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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (May 30, 2020)
6A | SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2020 | SIUSLAW NEWS COMMENTS from page 1A to the city council via email. Each member of the city “The governing body of a council then has an oppor- public body shall hold pub- tunity as individual mem- lic meeting and hearings by bers to provide feedback to telephone, video or through the Mayor and City Manag- some other electronic or er on the need to discuss any virtual means whenever public comments received possible,” the EO stated. or provide an administrative “For all public meetings and response during a meeting. hearings held by telephone, Messmer pointed out that video or through other any city councilor has the electronic or virtual means, opportunity to bring up any the public body shall make item of interest at a council available a method by which meeting, particularly during the public can listen to or the “City Council Reports” virtually attend the public section of the agenda. meeting or hearing at the “This is the most likely time it occurs.” area where a city councilor The mandate also ex- could bring up comments plains that the public body received and request a fu- does not have to provide a ture agenda item,” she add- physical space for the pub- ed. lic to attend the meeting or The limitation of pub- hearing. lic comments during a city There is some latitude council meeting was not given to local municipal discussed in EO No.20-16 leaders to provide for these but was adopted as a poli- basic communications. cy to address the challenges However, there is no spe- presented to the council. cific requirement as to what “Yes, the decision to lim- public comments must be it public comments is a lo- allowed at particular types cal decision made by the meetings. city council as part of the Florence Public Informa- adoption of the COVID-19 tion Officer Megan Mess- Temporary Public Meeting mer explained the crafting procedures located on the of local meeting policies City’s website,” said Mess- for the acceptance of public mer. “These procedures comments from residents. were adopted at the March “During the temporary 23 Florence City Coun- COVID-19 procedures, cil special session as a way public comment received to quickly respond to the for items on the agenda are emerging crisis while main- sent to the council either in taining the requirements the meeting materials dis- of Oregon Public Meetings tributed on the Thursday and Records Laws. prior to the meeting, or at 4 “These temporary up- p.m. on the day of the meet- dates serve to meet the ing,” she said, adding that needs of social distancing public comments are also requirements by the state, included on ci.florence.or.us streamline meetings and to allow all members of the move to providing virtual public access to the same in- services during this time of formation. crisis.” “These comments have There are legal require- to be written and follow the ments for public input at policy to be submitted to public meetings for the sim- allow adequate time before ple reason that better de- the meeting,” Messmer said. cisions can be made when “This is different than gen- there is more information eral public comment.” used to determine a course General public comments of action. Allowing public regarding items not on a city comments on official activ- council agenda are provided ity also provides a level of oversight to council deliber- ations and decisions. However, the city’s abridgement of this legis- lated mandate has been per- ceived by some as stifling public discourse. One local resident who had intended to share her thoughts with the council at a recent meeting was Sal- ly Wantz, who submitted a Guest Viewpoint to the Siu- slaw News expressing disap- pointment in the limitations resulting from the city’s cur- rent public comment policy. “Doing business today is different from it was before Covid-19 when I could of- fer my comments in person at city council during the initial 15 minutes of public comment time,” said Wantz. “Knowing that council was not meeting in person on May 16, I sent comments via email with the hope and expectation that my com- ments would be conveyed to council and become a part of the public record the same as it would have been in person. However, since the new public meet- ing policy has been adopted, the city council has not held general public comments on any items not on the agen- da.” Wantz believes this is wrong and stifles the voic- es of people who wish to be heard. “Yes, I’m disappointed that council chose the path that silenced me on May 16,” she said. In her public comments, Wantz had intended to re- quest that future public meetings, including city council, be presented live via a teleconference format similar to Zoom and record- ed for future viewing. “It’s unfair to citizens who cannot see our elected and appointed officials during public meetings,” Wantz said. “I want to see faces and reactions to what is being said as if I were sitting in the audience at City Hall.” Wantz said that, with a Zoom type of format, the “host” of the meeting can allow citizens the opportu- nity for their three minutes of verbal comments in full view of all who are watch- ing. In addition, the host would also have full control to mute comments when needed, such as when their time has expired. “Businesses worldwide are conducting business in this manner. We should as well,” stated Wantz. In response to that, Mess- mer said that, while it is common practice during “normal” times to have pub- lic comment, it is not a re- quirement. “Meetings in Oregon are required to be held in public, but do not have to have pub- lic dialogue. Including an opportunity for members of the public to provide input on items that are not public hearings is a decision that has been made by the city council through its policies,” Messmer said. “The public is able to reach the council through email, regular mail, the Florence City Hall drop box, 250 Highway 101, and by phone. These communi- cations received outside of public meetings are passed on to the City Council and/ or the departments respon- sible for the items discussed. Citizens can — and do — publicly communicate their thoughts, desires, demands, wishes and complaints through a variety of other channels not operated by the city. “These are all monitored and reviewed by staff and members of the council.” Afterwards, Wantz, who said she was appreciative of the work done by city staff, was concerned more with any decision to effectively exclude submitted com- ments from the public re- cord. “The concerns I shared in my guest viewpoint were not with city staff but the leadership of city council for declining to share my comments publicly,” Wantz said. “It sent a message to me that my comments don’t matter. While there is every expectation that this policy needs to be in effect during COVID-19, now is the time to update that policy to in- clude a way for all commu- nity members to be heard. It’s the right thing to do and would be a huge sign of re- spect for our community.” The decision by staff and council to limit public com- ment during meetings to items already on the agenda raises the question of how an issue or concern raised by a citizen can become an item worthy of further dis- cussion. Messmer again provided clarity in this area. “The city manager, in consultation with the may- or, prepares city council agendas. The city manager is authorized to place rou- tine items, items referred by staff or items approved for action in the City of Florence’s work plan, on the agenda without council ap- proval or action,” Messmer explained. “In order to have something on the agenda, any member of the council can request an item be add- ed to the agenda by advising the mayor and city manager Do you part and volunteer today to help support these organizations in our community. at least one week prior to the meeting. Page three of the City Council Rules of Proce- dure details the process for creation of the city council agendas.” One of the main points to consider when discussing the opportunity for mem- bers of the community to share their thoughts, experi- ences and observations with city leaders is access. Mess- mer again expressed the de- sire by city staff to listen to members of the public but also to share those commu- nications with the Florence City Council. “Citizens are still able to communicate their ideas and questions to the city council and staff via the website, email and phone. Our communication meth- ods have not changed and are still in place for citi- zens to utilize, regardless of the city council agenda — which is determined by the city’s work plan and budget as adopted by the city coun- cil,” said Messmer. “During the city council report and discussion on each agenda, members of the city coun- cil have the opportunity to discuss items they would like to be considered. In- dividual council members have a constant open com- munication going with city manager and can — and do — request items during the course of the year.” The next Florence City Council meeting is sched- uled to convene via telecon- ference on June 8, begin- ning at 5:30 p.m., and can be streamed live on the city website. To include your organization in this directory, please call us @ 541-997-3441 Habitat for Humanity STUDENTS from page 1A “This is a challenging time for adults as well, and our kids are handling it the best they can.” New this year for achieve- ments is the Distance Learning All-Star category, where students “have stood out during tough times,” the principal said. These students were chosen for continued par- ticipation, turning in as- signments, actively asking questions during online in- struction and showing up to the office for extra instruc- tion. Also, for the first time, Mapleton staff met to hon- or five specific students for persisting through distance learning. “They have been academ- ically strong all year and they are conscientious stu- dents,” Moyer said. “They care about their grades and are working hard to not only attend and participate, but actively engage. With dis- tance learning, that’s a chal- lenge in itself. Although we don’t normally do this, we decided to say it’s important to recognize standouts from our students.” Whether students have been shining in the brick- and-mortar classes of 2019- 20, or the virtual classes go- ing on now, Moyer said she is proud of all Mapleton stu- dents for making it through a difficult year. “They have persevered through the challenges and are shining,” she said. Class Achievement Awards 2019/2020 School Year Makayla Bender — Farm to Table Jeffrey Bernhardt — Fris- bee Best Battle Combo Ryan Bernhardt — Year- book Jahala Blake — College Prep English Distance Learning All Star, Con- temporary Health and Veterinary Science Alex Burnett — Physical Education Phillip Burnett — College Prep English Participa- tion, Physics Robert Burnett — English Distance Learning All Star Opal Burruss — Business Achievement, Govern- ment, Spanish 3 Dis- tance Learning All Star, College Prep English, Distance Learning All Star Kylee Carson — Health, English Mason Flansberg — Alge- bra 1 Most Dedicated, Frisbee Best Battle Combo Trinity Holmes — Year- book, Senior Seminar, Art Elenore Hurley — Art Savannah Johnson — Math Distance Learning All Star Quinn Lewis — Senior Seminar Sabrina Marsh — World Cultures Distance Learning All Star, English Evelynn McMaster — Health, Farm to Table Emily Neece — Spanish 1 JJ Neece — Spanish 1, Writing 121 Landon Peck — Geogra- phy Distance Learning All Star Joslynn Roby — Health Distance Learning All Star Joseph Shepard — Spanish 3 Distance Learning All Star, College Prep En- glish Distance Learning All Star Brierlynn Shird — Ad- vanced Art Jordan Simington — Writ- ing 121, College Prep English Distance Learn- ing All Star Emily Stevens — Spanish 2 Keevyn Walker — Physical Education Justyce Wierichs — Physi- cal Education, Physics Kody Wierichs — English, World Cultures Staff Choice for Overall Excellence Opal Burruss Joseph Shepard Jordan Simington Kody Wierichs Staff Choice for Overall Growth Stuart Clifton Visit us on the web T HE S IUSLAW N EWS . COM S IUSLAW N EWS Bored? Looking for social distancing activities? We have social distancing volunteer opportunities available. Give us a call 541-902-9227 Helping Hands Coalition We are in need of volunteers on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. We need volunteers to serve food, set up for meals and also prepare meals beginning at 11:00 am and fi nishing at 2:00pm. New Location: Community Baptist Church, 4590 Hwy. 101, Florence (Across from Fred Meyer) Oregon Coast Humane Society relies heavily on volunteers. There are many opportunities to volunteer and a variety of skills and talents are always in need. Volunteer interest forms may be found online, at the shelter and at our Thrift Shop on Bay Street. www.oregoncoasthumanesociety.org/volunteer/ Peace Harbor Volunteers Join the Peace Harbor Hospital Volunteers, you will fi nd an area of interest in a caring organization. 400 9th Street, Florence 541-997-8412 ext. 2218 Us Too Florence Saving men one PSA test at a time. “Someone to talk to...who understands!” 541-997-6626 maribob@oregonfast.net www.ustoofl orence.org ESTATE JEWELRY AND ANTIQUE FURNITURE!!! Auto, Home, Life, Business Flood, Antique Auto, RV’s Medicare Advantage Plans Medicare Supplements Health Insurance Phone (541) 997-9497 1234 Rhododendron Dr / Florence We buy, sell and consign quality estate/heirloom jewelry & furniture. Gold, silver, platinum jewelry with precious & semi precious stones. Call 541-997-8104, Florence Antiques & Coast Jewelers County Transfer & Recycling Separating recyclables from your trash reduces the amount of waste that ends up in landfi lls, saves energy, and reduces emissions! Items that can go into your recycle cart are: • Cardboard (fl atten) and Paper (magazines, junk mail, newspapers, scrap paper, cereal boxes, egg cartons) • Plastic milk jugs and transparent drinking bottles (rinse – no lids) • Metal food and drink cans (rinse – no lids) Florence recycling picked up on same day as your trash. 541-997-8233 5078 Coastwood Ln, Florence OR wasteconnections.com Since 1983 Alva Bracey Broker Your goals are my top priority. Let’s get together! LES SCHWAB TIRE CENTERS Tires • Brakes • Shocks Alignments Call, Text or Email Cell: 541-505-1180 Insect & Pest Removal 4325 Highway 101 Florence, OR 97439 541-997-7178 Trapping • Mole/Gopher Dead Animal Removal • Honey Bee Removal Crawl Space Cleaning • Exclusion Work Fumigation of Antiques and Commodities. (541) 997-4027 Alva@CBCoast.com 541-997-7777 100 Hwy. 101, Florence, OR COAST REAL ESTATE MODEL TRAIN ENTHUSIASTS Over ars 50 Ye ce! rien Expe CALL ME TO BUY, SELL OR TRADE! I’M LOCATED HERE IN FLORENCE. 541-255-9822 - Larry landl316@live.com Us TOO Florence Prostate Cancer Education Support on the Oregon Coast www.ustooflorence.org • Tuesday Evening Group (2nd Tuesday) 5-7 p.m. - Ichiban Chinese/Japanese Restaurant • Urologist Dr. Bryan Mehlhaff attends. • Tuesday Lunch Group (3rd Tuesday) 12 noon – 1:00 p.m. – Ichiban Chinese/Japanese Restaurant • Urologist Dr. Roger McKimmy attends. Contact Bob for more information: (H) 541-997-6626 • (C) 541-999-4239 maribob@oregonfast.net