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❘ DECEMBER 21, 2016 ❘ $1.00
EARLY DEADLINES FOR HOLIDAYS
All news articles and press releases must be submitted by Monday, Dec. 26, at noon, for both
the Wednesday, Dec. 28, and Saturday, Dec. 31, issues. The deadline for display advertising in the
Dec. 31 issue is Tuesday, Dec. 27, at noon. Line classifieds and legal notices for Saturday are due
by Wednesday, Dec. 28, at 1 p.
SPORTS — B
126TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 101
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
FLORENCE, OREGON
National Homeless Person’s Memorial Day is
today, Dec 21, the longest night of the year.
Homelessness has increased significantly in the
Florence area and around the country in the last
several years. The homeless are at serious at risk
of death in the winter here, usually from exposure
to the elements. Though the temperature may be
above freezing, wind-chill with soaked clothing
and bedding can — and does — kill.
Contrary to what many believe, most people
become homeless due to job loss or other finan-
cial emergency, such as an illness or car failure.
Many Americans live paycheck to paycheck
and any financial emergency can be devastating to
families. West Lane County has been shown to
have the highest percentage of families living
close to homelessness.
Today, consider helping by delivering any of
the following supplies (new or used) to one of the
following drop off sites between 10 a.m. and 6
p.m.:
• Things to stay warm and dry such as tents,
tarps, sleeping bags, ponchos, warm waterproof
jackets, blankets, gloves, warm hats and hand
warmers. They also requested all cotton socks —
preferably in men’s sizes, black or white.
• Flashlights (and batteries),
• $5 and $10 fast food or grocery gift cards,
canned items such as vegetables, tomato sauce,
broth, soups and milk.
• Personal hygiene items, especially tooth-
brushes and toilet paper.
• And, of course, cash is always helpful.
The Florence Cold Shelter is a nonprofit
See
It’s no coincidence that today, the longest day and
night of the year, also happens to be National Homeless
Awareness Day. The distinction
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
corresponds with the day of the year
Siuslaw News
in which the highest number of
deaths occur within the homeless population in America.
Currently, the National Coalition for the Homeless
See
HOMELESS 7A
ROAD 7A
CHANTELLE MEYERS
Florence City Manager
Erin Reynolds
C
Baskets bring
hope for holidays
ity Manager Erin
Reynolds received the
highest marks possi-
ble during her 2016 perform-
ance review held Monday.
Mayor Joe Henry said,
“On a scale of one to four,
with four
B Y J ACK D AVIS
b e i n g
Siuslaw News
‘always
exceeds expectations,’ our
city manager was ranked a
solid four. I for one believe
that our city manager is very
deserving of that outstanding
rating.”
Henry said each councilor
had previously completed a
seven-part performance eval-
uation covering all aspects of
city management, including
“All of this could
not be possible
without a great staff
and community.”
— Erin Reynolds
city council relations, staff
management,
community
relations, financial manage-
ment, and other aspects of the
operation of the city.
“The council evaluations,
along with a self-evaluation
from the city manager, were
tabulated and the results were
a consensus of a 4 rating on a
scale of 1 to 4 with 4 being
that the employees work per-
formance is consistently
excellent when compared to
the standards of the job,”
Henry said.
Reynolds said, “All of this
could not be possible without
a great staff and community.
It is a great reflection of the
city’s work”
According to Henry, the
council completed a compen-
sation review including a
salary survey of 10 compara-
ble cities in Oregon. It
showed Reynolds at about
the midpoint of comparable
cities when base salary is
adjusted to compare to cities
offering deferred compensa-
tion to their city mangers.
During the Monday coun-
cil
meeting,
members
approved the evaluation and
the 5 percent increase in
INSIDE
See
MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS
The annual Soroptimist Holiday Basket giveaway took place Saturday, Dec. 17, at Siuslaw Middle School, where volun-
teers (above) distributed food boxes to more than 370 families comprised of approximately 1,850 individuals. Volunteers
from several local service organizations helped with the collection and distribution of the donated food items.
City approves $3.6 million public works construction budget
Councilors also approve IGA with Siuslaw schools to fund resource officer
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
REYNOLDS 6A
Obits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Library Tidings . . . . . . . . . . .
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A2
B5
A3
A4
During the Dec. 19 meeting,
councilors voted to accept a bid
from 2G Construction in
Eugene and approve a new city
Police . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2
Scoreboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . B3
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B
Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A2
staff recommended $3.6 mil-
lion budget to build the new
Public Works Operation Center
at 2675 Kingwood St.
The 2G bid of $2,893,000
was the lowest of five bids for
the project.
THIS WEEK ’ S
In order to stay within budg-
et, eight items from the original
proposal were deleted from the
bidding process.
Public Works Director Mike
Miller said, “There are some
elements that we pulled off and
TODAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
52 40
48 39
45 36
45 34
WEATHER
Full Forecast, A3
added as alternates.”
These include a chain link
fence, painted metal wall liner,
roof material upgrade, sky-
lights, creating a “green roof”
for connecting corridor and an
upgrade to custom color on alu-
minum
frames,
totaling
$238,000.
Total projected cost for the
construction
project
is
$3,386,568.
S IUSLAW N EWS
2 S ECTIONS ❘ 24 P AGES
C OPYRIGHT 2016
See
BUDGET 6A
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
Reynolds P ROJECT W ARM SEEKS DONATIONS FOR HOMELESS TODAY
receives
S PECIAL REPORT
high marks
Road to homelessness
has many on-ramps