PRESORTED STANDARD
U.S. Postage Paid
Vernonia, OR 97064
Permit No. 37
Vol. 26, No. 16
THE
FREE
INDEPENDENT
The Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley for Over 25 years
August 17, 2011
Burch and Nicks recalled
from Vernonia City Council
The recall election for Ver-
nonia City Councilors Willow
Burch and Marilyn Nicks was
held August 4 and was certified
by the Columbia County Elec-
tions Department on August 5.
Burch and Nicks were both
recalled by more than 73 per-
cent of the votes cast. Total
voter turnout was 53.32 per-
cent. They were notified of the
results, in writing, on August 5
and were removed from office
as of that day.
Chief Petitioner of the recall
was Sharon Bernal, who had
already run a successful recall,
in June, of city councilor Kevin
Hudson. The recalls began
after Hudson, Nicks and Burch
voted to end the contract of In-
terim City Administrator Bill
Haack early.
These recalls leave the city
council with only two members,
Mayor Josette Mitchell and
Councilor Randy Parrow.
Council held interviews in June
to replace Hudson but dead-
locked with Burch and Nicks
voting for one applicant and
Mitchell and Parrow voting for
another. The same deadlock
vote occurred in June after in-
terviews with two applicants for
City Administrator. One of
those applicants was Haack.
Mitchell and Parrow an-
nounced at a special city coun-
cil meeting, held August 8, the
process that would be used to
fill the three open council posi-
tions. (See related article on
page 1.)
Wu resigns, election set
Todd Cutright was dead-on the full can of beer when he dropped this log, during the pole
falling portion of the 2011 Jamboree Logging Show competition. Full results from the show
are expected to be available by the September 7 issue. Photo by Garry Kinney.
Governor Kitzhaber set a
special election to replace Con-
gressman David Wu after re-
ceiving a letter of resignation
from the representative of Ore-
gon’s First Congressional Dis-
trict. A special primary election
will be held on November 8,
2011, and a special general
election will be held on January
Vernonia Council outlines the plan to fill open seats
At a special Vernonia City
Council meeting, on August 8,
Mayor Josette Mitchell and
Councilor Randy Parrow ac-
cepted the results of the Spe-
cial Recall Election held August
4 that resulted in the recall of
councilors Willow Burch and
Marilyn Nicks.
Mitchell and Parrow went on
to outline the process and time-
line that will be used to fill the
three open council positions.
Fifteen citizens will be chosen,
from those applying between
now and August 22, to fill three
five-person interview panels. At
a special meeting on August
22, those 15 panelists will be
drawn by lottery from those
who apply. Panel members
must be registered voters, liv-
ing inside the Vernonia city lim-
its, not be employed by the city
nor served the City of Vernonia
in an official position in the last
18 months, and must be avail-
able for interviews in the
evenings of the week of August
23 to 27. Citizens interested in
being on the panel can sign up
at City Hall, 1001 Bridge St., or
email cityhall@vernonia-or.gov
with name, address and phone
number, expressing your inter-
est in serving as a panelist.
Deadline for panelist applica-
tions is 4:00 p.m. on August 22.
The city is also accepting
applications for the three va-
cant council positions. Applica-
tions are online at www.vernon-
ia-or.gov or available at city
hall. These applications must
also be turned in by 4:00 p.m.
on August 22. The term of of-
fice for one council position will
be through December 2012;
the other two will run through
December 2014. All three posi-
tions will be filled by a regular
election process when the
terms expire.
Mitchell and Parrow will at-
tend the interviews, but will not
hold separate interviews. They
will make their choices based
on the panels’ interviews.
The three new councilors
will be selected, appointed and
sworn into office at a special
meeting set for August 29.
“Old Grads”
meet, Aug. 21
The annual Vernonia Soci-
ety, VHS “Old Grads” and Ore-
gon American alumni picnic will
be this Sunday, August 21, at
Anderson Park in Vernonia.
Bring a lunch or buy a hot dog
there. Coffee provided.
Registration begins at 10:00
a.m. All former and current Ver-
nonians are welcome to attend.
31, 2012. The Secretary of
State’s Office will be releasing
details of the special election
process.
“I have received a letter of
resignation from Congressman
David Wu and am working with
the Secretary of State's office
on a special election process,”
said Governor Kitzhaber.
“Holding both a primary and
See Wu on page 5
The 66th annual
Banks BBQ
August 19-21.
Full schedule
on page 14.
— CORRECTION —
The Keasey Tree Farm was
named as the Columbia Coun-
ty Tree Farm of the year and is
in the running to be named
Oregon Tree Farm but has not
been selected for that honor.
The Independent regrets
any confusion caused by this
error.