YOUR HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER SINCE 1937
Illinois Valley News
Wednesday, February 22, 2017, 1 Section, Volume LXXIX No. 49
City addresses
disposal of
surplus property
$1.00
Published weekly for the residents of the Illinois Valley
Uncle Dennis wants you!
Caroline Griffith
IVN Contributing Writer
The Cave Junction City Council met Monday, Feb. 13
for its monthly meeting. The first order of business was the
swearing in of newly appointed councilor, Jean Ann Miles, who
was chosen to fill the seat vacated by Daniel Dalegowski when
he became mayor. She will serve for the remaining two years of
his term.
Miles is a regular attendee of city council meetings and
is well-known to many members of the council. City code
provides that when a seat on the council becomes vacant,
citizens may apply to fill the vacancy and the council will
appoint the candidate they find to be best qualified. Miles is
involved in a number of projects throughout the community
and has addressed the council on numerous occasions as a
representative for the “Illinois Valley, Naturally” committee.
Before taking the oath of office, Miles said, “I just think
this is an awesome place and I would be honored to be a part
of the group that helps make that happen. This is the spiritual
and economic hub of the Illinois Valley, and I really honor the
Illinois Valley.”
Miles was then sworn in and took her seat as Council
Position No. 3.
Miles promptly volunteered, and was approved, to be the
council liaison to the Joint Economic Development Committee,
which is a countywide group comprised of individuals from
local government and business groups. The committee solicited
the Cave Junction City Council to get involved. They are still
seeking someone from the Illinois Valley business community
to join their group.
Next, came another appointment, this one to the
Local Public Safety Coordinating Council, a group that
was established in 2006 to review policy and proposals for
public safety and then report to the county commissioners.
Commissioner Lily Morgan had approached the city and
requested its involvement. Councilor Mark Dillinger
volunteered to be the council representative. City recorder Ryan
Nolan will represent city staff on the council.
The council then heard from Illinois Valley Community
Development Organization (IVCDO) community development
coordinator, Kate Dwyer, who updated the council on the I.V.
20/20 Visioning Plan. The plan, developed through public
input, outlines the main goals of the community and strategies
by which to achieve those goals. Dwyer encouraged council
members to get involved. More information is available at
ivcdo.org.
Council also approved a request by volunteer Roger Brant
to pursue grant funding to help rebuild the baseball field at
Jubilee Park. Brant has worked to come up with a parks and
recreation master plan, and is now looking to find the funding
to implement parts of this plan. The council granted him
permission to go forward and seek funding for this project on
behalf of the city.
The council then turned to the subject of the property at
223 Millie Street, a property that was acquired by the city after
years of nuisance complaints and nonpayment of fines. The
property has been declared surplus, which is the first step in the
process of selling it, but now the city must clean up the burnt
building that currently sits on the property. The main issue with
the cleanup is asbestos abatement.
SEE CITY ON A-10
(Photo by Dan Mancuso, Illinois Valley News)
A display ad in the Feb. 13, 2002 edition of the Illinois Valley News shows the more things change,
the more they stay the same.
Graffiti sparks Miles
to get in the game
Judy Hoyle
IVN Contributing Writer
Jean Ann Miles was recently
appointed
by Mayor Daniel
Dalegowski to complete his remaining
two year term. She was sworn
into office as a Cave Junction City
Councilor Feb. 13.
Since moving to the Illinois Valley
six years ago, the civic-minded Miles
and her husband, John, have devoted
many hours volunteering for the
community by joining the Community
Emergency Response Team (CERT), a
support group for the I.V. Fire District
(IVFD); I.V. Community Development
Organization (IVCDO); Ford Family
Leadership Institute Program that
organized the “I.V. by Candlelight”
walk last summer; and the I.V. Pride
Committee, a 20/20 Vision Strategic
Plan group.
Miles said she began attending
city council meetings four years ago
after she noticed graffiti on the wall of
the I.V. Senior Thrift store. “That really
bothered me, and I wanted to get rid of
that,” she said. “I knew that if I wanted
to help make a difference where I lived,
I needed to get involved.”
When asked what she hopes to
accomplish during her term of office,
Miles said, “I want to make a difference.
I’d like to help make the city stronger
economically. I also think families
need to be better represented. I really
feel the city needs that perspective.”
And, Miles is no stranger to
volunteer work, “I’ve always done
volunteer work,” she said. “It’s an
important part of contributing to the
community.” Miles taught first grade
for 16 years in Anaheim, California
and when her own five children were
in school, she served as both choir and
volleyball booster club presidents,
volunteered for 10 years with the
local parent-teacher association (PTA)
and served as PTA president at two
different schools.
Currently, Miles works as
a substitute aide at Evergreen
Elementary and Lorna Byrne Middle
School while she works to complete
her Oregon teaching credential. She is
also helping to coordinate a “Prepare
Fair” slated for April 15 at I.V. High
School. This event is a project of the
Public Safety Task Force and is a joint
effort by the city, IVFD, IVCDO and
I.V. Chamber of Commerce to help
residents plan for emergencies.
Even though Miles comes from
Southern California, she is passionate
about the city of Cave Junction.
“People here are so friendly. I think
I fit better up here. I’m really a small
town girl at heart. I felt like this was
where I was supposed to be for a long
time.”
For 15 years, Miles drove here
from Southern California three or four
times a year to help her parents.
And when explaining her move
to Cave Junction she said, “When
we moved here we did it on faith. In
everything I do, I rely on the Heavenly
Father. It’s far less stressful,” she
explained. “Faith is a verb. You have
to exercise faith. I’m learning that and
trying to have it as a practice. So far
it’s working well.”
SEE MILES ON A-10
Trump win boosts Josephine County Democratic Party
Anita R. Savio
IVN Contributing Writer
Josephine County is known as a
Republican-majority county. But subsequent to
Donald Trump’s election, the Josephine County
Democratic Party is seeing a surge among those
residents wanting to become involved with the
Democrats.
According to Josephine County Democratic
Party Chair Howard Owens, “Democrats and
other concerned citizens are energized and
ready to take positive but peaceful action to
resist Trump’s attack on our nation’s values.”
Owens has a lifetime of experience behind
his leadership. He is now a wheelchair user, but
for most of his working life he was a United
Auto Workers organizer and negotiator for the
western United States. He has met with many
of our presidents, as well as multiple heads of
state from around the world. He had talks in
China with Deng Xiao Ping during the Carter
administration, and he met with All-Trade
Unions Council representatives in the Soviet
Union. He is an organizer and negotiator.
Owens said that for many, whether
Democrat or Republican, the opportunity to be
involved in party politics starts by serving as
a precinct committee person (PCP). Josephine
County is divided into 47 precincts, of which
five are located in the Illinois Valley. Each
precinct has one male and one female for every
500 registered voters. In the Illinois Valley, as
some precincts are more populous than others,
that translates into 26 slots for the Democrats
and 26 for the Republicans.
But not all those slots are filled. Currently,
12 of the Republican slots are filled and five
of the Democrat. Countywide, the Republican
numbers are slightly stronger, working out to 47
percent of Republican slots, versus 11 percent
for the Democrats.
That’s a problem for the Democrats,
because PCPs are the bedrock of party politics.
They knock on their neighbors’ doors, make
telephone calls and help to get out the vote.
They also elect officers of their party’s central
committee and select delegates to district
committees and to the state central committee.
“We’ve had a great deficit of PCPs,” said
Owens, because we haven’t concentrated on
that for a while. However Republicans don’t
necessarily have active PCPs on their lists. A
96-year-old person is not going to be an active
PCP.”
And Owens is buoyed by the fact that the
list of Democratic PCPs is growing.
“Before the election we had 17 PCPs. We
currently have 25, and 12 new applications.
And we have a growing number of registered
Democrats asking how to become PCPs.”
Independents are also joining the ranks,
added Owen. “Independents, especially our
Bernie friends, see the extreme positions of
Trump and are coming on board. We have
individuals who registered independent and
who are now re-registering Democrat so that in
180 days they can become PCPs.”
Becoming a PCP is not the only way
an energized person can contribute to the
Democratic cause. Illinois Valley resident
Gary Eby is one such example. Rather than
becoming a PCP at this time, he has opted to
form a Resist Committee. A retired mental
health and substance abuse specialist in the
Veteran’s Administration and published author
of two books, Eby describes himself as a
lifelong Democrat who was not really involved
in the party in terms of volunteering. “But my
disappointment with the results of the election
caused me to get involved in an organized
approach.”
SEE PARTY ON A-10
Josephine Democratic Party Chair-
man, Howard Owen.