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The INDEPENDENT, February 19, 2004
The
INDEPENDENT
Serving the upper Nehalem River valley. Published on the
first and third Thursdays of each month, by Public Opinion
Laboratory Ltd., 725 Bridge Street, Vernonia, OR 97064, as
a free newspaper. Publishers, Dirk & Noni Andersen. Editor,
Noni Andersen. Phone/Fax: 503-429-9410, e-mail:
noni@vernonia.com Display Advertising, Clark McGaugh,
e-mail: clark@vernonia.com Classified Advertising, Rebec-
ca McGaugh, e-mail: rebecca@vernonia.com
Opinion
Banks mayoral recall
lacking valid reasons
The effort to recall Banks Mayor Robert Orlowski ap-
pears to be based on either remarkable mispercep-
tions or stunning ignorance of the mayor’s responsibil-
ities and duties.
Why else would anyone charge the mayor with re-
sponsibility for the failure of Banks voters to renew an
operating levy for the police department? This has
been brought before the voters twice; it was over-
whelmingly approved twice, and it failed twice…be-
cause not enough voters cast ballots to meet the dou-
ble majority requirement.
The city charter does not require the mayor to hustle
votes, nevertheless, Orlowski spent a lot of time knock-
ing on more than 200 doors and explaining the levy to
Banks residents. If the people behind the recall had put
in the same effort, the levy might have won…but that’s
a lot harder than blaming the mayor and getting 68 sig-
natures for a recall election.
Another truly ludicrous charge is that citizens “are
not encouraged to attend” council meetings and are
not allowed to speak if they do attend. Council meet-
ings are held on a regular schedule and are open to the
public, but it’s really hard to “encourage” attendance by
people who aren’t interested.
If those who want to recall the mayor actually attend-
ed council meetings, they would see that a time for
public comment is on the agenda. Citizens are not only
allowed to speak, they sometimes do so voluminously.
To claim otherwise is simply untrue.
Equally untrue are allegations that Orlowski is re-
sponsible for citizens’ lack of knowledge about “water
issues” and “major decisions.” Even citizens who don’t
attend council meetings can learn a great deal about
what is happening by reading just one of the four differ-
ent newspapers that report on city government in
Banks.
Information is available for anyone who wants to
learn. Conversely, it makes no difference how much in-
formation is available when there is no desire to learn.
Mayor Orlowski’s unpaid work on behalf of the citi-
zens of Banks is regulated by the City Council, which
must approve all decisions before action can be taken.
These decisions are made in public and his work is
done in public. The mayor should not be recalled.
Federal Poverty Guidelines: Who is poor in 2004?
The Federal Poverty Guidelines for 2004
have been released. The poverty guidelines,
sometimes loosely referred to as the “federal
poverty level,” define who is officially considered
“poor.” The guidelines are adjusted each year to
account for inflation.
State and federal agencies use the guidelines
to determine eligibility for a range of programs,
such as National School Lunch Program, Legal
Services, Food Stamps, and the Oregon Health
Plan.
The guidelines are not used for the state’s
cash assistance welfare program, called Tempo-
rary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), or for
determining eligibility for the federal or state
earned income credits.
The Federal Poverty Guidelines are based on
the size of the family and are applicable to the 48
contiguous states and the District of Columbia;
there are different guidelines for Alaska and
Hawaii. “The poor” are families with incomes at
or below the poverty guidelines. While the term
is not officially defined, “low income” often
means families with incomes at or below 200
percent (twice) the poverty guidelines.
Federal Poverty Guidelines, 2004
Family Yearly
Monthly
Hourly
Size
Income
Income
Income
1
$9,310
$776
$4.48
2
$12,490
$1,041
$6.00
3
$15,670
$1,306
$7.53
4
$18,850
$1,571
$9.06
5
$22,030
$1,836
$10.59
6
$25,210
$2,101
$12.12
7
$28,390
$2,366
$13.65
8
$31,570
$2,631
$15.18
For each additional person add $3,180 (yearly),
$265 (monthly), $1.53 (hourly).
Source: Federal Register, Vol. 69, No. 30,
February 13, 2004, pp. 7335-7338. Monthly and
hourly figures calculated by the OCPP and
rounded to the nearest dollar and cent, respec-
tively. The hourly rate is based on 40 hours of
work per week for a full year (2080 hours).
The 2004 Federal Poverty Guidelines have been
adjusted for inflation over the last year. Following
are last year's 2003 guidelines for comparison:
Federal Poverty Guidelines, 2003
Family Yearly
Monthly
Hourly
Size
Income
Income
Income
1
$8,980
$748
$4.32
2
$12,120
$1,010
$5.83
3
$15,260
$1,272
$7.34
4
$18,400
$1,533
$8.85
5
$21,540
$1,795
$10.36
6
$24,680
$2,057
$11.87
7
$27,820
$2,318
$13.38
8
$30,960
$2,580
$14.88
For each additional person add $3,140 (yearly),
$262 (monthly), $1.51 (hourly).
Source: Federal Register, Vol. 68, No. 26, Feb-
ruary 7, 2003, pp. 6456-6458. Monthly and
hourly figures calculated by the OCPP and
rounded to the nearest dollar and cent, respec-
tively. The hourly rate is based on 40 hours of
work per week for a full year (2080 hours).
For additional information contact the Oregon
Center for Public Policy. These charts are avail-
able on the OCPP web site at: http://www.
ocpp.org/poverty/index.htm. For previous years'
poverty guidelines, or guidelines for Alaska and
Hawaii, visit the web site for the U.S. Depart-
ment of Health and Human Services at:
http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/index.shtml