The INDEPENDENT, August 6, 2009
Furloughs:
Early retirements, pay freeze
for managers and elected officials all applied
From page 1
ty’s 175 positions, up to 16 jobs
in various county departments
could have been affected with-
out the implementation of fur-
lough days, an early retirement
program, and a pay freeze for
managers and elected officials.
“We had a choice, said
Commissioner Tony Hyde, the
County’s budget officer, “We
could reduce the budget
through furloughs, a pay freeze
and early retirement, or we
could lay people off.” “The
Board chose to retain jobs and
provide the least impact on
services to the public”, he said.
The County appreciates its
partnership with the Unions
that have worked with it to de-
velop the furlough plan. With-
out their cooperation, this
would not have been possible.
As approved by the Board of
Commissioners, the furlough
Council :
days for the remainder of 2009
September 4, November 25
and December 24. In 2010, the
furlough days will be January 4,
March 26, April 23, May 28 and
June 18.
The scheduled furlough
days will close all County de-
partments except the Road and
Parks Department, and limited
access for State Court Ser-
vices, which as of this date, will
be open for business as usual.
Anyone needing information
regarding County operating
hours, or whether a certain de-
partment is open, may call the
county information number,
503-397-7210. Information re-
garding Courthouse closures
or departmental phone num-
bers can be found on the Coun-
ty website: http://www.co.co-
lumbia.or.us"MACROBUT-
TONHtmlResAnchorwww.co.c
olumbia.or.us
City Hall will close at noon Friday
From page 4
recommendation, council did
not respond.
After that, Clark McGaugh
spoke, “A couple of weeks ago,
Mike Kay said Elana (Brasure)
was a stalker. It was brought to
our attention that Mike Kay had
a stalking order against him
while in uniform and there was
a lawsuit in 1999 to about
2003.
One has to be careful to
avoid lawsuits and calling
someone a stalker, thought you
should be aware.” After Kay
chuckled, McGaugh asked him
what was funny and Kay re-
sponded, “If someone was con-
victed they would not be a po-
lice officer.” McGaugh an-
swered with, “I did not say con-
victed, I said arrested and it
was in the courts for a long
time.”
City Administrator Bob
Young told council that city hall
would close at noon on Friday,
August 7, because city staff is
involved in Jamboree prepara-
tions.
In other business, council;
• heard that the city has re-
ceived a letter of appreciation
for the improvement in service
at Anderson Park since Gerie
Reynolds has been the host,
• unanimously, by poll, ap-
proved the second reading of
Ordinance 861 which estab-
lishes a police officer training
fee to be tacked on to fines
levied by the Justice Court,
• was introduced to DeAnna
Pearl, the newly hired Vernonia
Prevention Coalition Project Di-
rector,
• heard from City Administra-
tor Bob Young that Vernonia
has been accepted as a Main
Street Program. More informa-
tion will be provided at future
meetings,
• unanimously approved a
resolution changing how the
city offers Workers’ Compensa-
tion for Volunteers.
The next scheduled council
meeting will be at 7:00 p.m. on
August 17 at City Hall.
MTC secures summer employment for 75 youth in county
Youth in Columbia County
are working this summer with
help from MTC Works. The pro-
gram, funded largely by federal
stimulus dollars, is helping
about 75 local youth learn
about different industries while
earning a wage.
In Vernonia, six youth and a
supervisor are working on a
trail building crew at Stub Stew-
art State Park, four are working
with Vernonia Public Works,
one is at the Vernonia School
District, and three youth and a
crew leader are working in Ver-
nonia assisting seniors in com-
pleting projects in their yards
and also assisting the Public
Works Department with other
projects around the community.
Youth in Region One will be
paid for more than 26,000
Unemployment rate
down, still very high
Columbia County’s season-
ally adjusted unemployment
rate dropped to 14.7 percent in
June, a significant decrease
from the previous month
(15.5%) but still much higher
than the year before (6.4%).
Columbia County exceeded
both the statewide rate
(12.2%) and the national rate
(9.5%). Total employment fell
by 135 to 21,484 and the num-
ber of unemployed people rose
by 18 to 3,625. Total employ-
ment this June was 1,247 few-
er than one year before and
there were 2,106 more people
unemployed this year.
More complaints about Chief Kay
Recently, concerns have
been raised about Vernonia
Police Department
Interim
Chief Mike Kay’s professional-
ism when dealing with citizens.
Many citizens have told us at
The Independent about their
complaints, dealing mostly with
unprofessionalism, bullying, ly-
ing, and abusive behavior.
The Independent has uncov-
ered allegations of past abuses
by Kay, while he was a police
officer in Newport, where law-
suits were filed.
This week, former Vernonia
resident Milton Dennis brought
up more concerns about Kay,
as related in the council meet-
ing article in this issue.
Page 5
The Independent also un-
covered a letter, from former
Chief Mat Workman to a com-
plainant, about Kay allegedly
beating the complainant while
he was in hand-cuffs. The letter
stated that the complaint was
being put in Kay’s personnel
file, though Kay recently stated
at a council meeting that he
had no complaints in his per-
sonnel file, only commenda-
tions.
The city, apparently, has fi-
nalized the selection process to
hire a new, part-time chief of
police. Hopefully, the new chief
can clarify and rectify any prob-
lems with Vernonia Police De-
partment personnel.
hours of their time at 70 work
sites, earning more than
$315,000 – a bill that local busi-
nesses won’t have to pay.
Julie Gassner, director of the
Astoria-based employment and
training organization MTC
Works, said 134 youth received
the temporary jobs this summer
because of $361,633 the
agency received from the fed-
eral government as part of the
American Recovery and Rein-
vestment Act. Finding entry-
level jobs right now is very
challenging for younger work-
ers because of the unemploy-
ment rate in the state and
county, she said.
“Had they not had this op-
portunity, they most likely
wouldn't have been able to go
to work,” Gassner said.
Approximately
$175,000
from the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act will be
used in Columbia County to
provide local youth with sum-
mer work.
In addition, MTC Works re-
ceived a grant for approximate-
ly $32,000 from the Oregon
Youth Employment Initiative
and $11,000 from a Marine
grant through the Oregon Youth
Conservation Corps.
The $32,000 grant will be
used for a six person crew at
Stub Stewart State Park in Ver-
nonia and the $11,000 grant is
for a five person crew on Sand
Island near St. Helens.