The INDEPENDENT, May 1, 2008
Page 3
Letters
This is final year for
fireworks’ sponsor
To The Editor:
This will be the last year for
the 4th of July fireworks spon-
sored by Vernonia Pride.
It is apparent that the com-
munity can no long support this
function.
Last year we sent out two
hundred letters asking for do-
nations and had only twenty-
seven replies.
Vernonia Pride has always
held a fund raiser for this event
as well as collecting after the
show. Even after those three
projects we still came up over a
thousand dollars short.
Hopefully, some other group
will step up to the plate to spon-
sor this event, as I am sure it will
be missed by the community.
We will still be sponsoring
the 4th of July Parade.
De Loris Webb
Vernonia Pride
Water shut off is not
a problem for citizen
To The Editor:
To whom it may concern;
I am the very honorable sen-
ior citizen Leonard Simmons! I
live in the little dumpy house at
606 Madison Ave. (not Street)
that has no city water fur-
nished, even though I helped
pay for the new water plant and
helped pay a $120,00.00 re-
serve fund that has come up
missing. Now it seems we, the
honorable citizens, are sup-
posed to repay $120,000.00 at
a rate of $11.50 per month.
I suggest the next time the
less than honorable interim city
manipulator and his queen (b--
) of 5 months in the community
decide to make up false allega-
tions against a very honorable
senior citizen that they get to
know this very honorable citi-
zen first.
According to the queen (B--)
of 5 months in the community
that puts her time in at the front
counter at city hall seems to
think that any honorable citizen
that refuses to repay this loan
for the second time is a dishon-
orable citizen.
Hopefully the next time you
and your less than honorable
intimidator come into an honor-
able man’s home (Vernonia)
you will take time to get to know
who you are trying to manipu-
late. You (2) two do not intimi-
date me one little bit by your
bully attitude.
This very honorable senior
citizen happens to be a sur-
Where to Find Them
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden
(Democrat-OR)
1220 SW 3rd Avenue, Suite 585
Portland OR 97232
Phone: 503-326-7525
230 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.,
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: 202-224-5244
Website: http://wyden.senate.
gov
U.S. Senator Gordon Smith
(Republican-OR)
One World Trade Center
121 SW Salmon St., Suite 1250
Portland, OR 97204
Phone: 503-326-3386
Fax: 503-326-2900
404 Russell Senate Ofc. Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: 202-224-3753
Website: http://gsmith.senate.
gov
U.S. Representative David Wu
(Democrat-01)
620 SW Main, Suite 606
Portland, OR 97205
Phone: 503-326-2901
Fax: 503-326-5066
1023 Longworth Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-0855
Fax: 202-225-9497
Website: http://house.gov/wu
Senator Betsy Johnson
(Democrat-16)
PO Box R,
Scappoose, OR 97056
Phone: 503-543-4046
900 Court St. NE, S-314
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-986-1716
E-mail: sen.betsyjohnson@
state.or.us
Website: http//www.leg.state.or.
us/johnson
Representative Brad Witt
(Democrat-31)
21740 Lindberg Road,
Clatskanie, OR 97016
Phone: 503-728-4664
900 Court St. NE, H-277
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-986-1431
E-mail: rep.bradwitt@state.or.us
Website: http//www.leg.state.or.
us/witt
Representative Deborah Boone
(Democrat-32)
PO Box 926
Cannon Beach, OR 97110
Phone: 503-717-9182
900 Court St. NE, H-375
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-986-1432
E-mail: rep.deborahboone@
state.or.us
Website: http//www.leg.state.or.
us/boone
vivalist!! I do not need your
service to survive. You have no
idea as to how my dump is
equipped for survival.
You have done me a big fa-
vor by having the water shut
off. Now I can take the $77.00
per month that you would have
gotten and put it toward a heat
source that I have been without
since the flood (thanks again).
The unhonorable interim city
manipulator is good at making
false statements, threats and
bullying anyone who refuses to
jump hoops for him when he
demands. Good luck next time
coward.
Thank you very much.
The honorable senior citizen
and survivalist!!!
Leonard Simmons
Vernonia
100 shares of Obama,
50 shares of McCain
To The Editor:
GIVE ME 100 SHARES OF
OBAMA AND 50 SHARES OF
McCAIN!
So, in 2007 we imported 3.6
billion barrels of oil. Even at a
paltry $100 per barrel, that is a
lot of dinero. Just paying this
year’s interest on our national
debt at a rate of $1 per second
would require over 20,000
years. And not to be an
alarmist, but we have a lot of
folks out there who don’t like us
and we have gotten ourselves
into two separate wars. Did I
mention that we might not have
much time left to start reducing
greenhouse gases and switch-
ing to clean energy? Mean-
while a number of prominent
folks in my party are committing
to making the Bush Tax Cuts
permanent – hello!!
Why not re-elect the folks
who brought us here? Surely
they see the error of their ways
by now and will break the
choke-hold the special interests
have on our government. Or
should we take a risk and in-
vest in someone who just may
be able to pop the beltway bub-
ble and restore the notion of a
government of, by, and for the
people? The problems are
daunting and the outcome not
guaranteed, but is it not worth
the investment risk?
This Republican candidate
for congress is in for 100
shares of Barack Obama and
should he lose the nomination,
I will hedge my investment with
50 shares of John McCain,
since there is an outside
chance that he too could put
the nation back on track.
Joel Haugen
Scappoose
DAs support Kroger
for Attorney General
To The Editor:
I urge Columbia County citi-
zens to vote for John Kroger as
Oregon’s next Attorney Gener-
al. I, along with 24 other District
Attorneys, have endorsed
Kroger for this important office.
Kroger has a strong record of
law enforcement accomplish-
ments and public service. He
has been a front-line Federal
prosecutor trying mafia defen-
dants and drug traffickers. He
has taught law students about
the criminal justice system. He is
a veteran having served as a
United States Marine.
Kroger knows that the Attor-
ney General is the most impor-
tant law enforcement officer in
the State. He understands that
the Attorney General plays a
key role in Oregon by setting
policy and helping local District
Attorneys and law enforcement
do their jobs more effectively.
This help includes programs
that: Provide statewide training
for local prosecutors; provide
appellate services to defend
our convictions before the Ore-
gon appellate courts; provide
direct trial support in complex
cases through the District Attor-
ney assistance program; and
provide resources to fight major
problems statewide, including
child pornography, metham-
phetamine trafficking, organ-
ized crime, and gangs.
In my opinion, Oregon is one
of the few states where the At-
torney General works so close-
ly with local District Attorneys.
John Kroger has assured me
that he understands and values
this relationship and will work to
see that it continues and grows.
It is important that we have the
right person in this job. Please
vote for John Kroger on May
20th.
Sincerely,
Stephen Atchison
Columbia County
District Attorney
Dickerson goal is to
expand patrol hours
To The Editor:
I would like to explain why
I’m supporting Jeff Dickerson
for Columbia County Sheriff.
I’m not sure if my fellow Co-
lumbia County residents are
aware that our current Sheriff
Department hours are from
10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. peri-
od. I run the office at LC Hall’s
Truck Line in St. Helens. Two
weeks ago, our early man ar-
rived at our dock at 5:00 a.m. to
find an SUV in our driveway
with a person sprawled out in-
side. Our man had no idea
what the situation was, and
was completely alone in the
area, so when he got inside our
office he locked the door and
called 911. They referred him to
the Sheriff’s office, who told him
that unless it was a life-threat-
ening emergency, to call back
after 10:00 a.m.!
If you live in Columbia Coun-
ty outside of city limits, come
home at 10:30 p.m. after a high
school basketball game to find
that your house has been
robbed and call 911 to report it,
you will be told to call back to-
morrow after 10:00 a.m. Surely
we deserve better than half-
time protection! Jeff Dickerson
has a plan to expand hours of
patrol, without additional fund-
ing, simply by staggering
start/stop times for deputies.
Our deputies have not been ex-
posed to new training tech-
niques, nor have they had per-
formance evaluations, since
Gerry Simmons has been our
undersheriff; Jeff intends to ad-
dress these issues as well.
It sounds to me like our
Sheriff’s Department has stag-
nated under its current leader-
ship, of which Gerry Simmons
is a significant member. Jeff
Dickerson brings fresh ideas
and dedication to public service
that Columbia County needs.
Denise Jones
St. Helens
More Letters, page 24
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