The INDEPENDENT, May 17, 2007
Page 3
Letters
Taxpayers need info
city tries to withhold
To the Editor:
Having read discouraging
and disparaging remarks with
regard to development of the
Learning Center and our news-
paper’s attempt to get definitive
information, I attended the Fri-
day, May 4, meeting anticipat-
ing and hoping that our council,
city manager and persons from
the paper were going to resolve
the conflict. They were to dis-
cuss how best to provide city
information to the reporters of
the newspaper in order to not
have further conflicting interac-
tions. The meeting addressed
that element, then ignored it
and turned to policy-forming
with visitor input. This was truly
a disappointment for me, as I
think it is necessary for apolo-
gies from the city. Others in the
audience expressed similar
feelings since it was obvious
the publisher and owner of The
Independent was not directly
addressed.
I have great respect for the
accuracy of our newspaper be-
cause our taxpayers need the
city information in order to par-
ticipate in the committees that
help make Vernonia shine.
I would compare The Inde-
pendent owners’ way of obtain-
ing news articles to the OPB
news I listen to on radio. The
Independent’s passion for hon-
esty and truth is the same as
that shown by OPB. We have
had a free newspaper for 22
years with these standards.
We need to be informed ac-
curately to support the terrific
new ideas and desires that the
city receives from its citizens.
At this point, I think we need
to remember our feeling for
each other when we had the
flood – working together, and
communicating is so necessary
in all ‘families.’
Isabelle McDaniel
Vernonia
Volunteering at VCLC
has been rewarding
To the Editor:
About a month ago I met
Jessica Jones (Director, VCLC)
for the first time. After learning
Out of My Mind
From page 2
What is known is this: When council decided to hire an interim
administrator last year, they contacted the League of Oregon
Cities (LOC) for a list of available people and also accepted appli-
cations from the public. They interviewed only three people, two
of them totally unqualified, and hired the third, M.R. “Dick” Kline
on July 10, 2006, after a cursory background check. One condi-
tion for anyone accepting the interim position was that he would
not be considered for the permanent position.
On August 21, 2006, Kline was hired as the regular city admin-
istrator, with Mayor Harrison bubbling, “We’ve had a unique op-
portunity to watch Mr. Kline for the past two months.” Council was
unanimous in their sheep-like acceptance. Council agreed fully
and asked no questions, not even about salary. There was also
no background check of the sort required for every other key po-
sition in city government. If there had been, council might have
seen an article from August, 2001, in the Ontario Argus-Observer
mentioning that Kline was terminated in a one-minute “whirlwind”
meeting, by a 7-0 vote.
Does the Vernonia council know why? Should they? Do they
care?
The mayor and council should always insist on a thorough
background check before hiring for a key position such as city ad-
ministrator. Questions should be asked and answered before hir-
ing.
Equally important, is why council thought it was unnecessary to
seek the best candidate available. If that person turned out to be
Kline, they would have confirmed their first impression. Mr. Kline,
who frequently cites his experience in private business, certainly
knows that no well-run business would consider hiring a key per-
son without a thorough check.
Again, this is not questioning Kline, but the mayor and council.
They seem to have so little regard for the citizens (taxpayers) of
Vernonia that they have forgotten their responsibilities. They are
supposed to be the shepherds, not the sheep.
that I had skills in network ad-
ministration and computer re-
pair she asked me to consider
volunteering at the learning
center. After talking to Jesse at
length, I realized how desper-
ate she was for someone with
my skills and I couldn't turn
down the offer. I toured the
computer lab and right off the
bat Jesse put me to work set-
ting up a printer. I was sur-
prised to learn how much work
Jesse put into the lab, but that
motivated me to help out even
more.
Working at the Learning
Center has been an amazing
opportunity for me and I wanted
the community to know how im-
portant the Center is. I feel that
the
Vernonia
Community
Learning Center is one of the
best things to happen to our
community in my lifetime,
Jesse Jones is one of the most
dedicated and caring individu-
als I have ever met. Being at
VCLC I’ve learned about some
of the great things VCLC is do-
ing, like offering PCC classes.
How great would it be to go to
community college without
leaving town? This is just one
of the progressive goals of the
VCLC. It would be a shame if
our community ever lost VCLC,
and I want to encourage every-
one in Vernonia to support
VCLC.
Also, I understand the need
of our citizens to know about
the city’s financial state, and I
support transparency in gov-
ernment but I urge you to be
patient. The people at VCLC
are working hard for this com-
munity. I think it would be a mis-
take to judge VCLC and City
Hall too harshly because the
benefits of a successful VCLC
are so important to this commu-
nity. Thank you!
Corey Hooker
Volunteer VCLC
Local (child) authors
still being enjoyed
To the Editor:
As I was going through my
classroom library at Woodriver
Elementary in Fairbanks, Alas-
ka, I realized that the books
that are the most popular with
my first graders are the books
that were written and hand-
made by some of my third
grade students in Vernonia
back in 1992 or so.
My current first graders love
reading “My Electric Father” by
Dustin Titus, “Midnight” by
Nicole Gwin, “Looney Tunes”
by Matt Schill, “The Basketball
Game” by Dylan West, “The
Tiger Book” by Jennifer Wise,
“Go-Carts” by Orion Sword,
“The Monster Tale,” by Karmen
Colby, “Tigers” by Dustin Titus,
“My Pets” by Joel Gregg, “Me
and Milly” by Jennifer Bernardi,
“The Horse Named Shalom” by
Katie Prpich, and “Night of the
Destroyers” by Matt Peters.
I thought these former third
graders (now adults) would en-
joy knowing that their writing is
still being appreciated many
years later by first grade stu-
dents in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Thanks,
Ken Brown
Woodrive Elementary School
Fairbanks, Alaska
Help Vernonia Lake
before harm worsens
To the Editor:
A recent Vernonia sewer/wa-
ter bill announced options to
take care of sewage waste-
water (effluent) as: building up
the walls of the lagoons, irrigat-
ing the golf course or putting
the effluent into the Vernonia
Lake. Because of cost and en-
gineering factors, the Lake is
being explored as the option
using a membrane system to
filter the effluent. Even though it
is said the effluent is cleaner
than the lake and ‘just like
drinking water,’ I want to know
what this wastewater contains
in the 3 months pilot testing of
the membrane system with
Kennedy Jencks engineering
firm, if tests are truly represen-
tative in case of system failure,
flooding, etc., and what history
other locales have had, if in-
deed anyone has put it into an
‘impound pond’ where an
ecosystem has been devel-
oped with fish, eagles, osprey,
river otters, ducks, swans, etc.
My concerns would be:
1. Compounds in the waste-
water creating a process
known as eutrophication, which
increase algae and plant
growth, depleting the oxygen
and killing animal life. The al-
gae growing on top of the water
in this process smells bad, and
would further impact use of the
trails, etc.
2. Public health issues that
may change the use of the lake
in regards to fishing. Perhaps a
catch and release policy would
have to be implemented. Cur-
rently effluent is discharged into
the Nehalem River, making
Vernonia out of compliance
with DEQ. We’ve been given a
5 year extension, and volunteer
Public Works and other Com-
mittees are working to plan and
fund an improved sewage sys-
tem and to develop the land
around the lake, etc. Many
hours of work have gone into
this community challenge. Cur-
rently-released effluent up-
stream, though diluted in the
river, is in the water pumped
into Vernonia Lake.
I would like to see better Ver-
nonia Lake management and
care:
1. Water testing by the City
or partnering agency that
stocks the lake, for pollutants
impacting human fish ingestion
with Public Information Signs.
2. Scheduled cleanup of our
Vernonia Lake if and when nec-
essary.
3. Enforced day use (fishing)
fees for City revenue-kept at $2
day use. Free for citizens of
Vernonia with window parking
stickers. Free or half price for
non-resident biking and walk-
ing, or donations accepted for
lake management/habitat fund.
(testing, etc.)
4. Citizens (volunteers) in-
volved in managing and pro-
tecting Lake:
A. Warning (1 given) and/or
tickets (not exorbitant, maybe
$10) (Hopefully, consideration
and cooperation is focus)
For:
a. Leaving trash, cigarette
butts, cans, fishing lines, etc.
that impact health and safety of
park users and animal life.
b. Dogs off leash which
cause safety issues for wildlife
(especially nesting ducks and
red-winged blackbirds) and lia-
Please see page 20
Policy on Letters
The INDEPENDENT will not publish letters that include personal
attacks on private citizens. Because of space limitations, prefer-
ence will be given to brief letters, 300 words or less.
All letters must be signed and include a verifiable address or phone
number, and all letters are subject to editing for clarity or length.