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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 2010)
The INDEPENDENT Where to Find Them U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (Dem) 1220 SW 3rd Avenue, Suite 585 Portland OR 97232 Phone: 503-326-7525 223 Dirksen Senate Ofc. Bldg. Washington, D.C. 20510-0001 Phone: 202-224-5244 E-Mail: http://wyden.senate.gov/ contact Website: http://wyden.senate. gov U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (Dem.) One World Trade Center 121 SW Salmon St., Suite 1250 Portland, OR 97204 Phone: 503-326-3386 107 Russell Senate Ofc. Bldg. Washington, DC 20510 Phone: (202) 224-3753 E-Mail: http://merkley.senate. gov/contact WebSite: http://merkley.senate. gov U.S. Representative David Wu (Dem) OR District 1 620 SW Main, Suite 606 Portland, OR 97205 Phone: 503-326-2901 2338 Rayburn House Ofc. Bldg. Washington, DC 20515 Phone: 202-225-0855 Website: http://house.gov/wu Senator Betsy Johnson (Dem) Senate District 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 (Dem) House District. 31 21740 Lindberg Road, Clatskanie, OR 97016 Phone: 503-728-4664 900 Court St. NE, H-373 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 (Dem) House District 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 The INDEPENDENT, April 15, 2010 Page 3 Letters Words can’t express thanks for VRFPD To the Editor: There are circumstances in a person’s life when the words “Thank You” seem so inade- quate. My wife and I feel this way as we express our grati- tude to the volunteer firefighting team that responded to our house fire on E. Bridge St. last February 21st. It was frightening and heart breaking to see our home burn- ing and stand by helpless to stop the fire. The response to our call was quick and your performance of duty was professional and compassionate. Our communi- ty is very blessed to have such a dedicated team of firefighters and rapid response emergency teams. Thank you more than we can say for saving our home and caring for our personal safety. Whenever we hear the fire siren alarms we will be praying for your safety as you respond to the urgent needs of others. You truly are our heroes. God bless you all. Greg and Phyllis Thornburg Vernonia Moon’s actions belie his fiscal promises To the Editor: In recent campaign ads, Russ Moon, one of four Demo- cratic candidates for the Co- lumbia County Board of Com- missioners, promises voters that he will ensure that taxpay- ers’ dollars are spent wisely. His behavior in Rainier, howev- er, belies his promise. Soon af- ter his appointment to the City Council he launched a clandes- tine campaign to harass, intimi- date, and discredit the city ad- ministrator, Chad Olsen, by spreading rumors alleging mis- management, incompetence, and dishonesty. As Moon’s stalking escalat- ed, Olsen responded in the only ethical way possible. Through his lawyer, he told city officials of Moon’s misbehavior, alleging civil torts amounting to defamation, and violations of Oregon statutes, such as un- lawful interference with a public employee in the conduct of his duties. Olsen offered to refrain from suing Moon and the City of Rainier and resign if the city would agree to pay his full salary, insurance benefits, and Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) contributions for one year. On May 1, 2007 the city council approved the deal and Olsen resigned effec- tive May 4. He subsequently was hired as interim city admin- istrator in St. Helens. Following Olsen’s sacking a source close to the case report- ed that Moon threatened the city’s public works director, Dwayne Barnes, telling him “You’re next.” Several weeks passed be- fore a replacement administra- tor was hired and only after an extensive and expensive exec- utive search. The replacement lasted just a few weeks before resigning. The search process Lost jobs is real cost of reductions in mail Salem Scene By Representative Brad Witt Oregon District 31 The first in a series of three town hall meetings was dedicated to the top- ic of health care. I was joined by a panel of ex- perts representing all as- pects of health care, and as you can imagine, the discussions were lively. In holding these town halls, my intent is to provide a forum that will al- low the panel to comment on the topic from their perspectives and then respond to questions from the audience. I’d like to share some of the obser- vations that come out of those meetings. Cer- tainly, you will associate with many of them: Drivers of Health Care Costs • Emergency Room-based care for the unin- sured • Pre-existing conditions not covered by in- surance • Lifelong health issues including diabetes and obesity • High cost of medical technology and drugs • Administrative costs (billing/insurance) • Defensive medicine Possible “Cures” • Purchasing insurance across state lines • Preventive medicine including improved ac- cess to primary care • Personal responsibility for better nutrition and exercise • Disclosures regarding cost prior to hospital was repeated and weeks later the current administrator, Lars Gare, was hired. Somewhere along the way the public works director re- signed, taking a better job in a larger community. No one has revealed how much Moon’s vigorous vendet- ta against Olsen and Barnes cost the city in dollars and wasted time. Some estimate that paying for executive searches, floundering for weeks without an administrator or public works director, and cashing out Olsen, the city’s costs might have been a quar- ter million dollars, or more. So much for spending tax- payers’ dollars wisely! As a Rainier resident, I am troubled by Moon’s run for the County Board of Commission- ers. It would be fine if he were no longer part of our city gov- ernment – but would it be fair to palm him off on the unsuspecting citizens of Columbia County? Hank Bartholomew Rainier admissions • Tax incentives to encourage employer cov- ered insurance • Tort reform Education was the topic of the second in the series of town halls. (Ed. note: These were held April 100.) The third round of town halls will concentrate on the economy. Oregon has been hit hard by the global economic crisis. Come hear what we are doing to try and reinvigorate Oregon’s econ- omy. Participate in a far ranging discussion of what we can do right here to get our neighbors back to work. May 1st - Jobs & Economic Development Port of Astoria, 11 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. St. Helens Library – Columbia Learning Center, 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. Events around the district… On Saturday, April 3rd, I was honored to be able to attend the Columbia County mEGGa Easter Egg Hunt at the Columbia County Fair- grounds. Under the direction of Evelyn Hudson, and with the support of 100 volunteers, this event celebrated its 10th anniversary with over 1400 children searching for 28,000 plastic eggs! I had a blast! I also got to attend one of my favorite events, Empty Bowls, which is a soup dinner benefit for the Columbia Pacific Food Bank. Many of our lo- cal restaurants go all out to provide a variety of delicious soups to fill bowls hand-made by St. Helens and Scappoose High School Ceramics classes. It’s a great joint venture for a great cause. To the Editor: As we all know these are hard and difficult times. On top of all this the entity that controls the US Postal System is now apparently proposing to start laying off local delivery people, closing some local post offices, and eliminating mail delivery on Saturday. The people who do this work are our brothers and sisters in our communities and I for one strongly object to them being forced out of their jobs especially in these times. At the least we need to call our sena- tors and congressman on this. Sen. Wyden 503-326-7525; Sen. Merkley 503-326-3386; Congressman Wu 503-326- 2901. Mike Sheehan Scappoose More Letters on Page 14 Policy on Letters The INDEPENDENT will not publish letters with per- sonal attacks on private citi- zens. Preference will be giv- en to brief letters, 300 words or less. All letters must be signed and include a verifiable ad- dress or phone number.