4A | MARCH 18, 2021 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Cottage Grove Sentinel
116 N. Sixth St.
Cottage Grove, Ore. 97424
ned hickson, managing editor | 541-902-3520 | nhickson@cgsentinel.com
Opinion
The First Amendment
C
ongress shall make no law respect-
ing an establishment of religion or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or
abridging the freedom of speech, or of the
press, or the right of the people peaceably
to assemble, and to petition the Govern-
ment for a redress of grievances.
“I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” —Thomas Jefferson (1800)
An update on our vaccination process
will send you an email
or call you notifying you
of upcoming available
dates to get your vac-
cine. You simply pick
the date and time best
As your commission-
er, I field a lot of ques-
tions on the COVID-19
vaccine. Most folks want
to know when they will
be able to get their vac-
cine and how to get it
scheduled.
The Oregon Health
Authority (OHA) de-
termines who is eligible
and when (which you
can view online at www.
covidvaccine.oregon.
gov/.
Many need help reg-
istering for their vac-
cine, which you can do
through Lane County
at www.cognitoforms.
com/LaneCounty-
COVID/COVID19Vac-
cinePreregistration or
by calling 541-682-1380.
Ask a friend if they
need help registering.
After you are signed
up, the second most
common question is
“When will I be notified
to schedule an appoint-
ment?”
Once you are pre-reg-
istered, Lane County
vaccine with whomever
can get you scheduled
first.
Once you get the vac-
cine, all agencies are
required to enter your
From Your Commissioner’s Desk
Heather Buch
for you. However, the
appointment times get
filled up fast, so don’t
delay if you see that
email come through.
It is important to note
S afe w ay / A l b e r t s on s
pharmacies,
Costco
pharmacies and Health-
Mart pharmacies get
their vaccine doses di-
rectly from the federal
government and not
through Lane County,
so they will have sepa-
rate scheduling meth-
ods.
They generally won’t
have a waiting list and
will simply let you know
if there are any available
appointments to sign up
for. If not, you have to
keep checking back.
I recommend pre-reg-
istering for the Lane
County’s waiting list,
check the pharmacy
websites and get your
vaccine
information
into the central state da-
tabase called “Alert.”
It may take a few days
for your information to
get updated in the sys-
tem but, once it is, any
authorized entity will be
able to notify you when
you are ready for a sec-
ond dose in the same
way you were notified
for your first dose.
If you have pre-reg-
istered, are eligible and
have not yet received an
invitation to schedule
an appointment, please
know that we will get to
you. There are tens of
thousands of people in
Lane County who are
currently eligible and
we have only received
a fraction of the doses
necessary to vaccinate
all of those people.
There is, however,
good news on the way.
As we’ve heard for
many months, vaccines
have been scarce at both
the state and county lev-
el.
That will be changing
soon.
Oregon expects to re-
ceive up to 80,000 John-
son & Johnson vaccines
by March 22. Current-
ly, Oregon is receiving
around 80,000 doses
of Pfizer and Moderna
(combined), so these
Johnson & Johnson dos-
es will effectively double
the amount of vaccine
coming into the state.
This also means Lane
County’s allocation will
double. We have been
preparing for an ex-
panded vaccine rollout
for some time and have
every confidence that
with the help of strate-
gic partnerships with
our hospitals, University
of Oregon, pharmacies
and local providers, we
will be able to quickly
and efficiently adminis-
ter these doses.
Stay safe.
—Heather Buch
Lane County Commis-
sioner - District 5
LETTER FROM THE MAYOR AND CITY MANAGER
Mayor Jeff Gowing and the
City Manager Richard Meyers
have issued the following state-
ment regarding comments that
were made about a local volun-
teer:
“It has recently come to our
attention that individuals with-
in the community are belittling,
demeaning and attacking a vol-
unteer with the City of Cottage
Grove because of mental health
issues.
We find such behavior dis-
gusting, prejudicial and entirely
inappropriate. Such behaviors
are based solely in hate and fear.
For years, the City of Cottage
Grove has supported efforts to
strengthen the access to men-
tal health services and fought
against prejudicial or discrim-
inatory actions or comments
that continue to perpetuate the
stigma associated with mental
health challenges that our citi-
zens face.
Mental health issues must be
treated the same as any other
medical or physical condition.
Statements or actions that ques-
tion the abilities, belittle or dis-
criminate against anyone who
received treatment for mental
health challenges or who are
addressing mental health issues
are not appropriate in a civil and
respectful community.
Such actions must be identi-
fied for what they are, discrim-
ination and prejudice. We will
not be intimidated by such de-
meaning and prejudicial actions
or statements.
We will also do all in our pow-
er to identify such behaviors
and protect all members of our
community from such mistreat-
ment.
All selections of employment
or volunteer service within the
City of Cottage Grove are and
will be based on bon-a-fide job
qualifications and we will not
be intimidated by prejudicial or
discriminatory comments, be-
haviors or accusations.”
Cottage Grove and many others.
Just like any other credit union
or bank, they protect the confi-
dential information associated
with their clients. Just as anyone
with a loan with a credit union
doesn’t want their loan amount,
payment information or financial
history given out freely, the cus-
tomers of a CDFI are protected
the same way. You as a member
of a credit union cannot demand
that the credit union tell you who
is borrowing money that is de-
posited with them.
The organizations that sup-
port and work with Community
LendingWorks are extensive and
represent the finest and most
committed businesses, financial
institutions, foundations, tribes
and government agencies in the
region.
Once again, Community Lend-
ingWorks is more than just a
nonprofit located in Springfield.
They are a regional financial in-
stitution with a proven track re-
cord of thousands of grants and
loans through a wide variety of
programs and funding sources
with the sole purpose to strength-
en local communities by benefit-
Copyright 2021 © COTTAGE GROVE SENTINAL
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nhickson@cgsentinel.com
HOW TO CONTACT YOUR REPS
Oregon state
representatives
• Sen. Floyd Prozanski
District 4 State Senator
PO Box 11511
Eugene, Ore. 97440
Phone: 541-342-2447
Email : sen.floydprozanski@
state.or.us
• Rep. Cedric Hayden
Republican District 7 State
Representative
900 Court St. NE
Salem, Ore. 97301
Phone: 503-986-1407
Email: rep.cedrichayden@
state.or.us
• Rep. Peter DeFazio
(House of Representatives)
405 East 8th Ave.
#2030
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Oregon federal
representatives
Email: defazio.house.gov/
contact/email-peter
Phone: 541-465-6732
• Sen. Ron Wyden
405 East 8th Ave., Suite 2020
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: wyden.senate.gov
Phone: (541) 431-0229
• Sen. Jeff Merkley
Email: merkley.senate.gov
Phone: 541-465-6750
• Heather Buch
Lane County Commissioner
- District 5
Email: Heather.Buch@lane
countyorg.gov
125 E. Eighth Ave.
Eugene, OR 97401
Or call 541-682-4203
S entinel
C ottage G rove
541-942-3325
Administration
Jenna Bartlett, Group Publisher
Gary Manly, General Manager... Ext. 1207
gmanly@cgsentinel.com
LETTER to the EDITOR
A word about
Community LendingWorks
The city has partnered with
Community LendingWorks.
Yes, they are a nonprofit, but
they are more than that.
They are a certified Communi-
ty Development Financial Insti-
tution (CDFI). That is certifica-
tion that they receive through the
U.S. Department of the Treasury
demonstrating that they meet
specific financial institution re-
quirements and follow specific
regulations like credit unions and
banks.
In fact, banks or credit unions
can apply for CDFI certification.
The only real difference from
banks or credit unions is that
CDFI is specialized in serving
low-income communities with
the primary mission of promot-
ing community development.
Community LendingWorks is
the only CDFI in the region. They
have provided small business
loans and grants throughout the
region — Lane, Linn and Benton
counties to name just a few. They
have served the cities of Corvallis,
Albany, Eugene-Springfield, Co-
burg, Creswell, Yachats, Veneta,
USPS#133880
ing low income individuals and
small businesses.
They completely handled all
loan and grant applications based
on approved guidelines.
The City of Cottage Grove, em-
ployees or elected officials had no
part in the selection of any of the
grants or loans.
The city is excited to be part-
nering with an amazing region-
ally recognized institution that
has a proven track record of
successfully helping people and
businesses throughout the region
succeed.
Through Community Lend-
ingWorks and with help from
Lane County and State of Oregon
funding, the city was able to take
$25,414 and turn it into $85,000
of grant funding to help 11 of our
local small businesses survive the
closure and restrictions of the
COVID pandemic.
The loan program has also
helped with low interest loans
to four businesses for a total of
$40,000.
—Richard Meyers
City Manager
Gerald Santana, Multi-Media Sales Consultant... Ext. 1216
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Editorial
Ned Hickson, Managing Editor... 541-902-3520
nhickson@cgsentinel.com
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dsherwood@cgsentinel.com
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zyoung@cgsentinel.com
Customer Service
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Production
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