The INDEPENDENT, September 5, 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
Volunteers thankful
for people’s support
To the Editor:
We would like to take this
opportunity to thank the citi-
zens of Vernonia for their sup-
port during Jamboree. Our
snow cone booth raised $500
to be used locally toward the
education of new EMTs. Spe-
cial thanks to the Festival com-
mittee for an outstanding job in
organizing, and to Vernonia
Sentry and Bridge Street Mini
Mart. Special thanks to Holly
and Wayne Vaughn for their
support and the use of their
freezer. Our booth was a suc-
cess because of everyone’s
continued support to the Volun-
teer Ambulance Association.
We will have our annual
fudge and bread fundraiser at
Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Thank you, Vernonia, for
your continued support!!
Trish Smith, EMT
Vernonia Volunteer
Ambulance Association
Answers not enough
for WOEC member
To the Editor:
Stuck…in a Catch 22! How
is that, electrically speaking?
Well, pick up a copy of the lat-
est Ruralite, or The Indepen-
dent newspaper and Marc
Farmer is explaining, again,
why his hands are tied because
of BPA rate increases; natural
disasters; rising costs and,
above all, “his new building has
nothing to do with the increas-
es.” The Catch 22 is this: when
a WOEC Member has an “itch”,
attends a meeting, stands up
and has a say, the same worn
out treads of explanation are
rolled out and life goes on.
Nothing happens. However, if a
Member(s) persists, resist-
ance, noticeably, builds up a
tad. The member is told “they
are appreciated” or as in the
last Board Meeting, “their finan-
cial, physical pain and stress
from rising rates are felt”…but
since the Member does not
possess the experience, tech-
nical knowledge or manage-
ment skills required to run
WOEC, they don’t know of
what they are criticizing or ask-
ing about. If one presses past
this line-in-the-sand, they are
accused of causing trouble
without evidence and not being
aware of all the selfless hard
work done. If that doesn’t do it,
as in one incident, they are
shouted at. So “what’s the
problem?” Well, for one rea-
son, in the last 6 months, we
know the cost for BPA electrici-
ty was $1,313,341. By the time
it passed through our meters,
the total was $5,106,022.93.
That is a chunk of change.
There are a lot of members
who would like to know about
how that was spent other than
a repeated mantra of explana-
tion about natural disasters of
which he is the biggest one.
If clarifying data is request-
ed, in a meeting or at the main
office, some is given and some
is withheld, even if presented at
a meeting open to the member-
ship, e.g. a Board Meeting.
Since the By-Laws (available at
the main office) permit such in-
formation to be given to Mem-
bers (Article V, Section 7; and
Section 9), the question arises,
what is so secret? And why? It
is this type of resistance by
Marc Farmer and the Board, to
Members
questions,
that
makes it hard to trust what is
being said in explanation of
constantly rising rates. In other
words, what is the real “skin-
ny”? It bears looking into.
Jack Phillips
Vernonia
Citizen wants federal
charges vacated
To the Editor:
I question the US Justice
Department’s behavior of late.
Starting with their unwilling-
ness to prosecute bullies (on
video) wielding pipes at the
polls in 2008 and extending to
the lawsuits challenging voter
ID requirements and immigra-
tion enforcement practices in
Florida, Texas and Arizona I’ve
concluded that Eric Holder, US
Attorney General, is, well…one
complicated guy.
But there’s more reason to
be alarmed. According to an ar-
ticle by the WSJ Aug. 20, 2012
(Gibson is off the hook. Who’s
next?) the feds just won a judg-
ment and a promise not to talk
about the case beyond the
form 302 report; the “Statement
of Fact”, from Gibson Guitar.
Though Gibson denied their
culpability in the charge of im-
porting restricted wood from
Madagascar in an earlier op-ed
piece, they agreed to pay out
$350k and accept the fed’s ver-
sion of reality rather then fight a
multi-million dollar court case.
The writer, Harvey Silver-
glate, goes on to explain that
when interviewing suspects,
the feds don’t tape the inter-
view like states and counties
do. Two interview; one asks the
questions, the other writes
down the answers. This gives
the feds complete latitude to
edit the “Statement of Fact” in a
narrative that favors the prose-
cutors. Should the suspect de-
part from the narrative at a lat-
er time in open court, he will be
charged with making a false
statement to a federal official, a
5 year prison offense.
Outrageous.
“Form 302” should be a
video. Throw out the gag or-
ders. Allow explanations in pur-
suit of the truth. Vacate
charges against Gibson.
Wayne Mayo
Scappoose
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.
Salem Scene
By Representative Brad Witt
Oregon District 31
I received some very nice comments
about my series of town halls on the new
Foreclosure Mediation legislation that
passed last session. I especially want to
thank the experts who took the time to
travel the district with me. They were:
• Angela Martin, Economic Fairness
Oregon
• Jermaine Brown, Department of Jus-
tice
• Cindy Peake and Beverly Danner, Community Action Team
• Carlos Garcia, Hacienda Community Development Corp
• Ricci Sohn, Open Door Counseling Center
I also want to thank those who attended. I know that several
people were able to sign up for assistance right then and there. I
learned a few things myself that I would like to pass along. Below
are a few gems that I hope you will share with anyone that you
think will benefit.
For those who are unemployed and struggling to make
their house payment, there is the Mortgage Payment Assistance
Unemployment (MPAU) program. The program provides up to
$20,000 or 12 months of mortgage payments (whichever comes
first) to the first 2,000 homeowners across the state who are
found to be eligible. It is 5-year forgivable loan – if you stay in your
house a minimum of 5 years, the loan is forgiven! Learn more at
www.oregon homeownerhelp.org.
Another program described at this same website is the Loan
Preservation Assistance (LPA) program, available as of August
29th in both Clatsop and Columbia Counties. This program also
provides $20,000 for up to 2,000 eligible homeowners whose loan
servicers have enrolled in the program. A servicer is the lender to
whom you send your house payment. Some people have had
more than one over the term of their loan.
For those who have already been foreclosed, there may be
the possibility that you qualify for a payment of up to $1800.
These funds, and the funds described above were made possible
by the class action suit brought against the “big five” lenders by
21 states, Oregon being one of them. Oregon received $29 mil-
lion to establish a fund to help homeowners who were directly im-
pacted by the housing crisis.
Finally, for those who are still trying to negotiate a loan
Please see page 18