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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 2021)
SIUSLAW NEWS | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2021 | 5A ence Planning Commission- er Brian Jagoe — a former city councilor himself; recent coun- cil candidate Maggie Bagon; who finished third in November with 25.6 percent of the vote; and Florence resident Dianne Allison. Councilor Meyer was positive in his assessment of Marks but mentioned that Wisniewski was “a close second” in his mind. Both Woodbury and Henry shared their reasons for select- ing Wisniewski, focusing pri- marily on her stated expertise in previous financial and manage- ment situations. “Maggie has a varied range of experience. She also brings the diversity we are looking for. Although she is not in the same age group as Miss Beaudreau, she brings many years of expe- rience — especially in the area of financial analysis,” Woodbury explained. Wantz responded by asking if the three other councilors had financial expertise, to which they all expressed they did. This led Wantz to suggest that per- haps another financial expert wasn’t most needed at this time and someone who was younger, COUNCIL from page 1A During the discussion period, Wantz explained her reasoning for her support of Beaudreau, who lost to Henry in the mayor- al race by just over 100 votes in November. “Jo brings youth to the group. I’m looking around and we are all in our 70s. We need a youth- ful voice and youthful energy. And although it can never be perfectly balanced, she’d be an- other female to help bring gen- der diversity as well,” Wantz reasoned. “Jo is a small business owner, not a landowner like the four of us. She brings her expe- rience of running a small busi- ness, with all of its trials and tribulations, and she would be an advocate for businesses like her own that might be strug- gling. And she is keenly aware what it means to run a store- front business. She is tech smart and will help with the new wave of technology needed to attract new businesses to town.” The discussion following the first polling of the council was brief, with no mention or dis- cussion of the other candidates, which included current Flor- RADIO from page 1A “As a volunteer orga- nization, we have many volunteers that are in the higher risk categories,” Kello said. “When the pandemic struck, we had many volunteers — right- ly so — who were not able to volunteer. And we are still struggling with this issue. People were start- ing to return until we had the latest restrictions. We are still dealing with that, but we have a few of us going in and doing what we can. Those of us who do less programming do other types of things, and we have been able to keep things going.” He said that Station Manager Larry Bloom- field “has done an amaz- Cel 70 ebrat + Y ing ear s! Hoberg’s Complete Auto Repair www.hobergsautorepair.com New Service d Offere FREE Taxi Ride via: River Cities Taxies Florence City Limits Only From our shop to your home or work Kevin McMullen 345 Hwy. 101 • P.O. Box 357 Florence, OR 97439-0012 3rd Generation Owner hobergsautorepair@gmail.com 541-997-2413 Serving Your Auto Needs Since 1945 Buying or Selling? I can help. Brian Jagoe Principal Broker 541 999-1314 91 Windleaf Way – This is a great opportu- nity to build your home close to the beach, in a great community of very nice homes. The seller is willing to carry so bring us an offer and start planning your future in Florence. $68,000. #2797- 18615048 1749 Highway 101 • 541-997-1200 with a different life experience, could add perspective to the council. However, Meyer joined Hen- ry and Woodbury in voting for Wisniewski a short time later, with Wantz remaining in sup- port of Beaudreau and closing the door to a unanimous deci- sion. The selected future councilor Wisniewski was able to say a few words, thanks to Meyer, who had contacted Wisniewski on his cell phone. “I’ve got Maggie on the phone so we can give her a welcome,” said Meyer as he held the phone up to his computer mic. “Good evening council,” Wisniewski said. “Thank you so much. I’m so honored and can’t wait to get started.” With the vote finalized, the council then moved on to other matters. Wantz addressed Florence City Manager Erin Reynolds and Henry, asking what, if any, contingencies were in place to deal with possible outbreaks of violence locally in light of the riots in Washington D.C. last week. “If you are looking at the na- tional news and the reports of maybe take-overs of state cap- itals around the country, there is some really bad stuff happen- ing,” Wantz said. “I wonder what precautions we might be need- ing to take here in Florence.” Reynolds brought Florence Police Chief Tom Turner into the discussion at that point, and Turner was quick to reassure Wantz and other council mem- bers that the Florence Police Department was aware of the national situation and was pre- pared to respond to any illegal events in Florence. “We don’t have any events planned in Florence and that’s a good thing. And we don’t have anything going on that would attract a good deal of attention,” Turner said. “I do want to ad- vise people that if they travel to events — say to the state capitol or beyond — that they do need to be really cautious of partici- pating in events because they have obviously been tumultu- ous.” He added, “Because of the events that have occurred, you can certainly anticipate over-planning on the part of any police department response in Florence and elsewhere around the country.” Turner also suggested that anyone traveling to these types of events should consider calling him for more extensive advice related to the trip. Then, towards the end of the meeting, Henry relayed to the council a brief conversation he had with a Eugene news outlet regarding restaurants in Flor- ence. “I had a phone call this evening from KEZI in Eugene, wanting comments — by the mayor — on restaurants in our communi- ty that are open in violation of the governor’s guidelines,” said Henry, who explained that the news station wanted to know if he, as mayor, condoned that due to some discussion on social media. “I informed them that I categorically did not encourage anyone to keep their restaurant open and that we were following the guidelines of the state and county.” There were no additional com- ments from councilors, who will meet again on Jan. 25 for a regu- larly scheduled virtual meeting, during which Wisniewski will be formally sworn in. ment the station has en- tered into with longtime supporter Durst has also changed the fortunes of the organization for the better. “Now we are sure that we have a location that we own, for about the same amount of money as we paid in rent — so we are really appreciative of Bill. He has been a good friend to the station since we be- gan,” Kello said. One of the station’s most listened to shows is the “Community Con- versations” series, which focuses on issues and in- dividuals involved in var- ious ways in the commu- nity. Bloomfield hosts the show, which is the type of show Kello and Lassan look to as a model for fu- ture locally produced pro- gramming. A good example of this occurred during the last election cycle, when all of the candidates for lo- cal offices were provided the opportunity to discuss their positions on relevant issues, along with what new initiatives they might put forward if elected. The shows were well re- ceived and added another opportunity to educate residents prior to the elec- tions. There are a number of considerations facing the station as the change to a more digital world has led the board to focus on upgrading the station’s equipment. The funding to accomplish this task has yet to materialize, but Kello remains hopeful. “We have a wish list that includes a mixing board — the one we have now is analog — and a gener- ator to power the station in case of an emergen- cy. Funding is always a challenge and the lack of money is a big obstacle with the changes in tech- nology. So, it is very dif- ficult to keep up,” he said. Lassan, always optimis- tic, said she looks forward to talking with individu- als or companies wishing to find out more about the work being done at KXCR. “Our board has been working very hard the last few months and we are very pleased with the few changes and improve- ments we have made and certainly would love to share this with the com- munity,” she said. In addition, KXCR is starting a membership campaign. For more information contact Lassan or Kello at KXCR 90.7 FM. Commu- nity Radio, P.O. Box 127, Florence, Ore. 97439, or call the station at 541-997- 5252. Station office hours are Monday through Fri- day, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PROGRAM from page 1A ing as much had access to that training,” Pierson After the program had said. “So, the city began been in existence for a providing scholarships for few months, the City of people to enter either pro- Florence, which had just gram.” Those who take the received a block devel- opment grant provid- course will receive PPE ing Personal Protective and new training. “The city has a rating Equipment (PPE) to lo- cal businesses, partnered system based on the per- centage of a business staff with LCC. “We’re a hospitali- in the program,” said Pier- ty-oriented economy, and son. “If businesses have it would be great if our a certain percentage of businesses or employees trained employees, they who haven’t been work- can put that information in the window to help assure guests and clients that the employees know how things should be done.” Pierson believes that the course is applicable to any business, but particularly those that interact with the public. “People care how you’re cleaning these days and keeping them safe,” Pier- son said. The class provides the latest information for the Centers for Disease Control and the Oregon Health Authority. It will explain how the virus is transmitted and how business can help to slow the spread of infection through proper cleaning and disinfection. “What products you want to use, what prod- ucts you want to avoid,” Pierson explained. “You would learn how to don and doff PPE, and there is a way to do it. You can actually infect yourself if you take it off the wrong way, so it’s very import- ant.” All classes are online and recorded, allowing participants to take the course at their own pace. Applications for the schol- arships through the city, as well as more informa- tion on the courses, can be found at www.ci.florence. or.us/economicdevelop ment/environmental- ser vices-scholarship- program-0. ing job, always fixing things and figuring out how to make all of this old equipment work. He has done a great job for us.” Located in a small, re- furbished house at 1509 Ninth Street which has been converted gradually into a functioning radio station, KXCR has been streaming its program- ming for more than a year now. This ability to reach listeners not only local- ly, but around the world, has broadened both the demographics of the lis- tening audience and the programming selected or created at KXCR. Underwriting oppor- tunities and radio mem- berships are available to support the nonprofit, and the time people spend listening has increased ac- cording to lifestyle data gathered since the onset of the pandemic. The purchase agree- DENTURE SERVICES INC. LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED are inesses s u b y munit ese com rvice needs. h t g in se ow lax, kn h all of your e r o t it y w It’s eas to help here Call the Siuslaw News to Join Our Senior Directory 541-997-3441 Open 4 days a week! 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