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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 28, 2016)
Polk County News DEADLINES NEWS DEADLiNES For inclusion in the Wednesday holiday edition of the Itemizer-Observer: Social news (weddings, engagements, anniver- saries, births, milestones) — 5 p.m. on Wednesday. Community events — Noon on Thursday for both the Community Notebook and Community Calendar. Letters to the editor — 10 a.m. on Friday. Obituaries — 4 p.m. on Friday. ADvERTiSiNg DEADLiNES Retail display ads — 3 p.m. Thursday. Classified display ads — 11 a.m. on Friday. Classified line ads — Noon on Friday. Classified ads are updated daily on www.polkio.com. Public notices — Noon on Thursday. CORRECTIONS The Polk County Itemizer- Observer is committed to pub- lishing accurate news, feature and sports reports. If you see anything that requires a cor- rection or clarification, call the newsroom at 503-623-2373 or send an email to ementzer@polkio.com. WEBSITE The Polk County Itemizer- Observer website, www.polkio.com, is updat- ed each week by Wednes- day afternoon. There, you will find nearly every story that appears in the print version of the newspaper, as well as some items, in- cluding additional photos, that do not appear in print due to space limitations. The Itemizer-Observer is also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Watch for breaking news, links to sto- ries, sports scores updates and more. WEATHER RECORDED HigH LOW Dec. 20.............. 52 Dec. 21.............. 33 Dec. 22.............. 41 Dec. 23.............. 46 Dec. 24.............. 44 Dec. 25.............. 45 Dec. 26.............. 41 32 28 30 34 29 27 24 Polk County Itemizer-Observer • December 28, 2016 3A Monmouth mayor reflects on decade Steve Milligan to take the seat from John Oberst on Tuesday By Emily Mentzer The Itemizer-Observer MONMOUTH — The city of Monmouth has complet- ed more projects in the last decade with Mayor John Oberst at the head of the dais than it has in the 30 years prior to him taking of- fice. Projects completed ranged in scope from re- placed sewer pipes to build- ing a dog park, the splash fountain and amphitheater at Main Street Park, to the expansion of the Monmouth Senior Center. On Tuesday, city councilor Steve Milligan will take the mayoral seat, having won the November election. A re- ception for Oberst and out- going councilors will be held at the Tuesday council meet- ing at 7 p.m., along with the swearing in of Milligan as mayor and three new coun- cilors. Oberst didn’t run for an- other term, partly because of his leadership philosophy. “This is very much a per- sonal opinion, but I believe it’s important to have turnover in leadership, and opportunities for new lead- ers to come along and make changes in communities,” Oberst said. “The only way a community stays vital is for that turnover — for younger people to serve, new people to serve. I just had this feeling that it was time to give somebody else a run at it.” Admittedly, serving as mayor for 10 years can wear on a person, Oberst said. “It takes exactly as much time as you allow it,” he said. “I thought, I want to put my energy into other things.” Photo courtesy of JOHN OBERST Mayor John Oberst has served in the seat for 10 years. His final term will end Tuesday, when newly elected Steve Milligan will move from his seat as city councilor to take the seat of Monmouth’s mayor. Oberst has been key in many benchmarks in Mon- mouth. He is the one who started the ball rolling to turn the city from the last dry town in Oregon to allow- ing beer and wine sales. “I was the one who asked the question,” Oberst said. “When Marketplace (Mon- mouth grocery store) shut down, someone had to ask the question. The s-curve would have been filled long ago with Waremart, but when they found out we had a dry law, they moved right across the (city) line so they could sell beer and wine.” Oberst and others collect- ed enough signatures to put it on the ballot. The measure passed by 57 percent. He saw it as economic de- velopment. “We were shipping money out of town — literally mil- lions of dollars a year just on food purchases at places that also happened to sell beer and wine,” he said. Once he took the mayoral seat, Oberst joined commit- tees with the Oregon De- partment of Transportation, which created contacts that came in handy for the city of Monmouth. “We have two state high- ways in town, and someone needed to know how to work with ODOT, and that was me,” Oberst said. Not all of Oberst’s plans for streets and infrastructure have come to pass — plans to build out the rest of the s- curves on Highway 51 were pushed back. But his con- nections with ODOT’s Mark Garrett have paid off. The work ODOT had planned on Highway 99 through town went from a simple repaving project to include an entire streetscape and redesign of intersec- tions. “That’s stuff that’s been a direct result of stuff I’ve done,” Oberst said. Oberst said he is proud of everything the city — employees and councilors alike — has accomplished for the betterment of Monmouth in the last decade. “I give huge credit to councils and staff for all the projects, and the citizenry for getting the citizen en- gagement off so beautifully,” he said. He is particularly proud of Monmouth Engaged, just completed this year. “Monmouth Engaged, to me, is a huge thing, because we reached out to the citi- zenry and said, ‘what do you want,’ in a way that we had never done,” Oberst said. It’s not the end of public engagement for Oberst, who may apply to be on the restaurant and retail com- mittee through Monmouth Engaged. “I might have something to offer to that group,” he said. “I’m sure I’ll be around: You can’t keep a good loud- mouth down.” RAiN .43 .00 .07 .14 .00 .00 .31 Rainfall during Dec. — 4.84 in. Rain through Dec. 26 — 46.69 in. LUCKIAMUTE DOMESTIC WATER COOPERATIVE BOARD MEETING Monday 7:00 p.m. January 9th 503-838-2075 Location: Business Office 8585 Suver Rd. • Monmouth Sunday, Jan. 1 • 9-3 www.polkio.com Early Admission Sunday 6am-9am $5 Regular Admission $1 ★ Free Parking Espresso Bar provided by www.polkfleamarket.com polkproduction@minetfiber.com A Pleasant Place to Buy or Sell Your RV CALL TODAY FOR A NO-CHARgE EvALuATiON. Pencil us in! www.polkio.com OPEN WEEK! A 7 DAY r S i 9-6 • Sat 9-5 Mon-F un 10-4 S Rick 503-437-5398 Ruben 503-915-2080 4075 NE Three Mile Lane, McMinnville, OR Matinees are all shows before 6pm. New pricing for matinees are: Adult $8.00 Children $7.00 • Senior $7.25 Pricing does not reflect 3D showings. Friday - Monday • Dec. 30 - Jan. 2 WHY HIM? (Digital) (R) (1:40 4:15) 7:05 9:40 MOANA (Digital) (PG) (11:15 1:50 4:25) 7:05 OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY (Digital) (R) 9:40 PASSENGERS (Digital) (PG13) (11:10 1:50 4:30) 7:15 9:55 SING (Digital) (PG) (11:25 1:25 2:00 4:00 4:35) 7:10 9:45 *ROGUE ONE (10:00 12:30 1:00 3:30 4:00) (Digital) (PG13) 6:30 7:00 9:30 10:00 ASSASSINS CREED (Digital) (PG13) (12:35 3:40) 6:45 9:50 FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM (Digital) (PG13) (10:20) 6:35 COLLATERAL BEAUTY (Digital) (PG13) 9:25 Tuesday - Thursday • Jan. 3 - 5 WHY HIM? (Digital) (R) (1:40 4:15) MOANA (Digital) (PG) (1:50 4:25) PASSENGERS (Digital) (PG13) (1:50 4:30) SING (Digital) (PG) (1:25 2:00 4:35) ROGUE ONE (Digital) (PG13) (1:00 3:30 4:00) ASSASSINS CREED (Digital) (PG13) (3:40) COLLATERAL BEAUTY (Digital) (PG13) (4:15) FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM (Digital) (PG13) 7:05 7:05 7:15 7:10 6:30 6:45 7:00 6:35 www.macrvsales.com Next to the Spruce Goose Aviation Museum macrvsales@gmail.com EARLY DEADLINES Our office will be CLOSED Jan. 2 News Department: Social News Wedding, Engagements, Births, etc. ............Wednesday, Dec. 28, 4pm Community Events Business, School, Community News ...Thursday, Dec. 29, Noon General News .......................................................................Thursday, Dec.29, Noon Letters to the Editor/Obituaries.............................................. Friday, Dec. 30, 10am Advertising Department: Legals...................................................................................Thursday, Dec. 29, Noon Display Main news advertisements/inserts ..........................Thursday, Dec. 29, Noon Classified Display.................................................................... Friday, Dec. 30, 11am Classified Line Ads ................................................................. Friday, Dec. 30, Noon Itemizer-Observer 147 SE Court St., Dallas • 503-623-2373
