8A | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2019 | SIUSLAW NEWS
PAC from page 1A
The last year has been a
difficult one for PAC and
the city council, as mem-
bers of the two groups have
clashed over the issues of
leadership, autonomy and
process.
The installation of murals
on two sides of the Central
Lincoln PUD building, on
the corner of Quince Street
and Highway 126, seemed
to crystallize opposition to
the use of public monies for
the purchase and installa-
tion of art.
The Quince Street mu-
ral was created by Ma-
rino-Heidel Studios in
response to a “Call for
Artists” from PAC and the
artists were selected from
more than 100 entries re-
ceived. Public forums and
packed city council meet-
ings which questioned not
only the art selected but the
process used to select the
art resulted in a concerted
effort on the part of May-
or Joe Henry and others to
separate PAC from the city.
Henry has been at the
center of the debate regard-
COUNCIL from page 1A
passion to sharing the his-
tory to those who visit the
lightstation and interpre-
tive centers,” Henry read
before proclaiming this
week as Keepers of Heceta
Head Lightstation Week in
the City of Florence.
“This will honor Flor-
ence Oregon’s Heceta Head
Lightstation and its keep-
ers of days gone by to the
present, and encourage cit-
izens to join in this obser-
vance,” he said.
The proclamation was
received by staff members
and volunteers from the
Heceta Head Lightstation.
Terry Abeyta, Program
Development Specialist for
the Lightstation, is inviting
the community to come for
a visit on National Light-
house Day today, Aug. 7.
“We didn’t publicize this
upcoming event because
with summer, the park
parking lot has been fill-
ing up almost daily and
with more publicity, the
parking situation becomes
overwhelming,” said Abey-
ta, who explained that the
Aug. 7 celebration will be
from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. “We
will have a picnic stand set
up at the bed and breakfast
lawn, and sell picnic items,
pourings of our 125th
Anniversary private label
wine and other refresh-
ments.”
There will also be lawn
games, entertainment on
the porch, docent-led tours
at the Keeper’s House and
lighthouse and a commu-
nity coloring-craft table
for visitors to enjoy.
The positive start to
the meeting continued
throughout the evening
and stood in contrast to
recent meetings that have
focused on problems be-
tween the Public Art
Committee (PAC) and the
Florence City Council. The
heated debates of recent
meetings was absent as
the council seemed to be
trying to move past some
of the divisive issues sur-
rounding public art.
Area resident Michael
Allen was the only individ-
ing not only the perfor-
mance of the committee,
but also in questioning the
need for PAC to continue.
To that end, Henry intro-
duced a motion at the July
15 Florence City Council
meeting that would require
PAC to present to the coun-
cil a plan to fundamentally
change the committee’s op-
erating mandate. The coun-
cil passed the motion on a
3-2 vote to allow PAC 90
days to reimagine the way it
operates.
Monday’s meeting was a
joint workshop intended to
further that goal.
At a tense city council
meeting last month, the
animosity between city
councilors Joshua Greene,
Geraldine Lucio and Henry
ended with Greene angrily
leaving the meeting before
its conclusion. That level of
frustration was not evident
during Monday’s work ses-
sion as Henry and Greene
were restrained in their
comments. While some
tension was evident, the
meeting was civil and ulti-
mately productive.
The main tangible result
of the work session was the
agreement that the PAC by-
laws would be reviewed by
councilors and their rec-
ommendations would be
incorporated into a new
version of the governing
rules for the committee.
While the actual work
produced by the joint work
session on Monday was
limited, it represented steps
made by the two entities to
move forward.
Greene was in attendance
at the Monday meeting,
which centered on the re-
sponses given when Hen-
ry asked PAC members to
consider the role art played
in the overall assessment of
the city’s needs. The discus-
sion then continued with
Henry asking PAC mem-
bers and councilors to share
their vision of what form
that relationship between
the two entities would take
in the future.
As the thoughts and con-
cerns of PAC members were
presented, Henry listened
and expressed his appreci-
ation for the work done by
the volunteers of PAC.
Henry has been forth-
ual who spoke during the
public comments portion
of the meeting, request-
ing the city take concrete
action to address the con-
tinuing problem of gun vi-
olence in America.
“I lament the failure of
President Trump and the
R e p u b l i c a n - c o nt r o l l e d
Senate under [Mitch]
McConnell to back bans
on military-style assault
weapons and limits on
magazine cartridges,” Al-
len said. “I lament the tac-
tics of the Republicans in
our state Senate and the
response of the Democrat-
ic leadership, backed by
[Arnie ] Roblan and [Kate]
McKeown, to kill the om-
nibus gun bill which in-
cluded a gun safety storage
measure. But most of all, I
lament the lack of resolve
by Mayor Henry and our
city council to take steps
to deal with the important
matter of protecting our
citizens from gun violence
when the state and federal
government is unwilling.”
Allen accused the mayor
and others of suggesting
that passing gun control
laws by the city council is
“preempted” by state stat-
utes.
“This is true,” said Allen,
“but our mass slaughters
and daily killings using
guns dictate that we do
something at the local lev-
el.”
Allen then made a for-
mal request of the City of
Florence and the mayor to
advocate with state legis-
lators to modify the pre-
emption statutes, allowing
local governments to pass
tougher gun violence pre-
vention measures.
Other items on the limit-
ed agenda for the meeting
included an introduction
by Florence Events Center
Director Kevin Rhodes of a
new employee, Matt Miller,
and consent items related
to changes in the city’s fee
structure.
The council also heard
a staff presentation from
Florence Finance Manager
Lezlea Purcell in support
of a request for street clo-
sure related to the Rods n’
Rhodies event planned for
Sept. 14.
Purcell reported to the
council that the applicant
had successfully complet-
ed all of the required pa-
perwork and staff recom-
mended approval of the
request, which the council
agreed to. There was a brief
public hearing to allow for
community input but there
were no public comments
on the request.
The only action item
that required councilor
attention was from Public
Works Director Mike Mill-
er, who asked the council
to approve the awarding
of a construction proposal
bid to Ray Wells, Inc., for
$284,426 for water services
along the southside of
Highway 126.
The council unanimous-
ly approved the request.
City Manager Erin Reyn-
olds’ report included a
positive update on a grant
application and reminded
councilors and the com-
munity about the second
National Night Out, held
last night, and today’s ded-
ication of the new mural.
She encouraged residents
and councilors to attend.
Henry ended the meet-
ing on a positive note with
comments regarding the
PAC and the work session
attended earlier in the day
by committee members
and councilors.
“This morning we had
what I consider a produc-
tive meeting between our
city council and our PAC.
As everyone knows, there
has been some stress in-
volving the city council
and the PAC, and I believe
we made some progress
on trying to resolve some
of those issues and at least
possibly created a path for-
ward that we can work on
in the next few months,”
Henry said. “I was encour-
aged by this meeting.”
The next Florence City
Council meeting is sched-
uled for Monday, Aug. 19,
at 5:30 p.m. at Florence
City Hall. For more infor-
mation, visit ci.florence.
or.us.
coming with his criticism
of PAC leadership and what
he considers to be the un-
professional behavior of
former ex-officio repre-
sentative of the city coun-
cil, Greene. Henry has also
expressed irritation with
comments allegedly made
by Harlen Springer, Chair-
person of PAC.
Henry was noticeably
less strident in his approach
to the future of PAC on
Monday.
Springer assured coun-
cilors that the new funding
challenges faced by PAC
would be incorporated into
whatever emerges as the
end decision of the council
regarding the committee’s
future.
He also guaranteed mem-
bers of the joint meeting
that whatever decisions the
council made in regard to
PAC would be accepted and
incorporated into the new
PAC mandate.
The next meeting of the
Public Art Committee,
which is open to the public,
will be Monday, Aug. 26, be-
ginning at 10 a.m. For more
info, visit ci.florence.or.us.
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scrap paper, cereal boxes, egg cartons)
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lids)
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In Florence recycling is picked up on the same day as your trash.
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