Polk County
Voices
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • May 25, 2016 4A
EDITORIALS
Thanks for voting,
but don’t stop now
Polk County Clerk Val Unger was surprised by the nearly
49 percent turnout for the May 17 primary.
Unger thought turnout would be around 35 percent, but
many people turned in ballots in the last few days. It ended
up at almost 50 percent.
Granted it was an attention-grabbing primary — to say
the least — expected to draw more voters, but nice job Polk
County.
You made Unger and her tireless crew of election night
workers count ballots into the wee hours of the morning.
That was after calling in extra workers the afternoon of
Election Day.
Not that she minded all the last-minute ballots too
much, saying “That’s their right.”
Yes, and we believe it’s a citizen’s responsibility.
Don’t think you are done for the year. November’s gener-
al election will be more than the decider for our nation’s
next president and governor — although that should be
enough reason to cast a ballot.
Locally, races for Polk County sheriff, State Senate and
House of Representatives, city council and mayor seats are
open and contested.
At least one bond measure will be on the ballot, as well.
There’s plenty to weigh in on, and we ask you to do so.
Want more involvement? Why not throw your hat in the
ring.
You can file candidacy for city council races starting in
June with a deadline in August if you need time to think it
over.
Councilors typically serve four-year terms and mayors,
two-year terms.
Our residents deserve public servants with fresh ideas.
And citizens need to exercise their voice in deciding who
should provide those new ideas.
So vote — or volunteer to serve.
As the saying goes, if you don’t, you can’t complain when
it’s over.
PUBLIC AGENDA
Public Agenda is a listing of upcoming meetings for
governmental and nongovernmental agencies in Polk
County. To submit a meeting, send it at least two weeks
before the actual meeting date to the Itemizer-Observer
via fax (503-623-2395) or email (ionews@polkio.com).
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WEDNESDAy, MAy 25
• Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk
County Courthouse, first floor conference room, 850 Main St.,
Dallas. 503-623-8173.
THuRSDAy, MAy 26
• Monmouth-independence Networks Board of Direc-
tors — 8:45 a.m., Henry Hill Education Support Center, 750 S.
Fifth St., Independence. 503-837-0700.
TuESDAy, MAy 31
• Polk County Board of Commission work session — 9
a.m., Polk County Courthouse, BOC office, 850 Main St., Dallas.
503-623-8173.
• Monmouth-independence joint city council meeting —
7 p.m., Polk County Fire District No 1 Central Station, 1800
Monmouth St., Independence.
WEDNESDAy, JuNE 1
• Monmouth Historic Commission — 6 p.m., Volunteer
Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0725.
• Monmouth Planning Commission — 7 p.m., Volunteer
Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0725.
• Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk
County Courthouse, first floor conference room, 850 Main St.,
Dallas. 503-623-8173.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Community comes
together for kids
The organizers, leaders,
parents, and students of this
year’s LaCreole eighth-grade
Washington, D.C., trip
would like to extend a big
thank you to the communi-
ty of Dallas for its support in
fundraising this year.
Thanks to the generosity
of friends, family and local
businesses, a group of 50
students, parents, and
teachers will travel to
Boston, New York City,
Philadelphia, and Washing-
ton, D.C., to visit landmarks
of our nation’s history and
culture. Over $14,000 was
raised through the selling of
pepperoni sticks and holi-
day pies, the invasion of the
flamingo flocks, Ugo’s Pizza
night, and Dutch Bros gift
certificate raffle. This de-
gree of kindness and dedi-
cation to kids makes Dallas
a great place to live.
From: Eighth-grade D.C.
trip advisors, chaperones,
parents, and students.
Phil Osborn
Dallas
Many questions
left unanswered
Response to the May 18 I-
O editorial “Looks public,
acts public: Is it public.”
Great article. Specifically,
“While we respect the right
of city managers to meet
with individuals in a private
capacity, it is difficult to see
how public managers, in
their public capacity, ad-
dressing the public in a
public building about a
public utility can call the act
private.”
Independence City Man-
ager David Clyne referred to
a recent impromptu meet-
ing with concerned citizens
about water rates in Inde-
pendence as a “private
meeting” although it was re-
quested by a citizen on a
public site, Facebook. This
is a prime example of non-
transparency. City leaders
are often only transparent
when backed into a corner
or called out in a “public”
format, even then they try
to minimize public knowl-
edge by holding a “private
meeting.”
David Clyne says he
prides himself in being
transparent. Some non-
transparent issues are Minet
fees in our water bill, and
the sewer fee in part goes to
civic center debt service.
What are the “City of Inde-
pendence” fees in every Pa-
cific Power and NW Gas bill?
Another issue is the lack of
transparency from our city
leaders who have discreetly
placed fees in other services
without explanation. If the
city is transparent — why so
many questions?
Transparency is: able to
see through; easy to notice
or understand; honest,
open: not secretive. Trans-
parency is all fees separated
in monthly bills with expla-
nation. An article in the I-O
or a “private impromptu”
meeting with a handful of
residents is not transparen-
cy. Like the editorial said, a
much larger meeting place
is needed if everyone in the
community were notified
properly.
Attend City Council —
second Tuesday every
month, 7:30 p.m. at Civic
Center — join other citizens
making changes.
P.S. This is a private letter
to the public.
Victoria Kruljac
Independence
Keep aquatic
center open for all
I was very concerned to
learn (a) Dallas City Coun-
cil(or) is considering closing
the aquatic center. The
aquatic center is the out-
standing attraction in Polk
County, with the exception
of Western Oregon Universi-
ty.
It serves the elderly, the
handicapped, the active
adults and the youth of this
city.
People come from all of
Polk, Marion and Yamhill
counties to use this excellent
facility. Where would the
Dallas High School swim
team practice? Or the Blue
Dolphins swim team? Where
would parents take their
children for swim lessons?
The facility has a good-sized
room available for rental for
meetings or parties. It is one
of the few places a parent
can drop a child off and feel
safe about it.
I actually know people
who have moved to Dallas
because of the aquatic center.
I urge all Dallas residents
to contact the city council
and mayor to protest any
considerations of closing
the aquatic center.
Jay Lee Roberts
Dallas
Thank you, mayor
Thank you Mayor Brian
Dalton for reminding us
how lucky we are to live in
the USA on May 16.
Mary Jane Mathews
Dallas
SUPERINTENDENT’S CORNER
District wants what’s best for students
Let’s start with celebra-
tions. Julie Janssen, support
specialist at LaCreole Middle
School, received the Distin-
guished Educator Award for
April. Julie is someone who
advocates for students, uses
creativity as she finds ways
to offer solutions and sup-
ports, and goes above and
beyond in all that she does.
We are fortunate she is on
our team. Additionally, we
received $1,492,900 in a seis-
mic grant for Whitworth Ele-
mentary School. We will
continue to apply for addi-
tional grant dollars to com-
plete seismic upgrades
throughout our district.
Recently, many read in
the newspaper that our dis-
trict is experiencing a de-
crease in funding from the
state.
I just want to be sure you
know the reasons. I’ll use the
analogy of a household
budget where you can pre-
dict the amount of money
you have available each
month.
If you experience an un-
fortunate chain of events
such as a roof leak, a med-
ical need, and a car repair
that need attention all at
once, you would have to
make adjustments to your
budget.
The same holds true for
our district budget. We are
currently experiencing a de-
cline in enrollment, a de-
cline in the way we receive
funding for students with
economic challenges, and a
change in our program for
fifth-year students.
Any one of these would
not be so challenging to our
district budget; however, ex-
periencing all three in the
same year is challenging.
In our district, we have a
culture of collaboration and
transparency. When we hit
obstacles, teams of people
come together to provide
input into decisions and
support the work of our
school board.
We have a collaboration
team that includes represen-
tation from every area of the
district. We have a finance
committee that includes
members of our community
who work with staff to re-
view trends and district
practices and set the course
with zero-based budgeting,
which aligns district re-
sources with district priori-
ties. We have an administra-
tive team that is accustomed
to creatively solving prob-
lems.
The recommendations
from these teams come for-
ward to our five board mem-
bers who maintain their focus
on “what’s best for kids.”
We are proposing a bal-
anced budget for 2016-17
that aligns resources based
on the needs of our stu-
dents.
If you have questions,
please call.
Michelle Johnstone
Dallas Superintendent
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Mail: Editor, Polk County
Itemizer-Observer, P.O. Box 108,
Dallas, OR 97338.
Fax: 503-623-2395.
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Emily Mentzer ..............Editor/Monmouth/Independence Reporter ....ementzer@polkio.com
Vol. 141, No. 21
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