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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 3, 2008)
Page 4 The INDEPENDENT, January 3, 2008 Council okays new position, discusses roles of Kline and Howard From page 1 I wish this community well.” After saying at a prior meet- ing that she wanted a recom- mendation from the airport committee on the choice of a new member, Mayor Harrison appointed Bud Dow to the va- cancy. The airport committee had recommended Rick Gwin. When Mike Seager asked why she didn’t go with the commit- tee’s recommendation, Harri- son said the choice is hers. She also said she had contacted all the council to be sure they were the council to be sure they were on the same page with her, and that the decision should not have gone to the airport com- mittee. A representative from the League of Oregon Cities (LOC) attended the November 19 meeting to tell council what services they could receive from LOC in hiring a replace- ment for City Administrator Dick Kline. For about $5,000 LOC will solicit applications, screen them, do background checks and provide final applicants for interviewing. Kline told Council at the No- vember 19 meeting that, be- cause he couldn’t get the print- er to work right, financial infor- mation would have to wait until after the auditors have visited. After recessing for an execu- tive session to discuss litiga- tion, the council voted unani- mously to contract with R. Brown Consulting with a retain- er of $5,000. Councilor Brett Costley asked Kline to find out if the city’s insurer, CCIS, will pay for any of this amount. At the December 17 meet- ing, Council unanimously ap- proved a new job title of Admin- istrative & Financial Services Assistant/Human Resources Coordinator and were told that the person filling this position would be the Shannon Gillen- water, who started as the Cus- tomer Service Clerk on Decem- ber 3. Once her position has been filled, City Hall will be back to three administrative po- sitions. Also at the December 17 meeting, Kline said, “As I get closer to completing the chart of accounts and audit, it’s be- come abundantly clear that we are facing a financial crisis. We didn’t have money before and we don’t have any now. The as- sumption I made is that I will re- main until a clear transition. My recommendation is, since Aldie [Howard] has done a good job, that he be appointed interim city administrator and that I do Public Works and Financial un- til it can be expected that we can get a quality city adminis- trator.” At one of the town hall meet- ings following the flood, City Planner Aldie Howard was in- troduced as the Interim City Ad- Community Calendar VERNONIA Alcoholics Anonymous Mondays & Thursdays 6:30 p.m., Head Start Bldg. American Legion Post #119 2nd Thursday 7:00 p.m., 627 Adams Avenue Arts & Crafts Society 2nd Thursday 2:00 p.m., City Library Booster Club 2nd Wednesday 7:00 p.m., VHS Library Boy Scout Troop 201 Tuesdays 7:00 p.m., Scout Cabin Boy Scout Troop 860 Wednesdays 7:00 p.m., LDS Church Cemetery Beautification Comm. 2nd Thursday 6:30 p.m., City Hall CERT 4th Wednesday For Info Call 503-429-3018 Chamber of Commerce 2nd Wednesday For Info Call 503-429-6081 Community Coalition 2nd Monday 12:30 p.m. School District Ofc. Cub Scout Pack 201 Scout Cabin For Info Call 503-429-4250 Friends of the Library 1st Tuesday 7:00 p.m., Vernonia Library Girl Scouts, Neighborhood 4-2 For Info Call 503-819-0143 Hands On Art Committee 1st & 3rd Thursdays 4:00 p.m., City Hall Izaak Walton League 3rd Thursday For location call 503-429-7193 Lions Club 1st & 3rd Tuesdays 6:30 p.m., Buckhorn Restaurant Municipal Airport Committee 4th Thursday 7:00 p.m., City Hall Narcotics Anonymous Saturdays 7:00 p.m., Head Start Bldg. Pioneer Museum For Info Call 503-429-3713 Public Works Committee 4th Tuesday 7:00 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Cares Directors For Info call 503-429-1414 Vernonia City Council 1st & 3rd Mondays 7:00 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Community PTA 3rd Thursday 7:00 p.m., WGS Library Vernonia Grange 3rd Monday 7:00 p.m., Grange Hall Vernonia Health Center 2nd Monday 6:00 p.m., 510 Bridge St. Vernonia Learning Center 1st Wednesday 6:00 p.m., VLC Vernonia Parks Committee 3rd Wednesday 6:30 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Planning Comm. 1st & 3rd Thursdays 7:00 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Pride 3rd Thursday 1:00 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Ridge Riders Last Thursday 7:00 p.m., Senior Center Vernonia RFPD Board 2nd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., Fire Station Vernonia School Board 2nd Thursday 6:00 p.m., District Office Vernonia Sr. Center Board 2nd Friday 1:00 p.m., Senior Center Vernonia Transfer Station 2nd & 4th Saturdays, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Behind VHS Vern. Volunteer Ambulance Assoc. 1st Thursday 7:00 p.m., Fire Station Vernonia Volunteer Firefighters 2nd Monday 7:00 p.m., Fire Station WOEC Directors 3rd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., WOEC S 6 13 20 27 ministrator for the Emergency, as Kline was unavailable. Asked after the meeting where Kline was, Harrison said he flew back east Tuesday (Dec. 4) morning for his son’s gradu- ation from boot camp and wouldn’t be back this week. Councilor Randy Parrow ex- pressed concern about making a decision on these positions when two councilors (Brett Costley and Steve Whiteman) were not present. It was decid- ed to have a phone conference on December 18. The December 18 meeting was held at city hall with all councilors present (the phone conference was not neces- sary), but without Kline or Howard in attendance. The dis- cussion focused on having Kline work part-time on finance, public works, the Triad lawsuit, and the budget with no bene- fits, and having Howard be In- terim City Administrator and JANUARY 2008 T W T F 2 3 1 4 8 7 9 10 11 14 15 16 17 18 21 22 23 24 25 28 29 30 31 M S 5 12 19 26 S M 4 11 18 25 5 12 19 26 FEBRUARY 2008 T W T 1 6 7 8 13 14 15 20 21 22 27 28 F 2 9 16 23 S 3 10 17 24 Planner. The suggestion was made that perhaps Kline was ‘stringing them along’ and that council may have made a mis- take in allowing Kline to change the financial software to one only he knows, but that now Kline has them “over a barrel” and they’ll have to work with him through February and, per- haps, until July before they can hire a new administrator. When reporter Rebecca Mc- Gaugh asked what they were going to do about hiring a new administrator, Councilor Shirlee Daughtry rather rudely stated, “You can’t talk here.” Then Councilor Parrow asked, “Yes, what will we do?” The council, stating a need to save money, decided, by consensus rather than vote, not to use the League of Oregon Cities but to handle the administrator hiring themselves, as they did with the last two city administrators, Robyn Bassett and Dick Kline. S M 4 11 18 25 5 12 19 26 MIST-BIRKENFELD M-BRFPD Board Business Mtg. 2nd Tuesday M-BRFPD Board Workshop 4th Tuesday M-B Ambulance Drill 1st & 2nd Thursdays M-B Fire Drill 1st & 2nd Wednesdays M-B Helping Circle 2nd Monday M-B SAR Drill 3rd Wednesday M-B Volunteer Assoc. 1st Tuesday Natal Grange 2nd Wednesday T.O.P.S. Mondays Upr Nehalem Watershed Council For date call 429-2401 MARCH 2008 T W T 1 6 7 8 13 14 15 20 21 22 27 28 29 F 2 9 16 23 30 S 3 10 17 24 31 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:30 p.m., Natal Grange Hall 6:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station BANKS Alcoholics Anonymous Fridays 7:30 p.m., Methodist Church Alcoholics Anonymous Wednesdays 7:30 p.m., Methodist Church American Legion Post #90 2nd Tuesdays 7:30 p.m., Main Street Post Banks City Council 2nd Tuesday 7:30 p.m., City Hall Banks Fire District #13 2nd Wednesday 7:00 p.m., Station 13 Banks Library Commission 3rd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., City Library Banks Planning Commission Last Tuesday 7:00 p.m., City Hall Banks School Board 2nd Monday 7:30 p.m., Jr. High Library Banks Youth Group Sundays, Wednesdays 7:00 p.m., UMC Youth Bldg. Chamber of Commerce 1st Thursday 12:30 p.m., Fire District Office CPO 14 3rd Monday 7:00 p.m., City Library Friends of the Library 2nd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., City Library Lions Club 1st & 3rd Mondays 7:00 p.m., Brown Derby Sunset Park Assoc. 3rd Wednesday 8:00 p.m., Gun Club T.O.P.S. Wednesdays 7:00 p.m., Administration Bldg. COLUMBIA COUNTY (All meet in St. Helens unless otherwise noted.) Board of Commissioners Wednesdays 10 a.m., Courthouse Citizens for Senior Justice 2nd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., Sunset Park Church Columbia Soil & Water District 3rd Wednesday 7:30 p.m., NRCS , 2514 Sykes County Fair Board 2nd Monday 7:00 p.m., Fairgrounds 4-H Bldg. County Parks Commission 3rd Monday 6:00 p.m., 1054 Oregon St. Mental Health Advisory Comm. 3rd Tuesday 10 a.m., 2nd Floor, Courthouse Comm. on Children & Families 3rd Thursday 5:30 p.m. OSU Ext., 550 N. Hwy. 30 Local Alcohol & Drug Plann. Comm. 2nd Tuesday 3:00 p.m., 2nd Floor, Courthouse Organizations and meeting dates not listed may be included by calling 429-9410 or by mail to The INDEPENDENT, 725 Bridge Street, Vernonia, OR 97064.
