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The
The INDEPENDENT, July 20, 2011
INDEPENDENT
Published on the first and third Wednesdays of each month
by The Independent, LLC, 725 Bridge St.,
Vernonia, OR 97064. Phone/Fax: 503-429-9410.
Deadline is noon the Friday before each issue.
Publisher Clark McGaugh, clark@the-independent.net
Editor Rebecca McGaugh, rebecca@the-independent.net
Printed on recycled paper with vegetable based dyes
Opinion
Who will be on the council
when recall is finished?
We can’t predict the outcome of the recall election
of Vernonia City Councilors Willow Burch and Mari-
lyn Nicks. That’s one of the interesting aspects of
democracy – you just never know how any election
will turn out. What we might predict is the communi-
ties approval of the process Councilor Randy Par-
row (with Mayor Josette Mitchell’s agreement) out-
lined at the July 18 council meeting. If the recall
causes the removal of both Burch and Nicks, three
panels of five Vernonia citizens will interview council
applicants. These 15 citizens will be selected by lot-
tery. If you want to help select the next council, put
your name in the hat and see if it gets pulled out.
Out of My
The city charter doesn’t call for an election, it calls
for the remaining council members to select replace- by Noni Andersen
ments. Parrow and Mitchell, by charter, cannot allow
the panels to make the final selection, but have
agreed to abide by the recommendations of the pan-
els. Same result in the end, and they get there by fol-
lowing the rules; we applaud that. They also will
open the application process for a full two weeks.
The last applicants had only four days to find out
about the process, get an application, fill it out and
return it to city hall. This process, of course, depends
on the outcome of the recall vote.
Burch, Nicks and
Please don’t drink and drive
Vernonian Josh Watson died early the morning of
July 10 after the car he was in missed a curve and
crashed into a really big tree along Keasey Road.
There were three men in the truck; one died, one went
by LifeFlight to the hospital in critical condition, and
another was transported by ambulance with serious
injuries. We don’t know who was driving, but we do
know that investigators consider both alcohol and
speed to be factors in this tragedy.
This provides another opportunity to remind anyone
who will listen that drinking and driving will kill. It may
kill a loved one, it may kill you. As Lanny McDonald
has been known to say, “Don’t drink and drive, the life
you save could be mine.” Please, don’t become a drunk
driving statistic – save lives, don’t drink and drive.
Mind…
Ballots were mailed
Monday to Vernonia vot-
ers for Parts 2 & 3 of the
city council recall elec-
tions, this time aimed at
Willow Burch and Marilyn
Nicks.
Citizen anger at harm-
ful council action finally
reached the boiling point
when council members
the already-recalled Kevin
Hudson terminated the contract of city adminis-
trator Bill Haack in their efforts to protect an un-
scrupulous city police officer. Their effort to pro-
tect that employee continued even after a state
investigation revealed a pattern of false state-
ments that started with his employment applica-
tion, and after the city’s attorney explained, in
writing, about potential liability if the employee
remained on staff.
Their defense is to insist that there was some
kind of conspiracy and that Haack was some-
how at the root of it. Yeah, sure, of course, etc.
To paraphrase what I wrote in last month’s
column, the city won’t be hurt if they are recalled.
Another successful recall could be very good for
the city if it results in thoughtful, public decision-
making by future councilors.
It’s easy to understand why local government
bodies fall into decision-making ruts that amount
to “it worked before so let’s do it again”. The
easy way is good when the decision is the right
one; the question is: What is right? It would have
been right to retain Haack, and it would be right
to rehire him because he has shown his ability to
juggle all of the elements involved in operating
the City of Vernonia, including its many compli-
cated, ongoing projects.
Presently, however, I question the wisdom of
that approach. All five council members agreed
to hire former interim administrator Jim Johnson
as a consultant until a new administrator is hired
and, after Recall No. 1, Mayor Josette Mitchell
and Councilor Randy Parrow insisted that for-
mer Councilor Brett Costley be appointed to re-
place him. Burch and Nicks disagreed on Cost-
ley, so the seat remained vacant.
I question these decisions for two reasons: 1.
When he was administrator, Johnson did noth-
ing about citizens’ legitimate complaints con-
cerning that same police officer and his dog. 2.
Costley (Parrow, too) went along with defending
the officer, treating complaining citizens as
though they were lying whiners. Mitchell and
Parrow should not support those who did the
same thing Hudson was recalled for. They are
both capable of making intelligent decisions and
should start that process by questioning their
own decisions in these two instances.
One good way to start would be by allowing
10-14 days for citizens to apply for vacancies. It
did no good to rush the application period for
Hudson’s seat because the vote deadlocked 2-
2. There was very little time to apply, and few cit-
izens knew that applications were being accept-
ed. Also needed are public discussions in coun-
cil meetings, before decisions are made, instead
of defending decisions after the fact.