Page 4
The INDEPENDENT, May 19, 2011
Vernonia mayor named as pro tem with assistance from Johnson
Since the May 2 Vernonia
City Council meeting where
Councilor Willow Burch started
the process that led to the
council, in a 3-2 split, voting to
terminate Interim City Adminis-
trator Bill Haack’s contract, the
council has held three special
meetings and one regular
meeting. Haack’s last day was
May 17. The community’s re-
sponse to Haack’s firing was to
start a recall election for Coun-
cilor Kevin Hudson (see full ar-
ticle on page 1). Community
members have also stated they
will start recalls on Councilors
Marilyn Nicks and Willow Burch
in July. Recalls cannot com-
mence until six months after a
person takes office.
Two of the special meetings,
on May 6 and May 9, led to the
decision made on May 16 to
appoint Mayor Josette Mitchell
as Pro Tem City Administrator
(with no compensation) and to
contract with Jim Johnson to be
a co-Pro Tem City Administrator
at an hourly wage, to help
Mitchell and the city during this
unexpected time of transition.
The contracts outlined the du-
ties and responsibilities of each
in acting as “place-holders” un-
til the, already begun, hiring
process for a new city adminis-
trator can be completed.
Haack’s contract would have
run out June 30 in any event,
though it could probably have
been renewed to allow for con-
tinuity in the hiring process.
Council held two executive
sessions to review and discuss
city administrator candidates
and timing for interviews, with
Jennie Messmer of the League
of Oregon Cities. At the second
session, on May 17, council
came out of executive session
to announce the unanimous de-
cision to move ahead with inter-
views of six candidates. First,
there will be phone interviews
by Messmer and Jim Johnson,
followed by an executive ses-
sion on May 31 to hear about
those interviews. Council
agreed they want to have three
interview panels; one of coun-
cil, one of staff members and
one made up of community
members. Those face-to-face
interviews have tentatively
been set for June 23 and 24, to
allow time between the phone
interviews and the live ones for
background checks to be com-
pleted on the final candidates.
No information about who the
candidates are has been re-
leased yet.
Community members stood
up at both the May 9 special
meeting and the May 16 regular
meeting to tell council of their
disapproval of the firing of
Haack and their intent to recall
Hudson now and Burch and
Nicks later. On May 9, Joe Kim
spoke from the floor and specif-
ically asked each council mem-
ber to answer the question,
“Did you use family or friends in
an attempt to evade ORS
192.610 (9),” which states that
the public’s business must be
done in the public eye. Burch,
Hudson, Parrow, and Mitchell
all responded, “No,” while Nicks
looked at the City Attorney
Sosnkowski in apparent panic
without
saying
anything.
Sosnkowski told her she is not
required to answer and Nicks
then refused to answer Kim’s
question.
Councilor Randy Parrow
then asked councilor Burch,
Hudson and Nicks to reconsid-
er their vote to fire Haack. All
three declined.
The May 19 meeting was
held in front of a standing room
only crowd. Scott Laird spoke
from the floor to apologize for
his actions on May 2 (apparent-
ly in reference to spreading the
Kay investigation information
around the community) then
went on to say, “You tried to
hide and ignore that DPSST in-
vestigation…I have a list of
questionable actions” of Nicks,
Burch and Hudson. He finished
with, “What you are doing is
anything but honorable. I re-
spectfully request you resign
before you bring more shame
on this community. Step down
now before you waste any
more city money on recalls.” He
also declared that Burch and
Nicks would be recalled in ear-
ly July.
Sharon Bernal, chief peti-
tioner in the Hudson recall,
spoke up to ask Hudson, Burch
See Work on page 5
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 Tuesday
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.