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The INDEPENDENT, May 5, 2011
The
INDEPENDENT
Published on the first and third Thursdays of each month by
The Independent, LLC, 725 Bridge St., Vernonia, OR 97064.
Phone/Fax: 503-429-9410.
Publisher Clark McGaugh, clark@the-independent.net
Editor Rebecca McGaugh, rebecca@the-independent.net
Mentor Noni Andersen
Printed on recycled paper with vegetable based dyes
Opinion
Council picks Kay over Haack
Sergeant Mike Kay has been on paid administrative leave
since March 21, leaving Vernonia one officer short. On May
2, a majority of city councilors appeared to prefer Kay to In-
terim City Administrator Bill Haack, when they suppressed a
public record that was in the council packet about state inves-
tigations of Kay, then fired Haack. Tuesday, Interim Chief of
Police Mike Conner, next in line to run the city, sent in his no-
tice to leave the chief position and return to his Sergeant po-
sition. (See full article on page 4.) That was effective today.
The three councilors composing the majority to suppress
the record and fire Haack were Willow Burch, Kevin Hudson
and Marilyn Nicks. They left the room that night seemingly
without giving a thought to what would happen after Haack is
gone, not bothering to name a temporary administrator. And,
it seems to us, and many others who have spoken to us, that
they threw Haack out to save Kay. Since Burch, for one, has-
n’t found time in two months to review the State case against
Kay, we surmise she doesn’t want to know, though she keeps
claiming Haack won’t tell her. Perhaps if she doesn’t read the
charges against Kay they will go away?
In October 2010, we investigated Kay’s K9 certifications
and suspected they were fake. We shared this information
with DPSST (the state agency that trains and certifies police
officers), and with Kay’s employer, the City of Vernonia. It ap-
pears DPSST concurs, but that is one of the charges Burch
refuses to read.
Kay’s K9 has not been a real police dog since at least
2005, basically the dog is simply Kay’s pet. Meanwhile,
though we’ve been told the dog costs the city only $1.00/year
for his lease, Kay has been getting a salary boost of an extra
$220 a month as a K9 officer. If that rate has been consistent
since 2005, Kay has defrauded the city for over $15,000.
DPSST also found Kay was “untruthful” on his pre-employ-
ment application. Knowing that Kay had a criminal conviction
for violating a restraining order relating to a domestic abuse
charge, we asked then city administrator Bob Young for that
application in October 2009. Young declared Kay did not lie
on it. Because the city wouldn’t let us see it unless we
coughed up $423 for the record, we never saw it. Neverthe-
less, that is now included as another of the reasons DPSST
is asking Kay to turn in his certification and no longer be a po-
lice officer. Young covered it up.
Interim City Administrator Bill Haack, on the other hand,
didn’t try to cover up Kay’s actions and followed the profes-
sional process that has caused Kay’s three buddies (Burch,
Opinion, cont.
Hudson and Nicks) on
council to fire him. This ac-
tion will have extreme con-
sequences for Vernonia.
Haack, with his areas of
expertise and his commit-
ment to Vernonia, has
done quality work on a
number of large projects
that had languished for
years before he took over,
and on others that wouldn’t
even have been started
without skillful guidance.
We, and council, know
there is no money to hire a
full-time, fully qualified, ex-
perienced city administra-
tor. Hudson’s idea that a
part-time administrator is
sufficient is ludicrous given
the current city work load.
We call on those three
councilors to reconsider
their very ill-advised deci-
sion and call for a special
meeting to re-deliberate on
the matter. Preferably after
they all read the charges
against Kay.
Ike Says…
By Dale Webb, member
Nehalem Valley Chapter, Izaak Walton League
I enjoyed the local sportsmen banquet
this year; you have to be quick to get a
ticket though. I heard they sold out in 2.5
days. Like last year, there were lots of
antlers hanging off the walls, this really
does show off what we have in Oregon.
The food was great and the speaker was
the father of Blacktailed deer calling, Larry
D. Jones. This is a great event and I hope
a continued annual event.
The final results from the hair loss study out of Washington
State are out. The four-year study came in with a lower survival
rate, 33% on average over all, for Blacktailed deer in the study
area. Also it was noted that the winter of ‘08-‘09 did indeed have
effects upon the fawn crop. We also experienced the heavy and
long lasting snows that winter. What the researchers observed
during their fawn capture in ‘09 was a 57% decrease in the num-
ber of Does who had twin fawns (72% to 31%). This has signifi-
cant management implications for managers. The study
noted,too, that a dry hot summer is also detrimental to fawn sur-
vival, which is contrary to conventional wisdom. It seems to me
that any variance from normal is starting to show effects that we
not have been able to quantify before. This study just showed
that the effects are present, but further research will need to be
conducted to quantify the effects in relationship to the deviations
from norms, themselves. A great example right now is the late
spring we are having. According to the last report I saw from the
National Weather Service, this is the latest spring on record. Low-
er than normal temperatures and heavier than normal rainfall will
most likely have an effect, not only on fawn survival, but also on
fawns born and their weight. Mother Nature has a built-in mecha-
Please see page 20