Learning
center gets a
new name,
page 3A
Chatterbox...6A
Chamber News...8A
Tips n' Tales...7A
Champ!
Dennis tops
state in
wrestling,
page 1B
$ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2016
D ECISION , 2016
But what'll it cost?
Races for
mayor,
several
council
seats
expected
Harrison Elementary bond's expected
impact for local taxpayers
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
S
outh Lane School Dis-
trict representatives fi led
paperwork with Lane County
Elections on Friday to place a
$35,950,000 bond levy that’s
slated to replace the Harrison
Elementary School building
and make other district up-
grades on the ballot this May.
On May 17, voters will de-
cide whether to support Bal-
lot Measure 20-240, and local
homeowners may be weigh-
ing the cost of the levy in the
form of property taxes in their
decision.
On Monday, South Lane
Superintendent Krista Parent
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
W
ith the national furor
regarding the upcom-
ing presidential election already
heating up, it’s worth noting
that the autumn of 2016 will
also feature a local election that
could signifi cantly alter the face
of city government in Cottage
Grove.
The four-year term of Cottage
Grove’s Ward II City Council-
or, Jeff Gowing, ends Dec. 31,
2016, as do the remainders of
the Council terms that are cur-
rently being served by recently
appointed Councilors Amy Slay
and Kenneth Michael Roberts.
Two-term incumbent Mayor
Tom Munroe has also indicated
VOLUME 128 • NUMBER 36
SOUTH LANE COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889
Sentinel fi le photo
this point to run for election to
the position.
“I’ve decided to try and learn
more if the voters decide that’s
what they want,” Slay said.
“Now that the shock has worn
off and I’m starting to get the
hang of things, I’m excited to
learn from those around me.
It’s already been a cool experi-
ence.”
Roberts, an at-large appoint-
ment following Heather Mur-
phy’s recent departure, said he
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
Please see COUNCIL, Page 11A
O
nline conversations regarding ongoing property crime and
other incidents have prompted a meeting at City Hall next
Employment
analyzed at
Chamber mtg.
week.
An event dubbed “Stand up for Cottage Grove” is scheduled at
City Hall on Tuesday, March 8 at 6:30 p.m. with Cottage Grove
City Councilor Amy Slay spearheading its efforts.
“I grew up in Cottage Grove, and I don’t feel like we are the
community we used to be,” Slay said. “Many of us want this com-
munity to be free of crime and
vandalism, and I think these
issues are getting worse every
year. A lot of people say they
wish somebody would fi x this
or change that, and here’s their
opportunity.”
Slay recently wrote that she
Tuesday, March 8
believes neighbors have a re-
sponsibility to help protect each
6:30 p.m.
other.
City Hall
“I truly believe our best de-
fense against criminals is simply
being neighborly,” she wrote.
“Be present on your block; know your neighbors. Be aware of who
lives around you and the cars they drive. Stay calm so you make
good decisions. Last but not least, be a team!”
Posts regarding thefts and other property crimes regularly appear
on Facebook pages dedicated to local groups, and Cottage Grove’s
Delores Dixon, who has been working to drum up attendance at
next week’s event, recently posted that she envisions a program
much like Neighborhood Watch.
Interim Police Chief Scott Shepherd said he supports and plans to
attend next week’s meeting as long as it advocates for “observe and
report activity” on the part of local residents.
“I wouldn’t want people to feel like they should confront others,”
Shepherd said. “We wouldn’t want a situation where somebody
confronts someone else and ends up assaulted or verbally accosted.
I support any effort to observe and report suspicious activity to us,
but I wouldn’t want it to put anyone in a bad position.”
Slay said she hopes the meeting will be informational for those
who attend.
“I hope people come out to listen,” she said. “Let’s get together
to get people on board.”
Shepherd said he’s also been approached by Shauna Neigh, coor-
dinator of the Main Street program in Cottage Grove, about a pos-
sible “block captain” scenario to deal with issues that have become
Stand up for
Cottage Grove
meeting
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
Guests at the Cottage Grove Chamber of
Commerce’s annual business meeting got a
rather in-depth look at the area’s workforce
during a presentation from Kim Thompson,
Lane County’s Workforce Analyst with the
Oregon Employment Department.
Thompson’s presentation at El Tapatio
on Wednesday, Feb. 24 highlighted a com-
munity with strong ties to retail and service-
related jobs, a place where most businesses
are small, employing less than 10 people,
and a town that has lost some of its larger
employers in recent years.
Most of Cottage Grove’s employment is
in the retail, manufacturing, accommoda-
tions and food service industries, according
to a pie chart Thompson presented (though
she did add that statistics from major em-
ployers such as South Lane School District
and very large fi rms were kept out of the
list for confi dentiality reasons. Data came
from quarterly employment/payroll census
fi gures.)
The area boasted 153 employees in ag-
riculture, fi shing and hunting in 2014; 441
people were employed in manufacturing
and 796 work in retail. Religious institu-
tions, auto repair businesses and non-profi ts
account for 192 employees.
Sixty-two percent of the area’s businesses
employ between one and four people, and
nearly 20 percent have between fi ve and
nine employees. Only fi ve businesses em-
ploy between 50 and 99 workers, a number
courtesy graphic
This slide from a presentation using statistics compiled by the Oregon Em-
ployment Department breaks down Cottage Grove's labor force. (Very large
fi rms and School District employment are not included).
that has declined in recent years. Thompson
said the crowd gathered on Wednesday was
at a loss to explain this decline.
Employment is picking up throughout
Lane County, Thompson said, though a
“tightening of the labor market” means that
employers are having trouble fi lling some
jobs. Workers are fi nding more opportuni-
ties but stiffer competition for them, ac-
cording to the presentation. Lane County’s
unemployment rate was 5.8 percent last No-
vember, down from a high of 13.2 percent
in 2009. Data showed that Cottage Grove’s
unemployment rate fell sharply from 2014
to 2015.
Thompson pointed out that “Lane County
still has a way to go to reach pre-recession
employment levels.” The recession led to
18,000 job losses after hitting a peak in
February of 2008, and it had since regained
69 percent, or 12,400 jobs, by November
of 2015. The County’s housing market,
though, was described as “painfully slow”:
single-family homebuilding has been slow
to pick up since the recession, and starter
homes have been the only category selling
reliably. Numbers of building permits rise
and fall, and home values are rising slowly.
With regard to future employment out-
look, the service sector is expected to see
the most job growth, though these jobs will
largely represent the replacement of workers
reaching retirement age. Farming, fi shing
and forestry represent the areas expected to
grow the least. Structural changes in some
industries, workforce skill gaps, unstable
global economies and lower participation in
the labor force are seen as major challenges
to continued business development in Lane
County.
Please see MEETING, Page 11A
Rain Country Realty Inc.
RE
C
A
9
2
Please see BOND, Page 11A
Meeting scheduled
at City Hall to talk
crime, solutions
The 2016 Cottage Grove City Council: Jake Boone, Mayor Tom Munroe, Kenneth Rob-
erts, Mike Fleck, Amy Slay, Garland Burback, Jeff Gowing.
that he will not seek re-election,
leaving four of the Council’s
seven votes up for grabs this
November.
Slay, who was appointed to
represent Ward IV last Septem-
ber following the departure of
Kate Price, said she intends at
outlined the tax implications
of the bond measure, though
she added that all fi gures
are projected and subject to
change when the District ac-
tually sells the bonds.
“We can’t guarantee the rate
until we sell the bonds,” she
said. “The rate on that exact
day determines the fi rst-year
rate.”
During efforts to pass a sim-
ilar bond to replace Cottage
Grove High School, (some
unsuccessful) Parent said the
community “said very clear-
ly” that the threshold of $2
per $1000 of assessed proper-
ty value was as high a cost as
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