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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (June 5, 2019)
8A | WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2019 | SIUSLAW NEWS student fairly soon when she attends its highly competi- tive summer intensive. Ac- tors who have attended the camp have gone on to be cast on shows such as “Parks and Rec,” “Glee” and “The Mid- dle.” “The camp kind of gives you an idea of how it would actually be to attend the school,” Hope says. “And your performances at the camp give the school an idea of what you’re capable of as an actor.” The young actress is hope- ful that the academy will see her potential and offer her a scholarship to attend the school and further harness her craft. She has had her heart set on NYFA since she began her film career. “I’m not applying anywhere else. Honestly, I’m pretty set on that one. It’s where I’m meant to be,” she insists. Hope has an immeasurable work ethic and an unshak- able confidence in her ability CITY from page 1A “We started last year with our block party to celebrate the 125th year of Florence being an incorporated community and that was a big hit. The theme for this year is a community block party, it’s basic but we are trying to invite people to Old Town to get to know your neighbors, bring your family, bring your friends and have a fun evening,” Messmer said. “Hopefully it will be a nice midsummer party for our community.” Messmer added that Bay Street from the Siuslaw River Bridge to Laurel Street will be closed to traffic during the event. The most important de- cision made by the council Monday was the acceptance and unanimous approval of the city’s biennium budget. The budget proposal was deter- mined after an extensive pro- cess that included input from multiple committees and city staff. Blake provided the final text and figures for coun- cilors to consider and, with little discussion, the coun- cil unanimously approved Reynolds to enact the 2019- 2020 City of Florence budget. The nature of the other res- olutions passed during the eve- ning covered a wide scope of city related business — again without public comment. Res- olutions included applying for an Oregon Department of Transportation grant, approv- ing compensation insurance for city volunteers and approval to receive shared revenue from state sources. The total amount of state revenue estimated to be collected is expected to be ap- proximately $2,163,400. That number is only a small to achieve her goals. She sees these same qualities in her peers, and thinks the stereo- types surrounding the class of 2019 are blown out of pro- portion. “There were years that were hectic, but I think we’ve defi- nitely mellowed out our se- nior year. I don’t think we’re too bad,” she adds. Giving back to one’s com- munity is always important, and Audrey knows this to be true, perhaps more so than anyone else. Audrey has ded- icated enormous amounts of her time as a high schooler to helping those less fortunate than herself and volunteering her time to fundraisers that support the underprivileged people of our town. She re- mains humble, saying that she’s just doing what she’d want someone to do for her if the roles were reversed. “I just want to be there for people who are going through a hard time because it can lit- erally happen to anyone,” she says. “I’d like to think some- one would do the same for me if I was in a bad spot.” Community service isn’t the only thing on Audrey’s mind. Academics and the pursuit of knowledge are her top priority. Audrey has a 4.0 GPA and will be attending Oregon State’s Honors Col- lege this fall. She is working towards becoming a biomed- ical chemist, hoping to allevi- ate the pain of those plagued by disease. While it may be hard to be- lieve, Audrey says she wasn’t always this devoted to her ed- ucation; it was the passion of her teachers that pushed her to reach her full potential. “In elementary school, I didn’t really care about my grades very much. But then my teacher told my mom during a parent-teacher con- ference how smart I was, and how I was really good at math. He was so excited — and it got me excited. So I just kept going. I worked really hard after that,” she says. Audrey did a complete turnaround, and now she’s one of the brightest students in her class. She believes that all of the seniors are just as ca- pable of success as she is, and that the assumption that they are a “bad class” isn’t at all ac- curate if you actually take the time to look. “I honestly don’t think our class is as bad as people say. It’s easy to focus on the neg- atives when you’re on the outside looking in, but kids in our class are capable of really great things if they put their minds to it.” Alyssa, another graduating senior, shares the same be- lief about perseverance. She is the 2019 class’ only four- sport athlete, and she says it’s thanks to her commitment to athleticism that she has re- mained a focused student. “I’ve improved every year at Siuslaw,” recounts Alyssa, “It was always important for me to be academically re- sponsible so that I was eligible to play sports.” Alyssa is applying her per- tinacity to her pursuit of a career in law enforcement. After graduation, she plans to attend Southwestern Oregon Community College to study criminal justice, and hopes to become a law enforcement of- ficer once she completes her degree. Beyond that however, she has even bigger dreams she’ll be working towards. “My ultimate goal is to be- come a detective. I want to crack down on the sex traf- ficking of young women in the United States,” she says. Alyssa, like her fellow soon- to-be graduates, does not agree with the preconceived notions about her class. She reiterates that her fellow stu- dents are not badly behaved, but simply strong willed, stat- ing, “We’re not a bad class. We are a class that knows what we want and push to make it hap- pen. I’m happy and excited to see where members of this class go in life.” When considering students like these three girls, it’s hard to believe that there was ever any doubts about the capa- bilities of the Siuslaw Class of 2019. They’re dedicated, tenacious and aren’t afraid to take what they want out of life. Their gumption is ad- mirable, and their support of each other’s success is heart- warming. Whether or not they were once a “bad class,” it is irrefutable that these chil- dren have grown beyond the confines of their title, and are now ready to march their way into a promising future. portion of the $58,764,700 in expenditures the council later unanimously approved to run the city for the next two years. The next agenda item was a resolution to increase a num- ber of fees charged by the city to residents for services pro- vided. The fee increases were spread across a number of city services but were focused pri- marily on street, water, waste- water and stormwater charges. There was again little discus- sion among councilors, with few questions asked and no members of the public speak- ing to the fee increase requests. Resolution No. 16, Series 2019, passed unanimously. In addition, there were three action items presented to the council. The first was an au- thorization for Reynolds to pay vendors that provide recurring services to the city. These ser- vices include employee health benefit costs totaling more than $2.6 million, anticipated building inspection costs of $230,000 and $450,000 for util- ities during the next two years. The total expected expenditure for these recurring services is estimated to cost the public $4,574,900 during the bienni- um. The final major expenditure approved by the council was a request from Public Works Di- rector Mike Miller for $498,964 to be used by his department for roadway rehabilitation. Miller asked the council to ap- prove these expenditures for Chip and Fog Seal and Micro- Coat treatments for various street segments undergoing maintenance upgrades. The benefits of applying these additions to the basic asphalt used in street construc- tion was shared with council- ors who then approved Miller’s request. Reynolds’ City Manager Re- port was brief but upbeat. “We had an excellent Hous- ing Code Project Open House at City Hall. … Well over 60 people attended — represent- ing homeowners and people who live and operate in the community. That’s realtors, contractors, business owners and families,” Reynolds said. “It was really nice to share some of the things that we as staff, un- der your direction, are working on to address our housing code, which hasn’t been touched in about 30 years.” The public comment period on the housing update will re- main open until Friday, June 7, at 5 p.m. Take the survey online at www.surveymonkey.com/r/ FlorenceHousingCode. For more info, visit ci.florence.or.us. The next City Council meet- ing is scheduled for Monday, June 17. Editor’s Note: Siuslaw Class of 2019 graduate An- nalee Griffis has been Siuslaw News’s high school intern since March. She has written four articles in this time, gaining attention for her story about the seniors’ request to include their teachers in graduation and writing a heartfelt guest viewpoint about learning the importance of the Rhododen- dron Coronation. After grad- uation, she plans to get a de- gree in creative writing after spending time with family in Georgia. The staff at Siuslaw News has been pleased to work with her and congrat- ulates her and the Class of 2019 on their graduation. 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