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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 1998)
fRoM A V étéran n. INDEPENDENT Serving the upper Nehalem River valley. Published twice monthly, on the first and third Wednesdays of each month, by Public Opinion Laboratory Ltd., 725 Bridge Street, Vernonia, OR 97064, as a free newspaper. Edi tors and Publishers, Dirk & Noni Andersen. Sports Edi tor, Caren McGaugh. Phone/Fax: (503) 429-9410. I W ish F>e*N*e tile TE.t»e OF Independence as an American tradition When Americans celebrate Independence Day, it is generally with stories and remembrances of noble and/or patriotic deeds. But carping and complaining bitterly about politicians, bureaucrats and government, in general, is also in the American tradition of indepen dence, as the following stories illustrate. THEY CALLED HIM DEBAUCHED— As president, George Washington was accused of stealing from the Treasury and of legalized corruption, ostentation, treachery, and being “the dishclout” of “dirty specula tion.” Benjamin Franklin Bache, the grandson of Ben jamin Franklin, wrote: “If ever a nation was debauched by a man, the American nation has been debauched by Washington.” The beleagured Washington com plained of attacks in “such exaggerated and indecent terms as could scarcely be applied to a Nero, a notori ous defaulter, or even to a common pickpocket.” He declined a third term most vehemently. THE MISSING MISTRESSES— Opponents of Pres ident John Adams circulated a story that Adams had sent General Pinckney to England in a U.S. frigate to procure four pretty girls as mistresses, two for Pinck ney and two for Adams. When the story reached Adams, he wrote: “I do declare upon my honor if this be true General Pinckney has kept them all himself and cheated me out of my two.” HE MARRIED A MARRIED WOMAN— “Ought a convicted adultress and her paramour husband be placed in the highest office of this free and Christian land?” was the provocative question Andrew Jackson’s opponents asked the public. The reference was to the fact that he had inadvertently married Rachel Donel- son before her divorce came through and had to go through the ceremony a second time. The presidents, too, sometimes made independent, and less than flattering, statements about the office of the presidency. GEORGE WASHINGTON— “My movements to the chair of Government will be accompanied by feelings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to his place of execution.” JAMES BUCHANAN TO INCOMING PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN— “If you are as happy, my dear sir, on entering this house as I am in leaving it and re turning home, you are the happiest man in this coun try.” ABRAHAM LINCOLN— Being president is like “the man who was tarred and feathered and ridden out of town on a rail...A man in the crowd asked how he liked it, and his reply was that if it wasn’t for the honor of the thing, he would much rather walk.” RUTHERFORD B. HAYES— “I am heartily tired of this life of bondage, responsibility, and toil (spoken when refusing a second term).” JAMES A. GARFIELD— “My God! What is there in this place that a man should ever want to get in to it?” WOODROW WILSON— “The office of President re quires the constitution of an athlete, the patience of a mother, the endurance of an early Christian. HARRY TRUMAN— “Being a President is like riding a tiger. A man has to keep on riding or be swallowed.” A t t Soxrìfìc&t. Ÿ iC tïlù ts Aifb Losses FteEDoM TA k *- /it C. OA C » A A A 1C . C / K V By Julius Dalzell Vernonia City Councilor A Missing Piece, Possibly Vernonia is now well underway with a number of important improvements that have been de scribed and referenced in several articles and columns. Made possible in part by grants, the activities are being coordinated as a composite under the oversight of a broad-based communi ty level committee. Participation includes the Planning Commission, a new Parks Committee and a number of organizations and individuals having various responsibilities and interests. The activities include the following: • design and construction of a new City Hall and a Library. An added feature will be a pock et park with consideration being given to the opening of Bear Creek on the grade. • rehabilitation of the City’s water system. • pursuit of a Master Plan study entailing streets, water, sewer, storm-water management and parks. • facilitation of a Transportation System Plan having a 20 year horizon and encompassing streets, bicycle and pedestrian routes and path ways. • a downtown revitalization study. • streetscape improvements. The overriding objective of all these activities is to improve Vernonia, capture its potential and provide a basis for economic opportunity. As we have stated many times before, it is all com bined by the phrase, “livability” — a better place to live, opportunities to work and enjoy an envi able lifestyle. This vision was again spoken to by Gordon Zimmerman, the City Administrator, at a recent workday held June 19 (see article, page 4). The session was sponsored by the Vernonia Com munity Development Corporation (CDC) and el ements of the Oregon Rural Development Coun cil. The focus of the function was guidance and assistance for downtown businesses. At several times the focus of discussion considered the im portance of a favorable environment in which commercial retail can be nurtured, will be suc cessful and grow. A point of dialogue, and indeed debate, that surfaced at the work session had to do with cus tomers, visitors — essentially how many. Too few and businesses do not thrive. Too many and we have congestion. Ann Berblinger, our U.S. « •- < V. • » il * r • • 1 4.* < ’ > J A m a Q -H em J ! 9 I Economic Development Administration contact, offered the intriguing observation that not all shoppers are equal. One hundred individuals spending $100 each while visiting will accom plish the same level of trade as one thousand customers spending $10 each. The point is, yes, we need to increase trade in the downtown. But possibly we need to be selective in what we make available as goods and services. We want our merchants to prosper, however, we don't want to lose sight of the need to protect livabili ty. Congestion is something that will detract from the rural ambiance. So what’s the answer? One possible re sponse is for the business community-at-large to think about how we want to present Vernonia to the outside world. Do we want to be known as a theme village, an example being Leavenworth, Wash., and its Bavarian village presentation. This type of consideration gets sequestered un der the heading of market considerations. In volved is assessment, strategic decision-making and implementation to accomplish defined ob jectives. In a structured and more formal context, this type of analysis is often described as a system atic evaluation of past trends, current conditions and future expectations about types of busi nesses and real estate activity within a defined trade area In this instance, that trade area is downtown and, more generally, the area around Vernonia. The key phrase in this definition is “system evaluation”. What nature of entity or organization con ducts this type of analysis? Typically it is the chamber of commerce or a downtown business association. That organization works with the city, businesses, investors, etc., to ensure full participation. In our situation, either the Cham ber of Commerce or the CDC could fulfill the role. Equally important to facilitating the task, is timing. In fact, this type of analysis and consid eration should be carried out prior to, or concur rent with, activities to plan and improve the downtown. The product of the market work be comes an important input to those parties, i.e, the oversight committee concerned with streetscaping and downtown design. In many ways, it establishes the community's “tag line’’. Vernonia, the community that offers It is a missing piece and one that all of us have some role in ensuring fulfillment. : • ' ■ • * > » ■ •. -»■ • •• •» ’• r.' ' f • ’•£* r. • > * • •» 1 y. • .-**-*“ . * Ï . ».‘z'iS'/ * .***v7P?«* Js V'VS ‘
