8A | SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2018 | SIUSLAW NEWS
INTERIM from page 1A
Materials Operations, Instructor
2, Fire Officer 3 and National
Fire Academy Leadership Train-
ing.
Able is quick to mention the
importance of training when
discussing his priorities. His ex-
perience and enthusiasm are ap-
parent when stressing the need
for rigorous training sessions for
first responders.
“My first priority is the
‘Chief ’s Bullseye’ and safety and
performance are at the center
of the target,” Able said. “I am
looking at the safety of individ-
uals as well as the safety of the
entire crew. You cannot be safe
unless you are properly trained.
We are putting people into fair-
ly dangerous situations. If they
are not well trained, you are not
going to be safe. And if you put
firefighters at risk, you put your
community at risk.”
Able has progressed steadily
up the ranks in different fire ser-
vices since leaving the fire mar-
shal’s office, serving as fire chief
in West Linn, division chief
in Tualatin and spending four
years as fire chief for the City of
Mount Vernon.
During those leadership
stints, he worked closely with
civic leaders and government of-
ficials to organize, among other
things, a City Incident Manage-
ment Team, oversaw the imple-
mentation of an Advanced Life
Support Program and developed
and maintained budgets for
multiple fire districts..
Over the last decade, Able has
been tapped to head transitional
leadership situations at fire de-
partments at the Pleasant Hill /
Goshen Fire district in Oregon,
and at the Palominas Fire Dis-
trict and Buckskin Fire Depart-
ment in Arizona.
While a focus on preparation
MEASURE from page 7A
Voter control itself, she said,
constitutes a significant bul-
wark against badly-written
bonds.
Overburdening the under-
privileged also concerned Ol-
sen.
Raising property taxes in the
name of affordable housing
will hurt some of the very peo-
ple backers of the bill purport
to be helping, he said, such as
those who are financially strug-
gling and edging by month-to-
month.
“Every action has an equal
and opposite reaction,” he
said, “and if you put people
into homes because you charge
somebody else, you might
put those people out of their
homes. That concerns me and
nobody has taken that into ac-
count.”
There are also concerns
that the proposed amendment
does not include safeguards
against the risks associated
with giving private entities ac-
cess to public money, though
Wever said these buffers al-
ready exist.
“There are a lot of safe-
guards attached to public
money and attached to mon-
ey for affordable housing,” she
said. “And every layer of mon-
ey that you bring in, wheth-
er it’s state money or federal
money, to those bond funds,
adds additional, rigid require-
ments for how long that hous-
ing has to be affordable, who
it’s going to serve … and how
well it’s being kept up.”
Additionally, some wor-
ry the bill lacks independent
oversight.
“It doesn’t provide for ad-
equate audits,” said Henry.
“The audits under this bill are
allowed to be done by the gov-
ernment managing the mon-
ey. That’d be like me auditing
my own tax returns.”
However, most small cities
hire third parties to conduct
audit reports as it is rare to
keep an auditor on city staff.
“The audits and the pub-
lic reporting required in the
measure — that’s an addition-
al piece that’s not required of
bonds otherwise,” said Wever.
“So it really is an extra level of
scrutiny on those funds.”
Even so, opponents of the
bill remain uneasy about giv-
ing governments and their
private partners undue public
fund access, and protest that
the bill does little to alleviate
the state’s housing crisis.
“It’s not that I don’t want
to build affordable housing,”
said Olsen. “Of course I do.
I want to get people off the
streets like everybody else.”
Olsen believes it’s a case
of treating the symptom, not
the disease. Deeper prob-
lems such as restricting ur-
ban growth boundaries and
accumulating systems devel-
opment charges only serve to
worsen the problem.
“So those are the things that
concern me,” he said. “And
giving carte blanche without
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is central to Able’s philosophy,
professionalism from all district
employees and volunteers is a
close second.
“When a resident of Flor-
ence calls 911, they expect
well trained professionals to
respond,” he said. “They want
them to know what they are
doing and to do it right the first
time. When someone calls 911,
they don’t care if it’s a career fire-
fighter or a volunteer, they want
a well-trained, proper response
with the proper equipment.”
The need for cross training of
EMTs (emergency medical tech-
nicians) and firefighters is a sub-
ject familiar to Able and one that
he believes is dictated primarily
by the changing nature of the
calls received by SVFR and fire
departments across the country.
“I’m glad we are having few-
er structure fires. That says a
lot about the local fire preven-
tion programs and it says a lot
about the building codes,” he
said. “We are responding to
a lot more medical calls and
there is a public expectation of
proper emergency medical re-
sponse from all agencies. If we
are responding to medical calls,
we better know how to handle
the defibrillator without getting
the instruction manual out. The
next call may be a motor vehi-
cle accident, and we may need
to do a vehicle extraction. We
better know how to use the jaws
of life.’”
The new interim chief has
most recently spent time as a
consultant for the Special Dis-
tricts Association of Oregon
(SDAO).
SDAO assists member or-
ganizations with staffing sit-
uations that require a specific
skill set. Often these groups are
districts from smaller towns or
nonprofits, as in the case of re-
cent SDAO client the Oregon
Coast Humane Society in Flor-
ence. SDAO assisted the hu-
mane society with hiring an in-
terim director earlier this year.
Over the last decade, Able
has been tapped to head tran-
sitional leadership situations at
fire departments at the Pleasant
Hill and Goshen Fire District in
Oregon and at the Palominas
Fire District and the Buckskin
Fire Department in Arizona.
Able has been successful in
stabilizing these situations and
assisting with the retention of
his successors, leaving the dis-
tricts with competent, profes-
sional leadership.
He has also worked in larger
districts, with much more in-
volved fire situations. As divi-
sion chief in Tualatin, he served
a population base of more than
440,000 with a department that
employed 36 full-time employ-
ees that were deployed to 21 fire
stations.
Able’s focus on preparation
and training were captured in a
statement, simple on its surface,
but meaningful in its implica-
tions for residents of the SVFR
district: “There is no satisfac-
tion in fighting a fire you could
have prevented.”
Able has a contract to serve
as SVFR’s interim chief director
through June 2019.
Shorewood Senior Living
WELCOME TO SHOREWOOD
RICK CHARLES
Rick says… “I was born to cook”. He
actually began cooking professionally at age
16. One of our staff members said watch-
ing Rick cook was like “Poetry in motion.
He can Multi-multi task.” He has Southern
roots and it shows in the signature dish of;
Southern Fried Chicken. Fresh only, never
frozen. He likes to cook with organic prod-
ucts, and always fresh. When asked how
he keeps 70 people happy at once he said
he was not sure, but leaned on his cooking
prowess. Previously from Little Brown Hen,
and now such a blessing to have him at Shorewood Senior Living. I asked
Rick for a quote and he said, “I feel I was meant to be here and I love
having the freedom to use my creativity.”
Thank you Rick for joining our team and helping make Shorewood
Senior Living a great place to live.
Most voters should receive their
ballots by Wednesday, Oct. 24.
Voters may drop off their bal-
lots at one of many official drop
box locations listed in the in-
sert included with their ballot.
Drop boxes are now open and
will remain open until 8 p.m.
that will make a really big dif- on Election Day. Florence’s
ference.”
drop box is located at the Flor-
1451 Spruce St. Florence, OR 97439
Though proponents argue ence Police Department, 900
541-997-8202
that the measure adds another Greenwood St.
tool to the toolbox, opponents
worry that the tool will be mis-
used by people who don’t know
how to use it — or worse, know
how to abuse it. Even accept-
Florence Food Share provides food to those who
are hungry in our community. If you have four
ing that the bill has flaws, the
hours a week available, we are in need of vol-
question voters must consider
unteers to staff our Front Desk and also act as
is whether it’s better to imple-
Guides as clients walk through the pantry. Please
ment a flawed plan or no plan
call our volunteer coordinator, Sarah Lovejoy,
@ 541-997-9110 (Monday – Friday, before noon)
at all.
knowing what you’re going get.”
For
local
governments,
though, there remains an ap-
peal to local control when ad-
dressing problems as unwieldy
as homelessness and affordable
housing.
“Communities across Ore-
gon are really struggling with
a housing crisis,” said Wev-
er. “There’s almost no county
in Oregon where a full-time,
wage-earning renter can afford
to rent a one-bedroom apart-
ment because rents are rising
faster than income in nearly
Lane
County
Elections
every community. I think Mea- mailed ballots Thursday for the
sure 102 is a really small change Nov. 6, 2018, General Election.
to learn more about volunteering. info@lorence-
foodshare.org 2190 Spruce Street.
Volunteer
Get
involved
BUD’S UPHOLSTERY
Boat Tops & Cars
Florence Habitat for Humanity ReStore is a place to put your talents to work.
From customer service to furniture repair, we offer volunteer opportunities geared toward
individual interests and skills.By giving your time, you help Florence Habitat ReStore do
more to support building projects that benefi t families in our community.
2016 Hwy 101 or email volunteer@fl orencehabitat.org
Store hours 9am – 5pm Monday- Saturday 541-997-5834
www.facebook.com/restorefl orence
• Complete
Auto & Boat
Interiors
• Canvas Work
10 am-6 pm
Mon-Sat.
Donate
Do your part and
volunteer today
Be ready for Summer.
We’re booking
appointments now!
to help support
4981 Hwy. 101, Complex B
541-997-4856
Over
41 yrs
Experien ce
Join the Peace Harbor Hospital Volunteers.
<RXZLOOÀQGDQDUHDRILQWHUHVW
in a caring organization.
Peace Harbor
Volunteers
non-proft
organizations in
400 9th Street, Florence, OR 97439
541-997-8412 ext. 2218
Meals on Wheels are available to people over the
age of 60 who cannot get out much due to illness
or advanced age and who are not eating properly,
regardless of income. Cafe 60 is available for those
who prefer to make new friends in a dining room
setting.
these local
our community!
1570 Kingwood • PO Box 2313, Florence
541-997-5673
laneseniormeals.org
Operating Monday, Wednesday and Friday
Volunteer
A NO-KILL SHELTER
Scientifically Proven Health Benefits
Of Fostering Cats and Kittens!
1
2
3
4
They Can Lower
Risk Of Heart Disease
Purring Helps To Heal Bones,
Tendons And Muscles
They Reduce Stress
And Anxiety
You'll Sleep Better
Call and Schedule a Visit
to the Shelter!
(541) 997-4277
Get
involved
Donate
Saving men one
PSA test at a time.
541-997-6626
maribob@oregonfast.net
Someone to talk to...
who understands!
Do your part and
volunteer today
to help support
these local
non-proft
organizations in
our community!
To include your
organization
in this directory,
please call us
@ 541-997-3441