Some fire districts have competition for positions
Vernonia Fire District
Two vacancies and three
candidates for VFD.
Don Webb has filed for re-
election to Position 1.
Steve Weller and William L.
Cota will vie for Position 5.
Weller, a former Vernonia Fire
Chief, is a self-employed log
truck owner/operator. Cota is a
dump truck driver.
Mist-Birkenfeld Fire District
There is no competition
here, with four candidates and
four positions.
Stephen Butsko, a forester
and pulp buyer, has filed for a
vacant Position 1.
Bill deJager is seeking Posi
tion 3; incumbent Paul Ramsey
did not file.
Position 4 incumbent Randy
Hansen did not seek re-elec
tion, it will be filled by Ernie
deRoacher, who is self-em
ployed.
Raymond E. Kyser, Position
5 incumbent, filed for re-elec
tion. He is a logger.
Tri-City Fire District
Tri-City Fire District has five
candidates for three openings.
Position 1 incumbent Joe
Evers, a dairy farmer, is being
challenged by Rodney Linz, a
firefighter/EMT. Linz has expe
rience with the North Plains
City Council and Budget Com
mittee. Evers is also on the
board of the Banks School Dis
trict.
Steven Harr, who has 10
years with the district, is seek
ing Position 3. Harr is owner/op
erator of Champion Signs and
has also served on the Banks
Planning Commission. He will
be challenged by Edmond Earl
Evey, a logger and business
owner.
Appointee/incumbent Mark
Schmidlin is unopposed for
election to Position 4. He is a
farmer and has served 15
years on the district’s budget
committee.
Elsie-Vine Maple Fire District
No one filed.
“ Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley”
Vernonia School
District 47J
There was no school on Monday, the birthday off Martin Luther King Jr., but the covered
play structure at Washington Grade School was busy all day with rousing games of pick
up basketball.
WOEC modernizes switches
West Oregon Electric Coop
(WOEC) Engineer Steve Hursh
showed the Board of Directors,
at their January meeting, new
computerized recloser switch
es. Reclosers are like high-
voltage, high-current, circuit
breakers used in power trans
mission and distribution lines.
Hursh displayed three genera
tions of switches. The oldest
generation was hydraulically
operated and the second gen
eration added current mea
surement. The newest switch
es contain a mini-computer
that measures voltage and cur
rent, and estimates distance to
a fault, if one occurs. It can
telephone the office if some
Grant awarded
to V-Bat.... pg. 4
Banks’ council
considers
levy........... pg. 9
FREE
January 17, 2001
School boards draw
many candidates
Hoop time
By Jim Buxton
You want to be
on a school
board?..... pg. 3
BULK RATE
U.S. Postage Paid
Permit No. 37
Vernonia, OR 97064
Attn: Leslie Larson
UO Library-OMP
Voi. 16, No 2
INSIDE:
thing noteworthy happens,
such as a tree limb contacting
the line. It can also measure
kilowatt hour usage, and can
be monitored from the office at
any time. The switches will be
installed at substations and
other critical areas. The cost of
the switches is expected to be
recouped by providing more in
formation about line health and
faults before line crews leave
the shop.
WOEC also purchased
equipment that filters insulating
transformer oil while substation
transformers continue to oper
ate. The cost of the equipment
was almost the same as having
the service done by an outside
vendor. Clean oil has a high di
electric strength or high insulat
ing value, and contaminants
lower the strength. Substation
transformers are very expen
sive, and when the dielectric
strength of the insulating oil
drops low enough, arcing can
occur, leading to possible dam
age to the transformer.
General Manager Russell
Green reported that BPA’s im
plementation of the slice, at
present, seems to be less unfa
vorable than previously feared.
“Slice” is a term referring to a
“slice” of the block of power
purchased by a consortium of
power companies. The slice is
still an option for WOEC, with
at least two opportunities in the
future to change its mind.
Vernonia School District vot
ers will have a full slate to
choose from, with races in four
of the five positions on the
March 13 ballot.
Schann Nelson, Position 1
incumbent, owns and operates
an electrical business with her
husband. Her opponent, Rick
Hobart is a meter reader for
West Oregon Electric Co-op.
Position 4 incumbent Leslie
O’Leary is bookkeeper for
Gwin & Sons Logging. She will
be facing Randall Hansen, who
is a log quality manager for
Longview Fibre Co.
Position 5 incumbent Cari
Levenseller, a homemaker, will
face contractor Peter Brock.
Incumbent Kim Tierney did
not file for re-election to Posi
tion 6. The sole candidate for
the vacant seat is James
Krahn, ex-director of Oregon
Dairy Farmers Association.
Board chairman Jeff Blum
has filed for re-election to Posi
tion 7. Blum is an engineer.
Also seeking Position 7 is
Thomas Jones, a logger with
Holce Logging Co., Inc.
Positions 1, 4, 6 and 7 are
four-year terms; Position 5 is a
two-year term. There have
been no filings to date, but all
incumbents have indicated
they will file for re-election ex
cept Tierney, who has not indi
cated her intent.
Banks School
District 13
Three Banks School board
positions will be on the March
13 ballot. All positions are for
four-year terms.
Spencer Vandehey, Position
1 incumbent did not file for re-
election. A three-way race has
developed, however, with Dou
glas A. Nordholm, Ann Krut-
singer and Duane Lundsten all
filing for the vacant spot.
Nordholm is an account ex-
ecutive/insurance agent with
Waltz Sheridan Crawford, Inc.
He is also a member of the dis
trict’s budget committee.
Krutsinger is a library assis
tant at Banks Library and is
treasurer of Friends of the
Banks Library. Formerly self-
employed, she is a homemak
er and mother.
Lundsten, an informations
systems manager, is also on
the school district budget com
mittee and serves on the tech
nology curriculum advisory
panel of Banks High School.
Incumbent Willis Meeuw-
sen, a farmer and three-term
board member, has filed for re-
election to Position 2.
Position 4 incumbent Joe
Evers also seeks re-election. A
dairy farmer, he serves on the
Portland Community College
agriculture advisory board and
is a long-time member of the
Tri-City Fire Board.
Jewell School District
Three positions will be de
cided on the Jewell School
board.
Loren Jacobsen is the sole
candidate for Position 1. In
cumbent Joseph Budai is not
seeking re-election.
Position 2 incumbent Car
olyn Eady is being challenged
by Darren Berg.
In Position 5, David Samuel
son is seeking the seat held by
Ulrich G. Schockelt.
The next issue of The INDE
PENDENT, on February 7, will
contain more information, and
so far as is possible, pictures of
the candidates.
February 20 is the last day
to register to vote in the March
13 vote-by mail election.