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WEDNESDAY EDITION
❘ DECEMBER 6, 2017 ❘ $1.00
VIKINGS LAND FALCONS
SPORTS — B
127TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 97
22 ND
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
E MPTY B OWLS
ANNUAL
2017 fundraiser a success
FLORENCE, OREGON
Siuslaw School
District hopes
to fill gaps
with Wish List
B Y R OLLIN O LSON
Special to Siuslaw News
When people don’t get what they need, they
sometimes wish for it. When they need more, they
might make a list. That is what local schoolteachers
are doing.
The Siuslaw School District Wish List began
about three years ago when the district could not
afford certain materials teachers needed to give their
students a fair chance — both in class and in the
working world.
“Either there aren’t funds available,” says Siuslaw
Elementary Principal Mike Harklerode, or some
requested materials would affect “so few students
that it’s not the most efficient use of our funds. The
Wish List helps us to satisfy specific needs for staff
and kids.”
The current Wish List ranges from white boards to
“AA” batteries for computer keyboards to video
production equipment to fifth-grade teachers wish-
ing for skilled workers to install classroom projec-
tors in ceilings.
Such requests were cut from the district’s budget
to enable it to retain a full teaching staff.
“We chose to cut our materials and supplies across
the district in order to balance the budget, preserving
all staffing,” says Business Manager Kari Blake.
She emphasizes that while “funding is up in total
for Oregon schools, the per-pupil amount has not
been increased. There are more students entering
schools in Oregon, which leaves fewer dollars to
spread around.”
S TORIES AND PHOTOS BY
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
Siuslaw News
Volunteers contribute time, pottery and crafts to the annual
Empty Bowls fundraiser held by Florence Food Share. Money
raised will allow the organization to maintain operations.
lorence Food Share held its
22nd annual Empty Bowl
fundraiser last weekend at the
Florence Events Center. More than
30 artisans contributed work to the
silent auction and bowl sale.
Food Share Executive Director
Norma Barton said the fundraiser
was quite successful and the group
will use the money raised for the
ongoing expenses associated with
running the organization.
“The money raised will go toward
F
operating expenses,” Barton said.
She listed gas and insurance for
the food share truck; insurance for
the building and employees; office
supplies; maintenance of refrigera-
tors and freezers; staff payroll; jani-
torial costs; and garden maintenance
and supplies for food share’s
15,000-square-foot garden.
In addition, she said operation
costs include stamps and envelopes
needed to send thank you cards and
See
FUNDRAISER 11A
City annexes
Harbor Vista
Park, acquires
Oceanwoods
T IME
I S
INSIDE
See
PARTNERSHIP 11A
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Kid Scoop . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Library Tidings . . . . . . . . . . .
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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WISH 10A
TO STEP UP
COASTAL LIVING IN
JEOPARDY ?
P ART IV
‘People need jobs; jobs need people.
And people need a place to live’
Controversial property accepted
as part of Lane County payment
At the Dec. 4 meeting of the Florence City
Council, city councilors voted 4 to 1 to join an inter-
governmental agreement (IGA) with Lane County
for the annexation of
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Harbor
Vista
Siuslaw News
Campground, with pay-
ment terms that include
the purchase of the Oceanwoods Parcel.
Florence City Manager Erin Reynolds introduced
the item.
“What brought us all here for this decision point
is an IGA for the development and annexation of the
Lane County Harbor Vista Park,” she said.
Harbor Vista Park, located at 87658 Harbor Vista
Road off Rhododendron Drive, consists of approxi-
mately 12.06 acres of campground and day-use area.
In a September public meeting held at Siuslaw
Public Library, Lane County Parks and Animal
Services Manager Mike Russell said Lane County
received a grant from Oregon State Parks to bring
city sewer services to the Harbor Vista Campground.
The county’s goal was for the City of Florence to
annex the site so the campground can get access to
city services, mainly the sewage system. Florence
will hook up 27 of the campground’s 44 sites, as
well as a dump station, the caretaker house and the
bathrooms and showers.
In addition to providing sanitary sewer service to
the campground, the gravity collection system will
be designed to allow future expansion to serve addi-
tional residential areas to the east, within the city’s
urban growth boundary.
See
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
I
n recent years, the City of
Florence has taken on the
motto of “A City in Motion.”
One area that has seen renewed
interest is economic develop-
ment, and with that, housing.
“You cannot talk about one
without the other,” said Florence
City Manager Erin Reynolds.
“People need jobs; jobs need
people. And people need a place
to live. It’s always been founda-
tional in economic development
materials and in the academia
world.”
She said traditional models for
predicting population changes
are not working for the new
norm of American culture.
“Your traditional economic
development theory has always
been the mindset that people fol-
low jobs — so jobs come first,
then comes housing. It has
played out that way for years. …
That mindset and professional
stance are changing, as our cul-
ture and lifestyles are changing,”
Reynolds said.
Now, people are choosing
quality of life as a main factor
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for where they want to live.
“They are looking for whatev-
er they want: clean air, clean
water, recreation, trails, rivers,
oceans, mountains — you name
it. They go there, and then they
find their job,” she said.
Or people bring their jobs,
especially those who work
remotely or online.
“Where they want to live is so
important that they’re just going
to make it work once they get
there,” Reynolds said. “That’s
happening across all economic
strata. That’s a very different
way of living than before.”
Under the older model, devel-
opers built affordable housing in
communities that were experi-
encing a boom in their popula-
tion. They avoided areas that
didn’t reflect healthy and sus-
tained growth.
Florence is finally recovering
from the economic recession 10
years ago, but the developers
aren’t coming yet.
“One way I look at is, the easy
individual and market answer
has not been happening for quite
some time,” Reynolds said. “If
that’s not meeting the true need
or demand of the community, we
have to look
at the next
steps. That
might
be
doing some-
thing different than what has
been done before.”
According to Florence Mayor
Joe Henry, Florence is “coming
out of hibernation.”
During a November city coun-
cil meeting, he said, “Take a look
back and see how much exactly
was going on three years ago.
We’re playing catch up in many
areas, and I’m just extremely
proud of our city government
and what we are doing to provide
services to our community, much
of it above and beyond the call
of our responsibility provided
for in our charter. I am thankful
for our team as a council, for our
staff and for the ‘City in Motion’
because we have many, many
things going on.”
Last week, Lane County
Commissioner Jay Bozievich
held a “telephone town hall”
with constituents. During the
call, which included up to 1,000
county residents, housing was a
big topic.
“It has risen to every govern-
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ment level. Everybody is talking
about it,” Bozievich said.
“Housing and economic devel-
opment are intertwined. There
has been difficulty in the eco-
nomic development side since
it’s hard to generate new busi-
ness or revitalize established
businesses when the county
lacks workforce housing.”
And it isn’t just a local prob-
lem, but one dealt with in many
areas of the state.
According to the governor’s
office, “Gov. Kate Brown heard
time and again, from companies
and communities alike, that the
lack of workforce housing pres-
ents a clear threat to continued
growth and prosperity. … State
agencies are looking at their cur-
rent programs and tools to find
opportunities to partner with
communities, the business sector
and private housing developers
to address the workforce housing
shortage in Oregon.”
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HOUSING 7A