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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 2, 1998)
Cancer d aim s well-liked former commissioner Sandy Dillard, 1987 Max W. “Sandy” Dillard, 59, a former Columbia County Commissioner, died August 25, 1998, of cancer. The grandson of early St. Helens settlers, Dillard lived in St. Helens his entire life except for a term in the U.S. Navy. He was a proponent of eco nomic development in Colum bia County and, as a county commissioner, worked hard to help get approval for the Banks-Vernonia Linear State Park. He was a big man with a big laugh whose door was always open to the public. His boom ing voice could sometimes be heard throughout the court house. He enjoyed public ser vice and enjoyed helping peo ple. As a commissioner, he was selected by other county com missioners to serve on the Leg islative and Land Use Commit tees of Oregon Associated Counties. Even while battling cancer, this spring he completed a three-year term on the county budget committee and did not call on his alternate to fill in for him. In addition to his service as a county commissioner, Dillard served two terms as a city councilor in St. Helens. He was also active in com munity service groups and was an avid sailor. He is survived by his wife, Diane, two sons, a brother and a grandaughter. In recent years he was caregiver for his grand daughter. A memorial service was held Aug. 28. For a complete obituary, please see page 22. BULK RATE U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 37 Vernonia, OR 97064 Vol. 13, No. 17 “ Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley” Natal Grange, one of many rest stops between Mt. Hood and Seaside for participants in the Hood-to Coast relay, was pretty well packed with people during the weekend. Area forests closed to all public access The State Department of Forestry also declared Level 3 regulations for commercial tim berland, requiring all commer cial logging to cease by 1:00 p.m., except for fire watch. Regulated public use also prohibits backyard burning and chainsaws for firewood cutting, regardless of the time of day. The entire area is being pa trolled by air to insure compli- ance with fire safety regula tions, according to a Forestry Department spokesman. It isn’t known when the regulations will be lifted or whether more stringent regulations may be applied. For additional information contact your fire department or the Dept. of Forestry: Columbia City, 397-2636 or Forest Grove, 357-2191. Council okays hiring sixth police officer with grant The Vernonia Police Depart ment will be hiring a sixth offi cer - though most people won't be aware of it - in an arrange ment with the Columbia En forcement Narcotics Team (CENT) and ROCN, a regional narcotics task force based in Portland. With the approval of the City Council, the city will activate a three-year federal COPS grant which will pay 75 percent of costs, while ROCN provides the additional 25 percent for two years. Vernonia Police Chief Jim Walters didn’t specify how the 25 percent of third year costs would be paid, but Roger Roth, St. Helens Chief of Police and CENT Comman der, told The INDEPENDENT that it would be paid by CENT. In exchange for the funding, September 2, 1998“ Council agrees with citizens’ comments An oasis in Natal... Because of fire danger...wi- ith high temperatures and no measurable rainfall during Au gust...several timberland own ers have shut down all access to their forests, including ac cess by horse or on foot. Longview Fibre, Olympic Resource Management and Evenson have already closed their roads; others are expect ed to follow. FREE an officer hired by the city will be assigned to CENT, which works with ROCN as part of the regional team. The only time a sixth officer will work on a regular schedule in Vernonia is when another of ficer is off work for an extended period of time such as vacation or illness. The arrangement would pro- Please see page 22 It was standing room only at the August 24 meeting of the Vernonia City Council, as more than 40 people packed the city library to convince the panel that two proposed ordinances, intended as tools for dealing with vandalism and truancy, would do more harm than good. Several speakers thanked the council for caring about the children and families of the community but, at the same time, made clear that they felt the parental responsibility and daytime curfew ordinances un der consideration were the wrong approach. “Irresponsible parents don’t care [what the law requires]; responsible parents would only have more grief,” said Pastor Michael Jackson about the parental responsibility ordi nance, which included poten tial fines ranging from $100 to $1,000 and required atten dance at a parent effective ness program. “The wrong people would be penalized.” Others spoke of problems the ordinance could cause for responsible parents whose child did something wrong. In addition to a possible fine and the cost of the parenting pro gram, further economic hard ship would result from taking time off from work for the pro gram. Former mayor Tony Hyde said the council had looked at such an ordinance previously and decided that it could also open a financial abyss for the city. In addition to extra polic ing, there would be costs re sulting from prosecution, po tential litigation, contract ser vices from other agencies and collecting from parents. Several speakers noted that there are existing state laws re *1 garding parents who act irre sponsibly. The crowd also expressed heavy opposition to the pro posed daytime curfew, which would allow police to stop any child on the streets during school hours. The ordinance could result in “ ...kids first contact with po lice being stopped by an officer with a gun, when they were not doing anything wrong.” said Carol Pelster. Being young is not a crime, one father pointed out, and whether children are home schooled, in private school or public school, they shouldn’t be stopped by police just be cause they are on the sidewalk during school hours. Several parents referred to the use of curfews in Germany during the Nazi regime as a way to control people who were doing nothing illegal. The Council voted unani mously to eliminate the parent al responsibility ordinance and the daytime portion of the cur few ordinance. They approved modification of the existing cur few ordinance for people 18 and under, to allow one more hour in the evening. Curfew regulations will now be im posed at 10:00 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. “Let’s work in partnership, not against each other,” said one parent, a statement quick ly utilized by Councilor Cindy Ball, who asked people in the audience to become involved in seeking solutions. Vernonia Superintendent of Schools Larry McClellan volun teered to spearhead a commu nity-wide task force to study other approaches to the prob lems.
