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Illinois Valley News
Wednesday, January 18, 2017, 1 Section, Volume LXXIX No. 44
JoCo Library
looks to form
tax district
$1.00
Published weekly for the residents of the Illinois Valley
Fire takes home
Caroline Griffith
IVN Contributing Writer
Once again, the Josephine Community
Libraries, Inc. (JCLI), the nonprofit that runs the
libraries of Josephine County, wants to take the issue
of library funding to the voters. Unlike the Library
District effort of 2014, which did not pass, the newly
proposed district would not encompass the entire
county, but only those precincts in which voters
supported the district. The proposed taxation rate will
be the same as the last effort at $0.39 of $1,000 of
assessed property value.
The saga of the libraries of Josephine County
and the quest for funding began with the passage
of Measure 50. This statewide measure, which
passed in 1997, allowed counties to take existing,
temporary tax levies and make them permanent. At
the time, the library had a 3-year levy of $0.33 per
$1,000 of assessed value. This became a permanent
tax collected by the county. Over time, due to a
lack of funding for law enforcement, the county
commissioners began to gradually take money from
the library to pay for criminal justice.
JCLI Executive Director Kate Lasky, referred
to what happened next as “death by attrition.” The
county stopped purchasing new books in 2003.
Between then and 2007, when the libraries were
closed, no new books were purchased. O&C Funds
continued to dwindle and in 2006 the library went out
for a special tax district which failed. In 2007, after
the failure of a public safety levy, the county closed
the libraries in order to have more money to pay for
law enforcement.
Shortly after the closure, an opinion piece
in the Grants Pass Daily Courier called on library
supporters, and those who voted for the 2006 library
district, to donate what they would have paid in
taxes to help reopen the libraries. The nonprofit JCLI
was formed from the outpouring of donations. Over
the next two years, with volunteer labor, private
donations, grants and $300,000 in seed money from
the county, JCLI re-opened the libraries in Grants
Pass, the Illinois Valley, Williams and Wolf Creek.
JCLI currently operates those four branches on
a budget of $800,000 per year, 55 percent of which
comes from donations, 35 percent from grants, and
10 percent from fines and fees. JCLI receives no tax
funding. All of the branches are primarily staffed by
volunteers, who donate the equivalent of $500,000
in labor per year. Since its inception in 2007, JCLI
has raised $2.2 million in donations and received
$1.1 million in grants. Unfortunately, this is not
enough money to provide the level of service that
the community needs; Josephine County library
expenditures per capita are the lowest in the state,
and the level of services offered reflects this. The
nonprofit library model, as novel as it is, is proving
difficult to sustain.
SEE LIBRARY ON A-3
(Photo by Dale Sandberg, IVFD Media Dept)
Illinois Valley Fire District firefighters work to knock down a structure fire located in the 200 block of
Hogue Drive in Selma Saturday, Jan. 14. The residents of structure were not home at the time of the fire.
Rural Metro assisted at the scene. American Red Cross was notified and is assisting the residents.
City leadership changes
Caroline Griffith
IVN Contributing Writer
Past council members said their
farewells, and a new mayor and council
members were sworn in, Monday, Jan.
9 at the first Cave Junction City Council
meeting of the year.
Margaret Miller, who has served
in council position 2 since 2004, joked
that she is too young to retire and so
she will continue to serve the public in
some capacity. She advised incoming
and sitting council members, “When
you make a decision, remember the law;
the laws that we have on the books, the
laws that we are trying to change, and, if
you have any questions, err on the side
of the law. If you have questions, ask.
There is always somebody there to give
you advice.” She added, “If you need
something, I am available also.”
Departing councilor, John Gardiner,
has served in council position 4 since
2012. He thanked the council and city
staff, “The last four years have been
quite the education.” He encouraged the
council to move forward with outreach
to local businesses, philanthropic
organizations and nonprofits, and added,
“May your deliberations be cooperative
and harmonious over the next four
years.”
Outgoing mayor, Carl Jacobson,
kept his farewell address very brief,
“There have been ups and downs, and
I learned a lot.” As for his plans for the
future, he said, “I don’t know, maybe
I’ll go back to school, get a degree in
education.”
After the outgoing councilors said
their goodbyes, new councilors Lindsey
Gillette and Mark Dillinger were sworn
in and took their seats on the council.
New mayor, Daniel Dalegowski,
then gave the State of the City address,
which the city charter mandates must
happen at the beginning of every year.
Dalegowski began by congratulating
local Federal Communications
Commission-licensed radio station,
KXCJ-LP, for raising their antennae and
getting on the air, an accomplishment
he attributed to community cooperation.
“The cooperation of CaveNet, and so
many other local organizations and
individuals, is an inspiration and shining
example of what committed individuals
can do for their community,” he said.
He added that KXCJ, which broadcasts
at 105.7 FM, would be an asset to the
community, especially in terms of local
communication during emergencies.
He also thanked local Roger Brandt for
his volunteer work for the city. Brandt
recently wrote a grant to secure funding
for the creation of a new Master Parks
and Recreation Plan for the city.
Dalegowski then laid out some of
his goals for the coming year, including
looking into developing riverfront land
for recreational use and revamping the
mayor’s job description. “The office
of the mayor has a lot of authority,” he
said. “The mayor is the executive and
administrative head of city government.
The mayor supervises all city employees,
makes sure that ordinances are enforced
and that agreements are observed.
The mayor approves all expenditures,
supervises all city utilities and city
properties. I don’t believe that it is
appropriate now and into the future
for so much responsibility to be
invested in one volunteer individual.”
Dalegowski suggested that some of the
responsibilities currently undertaken by
the mayor would be better accomplished
by an invested, full-time employee, and
that the council look into the matter.
SEE CITY ON A-3
Meteorologists: Stay prepared for more weather
Annette McGee Rasch
IVN Senior Contributing Writer
The current series of storm systems
impacting the Illinois Valley could bring up to
6 inches of rain and possibly more snow on the
Valley floor by the end of the week, according
to National Weather Service meteorologist Dan
Weygand.
“We don’t expect impacts as severe as
the New Year’s storms, but people need to be
vigilant for potential flooding because there’s
so much snow pack. While Josephine County’s
rivers aren’t expected to flood, we can’t
completely rule that out. And there is a high
probability of smaller streams flooding.
“As the week progresses, snow levels
will drop,” he said. “The first storm will likely
be quite high, with a warm and wet southwest
flow, but as the low pressure system moves
inland toward the weekend, we’ll get into
the colder portion of the air mass, which will
bring the snow levels lower.” Weyland said the
current storms are “a different scenario from the
New year’s storms. The only similarity is that
we’ll get a lot of precipitation.”
Winter storms in this region are often
characterized by an “atmospheric river often
referred to as a Pineapple Express” over the
Pacific Ocean that picks up moisture from the
tropics and aims a “fire hose” at the West Coast
- which is what’s predicted this week. Weyland
explained that with the New Year’s storms, the
additional component of a deeply dipping jet
stream that stalled over the Pacific Northwest
coast brought frigid air from the Bering Sea and
Alaska and turned the rain to snow.
Weather dominates everything - and while
this simple truth is easy to forget during the
busy course of modern life, when major storms
hit, people are reminded that they’re not really
in charge. And for some who live just outside
the Illinois Valley, being prepared is essential
- as they know they’re likely to be cut off from
services when Mother Nature roars.
Veroune “Ronnie” Chittim has lived
10 miles up the Illinois River Road near the
McCaleb Ranch for many years. She said
between 3 and 4 feet of snow fell at her place.
During the height of the New Year’s storm, she
crawled out onto her roof every two hours to
shovel snow off the solar panels that provide
power to her home.
“I knew the storm was coming so I had
plenty of food for myself and my animals,”
Chittim said. “I went to town, paid my bills,
went to the post office and picked up more food.
I had a list and I went down the list. I knew I’d
have to sit it out. I was lucky, I never lost power,
but I have a generator with a lot of stored gas
and plenty of wood and lots of canned and
dry food. It’s different for those dependant
on companies to keep their wires up, but I’ve
learned to always be prepared for the worst.
“It started snowing on New Year’s Eve
and I didn’t get to town until the 11th. The
Forest Service plowed the road Jan. 9, but there
was still enough ice, so I didn’t want to chance
it for a few more days,” she said. “On the eighth
day I heard from the caretaker at the Boy Scout
Ranch, who had tried to get out, that there
was a rock slide just above Six Mile. Then the
Forest Service came out and cleared it. I was
so grateful to have that communication, just to
know that somebody was experiencing the same
thing.”
“I just finally got to town the other day,”
said Maureen Connolly, who lives at mile eight
on Caves Highway. “My driveway is really
steep, so I still can’t drive out. But luckily my
son lives behind me, and he was able to get
down to me on his Arctic Cat. It wasn’t easy; in
fact he got stuck a few times.”
Connolly lost both power and her land
phone line for six days and she said “the Wi-Fi
on my cellphone wasn’t reliable either, so I
had some moments of ‘Uh oh, what am I going
to do?’ It cost me a little bit of panic, but my
son did a really good job making me feel like
I wasn’t alone, but really, there was no way
for anyone to get to me if I’d had a medical
emergency.” She said her son, Arley Tree,
stayed busy helping numerous neighbors gain
access to the highway or brought them supplies,
as he was the only one who could get to town.
“He’s still exhausted,” she said.
Connolly also has a wood stove and said
she “amused myself. I enjoyed the candles
and the quiet. I went 10 days without TV or
internet, so I got crafts done and read a book.
But I felt bad that I couldn’t be out helping
people, because that’s my nature, but at least I
didn’t have to burden anybody, because I was
prepared. I can my own food, so I had plenty.
I cooked on my woodstove, everything from
chili, stews, soups to rice and vegetables, I ate
pretty well. I had kerosene lamps, and knowing
the storm was coming, I filled my tub with
water. Being up here, my electricity goes out
sometimes more often than in town. We’re often
the first out and the last restored.”
Jason Bayless, public information officer
with the Illinois Valley Fire District, said “a lot
of people just weren’t prepared. The biggest
thing, if we learn from this event, is that we
need to be prepared. And we’re talking about
neighbors coming together and helping each
other. That happened a lot. There were so many
individual crises’, driveways that needed to
be cleared out, people that didn’t have wood
or water, or needed gas generators or food.
Pacific Power was doing what they could do,
but they were completely overwhelmed. And
with trees down in driveways all that stuff had
to be moved before they could get in. Josephine
County Search and Rescue brought in two
Snowcats that were able to gain access which
helped a lot.”
Bayless also said, “That storm didn’t go
the way the National Weather Service said it
would, and now, the flood danger is not over
yet, there’s so much snow pack. We really need
to watch these next storms - and people really
need to get prepared to be on their own for
extended periods.”