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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 17, 2011)
The INDEPENDENT, February 17, 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 County thanked for obtaining generator To the Editor: The City of Vernonia Public Works department would like to thank Lonnie Welter at the Co- lumbia County Road Dept. for all of his efforts in securing the generator that is stationed at the City of Vernonia water treat- Out of My Mind From page 2 In spite of shouting that “so- cialism” is a deterrent to busi- ness, those same big corpora- tions have no problem doing business in socialist, even communist, countries like Chi- na. That same socialism re- duces their expenses because those governments provide health care for everyone—you know, that awful, terrible, no- good socialized health care, that costs half, or less, than good old American insurance industry health care. Congress talks about the need to reduce deficits, and they could make a difference. But they won’t stop the annual $20-$30 billion in oil company subsidies, or the $20-$30 bil- lion in corn, rice, cotton and soy bean subsidies that go mostly to agri-business giants, plus additional subsidies for ethanol made from the same corn, or the hundreds of bil- lions in military industrial con- tracts that the Pentagon does- n’t want. Congress won’t increase taxes on the wealthy, either, al- though that would be fiscally sensible, because too many of them are hooked on what are euphemistically described as “campaign donations.” Without doubt, we have some good, honest Congress- men, just far too few of them. Too many in Congress pretend to serve their constituents while actually working to cut benefits for those who are un- employed, disabled, elderly or poor, and by refusing to rein-in harmful practices with sensible regulations for big business (especially Wall Street). They pretend to serve their con- stituents while helping destroy what remains of our hard-work- ing middle class. And they’re laughing all the way to the bank—off shore, of course. ment plant. This is an asset that is very comforting to have on site for emergency power. There have been times in the past years when we have had to rent backup power in emergencies. This kind of ex- pense has never been budget- ed for since the water plant was built in 1996. Lonnie has spent considerable time with this proj- ect and I am sure that the rest of Columbia County is very ap- preciative of his time. Sincerely, Jeff Burch Public Works Foreman City of Vernonia Question about dam deserves explanation To the Editor: I want to thank Eleanor Thompson for her letter about flooding priorities. I am pleased that Ms. Thompson expressed her opinions publically. Opin- ions expressed publically rep- resent a risk taken by their au- thors. The courage to take any position is the hallmark of good citizenship. I wish more of us were willing to “own” our beliefs publically. Every public opinion, even a complaint, has the po- tential to increase public under- standing at the same time it can help lower the temperature of our public discourse. Although I have had little au- thority over these matters, I have been privileged to watch the wheels of our governments’ flood response grind away. I want Ms. Thompson, and oth- ers, to know that many of their leaders, including our past Mayor, adamantly sought a dam or river diversion project. It was my impression that Ore- gon and federal emergency management officials did in- deed hear those requests. De- spite this, there were two firm points on which they pushed back, repeatedly. First, dams and similar proj- ects (“structural projects” in FEMA parlance) have become much discouraged within FEMA and Corp of Engineers circles since the recent, dra- matic Midwest flooding and, of course, the levee failures dur- Please see page 16 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. Salem Scene By Representative Debbie Boone Oregon District 32 The Oregon Legisla- tive 75th Assembly is now in session. The cer- emonial start was Janu- ary 10th, but on February 1st, work for the first an- nual session of the Ore- gon Legislature began in earnest. This year my Legisla- tive Committees assignments will be the House Agriculture and Natural Resources which will meet on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I am Co-Vice Chair of the House Energy, Environment and Water which meets Tuesday and Thursday, and House Veterans Affairs, which meets on Tuesday. Although I have a busy schedule, the only way I can effectively represent our district is to hear from you. I always make time to meet with my constituents, please call the office as soon as you know you’re coming to Salem so I can make arrangements to see you when you are at the Capitol. This session some of the bills I’ve introduced include: • HB 2738 Establishing a Gray Whale license plate, as requested by the Oregon State Univer- sity Marine Mammal Institute. • HB 2736 Authorizes State Board of Forestry to acquire, designate or exchange state forest lands to create natural resource conservation ar- eas. This legislation was requested by Tillamook County Commissioner Tim Josi. • HB 2742 Establishing an Animal Abuser Registry for people who are convicted of certain crimes against animals. This was requested by a number of constituents in District 32. • HB 2735 Clarifies provision relating to the Department of Energy ensuring that Energy Re- source Supplier fees be credited to the DOE and prevented from being swept into the General Fund. The measure has been requested by con- sumer owned utilities, including the Tillamook PUD. If you’re interested in reading the complete bills, or checking on other proposed legislation, go to www.leg.state.or.us then click on Bills/Laws at the top to start your search. This week I met with Governor John Kitzhaber regarding the Pacific North West Economic Re- gion (PNWER). PNWER is an international pub- lic-private partnership including Oregon, Wash- ington, Alaska, Idaho, and Montana; the Canadi- an Provinces of Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan, plus the Yukon and Northwest Territories. The group is dedicated to encourag- ing global economic competitiveness and pre- serving the natural environment. PNWER focus- es on regional issues that include trade and eco- nomic development, energy, transportation, health care, environment disaster resilience, and innovation. At this week’s session with the gov- ernor, the discussion topics focused on energy, transportation, and trade and economic develop- ment. The incoming president of the PNWER executive committee will be Representative Mike Schaufler of Happy Valley, and this year’s annu- al summit will be held in Portland. Some other great news for our district, is that the Oregon Board of Forestry has selected Doug Decker as the Oregon State Forester. Doug was instrumental in getting the Tillamook Forest Cen- ter established, and more recently worked on the creation of the new Gilcrest State Forest, south of Bend. The Board of Forestry selected this 23 year Department of Forestry veteran because of his communication skills and his ability to reach out to stakeholders and get them involved in forestry matters. Doug was installed as State Forester on Tuesday, and I’m looking forward to working with him on forestry issues.