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DALLAS BOYS
Page 9A
Volume 143, Issue 3
BASKETBALL
Page 10A
www.Polkio.com
January 17, 2018
$1.00
City
seeks to
fill Day’s
council
seat
IN
THIS
ISSUE
DALLAS
Community bulletin
board creates special
calendar.
By Emily Mentzer
»Page 3A
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE —
After serving one year of a
four-year term, Independ-
ence City Councilor Ken
Day resigned on Jan. 2.
The city of Independ-
ence is accepting applica-
tions for those interested
in filling the council seat.
“The biggest reason
was the six city coun-
cilors, of those six, only
two people were actively
involved, myself and Mar-
ilyn Morton,” Day said.
“So the other people were
either not prepared or not
actively involved in dis-
cussions.”
Day said he had hoped
to help improve the city’s
transparency.
“The city government
wasn’t open and did not
consider the public,” he
said. “They did not keep
the public informed. That
was a big reason I ran.”
Without more coun-
cilors asking questions,
Day said he felt like he
and Morton couldn’t
change the council.
“You have to get 4-2 for
change, and we were 2-4,
so I didn’t see anything
changing in the near fu-
ture,” Day said. “People
weren’t going to change.
Rather than just being
frustrated, I resigned.”
Day said he didn’t see
the point in spending 30
to 40 hours a month
preparing for discussions
when nobody else
seemed to.
Another factor in his
decision was working
with City Manager David
Clyne. Day said that
Clyne had told the coun-
cil that he would retire
when Independence
Landing was completed.
“We know that’s two
years from now at least,”
Day said, “probably closer
to four before it’s complete.
I don’t need to work with
him. I’ve been president of
two successful companies.
I don’t need to work with a
person like him. I’m not
going to do it.”
Clyne confirmed that he
plans to resign this year.
He had served on the
board of directors of
Monmouth-Indepen-
dence Networks and on
the parks and recreation
board.
Day said he appreciates
those serving on council.
“I think it’s important,”
he said. “They’re volun-
teers. They don’t get paid
anything. There’s no pay,
and there’s no benes. I ad-
mire and appreciate the
people on council. I just
think they need to put in
more work to accomplish
what’s expected of them.”
THE NEXT
7
DAYS
PLANNING
FOR YOUR
WEEK
INDEPENDENCE
Central seeks new
high school principal.
»Page 12A
MONMOUTH
Sen. Wyden encour-
ages civil engagement.
»Page 2A
emIly menTzer/Itemizer-Observer
John Sanders, Pacific Power field supervisor, installs a new smart meter at Indy Commons in Independence.
Smart meters come to Indy
Ballots due
Tuesday for
Measure 101
Pacific Power to roll out new technology to all in Polk County
Itemizer-Observer staff report
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — Pa-
cific Power has started re-
placing meters with smart
meters — and Independ-
ence and Polk County are
the first to receive them.
“It’s a big thing for the or-
ganization, and obviously
for customers,” said Tom
Gauntt, media spokesman
for Pacific Power. “There
aren’t too many things that
change for all customers. It’s
a two-year effort. It’s defi-
nitely going to touch every
customer over a two-year
period.”
Gauntt said Independ-
ence and Polk County made
a good starting point for a
variety of reasons, from the
size of the county to the
weather reports.
“We picked Independ-
ence since it has been build-
ing out gigabit internet,
working with technology
companies to bring Internet
of Things to agriculture, and
trying to bring real 21st cen-
tury jobs and opportunities
to their community,” Gauntt
said.
Smart meters are not new,
he noted.
“This is fairly mature
technology,” Gauntt said.
“Rather than being the first
person to get a PC (personal
computer), you’re the 70th
million to get a PC. It’s more
smooth, more friendly.
Prices are more competi-
tive.”
In fact, Monmouth Power
& Light customers have had
smart meters — albeit an
older generation — since
2006, said Monmouth Power
& Light Director Chuck
Thurman.
The meters have saved
t h e Mo n m o u t h u t i l i t y
money and time on meter
reading and on getting more
accurate meter readings,
Thurman said.
The new meters installed
by Pacific Power will do that
and more.
Customers will be able to
look at yesterday’s power
usage and see what they
used, Gauntt said.
If a customer washed
more laundry than usual, he
or she could see how much
energy that used, he said.
See METErS, Page 5A
Deputies spruce up aging Titus 3
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — The upstairs
of Titus 3 House in Dallas
was a scene of organized
chaos on Saturday after-
noon.
Polk County Sheriff Mark
Garton and eight of his
deputies crowded into the
small hallway and two of the
three bedrooms following
the instructions of Titus
house mom, P.J. Johnson.
The cause for the mass re-
sponse from the sheriff’s of-
fice? A painting party.
In the middle of a
touchup project at the
women’s transitional home,
Johnson was in need of
painters to help get the proj-
ect done so she could begin
taking in more clients.
The crew included
deputies Jonathon Jones,
Quenton Ihne, David Short-
er, Mike Smith, Matt Gar-
rett, John Kincaid, Mark
W i d m e re a n d R i c h a rd
Bittick.
Johnson said through six
years of operation, the three
upstairs rooms temporarily
housed 75 women working
to put their lives back on
track following serving time
in prison.
JOlene Guzman/ Itemizer-Observer
Deputies John Kincaid, left, and Matt Garrett paint the hallway at Titus 3 House in Dal-
las on Saturday. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office volunteered to help with the project.
The rooms were a little
worse for the wear, she said.
Saturday’s mission was
to provide a fresh coat of
paint — and something
perhaps even more valu-
able to women who occupy
wed
thu
fri
Bring your brew of
choice and learn
about new Testa-
ment figures during
Brew and BS at St.
Thomas church.
7 p.m. Free.
If you need a relax-
ing way to express
your artistic side,
come to adult Col-
oring night at mon-
mouth library.
5 p.m. Free.
enjoy a hearty meal
of stew and biscuits
and enjoy live music
at Dallas united
methodist Church
11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
$7.
Rain
Hi: 57
Lo: 43
Rain
Hi: 48
Lo: 39
Showers
Hi: 45
Lo: 39
those rooms.
“The reason I want the
sheriff’s (deputies) here is I
want the ladies to realize
that when a man puts on his
uniform, he’s doing his job.
That doesn’t mean that he
sat
Western Oregon
university’s men’s
basketball team
hosts northwest
nazarene in a key
conference battle.
4 p.m. $7/adults.
Rain
Hi: 47
Lo: 39
doesn’t want to see you suc-
ceed,” Johnson said. “That’s
what I want them to see, is
Polk County Sheriff’s in here
helping in a place where
they can succeed.”
See TITUS, Page 5A
POlK COunTy — The
statewide special election
on ballot measure 101 is
Tuesday. Ballots need to be
in the Polk County Clerk’s
office by 8 p.m. on Tuesday.
The measure will de-
cide whether or not to up-
hold some taxes passed in
House Bill 2391. a yes vote
upholds those taxes. a no
vote rejects them.
For more information
about Ballot measure 101
and to see arguments for
and against the measure:
http://sos.oregon.gov/vot-
ing/Pages/current-elec-
tion.aspx.
Drop boxes may be
found throughout Polk
County:
• Polk County Court-
house, 850 main St., Dallas.
24-hour drop site located
on the east side of the
courthouse. Polk County
Clerk’s Office hours are 8
a.m. to 5 p.m., closed noon
to 1 p.m., and 7 a.m. to 8
p.m. on election day.
• Falls City, Wagner
Community library, 111 n.
main St. Tuesday through
Thursday, noon to 5:30
p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m. to 4
p.m.; election day, noon to
8 p.m.
• Grand ronde, Gover-
nance Center – building G,
9615 Grand ronde road.
monday through Friday,
7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; election
day, 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Independence, Inde-
pendence City Hall, 555 S.
main St. 24-hour drop site
located inside front lobby.
• monmouth, mon-
mouth Public library, 168
e c o l s S t . S . Tu e s d a y
through Thursday, 10 a.m.
to 8 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m. to
6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to
5 p.m.; election day, 10
a.m. to 8 p.m.
• monmouth, Western
Oregon university, Werner
university Center, 345 n.
monmouth ave. monday
through 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 through Satur-
day, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.; elec-
tion day, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
sun
mon
tue
Check out the exhi-
bition, “Beyond
Watching” from
artist Xianzhi Tu at
Hamersly library at
Western Oregon.
Free.
The mid-Willamette
Valley Small Farms
program will host a
blueberry pruning
workshop at minto
Island Growers.
1 p.m. $10.
The Dallas rotary
Club will hold a
meeting at the Dal-
las Civic Center, 945
Se Jefferson St., Dal-
las.
Noon. Free.
Rain
Hi: 47
Lo: 35
Showers
Hi: 46
Lo: 35
Partly cloudy
Hi: 46
Lo: 36