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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 4, 2012)
The INDEPENDENT, January 4, 2012 Where to Find Them U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (Dem) 1220 SW 3rd Avenue, Suite 585 Portland OR 97232 Phone: 503-326-7525 223 Dirksen Senate Ofc. Bldg. Washington, D.C. 20510-0001 Phone: 202-224-5244 E-Mail: http://wyden.senate.gov/ contact Website: http://wyden.senate. gov U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (Dem.) One World Trade Center 121 SW Salmon St., Suite 1250 Portland, OR 97204 Phone: 503-326-3386 313 Hart Senate Ofc. Bldg. Washington, DC 20510 Phone: (202) 224-3753 E-Mail: http://merkley.senate. gov/contact WebSite: http://merkley.senate. gov U.S. Representative David - Wu (Dem) OR District 1 ace pl 620 SW Main, Suite e 606 r Portland, OR 97205 o on Phone: 503-326-2901 – n lecti d e Ofc. Bldg. 2338 Rayburn l ne ti House g i Washington, s un DC 20515 e t Phone: R en 202-225-0855 Website: m http://house.gov/wu Senator Betsy Johnson (Dem) Senate District 16 PO Box R, Scappoose, OR 97056 Phone: 503-543-4046 900 Court St. NE, S-314 Salem, OR 97301 Phone: 503-986-1716 E-mail: sen.betsyjohnson@ state.or.us Website: http//www.leg.state.or. us/johnson Representative Brad Witt (Dem) House District. 31 21740 Lindberg Road, Clatskanie, OR 97016 Phone: 503-728-4664 900 Court St. NE, H-373 Salem, OR 97301 Phone: 503-986-1431 E-mail: rep.bradwitt@state.or.us Website: http//www.leg.state.or. us/witt Representative Deborah Boone (Dem) House District 32 PO Box 926 Cannon Beach, OR 97110 Phone: 503-717-9182 900 Court St. NE, H-375 Salem, OR 97301 Phone: 503-986-1432 E-mail: rep.deborahboone@ state.or.us Website: http//www.leg.state.or. us/boone Page 3 Letters Loss of credit is why businesses decline To the Editor: “Thanks for the Laugh”. In reference to your Decem- ber 21, 2011 article on why small businesses are not thriv- ing, I have to say thank you for the laughs. As a business own- er when I first saw the article on why small businesses are not thriving I thought maybe some- one is finally going to shed some real light on this. But, what I read was a bunch of governmental statistical politi- cal garbage! Uncertainty? What the heck is that? As a business owner I will tell you first hand that from conveyor belt manufacturing, construction, or gun manufac- turing, the main and foremost reason small businesses are not thriving is because of the thieving banks in this country. They got their billions of dollars in bailouts and then they bailed on every small business in this country leaving them high and dry! There is no longer such a thing as a business line of credit, construction loans, or SBA loans for any small busi- ness. When you take away working capital from a business it will not thrive! The only uncertainty I have experienced in the small busi- ness world is wondering how are we going to make payroll, finance projects, advertise more, or expand into new mar- kets that are available to us when we cannot even borrow ten lousy cents from any bank in the U.S? I have the work to create many good paying jobs with benefits but I don’t have the working capital any more to fund it so I have to turn it down. How wrong is that? It takes money to make money, and when the banks take away your cash flow for no reason, small Vernonia 2011 Year in Review From page 2 revoked for life. Kay appeals. Aug. 4 – City councilors Nicks and Burch recalled by over 73% and removed from office on Aug. 5. Aug. 5-7 – 55th Friendship Jamboree. Aug. 8 – Work begins on new 7-acre wetland at old mill site. Aug. 20 – New West Oregon Electric Cooperative building dedicated. Aug. 21 – Old Grad picnic. Aug 29 – City council appoints new councilors Bruce McNair, Kim Tierney and Donna Webb. Brent Thompson sworn in as police officer. Sept. 1 – First day of school Sept. 6 – City council hires Bill Haack for City Admin istrator. Sept. 7 – Community Garage Sale. Sept. 15 – Camrin Eyrrick appointed to school board. Sept. 16-18 – St. Mary’s Quilt Fair. Oct. 1 – Salmon Festival. Nov. 4 – Mike Kay files letter of intent to sue city for “high six figures”. Nov. 21 – Matthew Brady sworn in as police officer. Dec. 3-4 – Christmas in the Country Bazaar. Dec. 6 – Vernonia school town hall announces plans for New Spencer Park. Dec. 11 – Vernonian Mackenzie Carr named 2012 Miss Rodeo America. Dec. 13 – Loren Loomis, Dan Hanson, and Jesse Har bour promoted to lieutenants of Vernonia Rur- al Fire Protection District. businesses will fail. Banks too big to fail and too fat on tax payers bailout money that could care less about em- ploying the people of this coun- try is the only reason small businesses are failing in Amer- ica! Fortunately for us we have a lot of perseverance and a few good contracts to make a come back without the help of our current banking systems. Michael Botchie Rainier every single one of us. Only to inspire to educate for the well being of the human race, to be nice and be humble and God will have mercy on you. “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus and he lives with- in you and me.” Thanking Him for all my blessings. Happiness prevails, Virginia Kepner Vernonia Wishing happiness to all in the new year Policy on Letters To the Editor: Happiest of New Year’s to All. Through all my trials and difficulties, I’ve conquered with ambition, only to recover with highest hopes, happiness and justice for all. Wishing everyone, PEACE in this world, not just the white, black, or red, but each and The INDEPENDENT will not publish letters with per- sonal attacks on private citi- zens. Preference will be giv- en to brief letters, 300 words or less. All letters must be signed and include a verifiable ad- dress or phone number. City Update Haack gives update on the waste- water treatment project by Bill Haack, Administrator City of Vernonia On Tuesday December 27, 2011, the City of Vernonia se- lection review committee met to review and rate the two re- sponses to the Requests for Qualifications to provide design and final engineering services for the Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvement Project. Curran-McLoed, Inc. Con- sulting Engineers (CM) and Tetra Tech Engineering and Ar- chitecture Services (TT) sub- mitted responses to the RFQ by the 2:00 p.m. Thursday De- cember 22, 2011, deadline, therefore becoming the eligible pool of candidates. The selection committee met as a group and provided their rated assessments to the City Recorder. The City Re- corder entered the rating and calculated the rank of each firm. TT was rated superior to CM by a ratio of about 3:2. The selection committee’s results were provided to the Public Works Committee at their meeting December 27, 2012. The PWC recommended TT to the City Council as the preferred selection for the de- sign engineering services for the Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvement Project. I will provide the City Coun- cil with a recommendation from the Public Works Committee authorizing the negotiations on a pricing contract for the scope of work described in the RFQ. Ike Says… From page 2 there has always been a Coho run that comes in late Decem- ber. I had it from a very reliable source that there were fresh fish in the lower Nehalem just before the last storms. Pebble Creek is one of the streams where this late run seems to show up strong. I might just have to take a walk and see what this year brought us. Have a Happy New Year! Izaak Walton League, Nehalem Valley Chapter meets monthly on the 3rd Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Call 503-429-7193 for location.