6 A
SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2016
Retreat
from 1A
fined $20,000 each and Lane
County was required to pay the
plaintiffs $350,000.
He gave the councilors the
following advice:
1. Avoid replying to emails
when city business information
is shared.
2. Avoid conversations (in
person or via email) between
councilors where the view of a
fellow councilor is shared.
Homeless
from 1A
Foodshare, St. Vincent DePaul,
Goodwill and local church
groups are well aware of the
situation and feel the attempt to
raise awareness is critical.
David Wiegan, outgoing
Director of Siuslaw Support
Services (SOS), said the prob-
lem is ongoing and multi-
faceted.
“The first thing we try to do
is an assessment of the person’s
needs, to see which services
they need and in what order
they need them,” said Wiegan,
“Sometimes just doing that can
be a challenge. Some people
come to us with no clue about
food stamps, or Foodshare or
Helping Hands. They don’t
know that they can get lunch at
local churches. So we try to
help them to orient to the situa-
tion they find themselves in.”
SOS offers a number of serv-
ices to its clients, and this time
of year this support can be
invaluable.
“We had a family come in
and they asked for some blan-
kets. It turned out that it was a
family of five living in a tent
with a large hole in it,” Wiegan
said,“They were going to cover
the hole with one of the blan-
kets and share the others. And
this is in the rain and cold.”
This situation is one that
allowed SOS to provide help in
getting the family inside, out of
the weather and pointed toward
other services to further assist
them.
Wiegan said that there are
3. Avoid sharing opinions or
views on items the council
would need to vote on.
Williamson had some simple
advice for city councilors
regarding conflict of interest
ethics in either actual or poten-
tial conflicts.
“When in doubt, shout it
out,” he said. “State the nature
of your conflict. Do it before
voting. Do it in the record and
do it at each meeting the issue
is discussed.”
City Manager Erin Reynolds
said, “We spent time on train-
ing and the important founda-
tion of building trust, which
comes from good ethics.”
Reynolds said the retreat
was also the official beginning
of the 2017-18 budget process.
The City of Florence fiscal
year runs July 1 to June 30.
“The city council set five
goals for 2017 during the
retreat,” Reynolds said. “We
will be building a budget based
on those five goals and the
work plan the council plans to
adopt in February.”
She added, “We continue to
strive to be Oregon’s premier
coastal community. I think
2017-18 are going to be amaz-
ing years and I’m excited to see
what happens.
Henry said, “Florence truly
is a ‘City in Motion’ and the
momentum created by an out-
standing 2016 will carry the
City forward into 2017 and
beyond,”
many public perceptions about
homelessness that are inaccu-
rate. One of SOS’s challenges
is to share information with the
community about the true
nature of homelessness in
Florence.
“There are so many misun-
derstandings,” Weigan said.
“The first thing I try to get
across to people is that every
person and situation is unique.
There are all different sub sets
of homeless people and they all
need to be viewed as individu-
als.”
This sentiment is echoed by
local radio host and social jus-
tice advocate Maggie Bagon.
Bagon, in her capacity as board
member at community radio
KXCR FM, is coordinating an
event to collect donations for
the homeless in Florence Dec.
21 at the station, while broad-
casting live.
When asked about the rea-
sons that she wants residents
of Florence to donate this
Wednesday, her passion for this
issue is immediately evident
“To stereotype homeless
people is unfair to them and to
us,” she said, “We have people
in our community that are sen-
iors, that maybe have never
made more than minimum
wage. Now they are living on
$900 a month and can’t afford
a place to live.
“We also have people with
mental health issues who aren’t
getting the help they need and
are living on the streets. The
truth is, there are all kinds of
reasons that people end up
homeless.”
Bagon points out that while
there is a perception that the
homeless in our community are
vagrants or addicts, that is not
the case,
“A large homeless popula-
tion live in Florence and there
is a misperception that these
people are all transients —
that’s just not so,” she said,
then took a long breath. “I’ve
volunteered at Foodshare and
I’ve met women in their 70s
and even 80s who need food
support so that they can eat.
“That’s just not right.”
When asked about her obser-
vation that there are numerous
factors that contribute to this
problem, Bagon pointed out
that many of the organizations
that have assisted people in the
past no longer exist.
“I worked with Coos County
Mental Health services and this
also has to do with the cutbacks
in funding for mental health
services,” said Bagon. “Since
the 1980s, these type of servic-
es have lost the most funding.
The result is more people
falling through the cracks of
our social service system.”
“We have a wide variety of
people in our community that
are homeless and we need to
realize that each person is
important — and it is important
that, as a community, we help
to take care of them. Especially
this time of year.”
To
support
National
Homeless Awareness Day this
upcoming Wednesday, drop off
donations at KXCR radio, 1209
Ninth St. (across from Siuslaw
Public Library) or at City
Lights
Cinemas,
1930
Highway 101.
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Scammers target local
high school advertisers
Siuslaw High School facul-
ty has announced that the
school has discovered at least
two cases this school year of a
person or group posing as
agents of the high school who
are selling local businesses ad
renewals in SHS sports pro-
grams or calendars.
“Siuslaw High School is
deeply appreciative of the gen-
erous support from our local
business owners of all our pro-
grams” said Vonnie McClellan
of the Siuslaw School District
office. “We don’t want to see
anyone taken in by a scam.”
If anyone has any questions
about a letter or phone call
they may have received from
someone claiming to represent
Siuslaw High School, feel free
to call 541-997-3448 to verify
the person making contact,
and the project they are pro-
moting.
541•999•6078
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DENTURE SERVICES INC.
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Vacancies
from 1A
• Economic
Dev.
Committee: 3 positions
• Environmental
Management
Advisory
Committee (EMAC): 4 posi-
tions
• Florence Urban Renewal
Agency (FURA): 4 positions
• Florence Urban Renewal
Budget Committee: 2 position
• Planning Commission: 3
positions
• Public Art Committee: 2
positions
• Transit Advisory
Committee: 1 open position
(high school student)
Henry said, “The committee
system is an integral part of
the government in the City of
Florence. It gives the commu-
nity an opportunity to be
involved in a meaningful way
and to contribute to the deci-
sion making process.
“While our committees
serve in mostly an advisory
capacity, they do incorporate
an additional level of commu-
nication in identifying public
concerns and bringing their
own expertise to the many
challenges of local govern-
ment,” he added.
Applications are available at
Florence City Hall and may be
downloaded from the City’s
website at www.ci.florence.or
.us. City Hall is open Monday
thru Friday; 8 am to 12pm;
1pm to 5 pm. All qualified per-
sons are encouraged to apply.
For details about the duties
and responsibilities of these
bodies, residency require-
ments, term lengths, or other
questions, please contact Kelli
Weese at 541-997-3437.
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541-997-6054
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“As a denture wearer myself,
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questions and address
your denture concerns.”
~ William Foster, LD
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Siuslaw News
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