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The INDEPENDENT, March 3, 2011
Split vote will use money from already tight budget
At 6:00 p.m. on February 22,
before the regular Vernonia
City Council meeting began at
7:00 p.m., the council met in a
third study session to deter-
mine which option to use to hire
a City Administrator. The three
options they discussed were; 1)
Use the League of Oregon
Cities’ process (which costs
money and was last used to
hire Dick Kline), 2) self-manage
the process themselves (the
process used to hire Bob
Young), or 3) hire current Inter-
im City Administrator Bill
Haack.
Before the council began
their discussion, City Recorder
Joann Glass read three letters
to the council. The first was
from most of the city staff in
support of hiring Haack (see
letter on page 2). Then a letter
from Librarian Nancy Burch, in
support of hiring Haack, was
read. Finally, a letter from West
Oregon Cooperative General
Manager Marc Farmer was
read, also in support of hiring
Haack.
When the council got to the
decision-making process dur-
ing the regular meeting, Coun-
cilors Marilyn Nicks, Kevin Hud-
son and Willow Burch all voted
to use the League of Oregon
Cities process, wanting to “see”
who’s out there. Councilor
Randy Parrow asked council to
give Haack a one-year contract
and then decide. When the rest
of council didn’t respond to that
suggestion, Parrow voted to
hire Haack.
Mayor Josette Mitchell cited
Shady Cove, a town of about
Vernonia’s size, which just
used the League of Oregon
Cities hiring process, got only
two candidates and did not like
(nor hire) either of them.
Mitchell told the council this
tells her that there are not can-
didates out there in Vernonia’s
salary range. Mitchell voted to
hire Haack, but the vote was
three to two, so the League of
Oregon Cities will be hired to
run a recruitment process to
hire a new city administrator.
In other business, council;
• approved the proposed
sale of Spencer Park to the
school district. This is another
step in the process of replacing
Spencer Park with property at
the old schools site.
• gave consensus for the
Mayor to appoint Pat Styles to
the Library Board to replace
Orissa Burghard.
• approved an amendment to
the Youth Services Resource
Officer Agreement, which will
put one of Vernonia’s police of-
ficers in the schools for up to 30
hours a week, for the rest of
this school year. Funding is pro-
vided by the Vernonia Drug
Coalition.
• Haack told council that
there is a new “planner” form to
be used to build agendas for
council meetings and make
sure the topics are well-re-
searched before coming to
council.
• approved the second read-
ing of Ordinance 872, which al-
lows social gambling; such as
the Lion’s Club Texas Hold’em
games.
• approved Resolution 06-11,
amending the cemetery fees to
match those the city pays.
• held the first and second
reading, by title only, of Ordi-
nance 873 which establishes
an Emergency Preparedness
Committee.
The meeting was adjourned
at 8:12 p.m. The next regular
council meeting is scheduled
for March 7, starting at 7:00
p.m. at City Hall.
State economy
shows jobs up
Oregon State Economist
Tom Potiowsky released his
quarterly economic and rev-
enue forecast February 15,
showing some strong job
growth in the state’s service
sector but including a persistent
unemployment rate of 10.6 per-
cent overall.
The outlook for state general
fund revenues for the 2009-11
biennium is little changed from
the last quarterly forecast. Tax
collections will likely expand at
a stronger rate over the next
several months, as personal in-
comes continue to recover from
the recession. Potiowsky pre-
dicted that general fund rev-
enues for 2009-11 will be $12.4
See Economy on page 5
Court declines to review church’s appeal
From page 1
of law under the Free Exercise
Clause.”
In declining to take up the
church’s appeal, the Supreme
Court did not issue any com-
ment on the case.
Community Calendar
VERNONIA
Alcoholics Anonymous
Mondays
6:30 p.m., 410 North Street
Alcoholics Anonymous
Thursdays (Big Book Study) 7:00 p.m., 410 North Street
American Legion Post #119
2nd Thursday
7:00 p.m., 627 Adams Avenue
Booster Club
2nd Wednesday
7:00 p.m., VHS Library
Boy Scout Troop 201
Tuesdays
7:00 p.m., Scout Cabin
Boy Scout Troop 860
Wednesdays
7:00 p.m., LDS Church
Cemetery Beautification Comm.
2nd Thursday
6:30 p.m., Library
CERT
4th Wednesday
For Info Call 503-429-3018
Chamber of Commerce
2nd Wednesday
For Info Call 503-429-6081
Community Coalition
2nd Monday
12:30 p.m. School District Ofc.
Cub Scout Pack 201
Scout Cabin
For Info Call 503-429-4250
Friends of the Library
1st Tuesday
7:00 p.m., Vernonia Library
Girl Scouts, Neighborhood 4-2
For Info Call 503-819-0143
Izaak Walton League
3rd Thursday
For location call 503-429-7193
Kiwanis Club
2nd & 4th Tuesdays
6:30 p.m., New Hong Kong
Lions Club
1st & 3rd Tuesdays
6:30 p.m., New Hong Kong
Municipal Airport Committee
1t Wednesday
6:30 p.m., City Hall
Pioneer Museum
For Info Call 503-429-3713
Public Works Committee
4th Tuesday
7:00 p.m., City Hall
Vernonia Cares Directors
For Info call 503-429-1414
Vernonia City Council
1st & 3rd Mondays
7:00 p.m., City Hall
Vernonia Community PTA
2nd Wednesday
7:00 p.m., WGS Library
Vernonia Garden Club
2nd Tuesday
1:30 p.m., Vernonia Library
Vernonia Grange
3rd Monday
7:00 p.m., Grange Hall
Vernonia Health Center
3rd Thursday
6:30 p.m., 510 Bridge St.
Vernonia Learning Center
1st Wednesday
6:00 p.m., VLC
Vernonia Parks Committee
3rd Wednesday
6:30 p.m., City Hall
Vernonia Planning Comm.
1st & 3rd Thursdays
7:00 p.m., City Hall
Vernonia Pride
2nd Thursday
1:00 p.m., City Hall
Vernonia Ridge Riders
Last Thursday
7:00 p.m., Senior Center
Vernonia RFPD Board
2nd Tuesday
6:00 p.m., Fire Station
Vernonia School Board
2nd Thursday
6:00 p.m., District Office
Vernonia Sr. Center Board
2nd Friday
10:00 a.m., Senior Center
Vernonia Transfer Station
2nd & 4th Saturdays, 8 a.m.-2 p.m.
Behind VHS
Vern. Volunteer Ambulance Assoc. 1st Tuesday
7:00 p.m., Fire Station
Vernonia Volunteer Firefighters
2nd Monday
7:00 p.m., Fire Station
WOEC Directors
3rd Tuesday
7:00 p.m., WOEC
MIST-BIRKENFELD
M-BRFPD Board Business Mtg.
2nd Tuesday
M-BRFPD Board Workshop
4th Tuesday
M-B Ambulance Drill
1st & 2nd Thursdays
M-B Fire Drill
1st & 2nd Wednesdays
M-B Helping Circle
2nd Monday
M-B SAR Drill
3rd Wednesday
M-B Volunteer Assoc.
1st Tuesday
Natal Grange
2nd Wednesday
T.O.P.S.
Mondays
Upr Nehalem Watershed Council For date call 429-0869
BANKS
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous
American Legion Post #90
Banks City Council
Banks Fire District #13
Banks Library Commission
Banks Planning Commission
Banks School Board
Banks Youth Group
Chamber of Commerce
CPO 14
Everybody’s Hometown Band
Friends of the Library
Lions Club
Sunset Park Assoc.
T.O.P.S.
Friday
Wednesday
2nd Tuesday
2nd Tuesday
2nd Wednesday
3rd Tuesday
Last Tuesday
2nd Monday
Sunday, Wednesday
1st Thursday
3rd Monday
Tuesdays
2nd Tuesday
1st & 3rd Mondays
3rd Wednesday
Wednesday
7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station
7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station
7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station
7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station
7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station
7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station
7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station
7:30 p.m., Natal Grange Hall
9:00 a.m., Main Fire Station
7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station
7:30 p.m., Methodist Church
7:30 p.m., Methodist Church
7:30 p.m., Main Street Post
7:30 p.m., City Hall
7:00 p.m., Station 13
7:00 p.m., City Library
7:00 p.m., City Hall
7:30 p.m., Jr. High Library
7:00 p.m., UMC Youth Bldg.
12:30 p.m., Fire District Office
7:00 p.m., City Library
7:00 p.m., BHS Music Room
7:00 p.m., City Library
7:00 p.m., Brown Derby
8:00 p.m., Gun Club
7:00 p.m., Administration Bldg.
COLUMBIA COUNTY (All meet in St. Helens unless otherwise noted.)
Board of Commissioners
Wednesday
10:00 a.m., Courthouse
Citizens for Senior Justice
2nd Tuesday
7:00 p.m., Sunset Park Church
Columbia Comm Mental Health
1st Tuesday
5”30 p.m., 58646 McNulty Way
Columbia Soil & Water District
3rd Wednesday
7:30 p.m., NRCS , 2514 Sykes
County Fair Board
2nd Monday
6:00 p.m., Fairgrounds 4-H Bldg.
County Parks Commission
3rd Tuesday
Times vary, 1054 Oregon St.
Mental Health Advisory Comm.
Quarterly
For Info call 503-397-7211
Comm. on Children & Families
3rd Thursday 5:30 p.m. OSU Ext., 505 N. Hwy. 30
Local Alcohol & Drug Plann. Comm.
Quarterly
For Info call 503-397-7211
Organizations and meeting dates not listed may be included by calling 429-9410 or by mail to The INDEPENDENT, 725 Bridge Street, Vernonia, OR 97064.