SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2018 | 9A
RESULTS from page 1A
It’s that youth that the coun-
cil will rely on with Lucio, as it
looks to bring about city plan-
ning changes that help foster
and strengthen the lives of the
city’s younger workforce and
help bring in younger entrepre-
neurs to the city that will both
strengthen and stabilize the local
economy.
“So grateful for the love and
support that has poured my
way,” Lucio wrote on her Face-
book page after the election. “I’m
thankful for each and every one
of you who have supported me
running for city council. Friends
and family from Oregon to Tex-
as, thank you for your thoughts,
prayers and encouragement.
Thank you to the citizens of
Florence for electing me and giv-
ing me the honor to serve you.”
Lucio was locked in a tight
and sometimes contentious race
for council with fellow council
candidate Maureen Miltenberg-
er, who came in just 208 votes
behind Lucio in the current Lane
County vote count. But don’t
expect Miltenberger to remain
silent in local politics, as she will
still continue to work on local
environmental issues as a mem-
ber of the City of Florence Envi-
ronmental Management Adviso-
ry Committee (EMAC) and the
Democratic Club of Florence.
The latest vote count for the
two had Lucio at 2,048 and
Miltenberger at 1,840 votes.
With 2,964 votes, Council-
or Woody Woodbury, the third
candidate for an open city coun-
cil position, handily won reelec-
tion. This is the first time that
Woodbury’s position has been
up for a city vote, as he was first
appointed to the position in Jan-
uary to replace outgoing council-
or George Lyddon, who moved
out of town before finishing his
full term.
Incumbent Mayor Joe Henry,
who ran unopposed this elec-
tion, received overwhelming
support with 3,245 votes, com-
pared to 205 write-ins.
Region-wide, the Siuslaw
School Bond left voters with a
heart-wrenching choice between
upgrading schools for the dis-
trict or keeping local property
taxes down. The bond failed to
pass with 4,933 against, 3,615 for.
On the one hand, the electorate
was faced with the deteriorating
school grounds of Siuslaw High
School and Siuslaw Elementary,
both of which need renovations
for seismic safety and new fa-
cilities that would enhance stu-
dent education. One of the key
factors in helping grow the local
economy is good schools, and
the district was hoping that the
new changes would be a rallying
point for bringing in new busi-
nesses and professionals to the
community.
On the surface, public support
for the bond seemed high, with
the Siuslaw News receiving edi-
torials and letters in favor of the
bond, and very few in the nega-
tive.
But the financial realities of
the bond were too insurmount-
able for some. The bond asked
for $2.72 per $1,000 of assessed
property value, which would
mean an increase from $180 per
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year to $544 per year for prop-
erty owners with a median-as-
sessed home of $200,108.
Proponents of the bond point-
ed out that the current 20-year
middle school levy, which is cur-
rently costing property owners
90 cents per $1,000 of assessed
property value, will expire this
December. Because of this, they
argued, the bond only had a net
increase of $1.82.
It was also pointed out that the
bond would only have been is-
sued as needed for construction,
and that the first year of the proj-
ect would be primarily dedicated
to planning, staving off the stick-
er shock until 2020.
However, the price tag was
still considered steep for many
taxpayers. In comparison, the
Eugene School District’s $319.3
million bond measure, which
passed this election by a 66 to 34
percent margin, only would see
an increase of $135 a year for a
median-assessed home.
Oregon’s housing crisis, which
the Siuslaw region is keenly feel-
ing, mixed with the seasonal na-
ture of employment of the area,
makes any tax increase difficult
for homeowners, particularly
for low-income families, which
would have seen the greatest
benefit from school improve-
ments.
Not only would the bond hit
homeowners, but it would more
than likely be passed down to
renters as well, who have already
seen a drastic increase in rates
over the past year. According to
the rental aggregate website Rent
Jungle, Florence has seen a 17.98
percent rent increase from 2017
to 2018, with the average rent
being $812 per month, up from
$666 the year prior.
But still, the core issue of ag-
ing school facilities remains a
problem for the district. As the
community grows, so too will
the number of students gradu-
ating from Siuslaw High School,
and the limitations of the facili-
ties will only be magnified in the
years to come.
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The district has been unable to
pass an improvement bond since
1999, with the last attempt being
made in 2016 for a $40 million
bond measure. That failed nar-
rowly by 300 votes.
Siuslaw is expected to once
again attempt to pass a bond,
though what it will look like in
the future is unknown.
Property taxes, along with two
other measures, were on the bal-
lot in Dunes City this election in
what council members described
as a vote for the very future of the
city’s existence. With the final re-
sults of the election, the future of
Dunes City is on shaky ground.
Measure 20-295 would have
issued a five-year local option
tax on Dunes City property
owners, which would have cost
owners around $2 or $3 a year in
extra fees.
The purpose of the measure
was not to get money from tax-
payers — the city was only ex-
pected to receive $1,216 in total
from the measure — but to keep
payments flowing into the city
from state taxes, including cig-
arette and gas taxes. These tax-
es give the city anywhere from
$70,000 to $100,000 annually.
But because of a missed rule
change a decade ago, the city
is now in danger of losing that
money altogether.
Before 2007, any city could
receive those taxes. However, a
rule change made it so only cities
that assess a tax on their citizens
could receive those funds. Dunes
City has never imposed a prop-
erty tax.
The rule change went unno-
ticed by state and city officials
until recently, when it was found
that Dunes City could no lon-
ger accept that money unless it
imposed a tax. That was the at-
tempt of Measure 20-295, except
it failed to pass with 244 for, 645
against.
Because of that, it is more than
likely that the city’s annual bud-
get will be slashed by $70,000
to $100,000, a difficult task for
a city that is already financially
burdened.
The city had also hoped that
measure 20-295 would help gain
some additional funds. The mea-
sure, which was planned to allow
the city to negotiate for a munic-
ipal judge to enforce city code
rules, was not expected to bring
a windfall to the city but could
have cushioned a financial loss if
Measure 20-295 did not pass.
It would also give the city
some teeth in enforcing regula-
tions such as nuisance laws. Cur-
rently, city staff are taking on the
responsibility of enforcing laws,
since Dunes City has no police
force nor a judge to enforce rules.
The city has found that many ci-
tations that it gives out are being
ignored by residents.
The judge measure was hoped
to fix this by giving some legal
framework behind citations, but
the measure failed, 313 for, 547
against.
The only measure that did
pass in Dunes City was Measure
20-293, which places a perma-
nent ban on medical marijuana
processors and dispensaries, as
well as recreational marijuana
producers, processors, wholesal-
ers and retailers in the city.
The measure came about
when three commercial medi-
cal marijuana growers applied
for permits to begin operations
within city limits. A temporary
ban was placed on additional op-
erations until the Dunes elector-
ate could decide if they wanted
such facilities in their city. The
ban was approved this week with
566 for, 331 against.
However, the future of that
ban is linked with the future of
the city, which is now in flux be-
cause the tax measure did not
pass. Will the city be able to cut
make cuts and still remain finan-
cially solvent? Will it find ways
to more effectively enforce code
without a judge? Will it be forced
to unincorporate, going back to
county rules which, incidentally,
have much more lenient mari-
juana zoning rules?
It is unknown exactly why
voters didn’t pass the judge and
tax measures. Perhaps the full
implications of the measures
were not communicated to the
electorate, or perhaps the idea
of any tax, no matter how small,
was antithetical to the spirit
of the community, along with
stronger government enforce-
ment of city code.
Or perhaps, as expressed by
some residents in an October
article in the Siuslaw News,
some people just don’t feel the
area should actually be a city.
Whatever the case may be, the
residents and representatives
of Dunes City will have some
tough discussions in the coming
months, as the existential ques-
tion of “Do we really want to
be a city?” — as Mayor Robert
Forsythe asked in 2017 — con-
tinues to be pondered.
As for Oregon, 1,902,953
voters participated in the Nov.
6 election, or roughly 68.9 per-
cent of eligible voters. Gov. Kate
Brown was reelected, garnering
49.9 percent of the vote, just
slightly more than the next can-
didate, Knute Buehler, who re-
ceived 43.8 percent of the votes.
At the federal level, District
4 voters reelected Rep. Peter
DeFazio to the U.S. House with
55.9 percent of the vote, over
challenger Art Robinson, who
received 41 percent.
Statewide:
• Measure 102: Passed with
56.7 percent. It amends the Or-
egon Constitution to allow local
bonds for financing affordable
housing with nongovernmental
entities.
• Measure 103: Failed with
57.4 percent. This amendment
sought to prohibit taxes/fees
based on transactions for gro-
ceries.
• Measure 104: Failed with
65.3 percent. This amendment
sought to expand the use of a
three-fifths legislative majority
to approve bills raising revenue.
• Measure 105: Failed with
63.3 percent This amendment
sought to repeal the law limiting
use of state/local law enforce-
ment resources to enforce fed-
eral immigration laws.
• Measure 106: Failed with
64.5 percent. This amendment
sought to prohibit spending
public funds directly or indi-
rectly for abortions and would
have reduced abortion access.
In the Oregon House, incum-
bent Caddy McKeown retained
her seat representing the Ninth
District with 54.1 percent of the
vote, over opponent Teri Grier,
who received 45.5 percent.
Locally, Dunes City’s candi-
dates for city council were all
reelected, including Mayor Bob
Forsythe and councilors Shel-
don L. Meyer, Susan Snow and
Duke Wells.
In the rest of Lane County,
the Lane County Assessor is
Michael Cowles and the West
Lane County Commissioner is
Jay Bozievich.
In the Heceta Water People’s
Utility District, Crystal Farn-
sworth, Debby Todd and Alan
Whiteside were all elected to
four-year terms.
In the Siuslaw Soil and Water
Conservation District, Noland
Huntington, Ray Kinney and
Johnny Sundstrom were reelect-
ed to their positions as direc-
tors.
Finally, Lane County Measure
20-290, which sought to estab-
lish STAR Voting, failed with
52.5 percent of the vote.
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