Parks Board talks of size AWARDS,
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
The Keizer Parks and Rec-
reation Advisory Board is in an
unusual situation.
Usually the Parks Board is
the most popular committee
in Keizer and thus vacant seats
don’t stay empty for long.
Until now, that is.
As currently set up, the
Parks Board has nine seats.
Eight of them are currently
fi lled, with Clint Holland in-
dicating he wouldn’t mind
leaving the board. That would
leave seven seats.
Simple solution, right?
Chair David Louden noted
at a recent meeting the Parks
Board went up from seven to
nine members a few years ago
because of the growth at Keizer
Rapids Park. Jim Taylor, who
just joined the Parks Board,
noted the situation could be
remedied as terms expire.
Richard Walsh suggested the
city not advertise the opening
if the idea of cutting a seat is
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on the table. Debbie Lockhart,
the deputy city recorder, said
the opening has been adver-
tised for three months with no
applicants.
“All but one committee in
the city is seven seats,” coun-
cil liaison Brandon Smith said.
“There was a special reason
for the nine for Parks Board.
There used to be waiting lists
to be on committees, but that
doesn’t happen these days.”
J.T. Hager wasn’t quite see-
ing the need to drop from nine
to seven.
“I haven’t heard anything
to say there’s a problem with
nine seats,” Hager said. “There
hasn’t been a problem with
having enough for a quorum.
We have enough to do in the
parks, more minds are often
better. Clint, you still being on,
we benefi t greatly from your
past experience. I can appre-
ciate that other boards are at
seven members, but whatever
someone else does is not par-
ticularly relevant to me. I don’t
think now is the time for it.”
Scott Klug agreed with
Hager.
“I’m in the same boat, I’m
not sure there’s a problem,”
Klug said. “How hard will it be
to get those two people back
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later? If Keizer became that
great parks destination, how do
we get those two seats back?”
Taylor, a former city coun-
cilor, sided with Klug and
Hager.
“I agree, if it ain’t broke,
don’t fi x it,” Taylor said. “Parks
Board for years has been the
poster child for successful
boards in Keizer. It’s a very
active board. Those two ex-
tra people are needed, in my
opinion. I don’t see the prob-
lem with having them.”
Smith noted the issue was
more general for Keizer.
“There are fewer volunteers
in general,” Smith said. “Times
are different now than fi ve or
10 years ago. There’s just not as
much interest right now.”
Hager urged the recruit-
ment for another board mem-
ber to continue.
“The question to us should
be what can we do to promote
and fi ll the vacancy,” he said.
“Let’s go out and recruit some
talent.”
Klug said the season may be
contributing to lower interest
in the vacancy.
“Parks are not a prior-
ity right now,” Klug said. “It
doesn’t surprise me there’s
a lack of interest. When the
weather is good, people come
back in the parks.”
WKNA,
continued from Page A1
We talk with the city
councilors. There are so many
speakers we've had over the 10
years.”
To get ready for the meeting,
Rich noted she went through
minutes from the past 10 years.
“We've done a lot as far as
many topics and speakers, from
government,
transportation,
groups, representatives of
committees and activities. I
listed all of the people who've
been on the board the last 10
years. We have 70 years of total
service to our neighborhood
if you tally up all the years
everyone has been on. We have
a good thing going and I hope
it continues.”
Blake tipped his cap to Rich.
“WKNA and Rhonda Rich
are almost synonymous,” Blake
said. “I want to really thank
Rhonda for her time and effort
JANUARY 29, 2016, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A3
Christopher, last year's First
Citizen recipient. Continuing
a trend started last year,
Christopher had all former
First Citizens in attendance
come to the front of the
room as this year's winner was
introduced. They continued to
stand as Caillier spoke.
“At least 15 of these
previous winners worked
on the Big Toy,” Caillier said.
“When you volunteer, it's nice
to get a thank you once in a
while. This is quite the thank
you.”
According to Caillier,
Keizer
easily
lives
up
to its “Pride, Spirit and
Volunteerism” motto.
“This whole community
just gets you involved,” Caillier
said.
In introducing Caillier,
Christopher rattled off a long
list of activities he has been a
part of over the years.
“The recipient of this 2015
First Citizen Award has been
a longtime volunteer and
overachiever,”
Christopher
said. “Lucky for us, this
individual can't learn to say
no. This recognition has been
a long time coming and I am
thrilled that I get to be the
one to present the award.”
In introducing Bethell,
Zielinski noted some people
motivate others to get things
done, while others show up
and enjoy being the worker
bees.
“My choice of the person
to receive the President's
Award has both of these
characteristics,
plus
this
person has an amazing talent
to be able to create a project
by envisioning the good
things that can happen in the
community,” Zielinski said.
Bethell, president of the
McNary Athletic Boosters
Club, was bolstered by the
project and is now helping
to lead a similar project for
McKay High School in Salem.
“I get excited about
challenges now,” she said. “I
am working with McKay to
do a timeline for their turf
fi eld. I see opportunities in
those struggles. I can't wait to
see it done. We already have a
design in mind.”
The Lees noted Honey has
changed over the years, thanks
in particular to the four years
he spent as principal at MHS.
“John Honey didn't grow
up a Keizer kid, but he now
claims himself to be a Keizer
guy,” Krina Lee said. “Working
in Keizer with different groups
has helped him come to value
how closely connected the
Keizer community is and how
very easy it is to be engaged in
the family atmosphere of the
city of Keizer.”
Honey said that is indeed
the case.
“I really do consider myself
a Keizer guy now,” Honey
said. “There is a strong sense of
unity and purpose in Keizer.”
The longest introduction
speech was from Joe Egli, last
year's Merchant of the Year,
about White.
“Everybody knows this
person,” Egli said. “This person
always says yes. Actually, you
don't say yes or no, you say
sure or absolutely. They make
it happen.”
White
had
earlier
recognized his father, Glenn,
as one of the Pairings of
Excellence recipients. There
were a total of 12 such
winners.
When on stage to accept the
Merchant of the Year award,
Scott White individually
recognized every member of
his family sitting at his table.
“It's been a lot of work and
a little bit of fun,” he said with
a big grin.
Nathan Bauer served as
emcee again this year and
encouraged everyone to stop
by Big Town Hero.
“Hey
everyone,
free
sandwiches on Monday!”
Bauer exclaimed with a laugh.
Look for profi les of each
of the individual winners
in upcoming issues of the
Keizertimes. Please visit our
Facebook page for more
photos from the banquet.
the last 10 years keeping this
organization alive and viable.
I appreciate what you've been
able to do.”
Rich got a standing ovation
from the 20 or so people in
attendance.
Following the elections,
Blake pledged to keep going
with what Rich started.
“This association needs to
continue to be closely associated
with the neighborhood,” Blake
said. “I know there are many
other people who would love
to come to the meetings. We
want to get more and more
support as time goes by.”
Blake also led a discussion
about options for what to do
at Palma Ciea Park, following
up on a talk during the Keizer
Parks and Recreation Advisory
Board meeting a couple of
nights earlier. He referred to
the master plan for the park
and asked WKNA members to
prioritize the amenities they
would want to see in the park.
“They need to know a
direction,” Blake said of Parks
Board members. “We've done
a poll and came up with a
number of items. As we're all
aware, if the park doesn't get
used, we may lose the property
to something else. We want to
make it a more attractive place
to go.”
Martin Doerfl er repeated his
request for a couple of benches,
while Holland pointed to an
ongoing problem with the
park.
“We're killing lot of trees
with a lot of ivy down there,”
Holland said. “It's so cheap to
kill ivy. I hope we can kill all
the ivy. We need to get the stuff
cleaned up. That needs to be a
top priority in the parks.”
Sarah Head agreed with the
reference to the amount of ivy.
“At fi rst I didn't understand
why we call it a park,” Head
said. “It felt like I was in
someone's backyard and took a
wrong turn.”
Holland said previous work
didn't do the job completely.
“We cleaned the park one
time, but we didn't kill the
stuff,” he said. “It grew right
back the next year. We need to
get that ivy taken care of before
it kills all the trees.”
Mayor
Cathy
Clark
suggested youth could help
with the project.
“I've been contacted by
local youth groups looking
for good community projects,”
Clark said. “I know we can get
some youth and scout groups
down there.”
continued from Page A1