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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 19, 2020)
november19 2020 free VERNONIA’S volume14 issue22 reflecting the spirit of our community Council Votes to Begin Holding Meetings In-Person Shop Local and Support Your Friends and Neighbors The Vernonia City Council made what could be considered a sur- prising decision on Monday, at their November 16, 2020 meeting, when they voted 3-2 to begin holding public council meetings in-person, beginning with their scheduled December 7 meet- ing. The Council had been meeting virtually since the beginning of the CO- VID pandemic. Recently re-elected Mayor Rick Hobart pushed for the change, and joined Councilors Bruce McNair and J.R. Allen in approving the move. Councilors Susan Wagner and Dale Webb voted against it. The move was surprising for a number of reasons. Oregon and Co- lumbia County have seen a sharp rise recently in the number of positive CO- VID cases reported, and Oregon Gov- ernor Kate Brown recently imposed increased restrictions on public and pri- vate gatherings to help slow the spread. Council meetings often take two to three hours to complete and are This year of COVID has been rough on everyone, but it’s been espe- cially hard for small, local business- es. People have been staying home, and they’ve also been shopping from home. So while your friends and neighbors who own small businesses have been struggling, large corpora- tions have been profiting. According to a recent Fortune magazine article, 21% of all U.S. busi- nesses have closed for good since the start of the pandemic, and small-busi- ness revenue is down roughly 30% for the year. Meanwhile, the stock market is surging and big corpora- tions and big box stores like Walmart, Target, and Amazon have seen profits double. Small and midsize businesses are important to our economy. They em- ploy about half the workforce and gen- erate about half of our GDP. For every dollar you spend in a small, locally owned business, 58 cents stays in that community, while only 33 cents stay when you spend at a large corporate business. held in the Council Chambers in City Hall, a room with limited seating ca- pacity. Staff told Council arranging for a hybrid meeting that includes both in-person and virtual access could be a challenge. The vote took place at the first meeting of the Council following the November 3 election in which two of the current Council members (McNair and Wagner) did not win their re-elec- tion bids, so the Council made the deci- sion without consulting the two newly elected members who will be sworn-in at the first Council meeting in January. During the discussion prior to the vote, City Administrator Josette Mitchell told the Council she will not attend meetings in-person due to per- sonal health reasons if there is public attendance. The decision could also go against Oregon’s Public Meetings laws due to the limited number of citizens who could safely attend meetings if physical distancing rules are followed. continued on page 6 Oregon’s Rural Red Wave A closer look at regional votes shows the influence of Timber Unity and a surge in support for Republican and conservative candidates By Scott Laird In the November 3, 2020 elec- tion Oregon Democrats won every statewide race, regaining the Secretary of State position, and holding the State Treasurer and Attorney General seats. They also retained a supermajority in the state legislature and will once again con- trol the House and the Senate. But that cursory look at Or- egon’s election results doesn’t tell the inside whole story, especially when you look at the results in rural areas, particularly in western Oregon. While Republicans may not have unseated House District 31 Demo- crat Brad Witt, the number of votes Re- publican challenger Brian Stout received should send a clear message to Demo- crats in Columbia County and Oregon – there is a rural red wave forming here. At the heart of that red wave is Timber Unity, an organization focused on jobs and the economy, that is forcing legislators in Salem to start paying atten- tion and take their issues seriously. “We are an organization who, regardless of people’s other political beliefs, are focused on the core issue of jobs – that public policy shouldn’t reduce jobs,” says Julie Parrish, a Tim- ber Unity volunteer board member and former four-term state representative from West Linn. “That’s why Timber Unity originally formed, and we feel we’ve been successful in pushing back on legislation that would put people out of business.” Timber Unity got actively in- volved in a number of political races this year as a Political Action Committee (PAC), campaigning extensively for can- didates they felt represented their values. Parrish says those candidates were not necessarily always Republicans. “We made our legislative questionnaire avail- able to any candidate who wanted to participate in our process,” she explains. “We did endorse a few democratic can- virtual holiday baking contest 8 keasey whale fossil 10 vsd woodshop safety award continued on page 7 didates in some primaries, although they did not win the nomination. We are not affiliated with any political party. We’re an issue specific group, not a party group. We certainly have members who are more conservative, but we also have folks who voted for Joe Biden.” Timber Unity’s election in- volvement did have an impact, not just in state legislature races where they did help turn several seats red, but also at the local and national level where they may not have won but they did effect the vote counts. Take a look at the these election results: • In the previously mentioned race for Oregon House District 31, which in- cludes Columbia County and parts of continued on page 10 Boots on The Ground Fundraiser Vernonia Christian Church is asking the community to help them raise money for local firefighters and Oregon fire relief 4 The upcoming holiday shop- ping season gives all of us a chance to help correct this disparity. If you plan to make purchases in the next month, please consider making them at a small, locally owned, family run business. Saturday, November 28 is a The Vernonia Christian Church is kicking off a holi- day fundraising effort with an eye on helping the Vernonia Rural Fire Protection District better equip their volunteers. “Boots on the Ground” will be the church’s annual Christmas Offering, a project the congregation takes on each year to raise money for a good cause. This year Vernonia Christian Church Pastor Sam Hough says the congregation is taking on a large project and is inviting the rest of the Vernonia community to help them reach their goals. “We wanted to give our church and our commu- nity something to get excited about,” said Pastor Hough. “We wanted to do something that would be fun and to bring people together in a time when there’s been a lot of trouble. And we wanted to bless our firefighters. They’ve really been heroes during this past year. We know our local department has a lot of needs and we wanted to recognize them and try to help them. And we wanted to help support the people around the state who also have needs right now.” The first goal is to raise $7,200. $5,000 of that will be used to purchase 10 new helmets and eight new pairs of leather boots for volunteer firefighters in the communi- ty. $1,000 will go to International Disaster and Emergency Services (IDES), a world mission group that helps meet the physical and spiritual needs of people suffering around the world; the donation will specifically be designated to further their work helping people affected by the wildfires in Oregon this summer. Another $1,000 will go the Oregon Christian Evangelistic Fellowship (OCEF) Church Planters program, an Oregon group ministering to communities impacted by the wildfires. If the church reaches that initial goal, they will work towards a “Miracle Goal” of raising an additional $1,800 to purchase one new turnout for the fire department; turnouts are the protective pants, jacket, and gloves firefighters wear. If that goal is reached, then the group will move on to a “Miracle Miracle Goal” of raising an additional $3,500 to purchase three additional sets of turnouts for Vernonia fire- fighting volunteers. continued on page 6