COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • JULY 18, 2018 • 11A
COUNCIL
from A1
Property tax reform also
made the councilors’ list of
priorities with councilor Mike
Fleck noting he didn’t select-
ed the issue as one of his top
choices because of the way it
was worded. Th e legislation
calls for a reform of the prop-
erty tax system.
“Th e property tax system is
broken and in need of repair
due to Measures 5 and 50,
which are both now over 20
years old,” information given
to the council read. “All local
governments and schools rely
heavily on property tax reve-
nues to pay for services and
capital expenses.”
Th e proposed changes, as
detailed by the league, would
transition to a market-based
property tax valuation system
instead of the current system
that allows taxing districts to
calculate their own levy based
on budget needs. Measure 50
created permanent rates and
capped growth in assessed
value to three percent.
Councilor Jake Boone
made a case Monday night to
include a lobbying eff ort for
qualifi cation based selection
in regard to awarding city
contracts. Currently, the state
does not allow cities to take
into account price when de-
termining what company to
award a contract to. Meyers
agreed, noting that the city
had, in the past, chosen the
most qualifi ed of the com-
panies who threw their hats
into the ring only to have to
submit another request for
proposal when the original
company’s price was out of the
city’s reach. Th e proposed leg-
islation push from the league
would allow cities to consid-
er the price of services when
selecting engineers, architects
and other service providers.
Among their bottom choic-
es, councilors included a
push for a beer and cider tax
increase, an eff ort to have a
new state revenue stream be
dedicated to paying down the
unfunded liability in order to
sustain the Public Employees
Retirement System (PERS)
and an increase in tobacco
tax sharing. Th e council also
opted not to request lobbying
eff orts go towards traffi c speed
cameras.
NEW EXPANDED HOURS
Mon- Th urs 11- 9 • Fri - Sat 11 - 10 • Sun 11 - 7
Locally
Sourced
PIG
&
TURNIP
EST
2015
UNITE
German
Inspired
Fo o d
Beer
Wine
Cider
60 Gateway Blvd. Cottage Grove, Or 97424
541-942-6130 • pigandturnip.com
CGHS graduate enters political pool at OSU
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
T
he decision to attend Oregon State
University was an easy one for Justin
Bennett. He was interested in med-
icine and science and OSU and its beaver
beat out the University of Oregon and its
duck in those departments. He wanted to
stay at home — born in Bend, he moved
with his family to Cottage Grove. He says,
it’s the only place he remembers growing up
and OSU provided him with a college expe-
rience two hours away from his home base.
Bennett attended Bohemia Elementary
School, Lincoln as a middle-schooler and
graduated from Cottage Grove High School.
“Moving from Cottage Grove to Corval-
lis wasn’t just a physical, geographic shift ;
rather, it suddenly encompassed diff erent
perspectives of people I had never had the
opportunity to be exposed to in Cottage
Grove,” he said. “Th ousands upon thousands
of diff erent people from diff erent places and
with diff erent backgrounds and ideologies.
Th ough Corvallis is relatively small, Cottage
Grove always had a certain small-town feel
that a college town ultimately lacks.”
Now, Bennett and his twin brother Luke,
spend the school year in Corvallis studying
and more recently, governing.
It’s not new for Bennett who was involved
in student government at Cottage Grove
High School. He served as student body vice
president, a role that helped prepare him for
his current, collegiate title:
President of the Associated Students at
OSU.
“I’ve been involved in the Associated Stu-
dents of Oregon State University (ASOSU)
ever since I was a freshman at OSU,” he said.
“I sought out involvement independently at
the University — my fi rst volunteer position
within ASOSU was phone banking, where I
called currently enrolled students and urged
them to vote in upcoming state elections.”
Since his freshman year, Bennett has
served as a senator, representative and the
director of government relations at OSU
while balancing a major shift from medicine
and science to English and education.
As president, his role has grown.
“Serving as the ASOSU Student Body
President, my primary role is to represent
students in all aspects of the University,”
he said. “I meet regularly with important
campus stakeholders, such as the Univer-
sity President, Ed Ray, the Government
Relations team at OSU, the Vice-Provost of
Student Aff airs, the Dean of Student Life,
various faculty and instructors, and, of
course, lots of students. I give standing re-
ports to OSU’s Board of Trustees, which sets
tuition and the University budget every fi s-
cal year. I also serve on multiple committees
and boards such as the Board of Directors of
the Oregon Student Association, the Board
of Directors for the OSU Beaver Store, and
the Corvallis Community Relations Adviso-
ry Group.”
His largest role, however, is monetary. As
president, he acts as a steward of student
fees which consist of $400 per student, per
term. Th e money funds athletics, resource
centers and the campus gym.
"As the president, it’s my job to work with
our Student Fees Committee to propose
recommended budgets and then to approve
or deny the fi nal fee decision. Th e president
must approve the fees in order for them to
be enacted. Th is works out to about $32 mil-
lion every year in student fees,” Bennett said.
And while Bennett has grown used to
working with OSU’s legislative teams and
has lobbied in Salem and Washington, D.C.,
he has no current plans to go into politics
when he graduates. His immediate plan is
to become a teacher — teaching English
overseas, utilizing his minor in French to
relocate to a French-speaking country.
“I see myself working in the public sector
for most of my life,” he said. “Th ere’s a lot of
areas that we are doing great in but there are
lots of ways to constantly improve the ability
and access of public services. I’d love to go
on to teach in public schools, but I can also
see myself being drawn back to educational
policy and legislative curricula construction
in the future.”
With a few more terms left and plenty to
lobby for as student body president, Bennett
said his focus will remain there for now.
“For now, I’ll focus on my time at OSU.
Wherever I go, I don’t think I’ll ever stop be-
lieving in the power of public education, or
the ability to enact change through politics,”
he said. “Many people steer clear of politics
because of its divisiveness and hostility. I’d
like to think that we can use the same form
of politics to bring people together.”
Testing continues to show CG water safe to drink
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Th e water feeding Cottage
Grove’s drinking supply contin-
ues to be toxin free. Th is, accord-
ing to Cottage Grove City Man-
ager Richard Meyers who issued
an update on the city’s water test-
ing program last Friday.
“Under the temporary new
rules adopted by the Oregon
Health Authority staff will be
continuing the tests every two
weeks throughout the remainder
of the summer,” Meyers wrote.
Th e new rules come on the
back of a ban on drinking water
in Salem aft er the city discovered
cyanotoxins in its drinking wa-
ter supply. Th e toxins originate
in blue-green algae spores and
can cause health issues for both
people and animals of ingested.
Salem offi cials have twice issued a
warning to residents not to drink
the city’s water this summer.
Last month, Cottage Grove
had its own drinking water scare
when OHA issued a recreation
advisory for Dorena Lake, which
feeds the city’s drinking supply.
OHA warned residents who drew
in-home water directly from the
aff ected area to use an alternative
water source but those on city
water were given the all clear to
drink their tap water.
Row River Treatment Plant Su-
perintendent Ray Pardee told Th e
Sentinel at the time that the water
was safe but that the plant was
exploring options on how to treat
the water if the toxin was found
aft er Meyers informed the city
council that the current method
of treatment had the possibility of
increasing toxin levels if the toxin
were present in the water supply.
"I think what he’s (Meyer) re-
ferring to is the harmful bloom
cells," Pardee said at the time.
"Th at if they contain toxins and
it enters the intake and comes to
the treatment plant, we do use
a process called oxidation and
it could rapture the intact algae
cells and if those cells contained
toxins, it would release the toxins
in the water and it would concen-
trate the toxin in the water. A lot
of ifs."
Th e tests for the last four weeks
have come back negative, mean-
ing there was a less than detect-
able level within the limits of the
lab’s testing. According to Meyers,
water samples will continue to be
sent to the Oregon Department
of Environmental Quality lab in
Hillsboro and will be paid for by
the Oregon Health Authority.
418 A St., Springfi eld, OR 97477 • 541-968-2403
JULY 23rd at Bohemia Park
Francesco Lecce-Chong Music Director & Conductor
Th e Eugene Symphony
brings it’s beloved
summer concert series
to Cottage Grove.
Enjoy Classical, pop
and historical favorites
including works by
Dvorak, Gershwin,
Bennett, Strauss,
Williams, & Tchaikovsky
Join us for a
lovely evening of music
INSTRUMENT PETTING ZOO
5:30pm musicians with the Eugene
Symphony will be at the Bohemia
Park Pavilion. Th e Instrument
Petting Zoo provides a hands-on
experience with instruments from the
symphony. It is open to all ages but
youth and children are encouraged to
try out instruments.
COMMUNITY BAND
6:30pm the Community Band are
local musicians that join together
during the summer.
EUGENE SYMPHONY
7:30pm the will take the stage and
begin their performance.
Bring a picnic or visit a food vendor.
Sponsored by the Bohemia Park Foundation, Wildish Land Com-
pany, Local Government Law Group, Payne West Insurance, the
City of Cottage Grove and many other generous sponsors.