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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 2006)
Page 2 The INDEPENDENT, January 19, 2006 The INDEPENDENT Published on the first and third Thursdays of each month by The Independent, LLC, 725 Bridge St., Vernonia, OR 97064. Phone/Fax: 503-429-9410. Publisher Clark McGaugh, clark@the-independent.net • Managing Editor Rebecca Mc- Gaugh, rebecca@the-independent.net • Editor Noni Ander- sen, noni@the-independent.net Opinion Work of volunteer officials should not be overlooked It is easy, and wrong, to overlook the efforts of elect- ed officials, particularly the volunteers who fill city councils, school boards, fire district boards and all the other positions that are vital to the citizens who are af- fected by the actions of these officials. Conversely, those who seek these positions should not overlook their responsibilities, either. These posi- tions are not ceremonial; they require a lot of study if the officials are to do their jobs adequately. It is frustrating to citizens who attend public meet- ings in hope of learning how their city or district oper- ates, when they feel that decisions have been made in private and are voted on without public discussion. This is most likely to occur because volunteer officials don’t want to say anything publicly that might upset anyone. Nevertheless, public discussion of public af- fairs is absolutely necessary if the goal is public trust. Also frustrating to citizens are decision-makers who abstain from voting on a particular issue. Again, this is usually because they don’t want to upset anyone, but (unless there is a conflict of interest, which hasn’t been declared) it is an abdication of their responsibility. An issue that is sensitive, requires clear responses. These positions are important. The volunteers who use their time and effort to fill them deserve respect. The voters who elected them, however, also deserve respect, in the form of conscientious office holders. No reason for boredom There are some very interesting public presenta- tions scheduled locally. The next Chautauqua program at the Vernonia Pub- lic Library is “Coyote Tales from the Northwest” on Sat- urday, January 21, at 2:00 p.m. Curt Yehnert, a profes- sor of English at Western Oregon University, combines aspects of folklore, mythology and anthropology as he retells and creates a cultural context for Coyote tales told in the Pacific Northwest. The Vernonia Pioneer Museum has scheduled “Mu- seum Talks” throughout the year. January 29 will fea- ture stories about Nettie Lloyd, who was a midwife in Vernonia, and the grandmother of Nancy Dailey, who will present the talk. Salem Scene By Representative Brad Witt Oregon District 31 On the move in Oregon– Senate Bill 71 One of the hallmarks of the 2005 Legislative Ses- sion was the concerted ef- fort to pull this State out of the economic doldrums. Oregon sank deeper and stayed longer in the reces- sion that gripped us in 2003 and 2004, than any other state in the union. With this in mind, Senate Bill 71 was intro- duced at the request of Governor Kulongoski. This bill came to be known as the Connect Ore- gon proposal, and its intent was to address seri- ous transportation problems throughout the state and at the same time create jobs. SB 71 author- izes the issuance of lottery bonds to establish a Multimodal Transportation Fund to be used to provide grants and loans for air, marine, and rail transportation projects. It is encouraging to know that SB 71 provides that 15% of the funds generated from the bond sales will be allocated to projects in each of five regions in the state. This means that projects will not just be concentrated in large metropolitan ar- eas, but that rural communities will benefit as well. Those of us in outlying communities often suffer from inadequate services, and our low-in- come workers, the elderly and those with disabil- ities depend on organized transportation to ac- cess employment, medical services and other life sustaining resources. I’m pleased to have been able to support this bill, and I encourage those of you involved in transportation projects to submit applications to the Oregon Transportation Commission for re- view. Stop the Outsourcing – House Bill 2924 This decade has been marked with an out- pouring of jobs from the United States to points unknown. It is difficult to forbid private industry from engaging in this activity, but we can limit what your state government does. Rep.Diane Rosenbaum and I were chief sponsors of a bill to prohibit state agencies from awarding contracts for services that would be performed outside of the United States, except under special circum- stances. I feel that international outsourcing exacer- bates unemployment and workforce dislocation, deprives Oregon residents of job opportunities and deprives Oregon of industries and jobs this state has expended resources to attract. It erodes state and local revenues, and it may also jeopardize the protection of personal information in the course of delivering the service. This bill was a good idea that, unfortunately, did not make it through the process. But it is an issue that is on everyone’s mind and it is not go- ing away. Again, it is an economic issue that ei- ther has already touched your family or will at some time in the future. I look forward to taking another run at this in the next session.
