Inside:
Do it for Dad
Father’s Day
specials advertised
Page 2
For fewer felines
$10-a-Tom neuter
offered by SNYP
Page 3
Property protection
Advocate calls for
land-use reform
Page 4
Open-air jazz
IRVAC to host
Deer Creek concert
Sunday, June 27
Page 5
Caves are cool
Monument ready
for summer visitors
Page 13
School district faces
$2 million in cuts
TRSD Superintendent Huber-Kantola
ponders effects of state budget crisis
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
Dan Huber-Kantola cer-
tainly has a lot on his mind
these days.
During his stint as super-
intendent of Three Rivers
School District (TRSD),
Huber-Kantola has dealt with
many issues, including con-
tinued declining enrollment at
many of the district’s 14
schools.
In fact, his tenure has
included the painful closures
of schools in Applegate and
Wolf Creek.
But the continued uncer-
tainty surrounding state sup-
port for schools weighs heav-
ily on the superintendent, in
light of the $577 million
budget deficit being faced by
officials in Salem.
Lawmakers have opted
to not hold a special session,
and Gov. Kulongoski has
plans to use his allotment
authority to call for 9 percent
budget reductions at all state
agencies. That includes the
Dept. of Education, provider
of much funding to school
districts throughout Oregon.
Huber-Kantola said that a
9 percent cut would amount
to the loss of more than $2
million for TRSD.
Approximately 85 per-
cent of TRSD’s budget is
allocated toward personnel
costs, including salary and
benefits, he said. As such, the
district has limited options.
“It’s basically impossi-
ble to cut that deep and not
affect personnel,” Huber-
Kantola said.
Options for combating
(Continued on page 6)
AG Kroger hears testimony on
open meeting, public record laws
By MICHELLE BINKER
IVN Staff Writer
As part of Oregon Attor-
ney General John Kroger’s
government transparency
initiative, he and Dept. of
Justice staff members met
with media representatives
and members of the public at
the Medford Library on
some of the steps his office
already has taken to promote
open and transparent govern-
ment. The final phase will be
to propose changes to the
Legislature in 2011.
“People in Oregon want
to have a very transparent
government,” said Kroger.
“They want to know how
Oregon Attorney General John Kroger ( IVN photo)
Thursday evening, June 10.
The meeting, the sixth in a
series at locations throughout
the state, was held to receive
testimony from Oregonians
about the effectiveness of
open meeting and public
record laws.
The meeting, attended by
approximately 25 persons,
lasted some 90 minutes.
Kroger outlined the goals
of his initiative, as well as
their tax dollars are being
spent and if there are mis-
takes they want to know
about that.”
Among challenges to
information access cited by
Kroger are the more than 450
exemptions “sprinkled”
throughout the statute books.
Additionally, he noted the
subjective definition of the
legal requirement that agen-
cies respond to public record
requests in a “reasonable”
amount of time.
What seems reasonable
to government, he said, might
not seem reasonable to the
citizen seeking information.
Another issue the attor-
ney general identified during
his recent meetings is the cost
of fees imposed to complete
information requests.
Medford Mail Tribune
publisher Grady Singletary
noted that gathering the infor-
mation necessary to keep
citizens informed has become
a challenge for newspapers.
“It’s troubling for us and
should be troubling for you,”
he said. “It’s information that
you need to know, and we
need to provide it to you in a
timely fashion.”
Some steps that the AG’s
office has taken, Kroger said,
are to put the Oregon public
meeting law manual online at
no charge; create a simplified
“Citizens Guide” which is an
overview of the law; and es-
tablish a “transparency coun-
sel” position.
One problematic area
identified by audience mem-
ber Jack Duggan is publica-
tion of minutes by governing
bodies and agencies. It was
noted that minutes often are
posted long after the meeting
in question and in summary
form, which “(is) neither
complete nor accurate.”
“Agencies should post
draft minutes subject to ap-
proval,” Duggan said. He
noted an instance in which
(Continued on page 2)
HB 2229 prompts land-use review
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
Because of passage of
House Bill 2229 by the Leg-
islature last year, counties
throughout Oregon have the
opportunity to review their
land-use codes and poten-
tially rezone parcels that
might have been originally
misclassified.
That was the main topic
of a Wednesday, June 9
meeting at the Guild Bldg. in
Grants Pass. Approximately
15 people attended the forum,
sponsored by Southern Ore-
gon Resource Alliance
(SORA) and which featured
Oregonians in Action (OIA)
President Dave Hunnicutt as
guest speaker.
SORA is a nonprofit
organization devoted to natu-
ral resource utilization, and
was founded in the 1970s by
former Josephine County
Commissioner Anne G.
Basker. OIA is a property-
rights advocacy group based
in Tigard.
Hunnicutt said that HB
2229 is “one of the few bright
spots in recent years” to come
out of the Legislature.
In 1975, the Land Con-
servation and Development
Commission (LCDC)
adopted a series of statewide
planning goals. Goal 3 dealt
with agriculture and farm
land-use, and Goal 4 involved
forestry uses.
Those goals contained a
“broad definition” of farm
and forest land, according to
Hunnicutt.
Between 1975 and the
mid-1980s, counties had to
adopt comprehensive plans
and zoning ordinances or
amend them to fit LCDC’s
first 14 goals. Ever since,
Hunnicutt said, there has been
“significant uncertainty”
among counties and property
owners regarding permitted
uses of land.
Jackson County created a
task force of residents in the
mid-1970s that held meetings
and designated around 14,000
acres of land for Exclusive
Farm Use (EFU). Its recom-
mendations were presented to
LCDC, Hunnicutt said, which
rejected them and opted in-
stead to increase the EFU
(Continued on page 6)
Visitors to Oregon Caves National Monument pose for photos and enjoy the relatively cool
temperatures on Saturday, June 12. For more information about the monument’s attractions,
see story on page 13. (Photo by Michelle Binker, Illinois Valley News )
Agencies budget 9-percent cuts
in light of state revenue woes
Kulongoski pleads for federal aid
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
Members of the Oregon
Legislature have voted to not
hold a special session to ad-
dress a $577 million shortfall
for the 2009-11 biennium.
As such, Gov. Kulon-
goski is resorting to the allot-
ment authority granted him
under state law to try and
resolve the issue.
In a Wednesday, June 9
press release, Kulongoski
announced that he received
plans from general fund state
agencies outlining how to
manage 9 percent budget
reductions.
“Today’s plans represent
the next step in this difficult
process,” Kulongoski said.
“There are no good answers
and no easy solutions to the
current shortfall. With a
shortfall of this magnitude,
we are limited in our options
to balance the budget – and
the longer we wait, the more
painful and deep the cuts.”
Kulongoski wrote a letter
dated May 25 to members of
Oregon’s congressional dele-
gation and national leaders
pleading for federal assis-
tance to help the state meet its
financial obligations.
In particular, Kulongoski
urged passage of House
Resolution 4213, which
would extend the enhanced
Federal Medical Assistance
Percentage for six more
months. That would benefit
the state to the tune of ap-
proximately $200 million,
Kulongoski said.
Also supported by the
governor is passage of
S.3206, the Keep Our Educa-
tors Working Act of 2010.
“This bill would provide
an estimated $270 million for
education,” he said. “It would
help prevent thousands of
layoffs or a reduction in
school days for the 2010-11
academic year at Oregon
K-12 schools. This funding
will also be critical support
for post-secondary education
in this time of unprecedented
demand and need.”
But the governor’s ap-
proach to solving the funding
crisis was blasted by Oregon
House Republican Leader
Bruce Hanna in a June 9
press release.
“Across-the-board re-
ductions are the wrong solu-
tion to rebalancing the state
budget,” Hanna said. “The
state’s current leadership mis-
managed this budget from the
very beginning. They have
failed to protect critical ser-
vices, despite $8 billion in
new government spending
and $1.6 billion in job-killing
tax and fee increases.”
Hanna went on to criti-
cize passage of “huge spend-
ing increases to several state
agencies” by the Legislature
in past years, and continued
his call for a special session.
“The Legislature can’t
afford to wait for ‘further
analysis’ or yet another tax-
payer-funded bailout from the
federal government,” Hanna
said. “We should immedi-
ately convene into special
session, make the tough deci-
sions, and reprioritize spend-
ing to protect the most essen-
tial programs in education,
public safety and human ser-
vices from devastating cuts.”
House Speaker Dave
Hunt (D-Clackamas County)
said in a June 9 press release
that House Emergency Board
members planned to meet
with legislative fiscal staff
during the next two weeks to
assess the cuts and offer rec-
ommendations.
Hunt said that Legislative
Assembly cuts are nearly
finalized, and that House
members also will examine
proposed cuts from the Secre-
(Continued on page 3 )
Illinois Valley Fire District (IVFD) responded on Saturday, June
12 to the first reported wildfire of the season. The fire, at
Mike’s Gulch off Eight Dollar Mountain Road, burned less than
an acre of brush. The cause is believed to have been a camp
fire left burning in a pit, said IVFD’s Maintenance/Battalion
Chief Kris Sherman. Five IVFD firefighters controlled the blaze.
(Photo by Dale & Elaine Sandburg, IVFD Media Dept.)