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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (May 2, 2012)
The INDEPENDENT, May 2, 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 Writer implies that commissioners lie To the Editor: I don’t know who first said that politics is a dirty business but I surely am getting an edu- cation in this proverb. In a public forum last week, Tony Hyde stated that he did not want to give the taxpayer owned Millard Road property to the City of St. Helens. Yet Mr. Hyde and the other commis- sioners are involved in a law- suit as “usurper” trustees to do just that. That property is now held in trust by a warranty deed by Brady Preheim and Joe Ca- son, CHD trustees. Mr. Hyde intimated that he wanted the property used for “future med- ical purposes”. Mr. Fisher hid behind the “executive session” argument when asked about backroom meetings which took place when the commissioners and the old CHD board did away with over $500,000 and the Gable Road property. They are now attempting to add the 3.3 million Millard Road property to this giveaway. Mr. Fisher also blatantly stated that they are using coun- ty money to fight the lawsuits brought against them even though they were not sued as commissioners – as much as $20,000. Guess what, Mr. Fish- er? You have no right to use county money to fight a lawsuit brought against you as “usurp- er” trustees. You have SDAO (special district attorneys) for that. I, for one, would like a full accounting of that $20,000 you claim to have spent. It is apparent that Hyde, Fisher and Heimuller, our cur- rent commissioners, fail to un- derstand the outcome of Mea- sure 5-209 in which the voters repealed the tax to build a hos- pital. They also fail to under- stand that the initial measure back in 2004 was to build a hospital, not to support public health. Public health is mandat- ed by and paid for by the state and federal government. I am tired of making this argument and I trust the voters are even more so. In another vein – I am the campaign manager for Tammy Maygra and Brady Preheim. We have been fortunate in that we have received enough do- nations to blanket the county with campaign signs. In Clat- skanie, however, our signs (and only our signs) have been knocked down and have now been stolen. This appears to me to be a really bad decision if someone wants to garner votes. But again – politics is a dirty business. It is time for a change. If you want honest and transparent government, vote for Brady Preheim and Tammy Maygra. Nancy Whitney St. Helens County needs Tony Hyde’s leadership To the Editor: I am writing this letter in support of Tony Hyde for his re- election as Columbia County Commissioner. I first met Tony in December 2007 when I had been hired to work for Columbia County Emergency Management after the floods of 2007. In my posi- tion I was the FEMA liaison in charge of authoring the Colum- bia County Debris Manage- ment Plan and leading the team for the Hazard Mitigation Planning for Columbia County. Previously, I had spent nine months working as a project of- ficer for FEMA in Louisiana af- ter Hurricane Katrina. It has been stated that Tony spends a lot of time in Salem and in Washington, DC. That is true. That is part of his job. If he did not spend the time in Salem and Washington, DC, Colum- bia County would not be able to get the funding that helps us to continue to have the quality of life that we enjoy in Columbia County. Tony has worked dili- gently with FEMA to get addi- tional funding for disaster relief in our local communities. And yes, we in Columbia County are suffering very diffi- cult economic times. Columbia County has had mills and busi- nesses close. That has cost jobs. We do not have the tax base that we had a few years ago. Unemployment is high. Living wage jobs are hard to find. Foreclosures and bank- ruptcies are at an all time high. Most county government employees still have their jobs. Those employees have suf- fered a loss of one day’s work every two weeks. That hurt them financially. That is not a good thing. However, the Co- lumbia County Commissioners have insured that they are still getting their full benefits. That is a good thing. Yes, the county government officers are closed on Fridays. But it could have been worse and would have been worse without the leader- ship of Tony. I feel that during these diffi- cult economic times we have fared fairly well considering everything that is going on in Columbia County, the State of Oregon and the Federal Gov- ernment. The guidance that Tony has provided has helped us to be better off than many other communities. For Tony, his job as County Commissioner is not an 8 to 5 job. He passionately serves you, the people he was elected to serve. He spends many hours in planning what needs to be done for Columbia Coun- ty. Columbia County needs him. Tony has had to make many difficult decisions for our coun- ty and I know that he does not make them lightly. I know Tony to be an honorable and dedi- cated servant to Columbia County. That is why I am sup- porting Tony Hyde for re-elec- tion as Columbia County Com- missioner and why I urge you Please see page 17 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 only 1.28 gallons of water and also have two flush modes which will get you down to .9 gal- lons for when it isn’t necessary to use more wa- ter. Depending on your household, you could save around $50 a year with a new toilet, so it is worth considering for the long term. Clothes washing is the next big item for water use in a home, so make sure you do full, large loads each time you use the washer. In our household, we have already invested in a new High Efficiency washer and dryer, so we are pretty much maxed out on what we can do to conserve in this area. Showering is the third largest consumer of water in a household and, I must admit, is going to be my hardest habit to break. I like a long hot shower; I imagine a lot of local guys who work in the woods, or hunters coming in after a long cold and wet day afield, like a long hot shower. Well, it will cost you now. The only thing you can do to reduce your shower’s water consumption is to make sure the showerhead is a low flow design, and take a shorter shower. Of course you can take one of the recommendations that came from a council discussion in regards to this and take a “navy shower”, wet down, turn the water off, soap up, turn the water on and rinse. Yeah that will be nice! Faucets place fourth in household water con- sumption. You can make sure you have low flow diffusers in your bathrooms, but the kitchen sink will require a higher flow diffuser. The biggest thing I have found to do is turning the water off while I brush my teeth. This can add up to a con- siderable amount of water during a month. In regards to outdoor usage of water, in the Webb family, brown is the new “green”. It was suggested to me that I should invest in rain bar- rels to water my lawn with, but I thought it would look kind of odd to have 250 rain barrels stacked around my house and would probably be de- clared a public nuisance. I am thinking about a water trough, though, for capturing water to wash the cars. Families that grow gardens will need to pencil out whether or not the cost of wa- ter for your garden will yield more than going to the store and buying your produce. A drip irriga- tion system will be the most water conservative approach to watering a garden, it will be more la- bor intensive though. Izaak Walton League, Nehalem Valley Chapter meets monthly on the 3rd Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Call 503-429-7193 for location.
