The INDEPENDENT, November 20, 2008
Page 3
Letters
Mayor disagrees with
Independent editorial
To The Editor:
I wish to thank those who
voted for me as your Mayor. It
has been my honor to repre-
sent you the past four (4) years
and I will work hard to continue
to earn your faith in me.
Now, about the editorial, in
the last Independent. I must
call into question the memory
of the Independent. The first
time I heard Robin Bassett,
(our former City Administrator)
say she had paid-in-full one of
our water loans was during a
budget committee meeting.
You were there Rebecca Mc-
Gaugh as a member of that
Committee. It wasn’t until after
Bassett was gone that we
found out that the money she’d
used to pay the loan was in fact
the reserve fund that we need-
ed to keep because we still had
to cover loan #2. I did not, I re-
peat, did not sign that pay off
check. In fact about three (3)
months ago I provided a copy
of that check to the Indepen-
dent that shows Bassett’s sig-
nature and the use of my signa-
ture stamp used without my
permission. Apparently they
have forgotten. Lets’ lay blame
at the feet of the one who put
the council in the position of
having to put an $11.50 rate in-
crease on the rate payers. That
would be Robin Bassett.
Pertaining to the Smith/
Merkley Controversy – I still
have not seen a copy of the so-
called signed endorsement
from Smith’s camp. No, I don’t
remember signing one on De-
cember 14, 2007. Don’t you
think it odd that during a disas-
ter, eleven months before an
election, a sitting Oregon Sena-
tor would be seeking endorse-
ments? Hmmmm.
As for running un-apposed
for Mayor, there are many,
many capable Vernonia citi-
zens who could and would be
wonderful Mayors. I encourage
you to consider serving your
community in that capacity. A
bit of advice though, make sure
you clear your candidacy with
the Independent or you will suf-
fer the same fate I have of hav-
ing to defend myself instead of
taking that same valuable time
working on solutions to make
our city a better place to live.
Sincerely,
Sally Harrison
Mayor, Vernonia
Great music teacher
also a great person
To The Editor:
On November 4, Bob Isted
died. Bob taught Music in the
Vernonia School District for ten
years, and coached the High
School Knowledge Bowl team
for several years. On most Fri-
days, he went around to the
fourth grade classes with
recorders and taught those stu-
dents how to play them, as well
Between the Bookends
By Nancy Burch, Librarian
Vernonia Public Library
The library board is
pleased that their recom-
mendation
of
Susan
Goodhope has been ap-
proved by the City Coun-
cil. Susan, a former
teacher and avid reader, is
a long time resident of the
Vernonia area. Susan
joins members Liz White,
Tammy Jennings, Barbara Ward and Orissa
Burghard.
Pat Gold’s Chautauqua presentation on The
Indigenous People of the Columbia River was
enjoyed by an audience of 25+ and the cookies
served by Study Club members were delicious.
Approval has been given for the next Chau-
tauqua program to be held in March, 2009. This
presentation, entitled, The Chinese Diaspora in
the Americas: The First “Illegal Aliens”, should be
of interest to many as the current immigration
debate rages in our country.
The After School program has had an aver-
age attendance of eight enthusiastic youngsters.
There is always room for more who wish to take
part in this weekly story/activity time which is
held on Tuesdays from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
With assistance from the St. Helens Book
Shop, the library will once again be having a hol-
iday book adoption. This consists of a variety of
materials chosen by library board members to be
(adopted) purchased for the library at a 20% dis-
count from publisher prices. This has been a
successful way of giving the public the opportu-
nity to give to the library during the holiday sea-
son. These items will be on display immediately
after Thanksgiving.
New acquisitions include Divine Justice by
David Baldacci, Salvation in Death by J. D.
Robb, Iodine by Haven Kimmel, The Brass Ver-
dict by Michael Connelly, Bones by Jonathan
Kellerman, Beside a Burning Sea by John
Shors, Pieces of My Heart by Robert Wagner,
The Camel Bookmobile by Masha Hamilton, and
Testimony by Anita Shreve.
The Vernonia Historical Museum will be host-
ing a book signing and presentation by Beaver-
ton resident, Don Alanen, on Saturday, Novem-
ber 22 at 2:00 p.m. in the library. Alanen’s book
entitled, The Logger’s Encyclopedia, is a compi-
lation of logging terms and sketches of people
and businesses that made a living in the woods
of Washington and Oregon. Refreshments will
be served following the presentation.
November’s book for discussion is The Pro-
fessor and the Madman by Simon Winchester
with the meeting taking place Monday, Novem-
ber 24 at 5:30 p.m..
Movie night is TONIGHT, November 20, at
7:00 p.m. with The Sting starring Robert Redford
and Paul Newman being the featured movie.
The public is encouraged to view these movies
(on the Big Screen). It’s as close as we in Ver-
nonia actually get to a real theater and our pop-
corn is always fresh, hot, plentiful and free.
Vernonia Public Library: 701 Weed Ave.
Hours: Mon., Wed., Fri. 10 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Tues., Thur. 1:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Sat. 10 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Preschool Story Time: Mondays, 10:30
a.m., when school is in session.
Phone: 503-429-1818
as singing silly songs with
them. Ask your kids if they re-
member, “Mrs. Murphy’s Chow-
der” or “Love Potion #9”. He
took the band and choir to vari-
ous festivals throughout the
school year and at Christmas
took the choir caroling around
town and to the lighting of the
town Christmas Tree. He also
took the choir on the Max to the
zoo to sing carols, and on
Memorial Day to the cemetery
to sing. When there wasn’t
enough money in his budget to
buy sheet music or have the
band instruments repaired, Bob
paid for it out of his own pocket,
quietly.
Although Bob was an excel-
lent Music teacher, he also
taught his students about toler-
ance and working together as
a team to achieve a common
goal. He was a private and dig-
nified man with a great sense of
humor and will be sorely
missed by those who knew
him.
Alice Brock
Vernonia
County okays flood
wall on Sword place
To The Editor:
Apparently, it has been a
problem to a lot of people that I
built a wall around my buildings
and home. Some of these peo-
ple called the County with their
concerns.
The next time we have water
out of the lower riverbanks, not
floods, but mediocre flow,
swing around Anderson Park.
You will see dead water on my
side of the river. The higher the
river gets, the more it shoves
against the city side. That is
what meandering streams do.
They cut outside the curve, and
dump on the inside of the
curve.
This Nehalem River is a
classic meanderer. It has been
across this valley several thou-
sand times, and it is still mov-
ing.
On September 3, Glen C.
Higgins, Chief Planner for Co-
lumbia County and the Flood-
plain Administrator came to my
house. Higgins told me, “I was
able to determine that your
concrete wall is not in the flood-
way. Your flood protection
measures are out of the FEMA
mapped floodway and may re-
main.”
I thought those concerned
would like to know the out-
come.
Bill Sword
Vernonia
Supporters thanked;
record set straight
To the Editor:
With the election completed,
I want to take the opportunity to
thank all of those people in-
volved in my campaign [for
Judge of the Columbia County
Circuit Court]. I cannot list
everyone who supported me.
You know who you are, and Jill
and I thank you from the bottom
of our hearts. We are grateful
for the hard work, calls and kind
words of encouragement we
received. I would like to also
thank the citizens of Columbia
County. I knocked on many
doors throughout the County
and was greeted with warm
hospitality.
I do feel the need to clear up
an issue that developed from
Jenefer Grant’s campaign in
the week preceding the elec-
tion. Most of the women in Co-
lumbia County received a flier
from Jenefer Grant’s campaign
that referred to Shane Ste-
phens and asked the readers to
vote for Jenefer because she
cared and I did not. Nothing
could be farther from the truth.
In fact, most of what was con-
tained in the flier is not truthful.
I did represent Mr. Stephens for
approximately six weeks. I filed
a modification case on Mr.
Stephens’ behalf because Mr.
Stephens had particular allega-
tions that Ms. Davis’ significant
other was physically abusing
Shane Stephens. I did not
know if Mr. Stephens had an
extensive criminal record or a
violent criminal background.
Most importantly, I did care
about what was happening with
Please see page 18
Policy on Letters
The INDEPENDENT will not publish letters that include per-
sonal attacks on private citizens. Because of space limitations,
preference will be given to brief letters, 300 words or less.
All letters must be signed and include a verifiable address or
phone number.