Demonia Eagle
to THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1964
Letter to
The Editor
Since Judge Whipple has been giv
en twice the space as Earl Seawright
was given in commenting on the
courthouse issue, may I have equal
space for comment.
Judge Whipple says the courthouse
is not an issue. The handling of the
matter is somewhat confusing.
At the time of the primaries, the
court announced the money availa
ble would be used for annex — their
legal advice indicated the money
was appropriated for this purpose
and could not be otherwise used.
Now the court discussed a new court
house again. What makes the mat
ter legal now? It’s still earmarked as
annex funds.
The court (or members of it) call
ed a committee into sessions to de
termine whether a new courthouse
should be built. One essential con
sideration should have been the
soundness of the present structure;
yet several months after the com
mittee issued its report the court
proceeded to hire three firms to de
termine how structurally sound the
courthouse is.
The court objected to consulting
more than one architect on plans be
cause of the expense involved. But
they incurred this expense in draw
ing up plans for a new building, get
ting estimates ,etc., and not until
later did they try to determine whe
ther they could legally build this
new structure.
We have been told the court wish
es to follow the will of the people,
but members of the court resented
the fact a local architect was asked
for his opinion when members of
the committee wanted more infor
mation, and some members of the
committee felt the presentation of
details was one-sided. There have
this matter could have been resolved
this mattr could have been resolved
if the court had wanted a determina
tion by the residents.
If it had not been for protests of
local citizens, what has been describ
ed as an outstanding piece of archi-
ture by Lewis Crutcher, A.I.A.,
would be demolished, providing
rocks to shore up the bank of the
river.
Franciene Urban
To the Editor:
It appears that the candidacy of
the present County Judge for re-
election is based upon an appeal for
recognition of his past experience.
He states that his experience well
qualifies him to act as our County
Judge.
' I wish to ask, “Have you had ex
perience with the County Judge or
the County Court in the last 12
years?” If you have, you have prob
ably decided for whom you will vote;
ibut your percentage of the total vote
■is not sufficient to elect the County
Judge on November 3rd. 1 am con
fident that it is you. who have not
¡had suchiexperience .that the Judge
¡appeals ;and it is to you, particular
ly, that I appeal. I solicit you to in
quire of a person you know who has
had experience with the County
Judge. Remember that the Judge
has a record. Let us hold him ac
countable for that record.
Many people have spent an enor
mous amount of energy in recent
years to promote business and in
dustry in this County. I particularly
solicit you to inquire of business
and industrial leaders as to what
the Judge has done to promote busi
ness and industry in this County. Let
us hold him accountable for that
record by voting for Earl Seawright
as County Judge.
Robert R. Timmins
920 Plymouth Street
St. Helens, Oregon
To the Editor:
The principal functions of the Coun
ty Judge are those as chief executive
officer of the County and chairman
of the County Court. The chief func
tion of the County Court is that of an
administrative and policy making
body for the County. County Judges
in Columbia County and throughout
the state have not usually been at
torneys. They are not expected to
be attorneys.
The 1963 State Legislature trans
ferred all Juvenile'Court jurisdiction
to the Circuit Court and the Judges
thereof in Columbia, Curry and
Washington Counties. Oregon Revis
ed Statutes 3.130. When the Legisla
ture feels that an attorney is need
ed to handle the remaining judicial
functions of the County Judge and
the County Court, it will, without
doubt, transfer their jurisdiction the
same as it transferred the jurisdic
tion of juvenile matters. In the mean
time, I understand that all pleadings,
orders and notices are prepared by
attorneys, who are responsible for
their work. For the few contested
cases and for all other County mat
ters legal advice is provided by the
District Attorney.
In summary, the chief functions
of the County Judge are not judiical;
he is not required to be, he does not
need to be ,and he is not expected to
be an attorney. Since the present
County Judge has pressed the mat
ter, however, I wish to point out
that John W. Whipple is not a mem
ber of the Oregon State Bar accord
ing to its official roster. He, there
fore, is not licensed to practice law
in Oregon.
Let us not be further mislead.
Carl Brandenfel
Box 7
St. Helens, Oregon
To the Editor:
I have noticed that the newspapers
of Clatskanie, Scappoose, St. Helens
and Rainier all have run “letters
to the editor” this last week extol
ling Judge Whipple as County Judge.
Also, notable is the fact that all these
letters have been written by only
four different people. The St. Helens
paper carried two of these letters,
Rainier — one, Clatskanie — four,
Scappoose — three, and the Vernonia
Eagle says it has received these let
ters but has not printed them because
it deems them political advertise
ments. The Scappoose Spotlight ha»
inserted a line .between the body of
each of these letters and the name
of the writer, which informs the pub
lic that the letter is a paid political
advertisement .
I think this shows that some people
are quite conscientious about their
politics and diligently exercise their
option to partake in political discus
sions — even to the point of paying
25 cents a line for the publishing of
their letters. Judge Whipple is fortu
nate to have such loyal constituents.
However, I must say that I cannot
agree with their views. My first
meeting with Judge Whipple was
several years ago when, as a mem
ber of the board of directors of the
Midland Drainage District,
the
board made an agreement with
Judge Whipple for the county to
rock the levee of the district at a
weak point — at cost. After several
days of work the work suddenly stop
ped. I asked the road superintendent
why the work had stopped and he
told me that the judge had ordered
it stopped. I called Judge Whipple
about this and he told me that the
road superintendent had informed
him that our funds had been all used.
I called the road superintendent and
he told me that he had made no
such call to the judge. I called the
judge again whereupon he petulantly
repudiated the terms of the agree
ment even though those terms were
spelled out in the presence of the
full board of supervisors and they
agreed with my version of those
terms.
On through the years, I have been
made aware of this type of unsatisfy
ing relations with Judge Whipple.
Three weeks, ago I called Judge
Whipple regarding the commercial
hauling of sand over our poorly
maintained dike roads. We had about
a ten minute conversation and the
discussion was permeated by mis
leading statements and false asser
tions by Judge Whipple .
Briefly, he told me the following:
1. He said that he had been in our
area two days previously, had in
spected our roads ;uid could not see
that the sand trucks had done any
damage to the roads. To anyone who
wishes the truth of this assertion, I
recommend that they look at the
serious damage done by sand trucks
on the north Webb District road.
How anyone could claim to have in
spected this road without perceiving
the damage is phenomenal.
2. He said that the county could
not legally oil roads in the diking
districts. His attention was called to
the provisions of the law ORS 368, as
long ago as* February, 1963 by Mr.
Dillard, which refutes such subter
fuge. Mrs. Ida Nelson lias documen
tary proof from Mr. Dillard regard
ing this.
3. I asked him why, if the county
could not legally oil dike roads, the
west road of Midland Drainage dis
trict, north from the county bridge
to the Columbia river, was oiled this
summer. He stated that this paving
was payed for by a private landown
er in the district and that he had the
check for the payment in front of
him at that moment. Both allegations
were false. The county did the work
with county road funds. Similarly, in
the past he has said that the paving
of the Webb district road was done
by private parties and similarly, this
is not true.
It is interesting to note that Judge
Whipple has a letter to the editor in
the Clatskanie Chief dated October
21, 1964 whihc begins, “I am this
date advised by Mr. Williamson . . .
that the county court has the legal
right . . . to establish . . . dike roads
. . . as county roads, under . . . ORS
368.470” . It is interesting because,
as before mentioned. Judge Whipple
was advised of ORS almost two years
ago and has steadfastly refused to
acknowledge its existence until just
before an election which shows pro
mise of becoming his political de
mise.
Bob W. Ellis
Rt. 2, Box 162
Clatskanie, Oregon
To the Editor:
It is the opinion of my legal coun
sel that the money of the "Sinking
Fund—Annex to Court House” of
approximately $382,900.00 lias al
ready automatically reverted to the
General Fund by provision of Ore
gon Revised Statutes 280.130. This
statute provides that “any balance
in a fund referred to in ORS 280 110
that is not expended or obligated by
definite commitments within 12
years from the date of the election
or adoption of the ordinance or res
olution pursuant to which the fund
was established shall automatically
revert to and become a part of the
general fund of the subdivision and
shall be transferred thereto by the
treasurer or other financial officer
thereof.” The county is a subdivision
of the state as herein used.
With little doubt, definite com
mitments within the meaning of ORS
280.130 were not made by the County
Court resolution of April 20, 1964,
which apparently intended to make
such commitment. Provision for such
fund was made on June 11, 1952. The
twelve year period elapsed June 11,
1964. As at June 11, 1964, and for
that matter as of this date, definite
commitments in the form of definite
contracts, to definite persons, for
definite amounts, or for a definite
building in a definite place have not
been made. Accordingly, by statute
the balance in the fund has automat
ically reverted to the General Fund,
and the Coupty Court’s declared in
tention tp expend the money for an
annex is not in accordance with law
now in effect.
Another example of the misman
agement of County Funds is the in
crement to the annex fund in the
11th and 12th year, in the amounts
of $12,910.36 and $35,000.00 in the
fiscal years ended June 30, 1963 and
June 30, 1964, respectively. The an
nual increments to such funds are
limited to a period of 10 years by
Oregon Revised Statutes 280.100.
Do you not agree that the people
have the right to be better informed
about such matters? Do you not
agree that any major Court House
building program should be referred
to the people? Do you not r.ow agree
that it is time for a change?
Sincerely,
Earl Seawright
134 N. 2nd St., St. Helens, Ore.
Future Missionaries
Guests at Mist Church
MIST — Mr. and Mrs. Everett
Brown of Vernonia were guests of
the Mist church Sunday evening.
They will be leaving for New Guinea
soon as missionaries. Right now they
are with the Vernonia Bible church.
Mr. and Mrs. Ray Garlock were
in Portland Thursday on business.
Mr. and Mrs. George Mathews
returned late Sunday evening from
the Steens mountain area after be
ing gone a little over a week hunt
ing. Mrs. Mathews states they were
successful. - -
No pressure group pays for
Lawrence Meissner ads.
He pays for his own, so he is
free to hear all groups.
For representative, vote
113 X Lawrence Meissner,
Deer Island,
These days a bathing beauty wears
nothing to speak of but plenty to
talk about.
Oregon
Pd. Adv. by Lawrence Meissner,
Deer Island, Oregon
If You Want
* PROGRESS
* DEPENDABILITY
* IMPROVEMENT
IN
COUNTY GOVERNMENT
WRITE IN
L j
0
Candidate
Candidate
FOR COUNTY
COMMISSIONER
Paid Pol. Adv. by Dane S. Brady, Vernonia, Oregon
V O TE FOR
DONALD L
HALBERER
Democrat
DISTRICT
ATTORNEY
EXPERIENCED MUNICIPAL ATTORNEY
Represent*— City of Scappoose - St. Helens Rural Fire District
Warren Grade School and Scappoose Grade School
District • Former Vernonia C ity Attorney.
Represents— Columbia County as one of its two appointed R e
presentatives on the Metropolitan Study Commission
which was created by the 1963 Oregon State Legis
lature.
Background— Veteran. 4 years. United States A ir Force. G ra
duate of the University of Oregon. Practicing St.
Helens A ttorney-A t-Law .
Pledge— To represent every citizen of Columbia County in a
Courteous. Prompt. Economical and Im partial man
ner.
i
f
Pd. Pol. Adv. Donald L. K alberer, 414 Day St., Scappoose. Ore.
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Trim Fleetside
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BRIDGE STREET
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