The INDEPENDENT, December 5, 2002
Ed. note: The following letter was
intended for The INDEPENDENT
issue of November 21, but was de
railed by circumstances beyond
the control of the writer.
Safety of our schools
is our responsibility
To the Editor:
Our children are not as safe
as common sense standards
would suggest.
The bottom line?...We have
schools that are in need of ma
jor repairs or replacement and I
feel they are unsafe enough to
have removed my kids.
I do not write this letter to
blame or find fault with anyone.
I specifically write to paint a big
picture. We have been given
this information before. In
School Board meetings and
workshops, in reports available
from the District Office, and
from the columns of The INDE
PENDENT. We have received
information from groups who
are obligated to inform, and
small groups or individuals who
found it of personal interest or
concern. We have gotten it in
small steady doses, and it is
now time to sum it up, look at
the big picture and take a deep
breath. I gasped when I did.
Personally, my current focus
is on WGS...I have children
who are not attending classes
in the main building, by my
choice. This decision was
based on my concerns not re
garding the “ifs” but more real
istically, the “when.” VHS is
also a concern and document
ed in the reports.
After the flood [in 1996], we
cleaned up as best we could
but since then Staff, parents
and children have complained
of headaches, nosebleeds, si
nus infections and the onset or
worsening of asthma.
After the earthquake, and af
ter reports were compiled, it is
documented that structurally,
mechanically and electrically
we are, at best, in poor shape.
When the buildings were built,
they were built well. No one at
that time had the information
that we do today, for example,
take horizontal load into con
sideration. My point is the mo
ment the buildings were built
(50 - 70+ years ago), some of
the issues we face now were
set in stone.
I have taken time to total the
cost of recommended repairs
from the 2001 reports alone,
and they total $5,948,000.00
Nearly 6 million dollars! That
ONLY covers WGS and VHS. It
is also important to note that
the seismic report that has
been referred to is “...ONLY
from a cursory walk through...
exposed-to-view... review of
drawings made available...”
and that “Studies, evaluations,
By Ann Krutsinger, Library Assistant
Banks Public Library
I’m holding a copy of the
book, Take My Advice: Let
ters to the Next Generation
from People Who Know a
Thing or Two, edited by
James Harmon. Mr. Har
mon lives (currently but not
for much longer!) in the
Banks area where he grew
up. What is this book, really? I’d call it an in
spired and inspiring idea — he wrote letters to an
assortment of intellectuals, artists, movie stars,
philosophers and authors and asked for guid
ance - words to live by.
What is truly amazing (I haven’t seen James'
letters but they must’ve rocked!) is how many
people wrote back serious and thoughtful letters.
Mr. Harmon says he got the idea from reading
Rainier Maria Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet,
when he was 21. After receiving replies to his
missives, Mr. Harmon got sucked up by Life
(with a capital “L”) and the letters went into stor
age until he emerged a bit battered, but wiser,
from his twenties. Who really can’t stand to learn
a thing or two? It was humbling to read words of
advice from Katherine Hepburn: “Work as hard
as you can, whatever you do, and try to spread
material testing, destructive
probing, analysis and observa
tion of all spaces were NOT
performed.”
This dollar amount does not
cover past flood clean up or our
current situation regarding
mold and its clean up, or prop
er asbestos abatement. It also
does not cover what they could
not see! There is absolutely no
question in my mind that this
price tag is well under the real
mark by a long shot. Anyone
having endured a remodeling
job will surely back me up on
that. In other words, that price
tag is attached to only what
they COULD and DID see in
2001 at only two of our four
schools.
I don’t want money spent to
clean up mold... if it is only to
return. I don’t want air quality
tested after the initial clean up,
without a base line test done
before the clean up is done.
This does not allow me to mon
itor the improvement. I don’t
want, literally, myself or any of
my community members, to
clear supplies out of a storage
area, knowingly contaminated
with asbestos, so we can then
just shut the door. I don’t want
“avoidable illness” to befall any
one. I don’t want my child to sit
in a room so hot she can’t think,
nor do I want my children to
have to escape “the bricks that
will still fall” or “a shower of
generosity of spirit." Others whose letters are in
cluded are Ken Kesey (“Don’t say it. It’s too hard
to take it back.”). Mary McCarthy, George Saun
ders, Tom Robbins and many others have writ
ten sincere (sometimes sinful) thought-provok
ing letters about the state of our world today as
they see it. Take MY advice: This book is worth
reading!
Thank you! To everyone who stopped by the
Friends of the Banks Library Holiday Fest. This
fund raiser helped pay for the Preschool Story
Time as well as the 2003 Summer Reading Pro
gram.
Holiday Hours will be as follows:
December 24, 11 a.m.- 3 p.m.
December 25, closed
December 3, 11 a.m.- 5 p.m.
January 1, closed
Preschool Story Time will be cancelled De
cember 25 and January 1, and will resume Jan
uary 8 at 10:15 a.m.
Banks Public Library: 111 Market Street.
Hours: Tues., Wed., Thurs., 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.;
Fri. and Sat. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Preschool Story Time: Wednesdays, 10:15
a.m., when school is in session.
Phone: (503 ) 324-1382
Internet: www.WILInet.wccls.hb.or.us.
to browse library resources or to
reserve materials electronically.
glass." I don’t want my child to
sit in a classroom electrically
over-loaded (two electrical out
lets per room). I don’t want my
child to play in a basement with
“cast iron sewer... [that] has
corrosion” just under his feet. I
don't want a fire alarm to not
automatically report to ADT and
I don’t care if it is “not required.”
I don’t want the teachers, cus
todians, or other school staff to
be exposed to any of this, or
myself, when I happen to walk
into the building. I also don’t
want the District to make Band-
Aid decisions or expenditures
because they want to try and fix
something... wanting to be re
sponsive to a community that
has been critical regarding their
responsiveness in the past.
So, now you know why I am
unwilling to bet my children’s
health and welfare. My head
was in the sand. Opening up
those walls at WGS, hearing of
the mold and dry rot found and
first hand reading of the reports
filed, honed my senses and
gave me facts.
It is my opinion any money
spent to try and fix a small
piece or portion of anything I
know is wrong with our schools
is wasted, unless we all decide
to allow it and follow through
completely. There is no easy
answer or small cost. It will
have to be fixed and borne by
everyone in the community via
a bond measure.
On November 21 st, the most
recent structural engineer will
report to the School Board. He
will say the building is not going
to fall down of its own accord. I
find that statement rather pa
thetic, if I keep the rest of my
knowledge in mind. Shame on
me if I don’t.
Our children are not as safe
as common sense standards
would suggest. I utterly believe
this responsibility again lies
with my community and myself.
Which includes clearly inform
ing and supporting our school
board to take the necessary ac
tions and bear the necessary
costs. It is OUR decision to
make.
Sincerely,
Michelle Blum
Vernonia
Quotes were taken from:
“Existing Facilities Seismic As
sessment" - May 3, 2001, by Walk
er / Diloreto I Younie, Inc.
“Facilities Study" - May 2001, by
Interface Engineering
The INDEPENDENT- August 1,
2001, “Engineers explain schools’
problems"
Page 3
The INDEPENDENT - October
17, 2002, “WGS safe from dry rot,
not earthquakes”
Thinks tax measure
is “Blackmail”
To the Editor:
Prior to this November’s
elections and since, I have
heard via radio and television,
our State Elected Officials com
plain to Oregonians about the
lack of funding available for our
schools, health care, law en
forcement, and more. In
essence, blackmailing us to
vote yes on Measure 28 in Jan
uary 2003.
Several bond measures,
(needed and important), were
recently voted down, because
many Oregonians feel like I do.
Enough is enough! The last
bond I voted YES on was five
years ago. I have voted NO on
everyone since, after I realized,
that when I added it all up, 50%
of my income already went to
taxes (in one form or another)
and to “required” insurances.
Tack on what I pay out of pock
et for what insurance doesn’t
pay for; I am left trying to sup
port my family on much less
than half of the income I make.
Leaving the majority of my in
come to government and insur
ance agencies, who continually
raise my rates and reduce my
benefits.
At every election new bonds
are presented for very valuable
and needed resources for our
communities. We are not voting
for swimming pools and recre
ation centers, we are voting for
the basic fundamental needs of
any community, which we
should already have.
Previously I voted no on
these bonds because these
were not “wants” these were
“needs” that should have al
ready been funded as the num
ber one priority in our govern
ments. But... instead, they are
not properly funded, and our
children, our elderly, our safety,
and our lifestyles, suffer be
cause our governments refuse
to prioritize and budget accord
ingly.
I have not heard how gov
ernment spending is being cut
by reducing waste, removing
unnecessary government pro
grams, government downsiz
ing, cutting road projects, or re
formatting welfare programs to
better serve those in real need.
Instead, what I hear is how our
Please see page 16