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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 2020)
THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM THE WEDNESDAY EDITION | JANUARY 8, 2020 | $1.00 UP TO Greater Florence Area B usiness Quarterly % 30 APPLIANCES OFF Inside B4-B5 685 Hwy 101, Florence 541-997-3273 SAVE AN EXTRA 10% WITH SEARS CARD ON APPLIANCES OVER $799.99 NOW THRU JAN. 11 Postal Customer Florence, Ore. 97439 Couple demands apology at council meeting Siuslaw News NEWS & VIEWS THAT DEFINE OUR COMMUNITY First Florence City Council meeting of 2020 brings up old debate, new agenda At most Florence City Council meetings, the pub- lic comments portion of the evening — while providing a window into the thoughts of the speaker — may have little impact on the commu- nity as a whole. That was not the case on Monday evening when Bill and Ka- tie Prosser asked for — and received — an apology for comments made by Greene at a June 2019 Florence City Council meeting. The portion of the meet- ing in question was cen- tered on the tumult sur- rounding the installation of By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News The first Florence City Council meeting of 2020 began with a proclamation but was overshadowed by an apology. The proclama- tion was delivered by May- or Joe Henry, recognizing Florence as the world’s premier location for sand- boarding; the apology was delivered by Councilor Joshua Greene for what he admitted were some “poor- ly chosen words” previously directed at some of his crit- ics. the “Stitching Time, Weav- ing Cultures” mural. There were a number of heated ex- changes between Henry and Greene during the meeting regarding the future of the Public Art Commit- tee (PAC) and the postings made on social media plat- forms which were related to the mural. During one of those ex- changes, Greene referred to what he perceived as a coor- dinated effort by supporters of then-city council candi- date Geraldine Lucio to un- duly influence the outcome of the 2018 election. Henry and Greene argued about the posts, and Henry stated during the meeting his determination to fun- damentally change the re- lationship between the city and PAC. Henry added that the only way he would sup- port any future version of PAC was for Greene to be replaced as the ex-officio member of the committee. The lack of decorum on display only worsened as the meeting devolved into a shouting match — and one of the low points of the year for the council. On Monday, Bill Prosser read a statement that had been written in consulta- tion with the couple’s law- yer, demanding that Greene “cease and desist from making further defamatory statements regarding their political affiliations.” The statement read by Bill also demanded a public apology for the comments made by Greene during the meeting. “Specifically, at a City Council meeting on July 15, 2019, at approximately one hour and 45 minutes into the meeting, you stated, VOL. 130, NO. 2 F LORENCE , O REGON WEATHER Steady rain with a high of 48 and a low tonight of 39. Full forecast on A3 See COUNCIL page 7A COMMUNITY OCHS executive director abruptly resigns on Jan. 1 By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News Only $ 99 each AVAILABLE NOW 34. see ad on page 8A for details. Listings and public notices Inside — B6 FOLLOW US FOR THE LATEST NEWS : /S IUSLAW N EWS @S IUSLAW N EWS T HE S IUSLAW N EWS . COM D\ P +LJKZ WUKXQWHUFR ZZZ FLO CLASSIFIEDS ͘͘͘ Y L O P O - E C N E R Activities and comics every Saturday Inside — B5 ͕ See OCHS page 6A SIDE SHOW S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS | 16 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2020 The Florence Area Chamber of Commerce announced its selection of “Blast from the Past” submitted by Stan Pusieski of Florence, as the theme for the 113th Rhododen- dron Festival. To help promote the annual event, the Chamber’s board of di- rectors is holding a logo design contest. The board is requesting a design that incorporates the event’s name, dates, location, theme, and familiar elements from around the area. Contest rules are available at the Chamber’s visitors center, 290 Highway 101 or online at Florence- Chamber.com. Florence’s Rhododendron Festival logos from the past 6 years Deadline for submissions is Jan- uary 19, 2020. The winner will be multitude of media that promote our theme for the 2020 Rhododen- announced January 24 and receive the event which runs from May 15 dron Festival, it opens the door to a a $250 cash prize and carnival pass- to 17, 2020. “With ‘Blast from the Past’ as See RHODY page 6A es. Their work will be seen across a Obituaries & emergency response logs Inside — A2 Ăƚ Chamber announces 2020 Rhody Fest theme RECORDS ŝƚƵ Ɛ See ROTARY page 8A Vikings score first basketball win INSIDE — SPORTS sŝƐ he community is invited to “join the madness” of Rotary Club of Florence’s annual auction on March 14. The theme, which was announced on Tuesday at the club’s weekly meeting at the Flor- ence Events Center, will be “The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party: Hats off to our Students.” What started out decades ago as a small event raising a couple thousand dollars to a gala which raised more than $109,000 in 2017, version of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland.” Instead of the titular character, Laurel Ferguson acted as “Lau- rel in Wonderland,” meeting Bob Steele as the White Rabbit and auction co-chair Kim Erickson as the Cheshire Cat. The Red Queen, played by Jenna Bartlett, and The Mad Hatter, played by Rotary Pres- ident Meg Spencer, also made ap- pearances. “I’m here today to thank each of you as Rotarians for what you do for local students. Each year, the ŝƐĐ ŚŽ ŽǀĞƌ ŵĞ ǀ ŝŶƚĞ ŝŶƚĂ ƌŝŽ ŐĞĐů ƌƐ͕Ă Žƚ ŶĚ ŚŝŶŐ ĐŽ ͕Ă ŽŬ ŶƟ ŝĞƐ͊ ƋƵ ĞƐ T the Rotary Auction serves as a fun way for Rotarians and commu- nity members alike to enjoy a ca- tered dinner while raising money for scholarships for students in the Siuslaw and Mapleton school districts. The auction in Florence netted $1,560,785.23 from 1960 to 2019. At the start of each year, the Ro- tary Auction Committee presents the theme through a short skit. Gayle Vinchesi began the skit by interrupting auction co-chair Kevin McMullen, who stood at the podium. She launched into story time, holding up a pop-up book ibrary.or iuslawL www.S 97-313 2 541-9 Story & Photo By Chantelle Meyer Siuslaw News SPORTS OUT CHECK S.) (WE EVEN GAME BOARD g ‘Mad Hatter’s Tea Party’ 2020 auction theme announced Coast Guard trains on the river INSIDE — A3 rd aboa g Climb readin ad! the real railro Rotary President — and Mad Hatter — Meg Spencer (far left) worked with fellow Florence Rotarians on this year’s skit announcing the theme of the 2020 Rotary Auction. The Oregon Coast Humane Society (OCHS) is once again searching for someone to lead its organiza- tion. Mark Curran was hired as exec- utive di- rector less than a year ago and, this week, contacted the Siuslaw News to Mark Curran discuss his resignation from that position. Curran had extensive previous experience working with animal care organizations and he reported that some members of the cur- rent board of directors were not supportive of the changes he was interested in initiating. “When I joined OCHS in Jan- uary 2019, I was so excited about the potential for the organization to move on from its past mistakes and develop into a thriving animal rescue here in Florence,” he said. “In just a year, we have made so much progress in every area. Mem- bership and membership renewals are up, donations are up a lot, and we have implemented multiple new fundraising programs to help bring much-needed funds into the organization.” Curran added that the organiza- tion has also improved operations dramatically at both the shelter and the thrift store to set the orga- nization up for even more success in 2020. “And, I believe we had turned a corner with our commu- nity, who has supported OCHS in ways we had not seen for many years.” Curran was brought in to lead OCHS in the wake of an inquiry undertaken by the Oregon Attorney ͘͘͘ƚŽ Ě Rotary prepares for March ‘madness’ Framing es Fram ence Quality Custom of Flor • Mirrors s • Needlework • Watercolors Shadowboxe Photography Oils • 43 97-20 G 541-9 101, Suite Hwy. 2285 OR 97439 Florence,
