Page 2
The INDEPENDENT, July 21, 1999
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. Phone/Fax:
(503) 429-9410.
i’l l S ure HATE IT
this D ountovz / v
C onstruction is over .
Missing information
makes news wrong
A conversation with a knowledgeable person can
still result in mistaken information if, as The INDE
PENDENT displayed last issue, a key part of the infor
mation was missed.
The item about extending a City water line to Cedar
Ridge should have explained that there is already a
water line that is old and too small (two inch diameter),
and what is being requested is an upgrade in the ser
vice.
Some citizens fee, the city should not spend tax dol
lars for improvements outside the city, but Vernonia
has owned and maintained the line since it was in
stalled many years ago, and users outside the city lim
its pay twice the rate for water that City residents pay,
because those outside the city do not pay city taxes.
Mayor Parrow made an important point, too, noting
that Cedar Ridge is designated - and has been used
- as an emergency center, and that an adequate wa
ter supply is a necessity.
The council acted appropriately in directing staff to
negotiate with Cedar Ridge owner Larry Steele re
garding costs and potential future annexation.
School board vacancy
should attract interest
It seems that everybody knows what schools
“should do”, especially those who never volunteer in
the schools or attend a board meeting. Now is the
time for those who are genuinely interested to step
forward.
There is a vacancy on the Vernonia School District
Board of Directors that will be filled by appointment at
the August 12 meeting. Board members meet at least
once a month, for regular meetings, and sometimes
have workshops or special meetings at other times.
The position requires considerable attention and
thought when the director is doing a good job. It real
ly does take more than one hour each month.
If you are interested, pick up an application at.the
district office. Fill it out and return it to the office no
later than August 6th. It can’t hurt and it might help.
Gail Steele, 1923-1999
Gail Steele, the long-time editor and publisher of
The Clatskanie Chief, died July 12 after a long battle
with heart disease and diabetes. But this isn’t an obit
uary; that’s on page 14.
This is just a note of appreciation for several char
acteristics: The example he set in checking out the
details of how government works. His unflagging sup
port of his hometown and an understanding of how
important “home” is. His courage in continuing to
work and contribute to his community after losing his
eyesight. And his acceptance that regardless of dif
ferences people may have, they can work together in
areas of mutual understanding for the good of the
community.
c-””—
. . . , 'LL HAVE TO S T A *T r£u<zv6
AT THE
TRUCKERS
A6AKJ TO
o
By Elaine M. Hopson
State Representative, District 2
The end of the session is near and the focus
is on money with a special emphasis on educa
tion since it consumes the major portion of the
budget.
Senate Bill 428, which also passed the
House, mandates that high schools aliow stu
dents to take classes at colleges or trade
schools. By itself, this might not be a bad idea
and I believe that many, if not most, school dis
tricts are already providing such opportunities.
These programs come in a variety of ways and I
argued that local school districts should make
these decisions in cooperation with their local in
stitutions of higher and vocational eductaion.
Even more objectionable to me is the fact that
the bill mandates the school districts to pay for
these classes up to a maximum of approximate
ly $4,000 per student per year. At a time when
we cannot get enough money to adequately
fund our schools, a bill has passed taking mil
lions of dollars right off the top of K-12 funding.
The speaker of the House brought forward
House Bill 3633 - “Project Success.” This bill
sets up a large committee “to make recommen
dations to the appropriate governmental entities
about goals with accountability standards that
may be understood by all Oregonians.” On its
face, this seems like a good idea. However, I op
posed the bill because I believe we have a great
deal in place that we need to review and evalu
ate before we move forward with more recom
mendations and another committee.
I argued that we already have several com
mittees addressing this and we are still imple
menting the 21st Century Schools Act from the
1991, 1995, and 1997 legislative sessions. Last
session, a broad-based committee developed
the Quality Education Model that related and
connected expenditures with program needs.
Unfortunately, this excellent project was under
the leadership of former Speaker Lynn
Lundquist and did not receive legislative action
or support. Each session does not need to begin
reinventing the wheel. Although strong argu
ments were provided against the bill, it passed
with majority Republican votes.
A major issue behind the scenes, and as re
ported in all the newspapers, is the lack of dis
cussion and movement in regard to K-12 fund
ing. The Democrats have consistently supported
a K-12 budget of $4.95 billion dollars. Starting at
$4.73 billion, the Republicans came up to 4.81
billion while the Democrats came down to $4.89
billion, at which point the Republicans refused to
negotiate any more. Instead, they brought forth
the threat of ballot measure referrals that would
limit state revenues even more. One referral
would cut middle and upper income households’
taxes by increasing from $3,000 to $5,000 the
amount of federal income tax that can be de
ducted from the income taxable by the state.
This has already headed for the ballot through
the efforts of Bill Sizemore. The other referral
would put the tobacco settlement money into an
interest bearing account and thereby lock it up
for any expenditures. At this point, the discus
sions are at a stalemate although there is a
strong interest from the Democrats and the Gov
ernor to open dialogue. However, with the need
ed votes in hand to pass a budget with school
funding at a lower level, the Republicans are
moving forward.
It appears that more critical issues are being
addressed but, at this point, the final education
budget has not been determined, nor is there a
transportation package in place.
The education-funding bill passed out of the
House, although there may still be some negoti
ating with the Governor as the bill goes to the
Senate. The current amount of $4.81 billion dol
lars will not meet the identified needs of many
districts throughout the state. Although this is a
substantial increase in the budget amount from
last biennium, there have also been increases in
the number of students, the challenges of many
students, the condition of many facilities, and
the cost of doing business in general.
Several other budgets have been passed, in
cluding that for higher education. Although
everyone, including the Governor, agreed this
was a.good budget, it had been vetoed earlier
because of uncertainty on the rest of the budget.
Higher Education folks have developed a new
model for the allocation of funds that will allow
money to be directed according to the needs
and strengths of each of the institutions.
The budget for the Department of Human
Resources passed out of the House and will not
meet all the needs in our state. However, tough
choices are necessary in order to stay within the
amount of money without a burdensome impact
on taxpayers. This budget has many compo
nents that address the needs of our seniors and
others who have encountered difficulties and
need help.
SB 5515 allocating money to the Oregon
State Fair passed the House. There was a little
controversy as to why the State should pay for
Please see page 12