Polk County News
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WEATHER
RECORDED
HIGH LOW
June 14............. 64
June 15............. 65
June 16............. 69
June 17............. 73
June 18............. 68
June 19............. 78
June 20............. 80
46
46
47
53
50
50
53
RAIN
.02
.01
.T
.T
.20
.00
.00
Rainfall during June — 0.61 in.
Rain through June 20 — 20.91 in.
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • June 22, 2016 3A
Stewart resigns from Dallas council
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Dallas City
Councilor Murray Stewart
has resigned his seat.
Stewart submitted his res-
ignation effective Tuesday
and the Dallas City Council
accepted the resignation on
Monday.
Stewart’s letter to the
council announcing his de-
parture stated that the rea-
son he is stepping down is a
job transfer that has him
moving to Eugene. He wrote
that he has appreciated
working on the council for
the residents of Dallas.
“I have had many posi-
tive experiences, and
bright accomplishments in
serving the citizen of Dal-
las,” he wrote.
Stewart was appointed to
the council in 2011, filling a
seat vacated by the resigna-
tion of former councilor
Dave Voves. Stewart won
election to the council in
November 2012, and his
term is up in December.
Regarding council vacan-
cies, the Dallas City Charter
simply states, “Vacancies in
elective offices in the city
shall be filled by vote of a
majority of the incumbent
members of the council.”
The charter doesn’t speci-
fy what method the council
should use to select a candi-
date.
In the two previous ap-
pointments, the council ap-
proved an application and
interview process. Deferring
the appointment until after
the November election was
also presented as an option.
The city council approved
using the same process as
before and will adopt a pro-
cedure and application
form. Once adopted, the va-
cancy will be publicized and
applications will be accept-
ed until 5 p.m. on July 8 or
22.
Western Oregon to
start CERT program
Chief: Board will finalize
timeline for recruitment
By Emily Mentzer
Continued from Page 1A
Olson will be acting chief
until a permanent chief is
hired.
The board was presented
with a timeline for recruit-
ment, assuming it would
search for outside candi-
dates as it has in the past.
Because board members
changed their minds and
decided to look at current
staff first, with the option to
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — Western Oregon University is starting a
County Emergency Response Team on campus.
The team is in the beginning stages, said Rebecca Chiles,
director of WOU Public Safety.
The decision to have a team dedicated to the campus
came from trainings, upcoming classes, and expanding as-
sets to respond to emergencies, Chiles said.
“I had CERT training previously,” Chiles said. “I found out
that we had an actual CERT trainer that worked here on
campus, which was Kimber (Townsend), I said, why are we
not offering this on campus.”
Townsend is the director of Polk County CERT and works
at WOU.
As Chiles put together a team for a FEMA class, which will
be for all of Oregon’s public universities and hosted by WOU
in July, she decided the campus should have its own CERT.
“Kimber’s responsible for Polk County, so she’s not going
to be able to respond up here,” Chiles said.
Susan Griffin was put in charge of WOU’s team.
“She’s an organized, detailed, passionate person,” Chiles
said of Griffin. “That’s what it really takes for something like
this, because it’s volunteer. You have to like it. You have to
want to do it, and she really does.”
When it comes to responding to any kind of emergency —
flood, fire, active shooter or a 9.0 earthquake — it comes
down to assets, Chiles said.
“CERT’s a big one to me, but we need it organized,” she
said. “We’ve been to the training; we have people training all
over campus. This is a way to bring people together and say,
‘What are you willing to do during an emergency?’”
Chiles said some people participated in the training be-
cause they wanted to learn, but she wants a commitment
from people on a voluntary basis to respond if a disaster
happens at Western.
People already on the Polk County CERT may cross over
and be on the call or notification list for Western, Chiles said.
Western’s team will be open to anybody, not just those as-
sociated with campus.
“We’re encouraging our employees and our students to go
to trainings, but it’s absolutely open to everybody,” Chiles said.
Right now, Griffin is working on gathering those with CERT
training together to see who wants to be on Western’s team.
“If you’re talking a large-scale, mass-casualty type disaster,
it’s just another thing,” Chiles said. “What’s out there for us to
pull from for resources? We managed to get all these people
(CERT) trained, so it’s just a good way to go with it.”
For more information: griffins@wou.edu.
Building your emergency kit
The American Red Cross has designed a 24-week calendar to build a two-week home
disaster kit. The following is the third and fourth weeks. The I-O will occasionally sup-
plement the checklist with tips from local experts. To see other weeks, go to
www.polkio.com.
Week 3
• Two gallons of water
• Two cans of meat*
• Two cans of fruit*
• Feminine hygiene supplies
• Paper and pen
• Local map
• Pain reliever
• Laxative
Additional:
• One gallon of water for each pet
Actions steps:
• Find out what kinds of disasters can happen in your area.
• Encourage neighbors to develop their own plans.
*Per person
Week 4
• Compass
• Medicines or prescriptions “for emergency use.”
• Contact-lens supplies
Action Steps:
• Develop a family disaster plan, including where to meet if separated, name and number
of out-of-area contact, and what information to give that contact in an emergency.
— Source: American Red Cross.
seek outside candidates
later, the timeline could be
shortened.
The timeline will be fi-
nalized at a meeting
Wednesday (today) at 6
p.m., but board members
said they hope to open re-
cruitment on Thursday.
With that decision, the
board will determine how
the interview process will
go. The proposed process
includes interviews with
citizen and volunteer com-
mittees to give input to the
board on who they think is
the best candidate. A public
meet-and-greet would be
scheduled.
With an internal applica-
tion, fewer committees may
be needed.
For an update on this
story after the Wednesday
board meeting: polkio.com.
Community art exhibit seeks entries
Itemizer-Observer staff report
MONMOUTH — Sub-
missions for the Mon-
mouth Fourth of July Festi-
val’s Community Art Exhi-
bition will be accepted on
July 2 from 9 a.m. to noon.
Only one entry per artist
will be accepted and any
medium will be taken.
Artwork must be ready to
display.
Artwork may be picked
up between 4 and 5 p.m. on
July 4, or make other
arrangements.
People’s Choice winners
will be retained after the
show for display at the
Monmouth and Independ-
ence libraries.
Entry forms are available
online at www.ci.mon-
mouth.or.us.