“Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley"
Vol. 17, No. 10
“Half full” approach
for 47J’s fiscal year
Hard work, big smiles...
A hard-working crew of students with the Oregon Youth Conservation Corps paused to
smile at the photographer while working on the banks of Bear Creek, between Vernonia
City Hall and the Vernonia Public Library. The students have spent several days remov
ing nuisance plants and helping create a healthy riparian area. This OYCC crew, under
the supervision of Anna Vacca, is from St. Helens.
Artifacts missing; museum locked up
By Noni Andersen
During a public meeting last
month with the Columbia Coun
ty Board of Commissioners,
long-time volunteers at the Ver
nonia museum of the Columbia
County Historical Society ex
pressed dismay at being treat
ed as though they weren’t trust
worthy, and felt that Historical
Society President Bob Brown
was trying to replace them with
volunteers from other areas. A
particular frustration was that
Brown had locked them out of
parts of the museum and had
asked them to give him their
keys, which they refused to do.
They were also dissatisfied
with greatly reduced public ac
cess, because the museum
was being kept open only a half
day per week.
Brown and society director
Charles Grant said little in re
sponse.
Commission chair Tony
Hyde said he would have the
county counsel’s office re
search all agreements between
the county and the Historical
Society in order to clarify the
relationships. The county allo
cates funds each year for the
historical society’s museum op
erations in both St. Helens and
Vernonia. The City of Vernonia
owns the local museum build
ing, which is leased to the
county. Following that meeting,
the volunteers felt that, with the
aid of the Commissioners, ar
May 16, 2002
eas of disagreement could be
rectified.
Until last week, that is, when
volunteer Faye Sword reported
to the Commissioners and to
the City of Vernonia that some
Indian artifacts were missing
from the local collection. It was
impossible to tell whether they
had been stolen or had been
removed by someone with a
key. No accusations were
made, but the commissioners
responded by locking up the lo
cal museum and locking every
one out.
Another meeting was held
last Tuesday. Again, represen
tatives from Vernonia talked
with the commissioners. Again,
Please see page 14
Vernonia School District Su
perintendent Larry McClellan
offered reflections on the state
of education funding, from his
perspective of thirty years in
education, at the first meeting
of the district’s Budget Commit
tee on May 9. The full commit
tee, in an unprecedented show
of attendance that included all
14 members, listened as Mc
Clellan stressed that he and the
administrative team were trying
to remain positive by looking at
the budget as a “glass that is
one-half full,” rather than one-
half empty.
While preparing for the bud
get overview, McClellan con
sidered the level of support and
services available — and the
corresponding level of pro
grams available to students —
in the 1970s. In today’s Vernon
ia district, that would include
two additional teachers at both
the high school and grade
school levels, full time librari
ans in each school, a school
nurse, and a much greater lev
el of education resources. To
supply that level of service, he
calculated, the district would
need approximately $1.7 mil
lion more than is currently
available, or almost 30-percent
more than the current 2 0 0 1 -
2002 budget.
Quoting from the 2000-2001
budget message, McClellan
explained that voter-approved
property tax measures in the
early 1990s changed school
funding dramatically. Prior to
that time, schools were funded
primarily through local property
taxes. School funding is now
controlled by the state legisla
ture, which sets the revenue
available for each district. The
funds allocated are now based
on a formula that ties local
property taxes to the amount of
funds available from the state.
Timber revenue is also includ
ed in the formula. The result is
that an increase or decrease in
any one revenue source has no
effect on the total that the
school receives.
Because of the changes,
McClellan explained, the state
general fund, which is derived
mostly from income taxes, is
now a significant source of rev
enue for schools. In good eco
nomic times, income tax rev
enues are strong. In a weak
economy, income tax revenues
fall, directly impacting the
amount of money available for
school districts.
However, the budget com
mittee process remains critical,
McClellan said. “The challenge
(to budget committee mem
bers) is to communicate the
budget to the public. School
funding is a major issue that we
c a n n o longer ignore. We have
to b e a c tiv e if w e w a n t s o m e
thing different."
The legislature based the
level of funding for the 2001-
2003 biennium on the Quality
Please see page10
It’s too late to mail your ballot
Voters who have not already
mailed their ballots would be
wise to leave them at one of
the ballot drop sites.
Ballots may be left at the
Vernonia Public Library, 701
Weed Avenue, on May 16-17,
from Noon-5:00 p.m.; May 18,
10 a.m.-2:00 p.m.; May 20,
noon-5:00 p.m. and May 21
from noon-8:00 p.m.
Any county courthouse will
have a place to leave ballots
and elections offices will be
open until 8:00 p.m. on May 21.
Voters may use any official
drop site and their ballots will
be forwarded to the county
where they are registered.