Safe House secures new site
Alliance will relocate to current CJ Home Valley Bank
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
Mallette said that she’s
services and give a whole lot
IVN Staff Writer
been working on securing a
of support that we weren’t
Illinois Valley Safe
site since she began her posi-
able to do because we were
House Alliance (IVSHA) has
tion in October 2001, and that
restricted by the size and lo-
purchased the
cation of our
current Home
building,” she
Valley
Bank
said. “This is a
building
in
monumental
Cave Junction
achievement.”
and will move
The new site
its operations
was appraised
there
from
at
$717,000,
quarters at I.V.
Mallette said.
Resource Cen-
Home Valley
ter.
contributed
The new
$147,000 to-
facility will be
ward the total,
named
t h e (From left) IVSHA Board Chairman Beth Williams, Home and IVSHA will
Home Valley Valley Bank CEO Robert Ward, and IVSHA Executive
pick up the re-
Center for Ad- Director Chris Mallette. (Photo by ‘I.V. News’)
m a i n i n g
vocacy, Resources, Education
IVSHA has come a long way
$570,000.
and Support (CARES), it was
during the past few years.
IVHSA still must raise
announced Wednesday, June
The Home Valley acquisition
approximately $591,000 to-
13.
has been in the works for a
ward the purchase price and
IVSHA Executive Direc-
year.
remodeling costs of the exist-
tor Chris Mallette said that
“We’ve taken some
ing building, Mallette said.
the existing bank structure
pretty big steps when you
“The cost of the whole
will be remodeled and turned
think that our first staff per-
project, in phase one, is
into an advocacy center, and
son was hired at the end of
$1,066,000,” Mallette said.
that a safe house will be con-
2001 and we’re now in the
“We have commitments for
structed elsewhere on the
process of hiring our sixth
$475,000.”
1.27-acre property at Lister
person,” Mallette said.
But she said that having a
Street and Kerby Avenue.
“We’ve worked with over
permanent location will make
Home Valley will vacate
2,400 adult and child survi-
it easier to raise that money.
its current location there later
vors since then and built a
“We’ve had initial con-
this year. It will relocate to a
whole program.”
versations with many regional
new building under construc-
Securing a permanent
foundations,” she said. “They
tion on Redwood Hwy. in CJ
location will make it easier
were all interested in our pro-
at the former site of Select
for IVSHA to achieve its goal
ject, but they wouldn’t act on
Market, next to Caves Phar-
of helping survivors of do-
our proposals until we had
macy.
mestic abuse, Mallette said.
two things: proof that the
The DMV office will
“This is taking us to a
community supports us and
stay in its portion of the build-
whole new level so we’ll be
securing the site. I think
ing, continuing to pay rent.
able to provide a whole lot of
(Continued on page 3)
EMOTIONS RAN HIGH as the Illinois
Valley High School Class of 2007 re-
ceived diplomas Tuesday evening,
June 5. The ceremony was held in Ken
Mann Memorial Gym instead of at the
athletic field due to rain. Emily Harris
was valedictorian; and salutations were
Ian Barker-Cortrecht, Nick Greener and
Austin Hocker. Faculty speakers in-
cluded Elaine Barker, Gary Enoch, and
Steve Morgan. The IVHS band was di-
rected by Kevin Soon; and incoming
student body president Steven Paul
was master of ceremonies. (Photos by
Michelle Binker / ‘Illinois Valley News’)
Approved JoCo ’07-’08 budget scuttled
Raffenburg plan for allocations of fed money, says Ellis, ‘like starting over’
Measure 37 reforms to be on ballot
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
Last week, the Oregon
House and Senate voted to
refer a series of Measure 37
reforms to the Nov. 6 ballot.
Measure 37 was ap-
proved by 61 percent of vot-
ers in the 2004 election. The
measure states that govern-
ment entities must either pay
compensation for zoning
regulations that devalue pri-
vate property or waive them.
However, much contro-
versy has arisen since the
passage of Measure 37, with
very clear divisions emerging
between property rights advo-
cates and defenders of Ore-
gon's 30-year-old land use
system.
Those divisions have
also become apparent during
Oregon’s 2007 Legislative
session, as Democrats and
Republicans have spent
months battling over pro-
posed changes to Measure 37.
The attempted legislative
remedy came in the form of
House Bill 3540, a 24-page
bill that would establish an
“express lane” approach for
smaller claims, create the
position of Land Use Om-
budsman to oversee the proc-
ess, and put a 20-home cap on
Measure 37 claims.
But the bill won’t be
passed into law unless voters
decide to approve it Nov. 6.
HB 3540 passed the Sen-
ate Tuesday, June 5 on a 19-
11, party-line vote, with all
Democrats voting in favor
and all Republicans opposed.
The following day, it passed
the House on a 31-26 party-
line vote.
Rep. Peter Buckley (D-
Ashland) said that HB 3540
addresses the concerns about
Measure 37 in an even-
handed manner.
“We attempted to find
middle ground and fairness for
small property owners so they
can add a house or two on
their property for family mem-
bers,” Buckley said. “We
streamlined the process to
make it work for people. Lar-
ger claims, we broadened it
out so the impact on neighbors
could be considered.”
Sen. Jason Atkinson (R-
Central Point) characterized
the passage of HB 3540 as
“arrogance run amok.”
“I think is a terrible injus-
tice to the voters of Oregon,”
Atkinson said. “This govern-
ment, especially the executive
branch, has succeeded now in
overturning the will of Ore-
gon voters.”
Rep. Ron Maurer (R-
Grants Pass) described HB
3540 as a “lawyer’s bill,” and
said that it was deliberately
written in complicated legal
terminology that few will be
able to understand.
“It was intentionally de-
signed to create a double-
negative effect, which is con-
fusing,” Maurer said. “I just
don’t believe that most peo-
ple are going to be able to
read this legislation and inter-
pret its meaning and be able
to take part in a rational de-
bate.”
Atkinson said that HB
3540 favors the interests of
big government at the ex-
pense of small land owners,
and uses bureaucrat-friendly
language to do so.
He added, “Measure 37,
as it was written, had 1,000
words. This one took out 852
words and replaces it with
volumes and volumes and
volumes of words that undo
the will of the people.
“This is government and
power gone to the head of
people who are now saying,
(Continued on page 4 )
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
A last-minute budget
proposal during a Thursday,
June 7 meeting by Jim Raf-
fenburg, chairman of the Jo-
sephine County Board of
Commissioners, stunned
members of the county
Budget Committee.
It subsequently rescinded
a $13 million budget for the
2007-08 fiscal year that was
approved during a tense
meeting on May 17 in the
face of drastic budget short-
falls because of the lack of
federal O&C monies.
However, the committee
was reconvened after Presi-
dent Bush signed legislation
which included a one-year
extension of the county pay-
ments program for timber-
dependent areas.
It’s anticipated that Jose-
phine County will receive
approximately $12 million
under the payments program.
Earlier this month, Dave
Toler, vice chairman of the
county board, said that the
commissioners likely would
place half those federal dol-
lars in a reserve fund and al-
locate the other $6 million
towards its criminal justice
system. The latter is com-
prised of the offices of the
sheriff, district attorney, and
juvenile justice.
However, Raffenburg
was vacationing in Hawaii
when the federal legislation
was signed. And when he
returned last week, he had his
own ideas about what the
budget from July 1, 2007
through June 30, 2008 should
look like.
In a prepared statement,
Raffenburg said that the
county should combine the
$12 million in federal funding
with the $4.8 million general
fund transfer to the public
safety fund, approved on May
17, for a total two-year
budget of $16.8 million.
Approximately $8.4 mil-
lion would be allocated for the
‘07-’08 fiscal year, with the
other half set aside as un-
budgeted reserves for ‘08-’09.
Raffenburg said that he
didn’t want to announce his
proposal in such an abrupt
manner, but “didn’t have a
choice.” Commissioner
Dwight Ellis said that the
committee would need at
least one more meeting to
evaluate the plan.
“This is just like starting
over,” Ellis said. “There is not
enough information for me to
go on.”
Under Raffenburg’s pro-
posal, interfund transfers
from the Josephine County
(Continued on page 4)
Some electricity bills to rise 13% due to suit
Some Pacific Power resi-
dential customers soon will
see a 13 percent increase on
their monthly bills.
Pacific Power (PacPow)
said that the rise will affect
residential customers who use
1,000 kilowatt-hours of elec-
tricity per month.
The change is due to a
court case challenging the
BPA (Bonneville Power Ad-
ministration) Residential Ex-
change, said PacPow. On
bills from the utility, there is
an item listed as “BPA En-
ergy Discount” that applies
the credit.
The program has no ef-
fect on PacPow revenues or
income; benefits flow directly
to its customers, said the util-
ity. Because of the challenge,
upheld in court:
“This means that the
credit will be reduced for bills
issued in June and is sus-
pended for bills issued in July
and after until litigation is
resolved or other federal ac-
tion occurs,” said PacPow.
The credit received by
customers is affected because
of a lawsuit filed by Industrial
Customers of Northwest
Utilities (ICNU), a special
interest group, said PacPow.
It added that ICNU represents
large electricity users, the
Public Power Council and
several public utilities, which
were parties to the suit in fed-
eral court.
Energy-saving tips can
be found at pacificpower.net
or by phoning (888) 221-
7070. Meanwhile, said
PacPow, “We will continue
to work hard on your behalf
and keep you informed of our
progress in seeking a remedy
to this (court) decision.
“It’s about fairness, com-
mon sense and fighting for
what’s right for all consumers
in the Northwest,” PacPow
concluded.
A PICKUP TRUCK driven by
Christopher E. Jorgensen,
40, of Grants Pass, crashed
into a Rough & Ready Lum-
ber Co. storage building
Wednesday, June 6, said
Oregon State Police. The
crash was reported at 6:40
a.m., and was attributed to
the driver spilling hot coffee
on one leg. He was cited on
a charge of careless driving.
(Photos by Dale & Elaine
Sandberg/ I.V. Fire District
Media Dept.)