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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 20, 2010)
1 New club on campus Page 6 kainasCommunity College, Oregon City, OR Perspectives on voting PAC-10 team Wednesday, Oct. 20,2010 Volume 44, Issue 2 First copy FREE; additional copies 10 Visit TheClackamasPrint.com for more info & photos ollege seeks taxes for Harmony tanas Community College’s ly campus has been home to [ority of the college’s nursing ¡lied Health programs since B8. The college initially took fete of participation for $20 I from the state to cover the (construction and $5 million support. kony requires a yearly $1.7 I debt service payment, and I college is looking for board If to refinance and take out a Merest loan from the state via [measure possibly on the next Leasure in May 2011. The and Board of Education also [Harmony is a vital facility to Id hope to expand it further. I Blue Ribbon Committee kithcare (requested) for the state to issue out however the debt service that must be paid on it is covered by the recipient’s internal budget A general obligation bond is issued with voter approval and the debt service is paid for through taxes. “To date, we’ve been using that state support to cover the debt service payments, but if you do the math we can do that for a while but we can’t do it over the long run,” said Wilton. “(General obligation) bonds are more secure than (a certificate of participa tion), and the rate environment is good so it’s also true that if we do this we can end up with a lower inter est rate on this outstanding loan, which would save money as well” Recently the school has lost just under $3 million from its budget due to economic fore casts, harming the school’s standard operating budget. And even now, the worry is that the college will lose another $4 million in appropriation funds for the 2011-2013 biennium. “Hence our motivation to refund that obligation in general obligation bonds, because what that will do is it will free the operating budget of having to pick up that debt service payment,” said Wilton. “That’s the last thing our operating budget needs now. On top of all these other finan cial challenges we have, we’re not looking forward to having another $1.7 million cost to pick However, while this bond might sound good in theory, it still is not a sure thing. Chuck Clemans, school board member from Zone-4, said that this proposal still needs plenty of thought, consideration, and plan ning before approval by the Board of Education. He also said that we pos sibly won’t see an approval until the December or even January meeting of the board “What’s really important is to take a look at what we do about mak ing our facilities and our equipment appropriate for the programs that — . - - e we are offering and will b offering in the future. So there is a lot of study that needs to be made before that final number comes out,” said Clemans. Clemans also assured that the building is not any danger of closing or that the college will default on its loan. “Refinancing the Harmony debt is just a piece of toe much larger picture of what we need to do to make sure our facilities are suitable for the types of students and number of students that we need to serve,” said Clemans. ‘Not paying that bond payment is not an option. It would dramati cally affect toe college’s credit rating. We are committed and legally required to make that payment,” said Wilton. building focused on Health and nursing be at the Harmony loca- kd Joanne Truesdell, ■resident pony was also kause of the need I relocate and central es nursing program [hospital corridor of race, Legacy, Kaiser rate and others, as provide a campus k dense population Ms 111 Milwaukie, land Happy Valley. e are two types of pat are most com- taken out from the the aforementioned ate of participation general obligation [cording to Courtney ¡yXi vice president of col- ivices. Certificates of partici pa not require voter approval I Photo illustration by Clackamas Print èteran voices will rise for military family scholarships py Christina Pearl [he Clackamas Print pc CCC Foundation is k a fundraising event on Ry, Oct 21 at the Abernethy P in Oregon City. “Stars, k and Stories” will benefit Military Family Scholarship Rment, an endowment ply designed to provide Rships to the spouses and Rents of those serving in the P will be an evening of cel- F°n that spans generations,” Phelly Parini, dean of col- pancement. In that regard, there will be special guests present from several war eras, including the Master of Ceremonies Col. Robert A. Vri lakas, a WWII Air Force veteran scheduled to speak at 6 p.m. Excerpts from documentary film maker Gary Mortensen’s award-win ning film, “This is War-Memories of Iraq,” will show at 4:30 p.m. The film features experiences of the Oregon National Guard’s 2nd Battalion, 162 Infantry in Iraq between 2004 and 2005. Mortensen will be at the event, along with SFC Phillip Jacques, a veteran from the film. Attendees may purchase copies of the documentary, and proceeds will go to the MFSE. Poet Frances Richey will also be there to read “Voices of the Guard,” a poem she wrote whi le interviewing several Oregon National Guard mem bers for her book. One of those inter viewed by Richey was Casey Curry, a Clackamas Community College student who will be attending. Curry served in the Oregon National Guard for over 25 years and spent a year in Afghanistan. “The fact that this college honors men and women who have served is very huge - not only the men and women who have served, but their spouses and their families. This scholarship is very important ... because there are very few benefits available to spouses and dependents,” said Curry. CCC’sVeteranAffairsCoordinator Greg Myers said, “The people I’ve told about (MFSE) are really sur prised I get a lot of ‘wows.’ It’s unique for a community college to have a scholarship targeted for mili tary families.” Several local businesses are sponsoring the “Stars, Stripes, and Stories” event to cover admission and students are welcome to attend. “It really is a little different,” said Parini, “Typically when you have a big fundraiser, you invite the donors, people who would be more apt to be just on the giving side. This event, we have actually opened it up. If there were students on this campus that were really passionate and wanted to attend, we would love to have them help out, but we are clear that this is a fundraiser.” Those wishing to attend can call 503-594-3015. CURRY
