STATE TRACK AND FIELD
ALTAMIRANO WINS STATE TITLE
Page 11A
Volume 142, Issue 21
www.Polkio.com
$1.00
May 24, 2017
Proposed
increase
for
aquatic
center
IN
YOUR
TOWN
DAllAS
Hunt elected to Dal-
las School Board.
»Page 3A
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
FAllS CITY
DALLAS — Dallas’ Ad-
ministration Committee
recommended a 10 per-
cent rate increase at the
Dallas Aquatic Center.
The committee — which
includes five members of
the Dallas City Council —
voted to send a rate-in-
crease ordinance for the
full council to consider.
The move will bring in
roughly $40,000 in addi-
tional revenue per year,
helping to reduce the sub-
sidy the city provides to bal-
ance the center’s budget.
“There is this gap that is
experienced by every mu-
nicipal aquatic center, and
we fall somewhere in the
middle in terms of what
the percentage of what
that gap is, between rev-
enue and expenditure,”
said Jason Locke, the city’s
community development
director.
Locke said a 20 percent
hike was considered,
which would have raised
$70,000, but he didn’t rec-
ommend it.
“There are a couple
problems with that sce-
nario, though. It would re-
sult in a pretty large, all-at-
once increase,” Locke said.
“There’s a certain elasticity
in demand with these situ-
ations, where if you raise
the price too much, you
are going to have fewer
visitors.”
A 10 percent raise in
rates — or something
close to it — was urged by
Locke and City Manager
Ron Foggin. The increase
is included in the city’s
2017-18 budget and Locke
said it is needed to meet
revenue goals for the facil-
ity. The last rate change
was in 2013.
“We really need to do
something, for any num-
ber of reasons, and we feel
this is probably the way to
do it that is going to cause
the minimum amount of
disruption and allow us to
recoup some of those
costs,” Locke said.
Foggin said city staff
would have proposed a
rate change last year, but
that was delayed due to
the process ordered by the
council last year to exam-
ine other ways to cut ex-
penditures or raise rev-
enues at the aquatic cen-
ter.
“We are going to contin-
ue to look for revenue op-
portunities,” Foggin said.
“We’ve cut the expenditure
side, at least on the opera-
tions of the aquatic center
as much as we possibly
can.”
See Pool, Page 5A
THE NEXT
7
DAYS
PLANNING
FOR YOUR
WEEK
School district budg-
et includes money for
more teachers.
»Page 10A
INDEPENDENCE
EmIly mEnTzEr/Itemizer-Observer
Talmadge WEB lead-
ers help students get
ready for middle
school.
Central School District Superintendent Buzz Brazeau retires at the end of June after 31 years in education.
»Page 14A
Buzz ready to hit the road
Superintendent will miss the passion of community, student energy
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — In
1986, Buzz Brazeau asked
his wife, Kathy, if she would
mind if he took a 70 percent
cut in pay.
“She looked up and said,
‘You want to teach, don’t
you,’” Brazeau recalled.
The Central School Dis-
trict superintendent had
been working as a banker,
but dreaded going to work
each day.
“I didn’t like it,” Brazeau
said. “It just wasn’t fun. It
was a way to make money,
but it just wasn’t fun.”
After helping old friends
at a football camp, he was
energized by the kids.
“ T h e k i d s w e re l i k e
sponges,” Brazeau said.
“They wanted to learn, and
there was excitement. There
was energy. There was
EmIly mEnTzEr/Itemizer-Observer file
Students were surprised to find Superintendent Buzz
Brazeau driving their school bus in 2014.
laughter. A day at work
seemed to last forever. A day
at camp went by like a
flash.”
Now 3 1 y e a r s l a t e r,
Brazeau — still energized by
kids — is hanging up his hat
in education and retiring,
literally hitting the road in
June for a three-month ex-
cursion in a recreational ve-
hicle with his wife.
Brazeau spent the last five
years in Central. During that
time, he finished his goal of
working every job in a
school district when he
learned how to and drove a
bus route in 2014. While
Brazeau was superinten-
dent, Central moved to Class
5A and excelled.
“We’ve solidified our-
selves in population
growth,” he said.
Under his leadership,
graduation rates increased
from 65 percent in 2010-11
to 86 percent in 2015-16.
While he said it is a much
larger effort than his alone,
sometimes it’s good to be
leader.
“I think we’ve really tied
the communities to the
schools,” Brazeau said. “I
think the Student Based
Health Center is a really big
thing.”
See Buzz, Page 5A
Explore Polk County, where we call home
From trivia to wineries, we have the best of the Willamette Valley
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
POLK COUNTY — In Au-
gust, tens of thousands will
discover how great Polk
County is as they descend on
the area for one of the best
viewing places of the Great
American Eclipse, a total
solar eclipse on Aug. 21 at
10:17 a.m.
But Polk County has much
to offer year-round for out-
door enthusiasts, foodies, cy-
clists, pinot lovers, and mem-
bers of Rogue Nation, resi-
dents and visitors alike.
The county is home of
the hard-to-find (but worth
the effort) Valley of the Gi-
ants, where towering, hun-
dreds-year-old Douglas fir
give visitors a glimpse into
what the landscape of Ore-
gon must have looked like
in its early settler days.
Parks, preserves, and his-
toric farms and buildings
help paint the picture of the
history of the county, state
and its people.
Polk County is ideal for
birding, and not just at Bas-
kett Slough. Ospreys and
bald Eagles make their
nests near rivers that run
through the county, includ-
ing in Independence
Riverview Park.
Vineyards dot the country-
side — roughly 30 of them —
close enough together to
make a day of touring and
tasting, and far too many to
see in just one afternoon.
Polk County is rich in cul-
ture with the Confederated
Tribes of the Grand Ronde
sharing their tribal heritage at
the Chachalu Tribal Museum
and Cultural Center, as well
as a plethora of multi-cultural
events at Western Oregon
University, from annual pow-
wows to luaus.
The county is home to
world-class, destination
trails for bicyclists, from a
mountain bike vineyard loop
to the Black Rock Mountain
Bike area — and winding
country roads in between,
past farms, old barns and
past fruit and vegetable
stands.
If touring the county by car,
the dirt and gravel roads that
wind between fields can
make it feel like you’re miles
away from a town or city
rather than just minutes from
Salem.
The county’s rich history in
agriculture brings local food
straight to your table at local
restaurants and farmers mar-
kets. In Polk County, we still
believe in making food from
scratch with fresh ingredients.
Whether you’re looking to
stretch your legs, canoe or
raft, or just lounge around
and relax, you’ll find it here in
Polk County. Enjoy the jour-
ney.
See our annual Explore
Polk County inside, and read
more about the place we call
home.
wed
thu
fri
sat
sun
need a break from
your little one? Free
child care for chil-
dren 6 months to 5
years old is at the
Academy Building.
1-3 p.m. Free.
Dallas Veterans of
Foreign Wars and its
auxiliary will hand
out Buddy Poppies
today at Bi-mart.
Donations accepted.
Free.
Temperatures are
heating up. Be safe
and take part in na-
tional Heat Aware-
ness Day.
Swing by down-
town Independence
to see what’s new at
the farmers markets
each week.
9 a.m. - 2 p.m. Free.
Why not fire up the
grill and cook a juicy
hamburger and cel-
ebrate national
Hamburger Day.
Partly cloudy
Hi: 65
Lo: 46
Mostly sunny
Hi: 71
Lo: 49
Sunny
Hi: 81
Lo: 52
Sunny
Hi: 82
Lo: 54
Sunny
Hi: 80
Lo: 50
SPoRTS
Dallas’ softball team
opens the state playoffs
at home on Wednesday
(today).
»Page 11A
Dallas man
arrested
Itemizer-observer staff report
DAllAS — Polk County
Sheriff’s deputies arrested
a Dallas man following a
two-vehicle accident on
Friday on East Ellendale
Avenue near Fir Villa road.
Emergency crews re-
sponded to a report of the
crash at noon on Friday, with
deputies assisted on the
scene by the Dallas Police
Department, the Oregon De-
partment of Transportation
and Dallas Fire & EmS.
According Polk County
Sheriff mark Garton, a
black Dodge pickup had
been traveling west in the
east bound lane when it
struck an eastbound 2002
Chevy Silverado pickup al-
most head-on. The Chevy
rolled multiple times after
the collision.
Fire & EmS assessed
driver of the Chevy, Vance
ruzicka, 55, of Salem, on
scene and didn’t take him
to the hospital.
The driver of the
Dodge, David larios-men-
doza, 21 was not taken to
the hospital, either.
A third vehicle that had
been following the Chevy
was able to avoid the acci-
dent, according to police.
After interviewing wit-
nesses and investigating
evidence on the scene,
deputies determined lar-
ios-mendoza caused the
crash and had been driv-
ing recklessly, Garton said.
Police said larios-men-
doza was the subject of
another reckless driving
report from Dallas where
Dallas PD responded, but
was unable to locate the
vehicle. The caller said the
vehicle was speeding, not
able to maintain its lane
and following too closely.
Deputies arrested larios-
mendoza on five counts of
reckless endangering, reck-
less driving and second-de-
gree criminal mischief.
mon
Happy memorial
Day. The Itemizer-
Observer office will
be closed to honor
the holiday.
Sunny
Hi: 82
Lo: 53
tue
Heat slowing you
down? Head in-
doors to the play
park at First Presby-
terian Church in
Dallas.
9:30 a.m.-12:30
p.m. Free.
Mostly sunny
Hi: 86
Lo: 53