The independent., November 27, 1987, Page 2, Image 2

P a g e 2 The INDEPENDENT. N ov . 27, 1987
n, INDEPENDENT
Serving the U p p e r N e h a le m R iver v a lle y
P u blished
m o n th ly on the List Thursday o t each m on th, by Public
O p in io n ,I a b o ra to ry l t d , 120b State A venue V e rn o n ia ,
OR 97OM as a fre e new spaper I d ito rs and Publishers.
I )irk and N o n i A ndersen. (501) 42*1 9410
Op in io n
The case of the
curious contract
W h e n is ,i c o n tra c t not a c o n t r a c t' A n d w h e n does
it bee orne a c o n trac 17 O r was it eve r a c ontrac t 1* O r, it
so, w h a t k in d of c o n tra c t?
lo r the answ ers to this m yste ry, jo in m e as I step
th ro u g h the s q u e a kin g d o o r to r a trip in to the shadow y
w o rld o t I llery H o lm e s
or is th a t Sherloc k Q u e e n '
I his trip isn t to r th e fa in t o f h ea rt, to r w e re g o in g
(gasp') to <i V e rn o n ia ( ity ( o u n c il m e e tin g to r
1 he
( .isc1 o t the C u rio u s ( O n tr a c ,
A piec e o t paper sur ta i ed rec e n tly th a t M ay or \ \ a I
ly V a u g h n and ( ounc ilm e m b e r B ill H ansen said vs.is a
tw o year e m p lo y m e n t contrac t to r ( ity Rec o rd e r D o n
I )u n a w ay
I hey a lso said they h a d n 't seen it b e fo re , th o u g h
m y s te rio u s ly th e ir sig natures w e re on it, and in a very
s ty lis h blac k and w h ite
W h e n they signed it, they said they w e re u n d e r the
im p re ssio n th a t it was a w age agree m en t I hey d id n t
kn o w it was an e m p lo y m e n t c o n tra c t u n til D u naw ay
to ld th e m SO. they w e re c o n tu se d
Perhaps by s c ru tin iz in g the doc u m e n t w e can fin d
some* c lues to sort o u t the c o n tu s io n . at least it s w o rth
a try
R ight near the to p ot the1 paper it says ( ontrac t
H i.i, m ust m ean it s a contrac t But w h a t for?
A h a ' It says I xe m p t I m p lo ye e s \ I rin g e B e n e fits
and it fias a date* on it, |u ly I. 1*fH7
I xperienc ed
s le u th tlia t I am I im m e d ia te ly grasp th e s ig n ific a n t e
ot t li.it d a te to r it is the b e g in n in g ot the 1487 88 fisc al
y **ar1
N ext on th e m y s te rio u s missive* arc* the w o rd s Pay
increase to r e xe m p t city e m p lo ye e s, 1987 88
5%
to llo w e d by Pay inc rease to r e xe m p t c ity e m p lo y ees,
1988 89
1% plus I 2 ot 1".) o t the* cos, ot liv in g in
dex
1 his may be c onsicfered n e g o tia b le
f o ll o w i n g
th e se c ry p tic
c o m m e n ts
are th e
sig n a tu re s of V a u g h n and H ansen, plus the re m a in in g
c ounc ilm e m b e rs on Dec em b e r IS 1987 the* tim e the
d o c u m e n t was signed
|oe Batty W e lls ( ) y ia tt and
Rob Ric bards
W h a , I need to know now is w h a t is n e g o tia b le *''
I fie whole doc u m e n t' I he* ra te inc re a se ' W f ia t '
1 bis c ontrac , is g e ttin g c u rio u s e r and c u rio u s e r'
S e izin g .i sfiortc lit to th e s o lu tio n o f th is m ystery I
headed to r th e arc hives c a ile d M in u te s lo o k in g up
the a fo re m e n tio n e d d a te
A s to n is h in g ly th e m in u te s m a ke no re fe re n c e to a
tw o year c ontrac , o f any k in d and the only e m p lo y e e
c o n tra c t m e n tio n e d is a p p ro v a l of the 1987-88 salary
c ontrac ,
One* m ystery fias been so lve d there* is no e m p lo y
m e n t c o n tra c t and the* w age a g re e m e n t was to r one
year w ith th e secon d year n e g o tia b le
B ut th e re is s till one m ystery th a t e ludes m e W hy
w e re V a u g h n a n d H ansen c o n tu s e d '
Between the
Bv N o n i Andersen
D u rin g m y c h ild h o o d I
tra v e lle d a ll o v e r the w o rld ,
m e e tin g ro y a lty , p o litic ia n s ,
ric h and p o o r p e o p le , the
fa m o u s and the in fa m o u s
Vet I never le ft hom e and
spent ve ry little* m on ey
My
tra v e ls w ere p ro v id e d by
lo c a l
lib r a r ie s
and
th e
w o n d e rfu l w o rld o f books
It never oc c u rre d to me* not
to read, my p aren ts read to
me, th e re were* alw ays books
a ro u n d
and sp ecial tim es
w e re n t com plete* w ith o u t the
g itt o t a book
I read and
gave b oo ks to my t h ild re n,
to o and now they are reading
and g iv in g boo ks to th e ir
c h ild re n
So w ith ( h ustm as fast on
o u r heels. I d like* to suggest
tfus trie d and tru e wav to
d e lig h t a ll the p e o p le on yo ur
lis t
I or sm all c h ild re n there are
so m any im a g in a tiv e stories
th a t i t s d if fic u lt to m ake a
c h o ic e
You can start w ith
nursery rhym es or M o th e r
G oose, c o n tin u e th ro u g h Dr
Suess rif) tic k le rs like*
th e
C at in I he H at
or sneak
th ro u g h the c o lo r tu l |u ng le of
M a u ric e Sendak s W here the
V\ ild I hings Are
As c h ild re n grow o ld e r
they lo v e ta les o t a d ve n tu re
and a c c o m p lis h m e n ts M ark
Iw a in s
!o m Sawyer
the
Paul Bunyan tales la c k Io n
d o n s ( a ll o f th e W ild
and
ookends
o the r sagas flo w on a rap id
rive r o f a c tio n
I here are h un dred s o f
stories fo r sports fans, a bo ut
baseball, b a s ke tb a ll, tennis,
a u to racing, fo o tb a ll and
m ore
Tor the o u td o o rs m e n
th e r e
a re b o o k s
about
w ild life , h u n tin g and fish in g
H ob byists w ill e n p y books
a bo ut th e ir special a c tiv itie s
p h o t o g r a p h y , g a r d e n in g ,
p a in tin g w o o d w o rk in g and
so fo rth In fact, it's hard to
im agine a hobby th a t hasn't
been w ritte n a bo ut
I here* are books fo r b ird
w atchers, dog ow ners, herb
fanciers, astronom ers, w ine
m akers, fossil hunters, k ite
m akers and b ike riders
Books a bo ut a u to restora
tio n , canoe b u ild in g organic
gardening fu rn itu re m aking
and stam p codec tin g
For cooks, or w o u ld -b e
cooks, the* s e le c tio n is huge*
th e re are c o o k b o o k s fo r
c h ild r e n
and c o o k b o o k s
about
m ic r o w a v i n g ,
ve g e ta ria n m eals barbecues
desserts, tish and gam e f o r a
good
c o m p r e h e n s iv e
c o o k b o o k it s s till hard to
beat "J o y o f C o o k in g ," but
w ho can resist a b o o k title d
la k e O ne Fgg and Crack
U p '"
You say you have a student
w ith no tim e to r h ob b ie s and
no interest in c o o k in g ' th e n
a d ic tio n a ry is the c h o ic e
There are regular rh ym in g
\
and fo re ig n d ic tio n a rie s die
tio n a rie s o f a nto nym s and
s y n o n y m s , o r o f foreign
phrases
A n d d on t forget
R oget's "T h e s a u ru s ," the col
lege s tu d e n t's frie n d
If y o u h ave fa m ily or
frie n d s w h o liv e a great
d is ta n c e a w a y, yo u can show
th e m O re g o n w ith one* o f the
great b o o ks o f photographs
by Roy A tk e s o n or other
n a tu re p h o to g ra p h e rs
Or
ta ke a s h u t-in o u td o o rs w ith a
b o o k o f flo w e r or w ild life
p h o to g ra p h s
H u m o r b o o k s make* great
g ifts , to o A ll th e fa v o rite car
to o n strips are represented by
books
G a rfie ld , The fa r
Side, D o o n e s b u ry and mans
m o re A g if, o f lau gh te r can
never be to o h ig h ly rated
T h e re
a re
c la s s ic s ,
m ysteries, rom an ces science
fic tio n , b ib le
stories and
w esterns
There are books
a b o u t the* th e a te r, music
h is to ry and th e arts
I here
are n ovels, short stories an
th o lo g ie s , p o e try , essays,
b io g ra p h ie s and a u to bio gra
phies
There r e a lly is something
to r e v e ry o n e in the w onderful
w o rld o f b o o k s
th is year
g ive a g ift w ith im a g in a tio n
G iv e a b o o k
Letters to th e Editor
To the Editor:
A m e ric a n c itie s are our
b e s t e x a m p le s
o f tru e
d e m o c ra c y
H ow e ver, o u r
system w orks o n ly if the
public insists th a t it does so
th is insistence* is m issing in
\ e rnom a as th e fo llo w in g ex
a m ,ile illu s tra te s
1
R ece ntly th e m a y o r
a lte re d ( o u n c il procedures,
e lim in a tin g p u b lic c o m m e n t
o n issues u n til a lte r C o u n c il
ac tio n
2
The c ity is d e lu g e d *n
law suits
f v e ry ,h in g regar
d in g these suits is being
c lo a k e d in
exc lu sive ses
sions
The p u b lic is ke pt
u n a w a re o t th e n um be r o f
la w s u its reasons fo r the suits,
etc
I have re g u la rly a tte n d e d
c o u n c il m ee ting s fo r years
b u , have* never h ea rd any in ­
fo rm a tio n a b o u t law suits
I he ra tio n a le fo r th is secrecy
is th a t p u b lic
knowledge*
w o u ld be h a rm fu l to the
c ity s n e g o tia tio n s fv e n i, a
p a r tic u la r case c a lls fo r
disc re ,io n on the* p a r, o f the
c o u n c il the* p u b lic is due a
d e ta ile d re p o rt u p o n re s o lu ­
tio n o t e ach case H ow else
can w e m ake changes to
a vo id fu tu re law s u its '
T
A , a recent c o u n c il
m e e tin g
c it y
s t a f f , th e
m ayor
and
a c o u n c il
m em ber a tte m p te d to pass
o ff an agreem ent signed las,
D ecem ber d e ta ilin g fu tu re
wage* inc reases. as a personal
servic e c ontrac t w ith the c ity
re c o rd e r
Such a " n o - c u t"
m u ltiy e a r c o n tra c t w o u ld
n o, a llo w the c ity to dism iss
or lay o ff c o vered em p lo ye es
This e rs tw h ile c o n tra c t was
less th an tw o inc hes lo n g in
c o n te n t
D o any o f o u r c itiz e n s
re c a ll asking the* C o u n c il to
give anyone a c o n tra c t in
whic h o n ly the e m p lo y e e can
c a n c e l'
Such a d e cisio n
w o u ld illu s tra te the w orst
business ju d g e m e n t used by
counc il in a dec ade
W ith o u t public in p u t, this
is the k in d o f g ove rn m e nt we
w ill receive
O n ly co n sta n t
rem ind ers o f the p u b lic 's
tru st and need to kn ow w ill
ensure the bes, g ove rn m e nt
in V e rn o n ia
|im Tierney,
To the Editor:
It seem s lik e th e re is
n o th in g easy
A s im p le p ro p o s a l to r a c i­
ty a d m in is tra to r in Vernonia
s h o u ld
be
s o m e t h in g
e v e ry o n e c a n agree w ith
H o w e v e r,
w ith o u t
any
b a c k g ro u n d
k n o w le d g e
som e p e o p le fe e l threatened
by th is p ro p o s a l
This has
ca use d ru m o rs and false
charges by p e o p le w h o are
u n d e rin fo rm e d
A c ity a d m in is tra to r could
be an asset fo r V ernonia
He she w o u ld be* a b le to c arry
o u t th e C o u n c il's wishes
m a ke
d a y to d a y decision*«
needed to ru n th e c ity , attend
m e e tin g s
in
St
H e le n s ,
Salem, e tc to represent Ver
n om a s interests, a p p ly t ° r
grants, e n c o u ra g e businesses
to lo c a te here
A c ity
a d m in is tra to r •'
a llo w e d to d o o n ly w h a t the
C o u n c il dee m s necessary to
c o n tro l a ll d e p a rtm e n ts , short
o f h irin g and fir in g
Having
an a d m in is tra to r in charge
and
a c c o u n t a b le
w o u ld
More letters on page 22
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