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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (June 21, 2007)
The INDEPENDENT, June 21, 2007 Page 3 Letters Letter Carriers food drive invaluable help To the Editor: On behalf of Columbia Pacif- ic Food Bank, I would like to thank the letter carriers throughout our community for the wonderful work that they did this year on the Annual Let- ter Carriers Food Drive. On Saturday, May 12th, our neigh- bors throughout the area set food out for their letter carriers to pick up. The generosity of the community and the commit- ment of our letter carriers brought 6,340 lbs. into the St. Helens Post Office, an increase of 1,000 lbs., 350 lbs. into Scappoose, 17 lbs. into Clatskanie, 3,179 lbs. into Rainier and 1,003 lbs. into Ver- nonia for a grand total of 10,889 lbs. of much needed food. I would also like to thank our very valuable volunteers who met the letter carriers at the post office to help load it into our truck. An event like this is what al- lows Columbia Pacific Food Bank and our emergency food pantries to provide healthy and nutritious food boxes to those in need. We couldn’t do it with- out you. Great Job! Tracie Smith Executive Director Sen. Johnson article not “breaking news” To the Editor: The Oregonian has been promoting a story about Sena- tor Betsy Johnson recently. In my opinion the story is irre- sponsible and not worthy of their responsibility, public trust and stature in our state. They are running the story like it’s “breaking news,” which it is not, and even acknowledge they have gone to print without salient, basic facts that provide a big part of the story. Thinking this might be a story because someone brought it to their at- tention is fine. Not bothering to A) do their research, B) await facts and information directly relevant to the story and C) question the motivation, con- text and relationship of their “sources” to the story – is the worst kind of newspaper busy- work – not worthy of being called journalism. The credibility of sources is something that should be im- portant to journalists. Carefully and responsibly developing the story should be important to journalists. Trying to “FOXify” a potential story and try to get a headline by refusing to wait for a story is the worst kind of sell- out. This issue will get resolved because there are forums and public processes to do that – and the facts exist. That The Oregonian and Harry Esteve, for whom we once had respect, would do this half-baked is a soiling of their credibility that won’t go away. Betsy, John and the good work they do will far outlast anyone at the Oregonian. Sally J. Jones Rainier Mayor objects to opinion of columnist To the Editor: Noni Andersen of The Inde- pendent . I feel I owe it to the cit- izens of Vernonia to respond to our recent “Out of My Mind” commentary in The Indepen- dent (May 17, 2007). Of course you are entitled to your opinion of the sitting city council. It would make your opin- ion more meaningful if you had used facts instead of conjecture to form your said opinion. Example: The Tree Removal Issue. I did not need a staff re- port (even though there was one) to make a decision on this matter. I personally went to the property and made my own de- termination whether the trees needed to be removed. Other councilors had done the same. Example: $25,000 Opera- tions Loan for the Learning Center. True, I was not aware that the 20 acres had been used for collateral. But, I’ve never personally borrowed money without some kind of collateral being needed. Example: Cemetery Deposit Issue. If you had attended the cemetery committee meeting and the council meeting when the $25 cemetery deposit had been discussed, you would have known that a mere $25 was not the purpose of the dis- cussion. In fact, it had to do with who could profit from the sale of cemetery plots. The council, after due diligence, de- termined that the Vernonia Memorial Cemetery, being a perpetual care cemetery was the only entity that should prof- it for the sale of cemetery plots. Example: Hiring of New Ad- ministrator. It was never ex- pressed verbally or in writing forbidding the council from hir- ing the interim administrator full time. And if there had been, would it be prudent to pass up a wonderful administrator just because of a rule of LOC. I had always respected, if not always agreed, with your opinions. Why? I truly believed that you had done your home- work and had all the pertinent facts. I hope in the future you will again aspire to form opin- ions and write articles based on facts. Thank you, Sally Harrison Mayor Vernonia Sen. Johnson works hard for constituency To the Editor: As a citizen, Betsy Johnson is a tireless supporter for our communities. She has con- tributed generously to the senior centers, women’s shelters, cul- tural events, children’s hospi- tals, and environmental causes. As a legislator, she is a tire- less worker for creation of fam- ily wage jobs, school funding, accessible health care, and public safety. She has been an advocate for affordable hous- ing, funding for public roads and much more than we can list here. The harder a legislator works, the easier it is for them to make political enemies, so it was no surprise to see Senator Johnson come under fire for sponsoring SB 680. We do not believe a conflict of interest or abuse of the public trust has occurred because the Scap- poose Airport has had a “through the fence” arrange- ment for several years. The purpose of SB 680 was to ex- tend this benefit to other rural airports. The Columbia, Tillamook, and Clatsop County Democrat- ic Central Committees strongly support Senator Johnson. She has our trust and our deep ap- preciation for the fine work that she has done for all the citizens of Oregon. Jolene Jonas, Chair Columbia County DCC Lenora Lawrence, Chair Tillamook County DCC Lawrence Taylor, Chair Clatsop County DCC Still no need for tree ordinance in Vernonia To the Editor: This letter is in regards to the article “Oregon has forty-five tree cities – Vernonia (and Banks) not included” in your last issue. I was a member of the committee that recom- mended that Vernonia not be- come a “Tree City USA.” The article stated: “The committee majority was opposed to any city ordinances regarding tree care, even on public property.” This is not a completely accu- rate statement. I believe the majority of the committee found that we felt strongly about en- couraging tree care on public property but were opposed to a tree ordinance that would affect privately owned land. It was determined that we al- ready have a public parks com- mittee and city employees who make decisions regarding the trees on public property. They follow the guidelines of an al- ready established tree ordi- nance for our community. The appointment of a separate tree committee and another tree or- dinance seemed redundant in our small community. The committee presented a letter of recommendation to the city council suggesting several ways that we can support the planting of trees and tree care in our community. One of these suggestions was that a re- source library be established in our public library to provide in- formation on what trees are best suited to our area. A discussion took place that our schools should be encour- aged to celebrate Arbor Day. Committee member, Mike Pihl, of Mike Pihl Logging, offered to provide the trees for the school children as a way to encourage education and the planting of trees in our community. Though some communities have chosen to become a “Tree City USA,” it is not for every community. Our small town can support tree care and the plant- ing of trees without spending $2 per capita as required by the “Tree City USA program. Other communities that have attained “Tree City USA” status have found that a committee now determines what private land owners can do with the trees on their land. This is an is- sue that caused the majority of the committee much concern. We can celebrate the won- derful tree-filled community that we live in and encourage tree care and the planting of trees without being regulated by a committee. We can also sup- port our parks committee and encourage the care of trees and planting of trees on our community’s public land with- out establishing another ordi- nance. The recommendations pre- sented to the City Council by the appointed committee are a matter of public record and can be viewed by anyone who is in- terested. I have enclosed a copy of the recommendation made to City Council and would ask that you print it in your paper, along with my letter, to give a fair view of the committee’s decision. I thank you for your time and co- operation in this matter. Sincerely, Kala F. Cota Vernonia To: City Council From: Tree Committee (Noni Ander- sen, Brett Costley, Kala Cota, Mike Pihl, Derl Roberts) CC: Mayor Harrison Re: Tree Committee Recommenda- tions Date: March 2, 2006 The tree committee would like to thank the City Council and Mayor Harrison for the opportunity to serve on this committee. The tree committee considered many options and gathered much information since appointment in October. After consideration, the tree com- mittee recommends the council take the following actions: • Ordinances – the council may consider better defining the process by Please see page 21 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.
