The INDEPENDENT, April 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 Suzanne
Bonamici, (Dem) OR District 1
620 SW Main, Suite 606
Portland, OR 97205
Phone: 503-326-2901
2338 Rayburn House Ofc. Bldg.
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-0855
Website: http://bonamici.house.
gov
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
Great support for
the Roberts’ benefit
To the Editor:
I want to take this opportuni-
ty to thank a lot of people for
the success of the spaghetti
feast on Saturday, March 24th,
for the benefit of Ryan Roberts’
kidney transplant.
First, to all who bought tick-
ets and to those who came to
the dinner with their hearts and
pocket books open so gener-
ously, thank you.
We were able to raise $1600
– much more than expected,
but I shouldn’t have been sur-
prised knowing this community
as long as I have. Whenever
the alarm is raised for one of
our own, we Vernonians rise to
the occasion.
A special thanks goes out to
Mario and Leatha, Pat, Gayle,
The Free Wheelers and all the
helpers.
Last but not least, a grateful
shout out to all who donated to
the silent auction. Great job,
well done!
Once again, thank you all!
Sally Harrison
Shirlee Daughtry
Vernonia
Donations needed
for ongoing benefit
To the Editor:
The sale up at Lincoln
Grade School will be open
every weekend through May 1,
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
I need donations!
Two quality items per family
and then spread the word.
Plus, come up and spend your
money.
All money will go to the Ryan
Roberts’ Kidney Fund at US
Bank.
Thank you,
Sunny Suppes
Vernonia Free Wheelers
Continuing conflicts
roil CHD waters
To the Editor:
Jim Huffman is the attorney
working to get to the bottom of
the fraudulent conveyances
perpetrated by the old CHD
[Columbia Health District]
board, the county commission-
ers and the City of St. Helens.
He is working pro bono.
Michael Clarke is the attorney
working with him. He is working
pro bono.
Mr. Huffman has filed a law-
suit in order to stop the further
transfer of assets from the tax-
payers to the county, a private
foundation, and the City of St.
Helens. My name is Nancy
Whitney. I am Mr. Huffman’s
and Mr. Clarke’s litigation as-
sistant and I also work without
pay.
Being in this position I am
privy to all the information gath-
ered by the attorneys (as you
can be by logging on to nohos
pitaltax.info). I am frankly ap-
palled with how far back this
deception reaches.
Christopher
Armstrong-
Stevenson is a retired gentle-
man now living in St. Helens.
He retired after 17 years with
the State of Oregon as the per-
son in charge of the Certificate
of Need program and the Rate
and Budget Review program.
His additional credentials are
impeccable. In October 2004,
after retirement, he wrote in op-
position to implementing a tax
to build a hospital. He states “In
my opinion, the C/N is HIGHLY
UNLIKELY to be issued”. He
further states under ‘Who ben-
efits from a hospital in St. He-
lens?’ – “LEGACY SYSTEMS –
will benefit substantially from
the “gift” of a brand-new hospi-
tal facility”.
He further states under this
heading “BOISE CASCADE –
having a hospital at St. Helens
will enable Boise to discontinue
or reduce the healthcare serv-
ices it currently provides at its
plants in the area and will allow
the Company to pass on those
costs to a publicly funded facil-
ity”. Mr. Armstrong-Stevenson’s
entire report may be viewed at
nohospitaltax.info.
It was in Boise’s interest to
support the new hospital by
passing on its health care
costs. Boise Cascade has
been very successful in lobby-
ing for a great many expendi-
tures, including: 1) the six mil-
lion dollar CRFR [Columbia
River Fire & Rescue] practice
facility which was implemented
without the vote of the people;
2) a $250,000 gift from the Co-
lumbia County Board of Com-
missioners as an inducement
to stay in St. Helens, gifted
shortly before the pulp plant
was closed permanently; and
3) bankrupting the St. Helens
city sewer system by stopping
payments for treatment when
they closed the plant (thus the
big hike in rates passed on to
the taxpayers). In contrast,
Scappoose required Steinfelds
to provide capital for its sewer
plant expansion instead of pay-
ing it out of rates, so that when
Steinfelds closed, the taxpay-
ers weren’t left holding the bag.
OK – let’s see who the play-
ers were when all of this histo-
ry was happening. First we
have the county commission-
ers who, by the way, were re-
sponsible for getting the “hospi-
tal” tax measure on the ballot
without having to collect signa-
tures: Tony Hyde (now claiming
to be both a commissioner and
a trustee for the CHD and who
is fighting to get the Millard
Road property given to the City
of St. Helens free of charge);
Rita Bernhardt (sic) (retired
commissioner who now sits on
the board of the public founda-
tion which is the recipient of
hundreds of thousands of dol-
lars of taxpayer money); and
Joe Corsiglia (who lost in his
second bid for a commission-
er’s seat).
Second, we have the Co-
lumbia Health District Board
members at that time: Jay Tap-
pan, who was later hired by Di-
ane Dillard (employee of Boise
Cascade) as “fire chief”; Gary
Heidi who was a vocal member
of the CHD board right from the
beginning, through all the poor
decision making, and ended up
on the board of the private
foundation for a time; Laura
Tomanka who was a board
member of the private founda-
tion since 1999 and who re-
signed when opposition to the
“hospital” became a hotly dis-
puted issue; Karen Punch and
Paula Becks who resigned
many years ago.
The further we research the
more we uncover. I don’t know
whether the “good ol’ boy sys-
tem” or nepotism is a better de-
scription for what has hap-
pened in our county. What it
boils down to is that I, along
with most of the people, have
just sat back and let it happen.
Well, it’s time to stop doing
that. You all did great on your
votes for Measure 5-209 and in
electing a new CHD board who
have stopped the 38 cent tax.
Now it is time to replace those
commissioners who have par-
ticipated in this irresponsible
plunder of our county. YOU
NEED TO VOTE FOR A
CHANGE.
Nancy Whitney
St. Helens
Ed. note: The Columbia Health
District does not include Vernonia,
Mist and Birkenfeld.
Policy on Letters
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.
Ike Says…
From page 2
much water is flowing down Rock Creek on a daily mean, but how
much water do Vernonians use? This answer is actually quite
easy since the water plant records daily water plant production
numbers, which are metered. These records tell us that, over the
last ten years, we have produced an average of 87.6 million gal-
lons of water per year. This is an average of 240,000 gallons per
day and, when divided by the gallons represented in 245.36 cu-
bic feet per second per day, we come up with a total impact upon
the aquatic resources of .00151, yes folks slightly more than 1/10
of 1%. A quick Wikipedia search found a report from the City of
Portland stating that their yearly impact on the Bull Run Creek wa-
tershed is around 23%, so folks, we Vernonians have nothing to
be ashamed of, we have a nearly immeasurable impact on local
stream resources, and when we do, we do our part and reduce
usage under the curtailment ordinance.
What I finally came to realize, is that some people are caught
up in what I now term Pseudo-Conservationism (false-conserva-
tionism), it is a trendy tool for making people believe it is the right
thing to do. It is hip to be “green” these days, but it really isn’t hip
to base decisions on false assumptions. Let the facts speak for
themselves and then make a decision. My column next month will
include some ways a household can be truly conservative with
water, while maintaining our accustomed standards for quality of
life.