very talkative. She seems to not mind other cats, but would do best in a home where slow introductions can happen. If you feel that you can give this spectacular kid a great home please don't hesitate to call or email. CHS is committed to finding the right match for, not only our pets, but also our adopters. We have a unique approach to our adoption matching process. Our kennels are not open for the public to walk through. This keeps our dogs just a little happier. Due to our commitment to our pets, we ask that you either call or email animalwelfare@columbiahumane. org before just showing up to meet our pets. We would like to take the time to get to know our adopters so that we can make the best match possible between you and your new family member. 2084 Oregon Street, St. Helens, OR 97051 Phone: 503-397-4353 E-mail: info@columbiahumane.org Web: www.columbiahumane.org
