The independent., February 21, 2001, Image 1

WOEC seeks by-laws change, possible expansion
By Jim Buxton
It is not easy to provide ser­
vices in a rural area, especially
in one as sparsely populated
as ours. The cost/revenue ratio
is usually too low for private en­
terprise to invest in Rural
America. In the ‘30s, when pri­
vate companies wired only
cities, Congress formed the
Rural Electrification Adminis­
tration (REA), which provided
loan funds to rural areas that
were not served by private cor­
porations. Coops were formed
to provide not only electric ser­
vice, but also telephone ser­
vice. As a result, productivity
increased, communication im­
proved and society benefitted
as a whole.
West Oregon Electric Co­
operative (WOEC) has been in
existence primarily to provide
electric service to the inhabi­
tants of the area, but the Board
of Directors from time-to-time
has considered broadening the
COOP’s business line and its
customer base. Early in its ex­
istence,
refrigerators
and
stoves could be purchased
from the COOP. About ten
years ago, WOEC handled
Rural Television satellite pro­
gramming subscriptions. Most
recently, the board and staff
have been looking into provid­
ing high-speed Internet ser­
vice.
WOEC’s attorney, Chuck
Fadeley has recommended
that the bylaws be amended to
“clarify the Cooperative’s au­
thority to engage in activities
other than electrical service,
and provide operational flexibil­
ity in a deregulated market,
where the Board has deter­
mined such participation will
benefit the Cooperative.”
As a result of this recom­
mendation, the Board voted to
conduct a special meeting to
allow the membership to
amend the by-laws of the coop­
erative. The meeting will be
held at the WOEC board room
Please see page 10
BULK RATE
U.S. Postage Paid
Permit No. 37
Vernonia, OR 97064
Attn: Leslie Larson
UO Library-OMP
Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley’
February 21, 2001
Candidates express
school board views
Looking toward summer
By Noni Andersen
Anyone who is cynical about
either the political process or
education should spend some
time talking with small town
school
board candidates.
There are differences among
them, of course, but it is obvi­
ous that they care a great deal
about both students and com­
munity.
Vernonia School District has
an exceptional group of candi­
dates on the March ballot.
They all responded to ques­
tionnaires from The Indepen­
dent and spoke at a candidates
forum on March 12. To avoid
repetition, all of the candidates
recognized inadequate funding
as a major problem.
&
Cold wind and a little snow didn’t prevent the installation of two floating piers on Vernonia
Lake this month. The piers are handicapped accessible and will allow people with limited
agility an opportunity to get safely out on the lake.
City schedules two special meetings
The City of Vernonia invites
the public to two special meet­
ings. At the first, a town hall
meeting on February 26, re­
sults of the recent citizen sur­
vey will be discussed.
The meeting will start at
7:00 p.m. in the Scout Cabin in
Hawkins Park.
The second meeting, actual­
ly a workshop to consider
transportation and growth man­
agement, will be on Thursday,
March 1 at 7:00 p.m., in the
City Council chambers in the
Vernonia City Hall.
This workshop is a program
developed jointly by the Ore­
gon Department of Transporta­
tion and the Department of
Land Conservation & Develop­
FREE
ment.
The Transportation and
Growth Management (TGM)
program promotes community
planning and design that re­
sults in compact, transporta­
tion-efficient development. The
planning ensures pedestrian,
bicycle and (as much as possi­
ble) transit-friendly options for
local communities.
TGM supports local govern­
ments in their efforts to man­
age growth and provides a va­
riety of grants and technical as­
sistance programs.
This workshop will be pre­
sented with both the council
and the Vernonia Planning
Commission.
Rep. Wu will visit Nehalem valley
Congressman David Wu is
spending Thursday and Friday
in Clatsop and Columbia
Counties and will be stopping
in Jewell, Mist and Vernonia on
Friday, February 23.
His first stop in the Nehalem
Valley will be at Jewell School,
where he will address students
during an assembly starting at
1:15 p.m.
From there, he is scheduled
for a tour of the Mist-Birkenfeld
Fire Station at 2:15 p.m.
He will be at the Scout Cab­
in in Vernonia at 3:15 p.m. for
coffee and conversation. The
public is invited to attend.
Jeff Blum
Pos. 7
incumbent
P e rs o n a l:
Age 39
Married
3 children
Education:
Accounting
and mechanical engineering
Occupation/Background:
For the past 10 years (eight of
them in Oregon), he has been
Customer Service Engineering
Lead for Applied Materials at
Intel. Prior experience in con­
struction
Blum believes that the role
of a school board member is to
set policy for operations and
create a vision for the district.
While avoiding micro-manag­
ing of daily operations, board
members need to take an ac­
tive role in fiscal responsibility
through the budget process.
As a five-year member of
the school board, and in his
second term as chair, Blum
feels there has been significant
progress toward district goals
but that efforts must be con­
centrated in two areas particu­
larly - maximum utilization of
available funding and in­
creased student achievement.
The district’s strengths are
in an outstanding teaching staff
and a strong administrative
staff, said Blum. He has been
pleased with improvements in
the special education program
but says poor communications
with the community, and the
lack of a significant TAG pro­
gram must be addressed.
Other involvement in the
district includes providing
transportation for student activ­
ities.
Tom Jones
Pos. 7
Personal:
Age 35
Married to
teacher
2 children
Education:
Dual B.S. in
Agricultural Business Manage­
ment and Rangeland Re­
sources
Occupation/Background:
Logger for Holce Logging since
1993, U.S. Naval Reserve
since 1985.
Beyond the financial re­
straints, Jones is concerned
about the district’s physical fa­
cilities and overcrowding, plus
attracting and keeping high
quality educators.
He believes the role of a
board member is to be an eye,
ear and voice for the communi­
ty and represent the views of
all taxpayers. He also wants to
enhance the educational expe­
rience of the children and their
educators.
The district's strengths are
the people, Jones says, both
employees and community
members, as well as its size
and isolation. He also cited
communication as a weakness
Please see page 2