The INDEPENDENT, January 6, 2011
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
Page 3
Letters
Christmas dinner was
very enjoyable for all
To the Editor:
The James Family would like
to thank all the volunteers and
supporters of the Christmas
Dinner held at the Vernonia Se-
nior Center on December 25th.
We had a great turnout with
over 100 meals served and de-
livered.
Special thanks to Connie,
Art and Georgia for bringing the
diabetic desserts, Wes Lubbes
who helped in the kitchen and
with delivery, Jen and the Wag-
ner family for serving and, of
course, Pauline, who always
pitches in for worthy causes.
There were many more who
helped make this event happen
so thank you from all of us and
from those who enjoyed the
Christmas Dinner in 2010.
Have a Happy New Year!
The James Gang
Vernonia
Mortgage program is
designed to help
To the Editor:
As the new MORTGAGE
PAYMENT ASSISTANCE PRO-
GRAM begins I would like to re-
mind all homeowners who are
unemployed or underemployed
and/or finding it difficult to make
their mortgage payment to
check out www.oregonhome
ownerhelp.org. The Mortgage
Payment Assistance Program
will be making 12 months of
mortgage payments or up to
$20,000, whichever comes
first, for those eligible appli-
cants who have applications
submitted to the State of Ore-
gon’s Oregon Housing and
Community Services (OHCS)
department.
Community Action Team,
Inc. (CAT) is the agency select-
ed by OHCS to assist home-
owners in Tillamook, Columbia
and Clatsop Counties with the
application process. The on-
line application process started
December 10, 2010, and will
Salem Scene
By Representative Brad Witt
Oregon District 31
Some of you may
have heard about the
Oregon Homeownership
Stabilization
Initiative
(OHSI), but here is a little
more information so we
can get the word out to
anyone who has been
trying to negotiate the
mine fields associated
with foreclosure.
Oregon’s new foreclosure prevention program
is funded by the U.S. Treasury Department,
which provided 17 states – including Oregon –
with funds for states hit hardest by the recession.
Oregon is on the list because of its high unem-
ployment rate. Our state’s Housing and Commu-
nity Services created OHSI to deliver programs
throughout the state to help stem the continuing
onslaught of foreclosures.
Foremost among these programs is the Mort-
gage Payment Assistance Program (MPA). MPA
will help at least 5,000 Oregon homeowners pay
their mortgages for up to one year, or up to
$20,000, whichever comes first. It is the largest
of OHSI’s programs, funded at $100 million. I
know that many of you will be anxious to learn
more, so I am going to direct you to the OHSI
website for answers to all of your questions re-
garding eligibility, etc. The website is: www.ore
gonhomeownerhelp.org.
Last month, the Oregon Department of Trans-
portation and the Columbia County Safety Com-
mission held a public information meeting re-
garding the traffic challenges along Highway 30.
This route, which is heavily traveled especially
during commuting hours, is a major public safety
concern. In fact, the section between Scappoose
and St. Helens is in the state’s top five percent
for accidents.
The purpose of the meeting, attended by well
over 30 people, was to discuss alternatives for
making this stretch of highway safer. ODOT’s ap-
proach is multi-faceted, including installing rum-
ble strips, lane reflectors, and making the five
miles between Scappoose-Vernonia Road and
Achilles Road a Safety Corridor. Under this des-
ignation, speed limits would not change but en-
forcement would increase, and traffic fines would
double for those stopped for exceeding the
speed limit.
Public testimony was mixed, with some ex-
pressing the opinion that speed has nothing to
do with the accidents that occur, but rather it is
the existence of intersections that allow motorists
to turn left with no opportunity to wait in a center
lane until the traffic clears. This applies to a par-
ticularly deadly intersection, Bennett Road,
which has seen three fatalities in the last couple
of years. No decisions were made, but a Road
Safety Audit is scheduled for early next year,
which will lead to a project design in 2012 and
implementation in 2014. Why so long? Because
Bennett Road is one of 220 safety projects across
the state that have been waiting for funding.
I was honored to host a meeting with Gover-
nor-elect John Kitzhaber and several other rural
State Representatives in December. The focus
of the meeting was to discuss issues important to
those of us who represent largely rural districts.
As Mr. Kitzhaber embarks upon the daunting
task of setting his agenda for the next four years,
we wanted to impress upon him the importance
of supporting Oregon’s “heritage” industries of
fishing, farming and timber. Each of these indus-
tries has something to offer in our economic re-
covery. Having grown up in Roseburg, the Gov-
ernor-elect knows how important jobs are to the
very existence of rural communities. I am en-
couraged by our exchange of ideas and look for-
ward to working with him to improve the econom-
ic outlook for District 31 and all of Oregon.
When the Legislature meets next in regular
session, on January 10, 2011, the situation will
be different from every possible perspective. Not
only will Democrats and Republicans be sharing
leadership in the House of Representatives be-
cause of the 30/30 split in election results, but
our fiscal condition is unparalleled in its gravity
and complexity. In spite of this, I have every con-
fidence that the leadership both parties have
chosen is up to the task.
run for approximately one
month, allowing homeowners
the opportunity to do their on-
line application. Homeowners
will then receive a call from a
CAT intake staff member for an
appointment to review their ap-
plication for submission to the
state.
The state will do a random
drawing in late January of the
eligible applicants to determine
those homeowners who re-
ceive assistance. CAT has of-
fices in Tillamook, St. Helens,
Astoria and Vernonia to better
assist homeowners. I encour-
age everyone to check out this
site, whether you are a home-
owner or may have family or
friends who could be helped
with this information.
For more information call
Cindy at 503-325-8098, ext.
2303 or e-mail me at
cindkp@cat-team.org.
Cindy Peake
Housing Center Manager
Community Action Team,
Inc.
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.
About those
New Year Resolutions
Good resolutions are simply
checks that men draw on a
bank where they have no ac-
count.
— Oscar Wilde
May all your troubles last as
long as your New Year's reso-
lutions!
— Joey Adams
Now there are more over-
weight people in America than
average-weight people. So
overweight people are now av-
erage…which means, you
have met your New Year's res-
olution.
— Jay Leno
A New Year's resolution is
something that goes in one
Year and out the other.
— Anonymous