PRESORTED STANDARD
U.S. Postage Paid
Vernonia, OR 97064
Permit No. 37
Vol. 26, No. 21
THE
FREE
INDEPENDENT
The Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley for Over 25 years
November 2, 2011
City of Banks puts levy on ballot
The City of Banks is seeking
voter approval for Ballot Mea-
sure 34-194, a five-year re-
placement levy for police serv-
ices, on the November 8 ballot.
The measure would replace
the levy for contract police
services with Washington
County, which will expire June
30, 2012. The current levy has
a rate of $1.89 per $1,000 of
assessed property value.
The new levy calls for a rate
of $2.35 per $1,000 of as-
sessed property value. As with
the current levy, other services
funded by this levy include 9-1-
1 dispatch services, city re-
corder services and routine ad-
ministrative expenses (such as
utilities, auditing, liability insur-
ance and materials).
If Measure 34-194 fails,
Banks residents will have to
rely on other jurisdictions to re-
spond to high priority 9-1-1
calls as Banks will no longer be
able to contract with Washing-
ton County for police services.
Greenfield, District 1 candidate,
answers forum questions
Adults, and children, had a good time during the Vernonia Downtown Costume Parade on
Halloween early evening. About 300 kids trick-or-treated the downtown businesses.
Fire started in mulch near wetland
A smoldering fire was dis-
covered Monday, October 31,
in a mulch pile next to the new
wetlands, located on the old
mill site in Vernonia. The fire,
said Fire Chief Dean Smith,
may have been smoldering for
days in mulch created when
woody debris from the wet-
lands site was chipped. It was
anticipated that the mulch
would be used as path materi-
al, but the site was not ready
for paths this year as the final
plantings are not in place. The
wetland was covered with an-
nual grass seed to hold the
sides stable until final planting
can take place next year.
The Vernonia Rural Fire
Protection District put water on
the fire and called for heavy
equipment to spread out the
mulch, thereby eliminating pos-
sible further spontaneous com-
bustion. See picture on page 9.
Volunteer
crossing guard help
needed in the
mornings.
See Chalk Talk on
page 11 for details.
To provide information for
Congressional District 1 resi-
dents who will be voting in the
Nov. 8 special primary election,
The Independent published
questions and answers of four
of the 11 candidates for 1st Dis-
trict Representative in Con-
gress, in the October 19 issue.
Of five additional candidates
contacted, only Republican Jim
Greenfield responded to the
same questions that were an-
swered by Democrats Brad
Avakian, Suzanne Bonamici
and Brad Witt, and Republican
Linda Delgado-Morgan.
The Independent was un-
able to contact two candidates,
Pavel Goberman and Dominic
Hammon.
Rob
Cornilles,
Lisa
Michaels, Todd Lee Ritter and
Dan Strite were contacted but
did not respond. Strite sent a
Letter to the Editor (see page
3) without responding to the
questions. Republican candi-
date Jim Greenfield was the
only candidate contacted who
responded to the questions, his
answers follow:
1. What steps will you take
to see that jobs are retained
and new one made?
Greenfield – The way to im-
prove the economy and create
See candidate on page 4
CCSO Sheriff schedules town hall
The next Town Hall meeting
with Columbia County Sheriff
Jeff Dickerson is scheduled in
the South Columbia County
area for November 15. The
meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m.
in the St. Helens High School
Auditorium.
The meeting is designed to
give Columbia County resi-
dents a greater understanding
of the service reductions and
looming devastating cuts that
are forecast for the sheriff’s of-
fice, and to invite citizen
See Sheriff on page 19
The Vernonia Loggers football team, shown at the end of the Homecoming game on October
21. The team wore pink socks for breast cancer awareness in honor of Vernonia instruction-
al assistant Roxana Sherman-Heath. The Loggers won the game against Nestucca, 14 to 7.