The INDEPENDENT, April 6, 2006
Page 3
Letters
Objects to 47J long
range plans for WGS
To the Editor:
I don’t want Washington
Grade School torn down! De-
stroying WGS would be like
burning family pictures in a liv-
ing album, it would be so sad.
There was a meeting in the
Vernonia Middle School cafete-
ria on March 15, 2006, spon-
sored by the Long Range Plan-
ning Committee. I arrived late
to the meeting even though I
had marked the calendar. I
guess I was looking for a sign
posted to alert the good folks of
Vernonia so we all could have
our say and be informed. We
should be part of the decision
making process that would ef-
fect our taxes, our children, our
grandchildren, and the skyline
as I come down off the hill. I
wonder how many folks even
knew about this important
meeting? I’m just afraid that by
the time that word gets out to
the people of Vernonia that the
plans would already be set in
motion. We will be saddled with
whatever taxes, our children
shuffled about and the local
builders insulted again without
the opportunity to bid on the
jobs to be done.
I didn’t see notice of the
March 15 meeting in this good
paper, in the PTA newsletter, on
the scrolling news board on
Vernonia High School, in the
senior center, on any of the lo-
cal business windows or by
word of mouth. I found out
about the meeting by a small
loose yellow flyer, floating
around in my child’s backpack
that was sent out only the pre-
vious week. There was a post-
ing on one side of the message
board out in front of WGS that
read: Community MTG VMS
VERN Schools Facility Plan-
ning WGS March 15 7pm. That
sounds very ho-hum to me. I
don’t expect them to say:
PLANNING TO DESTROY
WGS AS IF ANYONE CARES,
but I am disappointed that for
every one Long Range Plan-
ning Committee member that
attended the March 15 meeting
there were maybe three non-
members. I echo the message
given on that little yellow flyer
Between the Bookends
By Angie Spiering, Library Assistant
Banks Public Library
Join in a Celebration
of Family, Community
and Culture through the
Art of Storytelling
Washington
County
Cooperative Library Ser-
vices has been hosting
the second annual Hear-
ing Voices Storytelling
Festival, April 1 – 8, in cel-
ebration of National Li-
brary Week. Designed for all ages, the week-
long Hearing Voices Storytelling Festival has
showcased professional storytellers and provid-
ed opportunity for members of the general pub-
lic to tell a tale. You may visit the Cooperative Li-
brary Services website for a list of the remaining
festival events and a preview of the style and
caliber of storytelling being presented,
<www.WILInet.wccls.lib.or.us/hear ingvoices>.
Storytelling provides a foundation for literacy
– and the appreciation of life-long learning. Our
goal is to foster an appreciation for the role that
the oral storytelling tradition plays within families,
communities and cultures. It is our hope that this
festival will help all of us understand that the sto-
ries we collect in our libraries can be multi-di-
mensional – when stories are spoken and are
heard, they come alive.
Remember to join Miss Cathy for Preschool
Storytime on Wednesdays at 10:15 am. Miss
Cathy has been with us for the past six years,
entertaining both children and parents during
storytime.
The themes for April are:
April 5th: The Bunny Hop
April 12th: Who Laid the Egg?
April 19th: Daffy Down Dilly
April 26th: What is It??
On our new book shelf we have:
Bad Childhood Good Life by Dr. Laura
Schlesinger. Dr. Laura will help you realize that
no matter what circumstances you came from or
currently live in, you are ultimately responsible
for how you react to them. The acceptance of
this basic truth is the source of your power to se-
cure the good Life you long for. In her signature
straightforward style, with real-life examples, Dr.
Laura shows what you will gain by not being sat-
isfied with an identity as a victim, or even as a
survivor – but striving to be a victor.
Liars and Saints by Maile Meloy. This richly
textured novel tells a story of sex and longing,
love and loss, and of the deceit that can lie at the
heart of family relationships. Set in California,
Liars and Saints follows four generations of the
Catholic Santerre family from World War II to the
present. In a family driven as much by jealousy
and propriety as by love, an unspoken tradition
of deceit is passed from generation to genera-
tion. When tragedy shatters their precarious do-
mestic lives, it takes astonishing courage and
compassion to bring them back together. By
turns funny and disturbing, irreverent and pro-
found, Liars and Saints is a masterful display of
Maile Meloy’s prodigious gifts and her penetrat-
ing insight into an extraordinary American family
and the nature of human love.
Yes, The River Knows by Tracy Dunham. Tra-
cy Dunham’s acclaimed debut novel Wishful
Sinful introduced us to Tal Jefferson, an attorney
who fled the big city in disgrace after losing a
headline-making capital case. Now, in the sec-
ond of this evocative series, Tal must confront
the racism simmering beneath the surface of her
hometown to solve a vicious murder.
The annual Friends of the Banks Public Li-
brary plant and book sale will be held on Friday
May 5th and Saturday May 6th. Times to follow.
Banks Public Library: 111 Market Street.
Hours: Tues., Wed., Thurs., 12 - 7:00 p.m.;
Fri. and Sat. 12 - 5:00 p.m.
Preschool Story Time:
Wednesdays at 10:15 a.m.
Phone: (503 ) 324-1382 for information
(503) 846-3245 to renew material
Internet: <www.WILInet.wccls.lib.or.us.>
Browse library resources, reserve or renew
materials online. Call for information.
floating around in my child’s
backpack that read “Communi-
ty Meeting. Give input on the
development of future facility
plans for the Vernonia School
District! *Everyone Welcomed*”
Please get in touch with the
Long Range Planning Commit-
tee at their Vernonia School
District Website: www.vernon
ia.k12.or.us before the next 3
meetings, and before they start
what they plan. Please share
your knowledge and opinions
with your family, friends, neigh-
bors, church members, and
folks that might care about our
town.
Amber Dahl
Vernonia
Edit. note: An article by Schann
Nelson in the Feb. 16, 2006, issue
of The Independent presented a
comprehensive look at the work of
47J’s Long Range Planning Com-
mittee, and emphasized the impor-
tance of public attendance at the
March 15 meeting. There was no
notice in the March 2 issue, be-
cause the district missed the publi-
cation deadline.
Appalled by 167%
sewer rate increase
To the Editor:
DO THE MATH.
The city of Vernonia plans to
increase your property taxes by
$4.00 per thousand to pay for
general obligation bond funds
to upgrade the sewer system
for the next twenty years. And,
they plan to increase your
monthly sewer rate by $10.00
per month to operate and main-
tain this upgraded system.
If the bond measure fails
they plan to increase your
monthly sewer rate by $62.00.
An annual increase of $744.00.
That is a 167% increase in
sewer rates.
Meanwhile a typical house in
Vernonia
assessed
[at]
$200,000 will pay an increase
in taxes of $800.00 per year
plus the $120 per year in in-
creased sewer fees for a com-
bined total increase of $920.00
per year.
Now remember also that
over the next twenty years that
typical $200,000 house will in-
crease in assessed value to
$350,000 due to the 3% annual
increase applied by the county
as a result of Measure 5. So, in
the final year of this 20 year
payback your typical house will
be paying $1400. per year in in-
creased taxes plus the $120.00
per year operation and mainte-
nance fee for a total of
$1520.00 per year. Add that to
your current monthly rate of
$37.00 per month or $444.00
per year for a total of $1964.00
per year or approx. $164.00 per
month. Now picture yourself liv-
ing on a $700.00 per month So-
cial Security check.
Frank Schrier
Vernonia
Arrested for seeking
end to Iraq war
To the Editor:
Last Monday [March 20] I
was arrested for the first time in
my life. Eighteen others and I
took the non-violent action of
sitting in Senator Ron Wyden’s
office to request that he intro-
duce legislation to get us out of
Iraq in months rather than
years.
As the polls show, we were
representing the majority of the
people of Oregon, Iraq, and our
brave troops now serving in this
unjust war. I wish Senator Wy-
den would represent us and be
the leader he should be. In-
stead his action is to support
the status quo. For our action
we were handcuffed, arrested,
and must now go to court.
While we tried to reach the
senator, evidently we do not
have the money behind us to
warrant his time or action.
While disappointed, we will not
go away, and we ask that you
will join us to stop business as
usual.
Troy Horton
Fishhawk Lake
Join with Pride for
annual clean-up day
To the Editor:
Vernonia Pride wishes to in-
vite members of the community
to come out and join us for this
year’s clean up day. It will be
April 22, registration at Provi-
dence Health Center, starting
at 9 A.M.
Please bring yard tools,
weedeaters are especially
needed.
If you are a group or an or-
ganization, or have a specific
area or project in mind, please
pre-register by calling Genny
Fisher at 503-429-4019.
Please bring yard tools,
Please see Page 21