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WEATHER
RECORDED
HIGH LOW
May 3................. 72
May 4................. 64
May 5................. 70
May 6................. 82
May 7................. 86
May 8................. 67
May 9................. 68
51
54
50
46
55
50
44
RaIn
.05
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Rainfall during May — 0.05 in.
Rain through May 9 — 19.18 in.
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Polk County Itemizer-Observer • May 11, 2016 3a
Taylor, Wheeler talk economy Locker plans
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
Editor’s note: This the sec-
ond part of the I-O’s coverage
of the race for Polk County
Board of Commissioners Po-
sition No. 1 between incum-
bent Jennifer Wheeler and
challenger Terrence Taylor.
POLK COUNTY — Polk
County Commissioner Jen-
nifer Wheeler and her chal-
lenger, Terrence Taylor, have
differing views on how to
protect, or
enhance,
the coun-
ty’s finan-
cial future.
When it
comes to
economic
develop-
m e n t ,
Wheeler
Wheeler
believes the county must
take care of its infrastructure
and services — namely law
enforcement and roads —
and support the efforts of
cities and chambers of com-
merce to bring in new busi-
ness.
“We don’t have taxpayer
dollars for marketing, but we
do have groups of people
that we work with that do,”
Wheeler said.
Taylor favors finding a
marketing campaign that
puts a brand on the county
that would attract families
and businesses.
Furthermore, Taylor dis-
putes that the county has
taken care of the public safe-
ty system in the most cost-
effective way.
He believes that the coun-
ty could have avoided asking
voters for levies to pay for
public safety with stricter
budgeting, though he admit-
ted he would need more in-
formation about the budget
to see how.
“One thing I found that
working in corporate Ameri-
ca is that necessity is the
Ballot drop sites
Ballots are due by 8 p.m. on Tuesday. They may be
mailed, or put in a drop box around the county:
• Polk County Courthouse, east side: 24-hours.
• Falls City Wagner Community Library, 111 N. Main
St.: Tuesday-Thursday, 1 to 6:30 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 4
p.m., Election Day, 1 to 8 p.m.
• Grand Ronde, Governance Center Building G, 9615
Grand Ronde Road: Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
Election Day, 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Independence City Hall, 555 S. Main St.: 24-hour drop
site in the front lobby, Election Day until 8 p.m.
• Monmouth Public Library, 168 Ecols St. S.: Tuesday-
Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Satur-
day, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Election Day, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Western Oregon University, Werner University Cen-
ter, 345 N. Monmouth Ave.: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 10
p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Election Day, 8 a.m. to 8
p.m.
• West Salem Roth’s Market, 1130 Wallace Road NW:
Sunday-Saturday, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., Election Day, 6 a.m. to 8
p.m.
mother of invention and,
when you stop allowing the
county to continue to tax
people with levies, they will
figure out a way to make the
budget work,” he said.
He said the county needs
to avoid further taxation.
“ We n e e d t o t a k e a
breather
from in-
creasing
taxes be-
c a u s e we
need to
focus on
making
businesses
healthier
Taylor
and mak-
ing families healthier,” he
said.
Wheeler said that is not
the case, and that the county
is running as lean as possi-
ble.
“Everybody that knows
about budgets and has
looked at our budget can see
there is no waste, no piles of
money sitting around that
we are misusing,” she said.
“All the employees in the
county have had to do more
with less for a long time, and
they do.”
She said financial chal-
lenges are certainly on the
horizon in the form of the
Oregon Public Employees
Retirement System and the
rising cost of health care
coverage.
Wheeler said neither of
those are under the county’s
control, but have to be miti-
gated by department lead-
ers’ careful budgeting.
“You deal with them
through the budget process
and sometimes that means
people get laid off. That is
one of the things you are al-
ways trying to avoid,” she
said. “We haven’t had to do
that for a quite a while, but
that’s the biggest concern.”
Taylor said PERS can only
be fixed through the courts,
and common sense is need-
ed to find a way to make the
program sustainable.
“We want it to be fair for
those who have the pension,
but we also need to make it
fair for those who aren’t even
involved in the pension and
who are enslaved in paying
for it,” he said. “We have to
have some compromise
there to make it fair for
everyone.”
move forward
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Oregon De-
partment of Education’s
guidelines regarding treat-
ment of transgender stu-
dents will not affect Dallas
School District’s policy or
plans to remodel its facili-
ties.
The department issued
the guidance Thursday in
response to question from
students, parents and
school districts across the
state, including Dallas
School District.
The guidance advises
districts to use the names
and pronouns that match a
student’s gender identity, if
requested, and allow stu-
dents to use the bathrooms
and locker rooms of the
gender with which they
identify, among other rec-
ommendations.
“The guidelines are in-
tended to suggest best
practices and to provide a
foundation for the educa-
tional community to safe
and supportive school cul-
tures,” the 15-page docu-
ment read.
Dallas recently complet-
ed a plan for remodeling
locker rooms and rest-
rooms throughout the dis-
trict to accommodate more
student privacy for those
who request it. A commit-
tee working on behalf of
the superintendent recom-
mended waiting to finalize
the plan until after the
state’s guidelines were is-
sued.
“After having read the
Matinees are all shows
before 6pm. New pricing for
matinees are: Adult $7.25
Children $6.75 • Senior $7.00
Pricing does not reflect
3D showings.
Passes not allowed
on starred items.
Oregon Department of Education’s guidelines regarding
Polk County Itemizer-Observer staff
POLK COUNTY — Firefight-
ers from Polk County Fire Dis-
trict No. 1 had a garage fire in
the 9000 block of Helmick
Road under control 15 minutes
after arriving on Sunday after-
noon.
Initial reports came in at
about 4 p.m. of smoke in a util-
ity room in the garage. Smoke
was visible on arrival of initial
units, Division Chief Neal Olson
said, and there were flames
coming from the exterior wall
of the garage.
The occupant and her pets
were evacuated prior to the ar-
rival of emergency crews,
Olson said.
Crews worked for about an
hour removing smoke and in-
vestigating the cause of the
fire, which was determined to
be an electrical short from a
surge protector. The property
loss is estimated at $45,000.
You are cordially invited to the
Polk County Historical Society’s
May Tea
on Saturday, May 21st, 2016,
at 1:30 p.m.
Admission: $7.50 each
pchsoregon@gmail.com
polkcountyhistoricalsociety.org
503-623-6251
Thursdays: May - Sept
10am - 3pm General Vendors
10am - 6pm Food Trucks
New Vendors EACH week!
Live music each week 11am - 1pm
Seeking: Vendors, Non-Profit
Organizations and Sponsors
Friday - Sunday May 13 - May 15
RACHET AND CLANK (Digital) (PG)
(12:15 2:35 5:00)
THE BOSS (Digital) (R)
7:25 9:35
ZOOTOPIA (Digital) (PG)
(11:40 2:10 4:45) 7:20
KEANU (Digital) (R)
9:40
MONEY MONSTER* (Digital) (R)
(12:20 2:40 5:00) 7:15 9:30
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (Digital) (PG13) (11:30 1:45 2:45 5:00)
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (Digital) (PG13)
6:00 8:15 9:15
JUNGLE BOOK (Digital 2D) (PG)
(11:35 2:05 4:35) 7:05 9:25
HUNTSMAN: THE WINTER’S WAR (Digital) (PG13)
(1:30 4:10) 6:50 9:25
MOTHER’S DAY (Digital) (PG13)
(11:25 2:00 4:30) 7:10 9:45
Monday - Wednesday May 16 - May 18
We hope you will be able to join us.
Featuring Growers, Producers & Artisans
of the Polk County area & beyond!
ODE recommendation,
those recommendations
are right in line,” said Su-
perintendent Michelle
Johnstone.
She said nothing in the
construction plans would
need to be changed as a re-
sult of ODE’s advice. The
district will be able to use
voter-approved mainte-
nance bond funding to pay
for the projects, a portion
of which was already on the
bond project list before the
privacy issue arose.
Dallas High School Prin-
cipal Steve Spencer said the
district may have to review
its sex education curricu-
lum to ensure it meets the
guidelines.
ODE said that unisex
and private changing areas
are fine, if a student wants
to use them, saying “alter-
native accommodations,
such as single “unisex”
bathroom or private chang-
ing space should be made
available to students who
request them, but should
not be forced upon stu-
dents, or presented as an
only option.”
Johnstone said students
requesting full inclusion or
separate facilities can be
accommodated with the
district’s policy and rest-
room/locker room remod-
eling plan, as can other stu-
dents needing more priva-
cy.
She said the district will
work with each student on
a case-by-case basis.
“We want to do what is
best for all of our kids, all
the time,” Johnstone said.
RACHET AND CLANK (Digital) (PG)
(2:35 5:00)
THE BOSS (Digital) (R)
7:25 9:35
ZOOTOPIA (Digital) (PG)
(2:10 4:45) 7:20
KEANU (Digital) (R)
9:40
MONEY MONSTER* (Digital) (R)
(2:40 5:00) 7:15 9:30
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (Digital) (PG13) (1:45 2:45 5:00)
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (Digital) (PG13)
6:00 8:15 9:15
JUNGLE BOOK (Digital 2D) (PG)
(2:05 4:35) 7:05 9:25
HUNTSMAN: THE WINTER’S WAR (Digital) (PG13)
(4:10) 6:50 9:25
MOTHER’S DAY (Digital) (PG13)
(2:00 4:30) 7:10 9:45
Thursday May 19
RACHET AND CLANK (Digital) (PG)
(2:35 5:00)
ANGRY BIRDS (Digital) (PG)
7:00
THE BOSS (Digital) (R)
9:35
ZOOTOPIA (Digital) (PG)
(2:10 4:45) 7:20
KEANU (Digital) (R)
9:40
MONEY MONSTER* (Digital) (R)
(2:40 5:00) 7:15 9:30
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (Digital) (PG13) (1:45 2:45 5:00)
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (Digital) (PG13)
6:00 8:15 9:15
HUNTSMAN: THE WINTER’S WAR (Digital) (PG13)
(4:10)
NEIGHBORS 2 (Digital) (R)
7:00 9:35
JUNGLE BOOK (Digital 2D) (PG)
(2:05 4:35) 7:05 9:25
MOTHER’S DAY (Digital) (PG13)
(2:00 4:30)
THE NICE GUYS (Digital) (R)
7:00 9:35
FIX OUR STREETS.
TO SEE WHY, VISIT
www.citizensforabetterdallas.com
182 Academy St., Dallas
(Corner of Main & Academy)
503-623-2564
Facebook.com/bountymarket
http://www.exploredallasoregon.org/bounty-market.html
Solution on Page 9A
RECYCLE
A little effort.
A big difference.
Free Class!
An Introduction to
Vegetable Gardening
May 15, 2016
6:30 p.m.
A short presentation
will give an introduction to
vegetable gardening.
Followed by
a hands-on session.
Presenter: Dean Anderson, Coordinator for the Dallas Youth Garden
Topics covered: Placing your garden (soil, sun, water); Preparing
your garden; Planting seeds and starts; Maintaining healthy plants
(weeding, watering, bugs); Harvesting; Resources available.
Held at: TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH
320 SE Fir Villa, Dallas • 503-623-2233
www.dallastlc.org Sponsored by the Above and Beyond Ministry team