COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL May 13, 2015
11A
R EFERENDUM
Continued from page 1A
are deemed invalid, adding
that there was “no doubt we’re
going to make it.”
The Cottage Grove City
Council approved the Refi ne-
ment Plan with two majority
votes in April. The plan aims to
redesign Main Street downtown
between its historic buildings,
including efforts to remove the
pronounced “crown” of the
street itself. It also calls for the
widening of adjacent sidewalks
and narrowing of travel lanes, in
addition to adding outdoor utili-
ties and making the area more
accessible to those with disabili-
ties. The plan can be viewed in
its entirety at the City’s website,
cottagegrove.org.
The Cottage Grove Planning
Commission had previously
recommended the plan’s ap-
proval with conditions after ex-
tending its own public comment
period.
Critics of the plan have ob-
jected to many of its aspects,
including plans to narrow Main
Street’s travel lanes and widen
sidewalks, and the absence of
trees lining the street in early
versions of the plan helped co-
alesce opposition to its passage.
Supporters, meanwhile, point
out the need for many of the re-
pairs the plan mandates and the
lengthy public process used to
arrive at the plan as being among
their reasons to support it.
The public debate has ramped
up considerably since petition-
ers began their efforts to place
the plan on the ballot, and by
Monday, the social-media con-
versation on Cottage Grove-
related Facebook group posts
featured a fair amount of vitriol
from both sides.
McNamara said she’s endeav-
ored to steer clear of the online
brouhaha, though others feel it
may have helped the referen-
dum effort.
State law allows petitioners to
gather signatures to refer any or-
dinance passed by a municipal-
ity to its voters, and McNamara
said people are “coming out of
the woodwork” to make sure it
happens here.
“They’re a determined bunch,”
she said, adding that she would
be collecting signatures herself
in front of the Bookmine until
the deadline.
The referendum process has
offered a learning curve for lo-
cal petitioners and city offi cials.
On Monday, City Recorder Tru-
dy Borrevik said that all the sig-
natures have to be turned in to
county elections offi cials at one
time in advance of the deadline.
This differs from the initiative
process, which allows petition-
ers two years to try to gather
signatures to place an initiative
before voters. It also essentially
gives petitioners one chance to
get the proper number of valid
signatures. The City estimates
that, without any other issues
before voters on the September
ballot, the cost to the City to re-
fer the Main Street Refi nement
Plan to the voters would be
about $10,000.
At Monday night's meeting of
the Cottage Grove City Council,
Councilor Kate Price, herself a
participant in recent heated on-
line discussions regarding the
plan, asked what the outcome
might be if the referendum were
put before voters and should it
fail at the polls.
"If the petition is success-
ful and the election is a no,"
responded City Manager Rich-
ard Meyers, "the entire Refi ne-
ment Plan would go back into
the process, and you get to start
over with the Council looking
at it. Then you could change it
and readopt it, or the City could
refer it back to the Planning
Commission. Or you could do
nothing — there could be other
options between there."
Councilor Jake Boone asked
Meyers if, even if the voters re-
jected the plan, could the Coun-
cil "theoretically pass the exact
same plan?"
"You would need to have a
public hearing, but yeah, you
could readopt the same plan,"
Meyers said.
Councilor Heather Murphy
cautioned that there are "at least
50 'ifs' between now and then."
"We did our due diligence,"
she said. "I encourage you to be
confi dent."
Some people should have to earn the right to use fi re
BY NED HICKSON
News Media Corporation
S
don’t — never mind.”
Crouching, he extended the
red tip toward the vapory char-
coals, holding as much of his
body away from the grill as
possible.
On the steps of the mobile
home, his son and daughter sat
riveted, elbows on their knees
and hands clasped in anticipa-
tion, watching as Dad sum-
moned the fi re god. And kept
summoning.
Then summoned some
more.
“Where’s those matches I
asked for?!” he bellowed, and
rose to his feet.
“Mo-therrrr!”
From the living area, a win-
dow slid open, and from paint-
ed fi ngertips was tossed a small
box of matches.
“Thanks — ”
The window slid shut.
“ — Honey,” fi nished Mr.
Kingsford. Scratching the
comb-over beneath his “Just
Do It” hat, he examined the
briquettes and decided the gods
needed something more.
Eyes widening, his children
watched as he opened a com-
partment near the rear of the
mobile home and removed a
red, plastic canister.
“But Dad, Mom said…”
He scowled, index fi nger
pressing his lips. “You want to
eat or not?” he hissed at the top
of his voice, then proceeded to
douse the grill with gasoline.
Slowly, the children backed
along the mobile home and
away from the epicenter as
Dad slid a sulfur-tipped stick
from the matchbox and pressed
it against the gritty side panel.
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He stood, poised for the sprint,
one leg dug into the ground for
traction, the other angled for
speed — like a relay runner
waiting for the baton. Trem-
bling slightly, Mr. Kingsford
smiled reassuringly at his hud-
dled children, then struck the
match to life and tossed it into
the face of the grill.
In that instant, the lid blew
shut, which caused the dog
to bark, bringing Mom to the
door just in time to see the kids
cover their ears as Dad pushed
off for the sprint while the
split-level grill lifted off like
an early 1960s NASA rocket,
rising about six feet before an-
gling left, then exploding into a
ball of fl ames.
As the fi remen put the last of
the fl ames out a short time later,
and the surrounding campers
returned to their campsites, Mr.
Kingsford shoved a copy of his
citation into an apron pocket
and nursed a minor head injury
with ice. From the small kitch-
en, the sizzle of skillet burgers
made its way outside as Mom
cooked over butane fi re.
When you consider that we
once carried embers around in
a hollowed out skull for fear
of losing the potential to make
fi re, it seems we’ve come a
long way as a species.
Then, again...
Ned is a syndicated colum-
nist with News Media Corpo-
ration. His book, “Humor at
the Speed of Life,” is avail-
able online at Port Hole Pub-
lications, Amazon Books and
Barnes & Noble. Write to him
at nedhickson@icloud.com
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ome of you know, in ad-
dition to being a colum-
nist, I’m also a volunteer fi re-
fi ghter. I generally try to keep
those parts of my life separate
because, more often than not,
the experiences in my fi refi ght-
ing life have no place in a hu-
mor column. However, there
are exceptions.
Case in point: What fol-
lows is a re-enactment of sorts,
pieced together from observa-
tions and details gathered dur-
ing an incident this past Moth-
er’s Day weekend. When you
consider that we once carried
embers around in hollowed out
animal skulls for fear of losing
the potential to make fi re, it
seems we’ve come a long way
as a species.
Then, again, I’ve seen
chimps driving motorcycles
— it doesn’t mean they’re in
line at the DMV...
“You kids stay away from
the grill! It’s gonna get very
hot!” Mr. Kingsford said, rip-
ping open a bag of briquettes
labeled “easy starting.” Over
his bermuda shorts and a
“49ers” T-shirt, he wore a red
and white striped apron with
the words “It Ain’t Ready Yet”
emblazoned on the front.
A prophecy, really.
After stacking the charcoal
into a pyramid, he grabbed a
quart of lighter fl uid and pro-
ceeded to empty half of it over
the briquettes, one hand patting
his pockets. “I need matches,”
he hollered, then pinched the
cigarette from his lips. “No I
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