PRESORTED STANDARD
U.S. Postage Paid
Vernonia, OR 97064
Permit No. 37
Vol. 26, No. 14
THE
FREE
INDEPENDENT
The Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley for Over 25 years
July 20, 2011
Recall election underway for
two Vernonia city councilors
Jugglemania! came to the Vernonia Public Library, on July 13, as part of the library’s Sum-
mer Reading Program. This program was enjoyed by all who attended. Jugglemania! was
paid for by the Oregon College Savings Plan. See page 7 for more activities scheduled as
part of the Summer Reading Program.
Scappoose-Vernonia Rd. is now closed
Scappoose-Vernonia Road
closed July 18 for road re-con-
struction work at the slide loca-
tion near the summit. The com-
plexity of the re-construction
work, in combination with envi-
ronmental protection meas-
ures, requires a complete road
closure to general traffic at the
project site. The road is set to
re-open July 30. Road closure
barricades are at locations ap-
proximately 1\4 mile each side
of the project site. An alternate
east-west route is Apiary Rd.-
Meissner Rd.-Canaan Rd.
Constructing a detour at the
project site was determined to
be not feasible, given the envi-
ronmental protection con-
straints at the project site, plus
the limited amount of funding
for re-constructing the dam-
aged roadway. The roadway
was damaged when an aging
subsurface culvert broke, al-
lowing water to undermine the
roadbed.
The objective for this project
is completion of the repair work
in as short a time period as
possible to get the road back in
service for both car and truck
traffic, according to Glen Crin-
klaw, Assistant Public Works
Director. The roadway at the
slide location has been weight
limited to car traffic only since
the slide became active with
last Winter’s heavy rain.
Columbia County offices closed
every Friday due to budget woes
As of last Friday, July 15,
and continuing every Friday,
through June 30, 2012, the Co-
lumbia County Courthouse, in-
cluding Animal Control and the
Justice Court, will be closed to
the public. The closure is due
to the County’s budget situa-
tion; the Board of County Com-
missioners approved the Fri-
day closures as a part of the
FY 2011/12 budget process.
The public will not be able to
conduct county business on
Fridays, however there will
continue to be limited access to
the Courthouse for State Court
Services between the hours of
8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
Anyone needing information
regarding County operating
hours or whether certain de-
partments are open may call
the County information number
at 503-397-7210. Also, infor-
mation regarding departmental
numbers or other Courthouse
information can be found at the
County website, http://www.co.
columbia.or.us .
The election to recall Ver-
nonia City Councilors Willow
Burch and Marilyn Nicks is un-
derway, with ballots mailed to
voters on Monday, July 18. Bal-
lots must be returned by 8:00
p.m. on August 4 to be count-
ed. The Vernonia Public Library
will remain open on August 4
until 8:00 p.m. to accept bal-
lots.
Burch and Nicks had until
July 12 to decide whether to re-
sign or to turn in a Statement of
Justification explaining why
they should not be recalled.
Both chose to submit the justifi-
cation, triggering the election.
The City of Vernonia will be re-
quired to repay the county for
the cost of the election.
The July 6 issue of The In-
dependent gave details of the
reasons for the recall, as out-
lined by chief petitioner Sharon
Bernal.
The reasons given in Burch
and Nicks’ justifications along
with questions and answers
from The Independent’s inter-
views with Burch, Nicks and
Bernal are given below.
The justification letter from
Burch made this statement:
“During my term on City Coun-
cil, I have seen way too much
dysfunction. In my view Bill
Haack’s lack of experience and
unauthorized actions have cost
the City considerable money it
does not have.
“In my opinion, Sharon
Bernal and her group have
caused upheaval in Vernonia
by not verifying facts before
calling in news crews from
Portland and rallying citizens
with irresponsible statements
based on half-truths.
“I have continually been de-
nied the most basic briefings
on City business. The City is
now in danger of being sued,
with a tort claim already filled
due to Mr. Haack’s actions.
Through no actions of my own,
I now find myself threatened
with lawsuits in Federal court.
“If I am guilty of anything it is
inexperience in dealing with
such deep-seated dishonesty
and unbelievable bullying.
“I have always tried to do my
best for The City of Vernonia.
My intentions are only to pro-
tect the citizens of Vernonia.
My goal is to get back on track
putting this city on its feet
again.
“I strongly urge you to
please vote NO to the recall
and I will do everything in my
power to continue insisting on
transparency in our govern-
ment.”
1. What were Haack’s
unauthorized actions?
Burch – Hiring a personnel
attorney to represent the city
without informing council of the
need. Then initiating an investi-
gation without council approval
and spending money for it with-
See Recall on page 5
Fire Season started on July 11
The 2011 Fire Season has
been officially declared for
Northwest Oregon beginning
July 11. The fire season desig-
nation includes lands protected
by the Department of Forestry
within Columbia, Clatsop, Mult-
nomah, Washington, Tillamook
and Yamhill counties.
Forest operators must now
have the required fire equip-
ment at the site of their opera-
tion. Forest operators must
also provide a fire watch on
each operation after equipment
is shut down for the day.
Fire season rules prohibit
smoking while in or traveling
through any “operation area”,
and prohibit the use of fuse and
caps for blasting on forest land.
Regulated Use Zones NW-1,
NW-2, NW-3 start out under
Industrial Fire Precaution Level
I (IFPL I).
The declaration of fire sea-
son also means that backyard
See Fire on page 4