A petition launched by a resident garners support for saving the library without reliance on a levy
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, May 17, 2024
For Chantal Pettit, who lives within walking distance of the Independence Library, it wasn’t enough simply to launch a petition aimed at saving her three-year-old’s favorite city spot – she took her passion for the book-filled building straight to the last city council meeting.
“I would like to see the library remain open, regardless of whether the levy passes or fails,” Pettit said during public testimony Tuesday night. She questioned the city's plan of bundling the library, parks and the museum into a single ballot for the levy vote.
Pettit’s comments came in the wake of approval by the Independence budget committee for a budget that will place an “Arts and Culture Operating Levy” for a vote in 2024-25 to provide operating revenue for the Independence Public Library, the Heritage Museum, and city parks.
If approved, the levy would add just under $550 annually to a property tax bill for a house valued at $300,000.
Residents who were queried downtown this week, as several took advantage of the sudden sunny weather to visit Main Street or Riverview Park, also questioned the concept of a bundled vote. “This was done so that the museum would be protected,” asserted one. “The park (Riverview) cannot be closed for safety reasons, so I’m not worried about that. It’s the library that concerns me.”
Trammart News asked Thursday morning for a reaction from Emmanuel Goicochea, the city’s communications coordinator, to this information but there was no reply by press time Friday morning.
About 200 signatures were collected by Pettit, many of them during a trip she made downtown this week, as well. She said she “stomped around,” informing many people who were unaware of the budget outcome that the library was in peril.
A proposed $27 public safety fee is expected to be added to utility bills in January 2025; An anticipated water-rate hike is expected to increase basic water bills by $3. The two new additions will bring the typical monthly increase to $30, according to estimates.
After Trammart News repeatedly sought comment on the city budget from the city communications coordinator, a run-down on it was posted to Independence’s Facebook page, though no direct response was provided to this news outlet.
“What I'm looking for in transparency is digestible data,” Pettit explained. Like Pettit, some residents have called for “priority setting,” in which passage of the levy identifies where the amounts of money will go – so far, all revenue for the library, museum and parks seems planned for funneling into the general fund.
In a brief interview this week, Pettit asked: What will this money do when collected? What are the long-term goals? Is this a sustainable way to meet the goals?
Pettit said she also wants to learn if other attempts have been made for funding, such as grants. The goal of the petition, to a large degree, is to “raise awareness,” she said.
In another proposal that was decided this week, the city council reached consensus during a work session for a “tiered rate change” for water that would impose significantly more cost on the highest water users among residences and small businesses.
The move isn’t to raise revenue for Independence, stressed Steve Donovan, the city’s contracted water-engineering consultant. Instead, it is to encourage conservation, particularly during peak periods like August. “If the choice is not to conserve, that should be at a premium,” said City Councilor Marilyn Morton. All cities in Oregon are required by the state to have a water conservation plan in place.
Trammart News will report on the new tiered system for water use when the final plan comes before the city council. It is expected to go into effect in 2025. ▪
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, May 17, 2024
For Chantal Pettit, who lives within walking distance of the Independence Library, it wasn’t enough simply to launch a petition aimed at saving her three-year-old’s favorite city spot – she took her passion for the book-filled building straight to the last city council meeting.
“I would like to see the library remain open, regardless of whether the levy passes or fails,” Pettit said during public testimony Tuesday night. She questioned the city's plan of bundling the library, parks and the museum into a single ballot for the levy vote.
Pettit’s comments came in the wake of approval by the Independence budget committee for a budget that will place an “Arts and Culture Operating Levy” for a vote in 2024-25 to provide operating revenue for the Independence Public Library, the Heritage Museum, and city parks.
If approved, the levy would add just under $550 annually to a property tax bill for a house valued at $300,000.
Residents who were queried downtown this week, as several took advantage of the sudden sunny weather to visit Main Street or Riverview Park, also questioned the concept of a bundled vote. “This was done so that the museum would be protected,” asserted one. “The park (Riverview) cannot be closed for safety reasons, so I’m not worried about that. It’s the library that concerns me.”
Trammart News asked Thursday morning for a reaction from Emmanuel Goicochea, the city’s communications coordinator, to this information but there was no reply by press time Friday morning.
About 200 signatures were collected by Pettit, many of them during a trip she made downtown this week, as well. She said she “stomped around,” informing many people who were unaware of the budget outcome that the library was in peril.
A proposed $27 public safety fee is expected to be added to utility bills in January 2025; An anticipated water-rate hike is expected to increase basic water bills by $3. The two new additions will bring the typical monthly increase to $30, according to estimates.
After Trammart News repeatedly sought comment on the city budget from the city communications coordinator, a run-down on it was posted to Independence’s Facebook page, though no direct response was provided to this news outlet.
“What I'm looking for in transparency is digestible data,” Pettit explained. Like Pettit, some residents have called for “priority setting,” in which passage of the levy identifies where the amounts of money will go – so far, all revenue for the library, museum and parks seems planned for funneling into the general fund.
In a brief interview this week, Pettit asked: What will this money do when collected? What are the long-term goals? Is this a sustainable way to meet the goals?
Pettit said she also wants to learn if other attempts have been made for funding, such as grants. The goal of the petition, to a large degree, is to “raise awareness,” she said.
In another proposal that was decided this week, the city council reached consensus during a work session for a “tiered rate change” for water that would impose significantly more cost on the highest water users among residences and small businesses.
The move isn’t to raise revenue for Independence, stressed Steve Donovan, the city’s contracted water-engineering consultant. Instead, it is to encourage conservation, particularly during peak periods like August. “If the choice is not to conserve, that should be at a premium,” said City Councilor Marilyn Morton. All cities in Oregon are required by the state to have a water conservation plan in place.
Trammart News will report on the new tiered system for water use when the final plan comes before the city council. It is expected to go into effect in 2025. ▪
It's National Police Week--a good time to look back on memorable moments with Indy police
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, May 17, 2024
National Police Week is this time in May, and I have decided to commemorate it with a walk down memory lane, recounting my encounters with local law enforcement, beginning with the first time I had a real talk with Independence Police Chief Robert Mason, who will retire at the end of this year.
It was about the threat of zombies. For those of you who weren’t around on August 21, 2017, let me explain that many people weren’t only around, but were crowding out us locals as a celestial event turned bright daylight into the twilight hour. It was the solar eclipse.
Most of the “eclipse chasers,” as they were called, viewed the occurrence from the amphitheater at Riverview Park in a polite if awestruck way. They had donned protective eyewear and were engaged in murmuring “ooh” and “ah” so collectively that it sounded like a Gregorian chant – but not everyone was enthralled in the sky-watching. No, it was a frightening time for a few of them.
A couple of young men were wandering around, warning of doom, when the dead would rise as zombies. The extinguishing sun was a terrifying sign, they told me. Being a news reporter in search of facts, I asked them to show me proof. They seemed offended but, also, strangely upset. Why would I doubt the uprising of the undead? They really looked scared, and I do mean on a visceral level – telling me I would soon be a goner, and so would they.
Having lived in California for 25 years, I realized this might be no joke to these visitors. I also knew I had no story whatsoever if I couldn’t get outside comment. It was then that I spotted Police Chief Mason on the sidewalk. What a lucky break!
He was speaking with some other attendees but, of course, this didn’t stop me. I asked him what he and his fellow officers might do if suddenly beset by a zombie invasion.
For those of you who know Chief Mason as the genial and appealing person he is, this may be hard to believe: He wouldn’t answer me.
I chased him around, like a pup looking for a handout, but to no avail. I don’t know whether he thought my question was just too dumb to answer or he was put off by the subject matter or, briefly, that he himself had reverted to a zombie-like state. But there was no response.
In fact, a promotional poster on the Polk County website had shown the silhouette of a lone, shadowy figure, mysteriously perched atop a boulder, against a fading sun; The photo remains online to this very day, illustrating a presence that perhaps could be described as … yes … zombie-like.
Fortunately, Fire Chief Ben Stange didn’t hesitant to reassure me that the men and women of Polk Fire District No. 1 would be able to ward off any zombie intruders – and with nothing more than their fire-fighting hoses. It turns out that zombies, like the famous Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz, are defeated by powerful sprays of water.
Polk County Sheriff Mark Garton also weighed in, informing me that the zombies would be easy to spot since they walk in an extremely uncoordinated way, with jerky motions that are – pardon the pun – dead giveaways.
I reported this, though it was obvious that both Stange and Garton were just, y’know, playing along. (I, too, had my tongue firmly planted in my cheek.)
I got a lot of feedback on both the story, including a few residents who found Stange and Garton’s comments downright hilarious. Eventually, I conveyed this comedic appreciation of the fire chief and the sheriff to Independence Police Chief Mason.
Mason has been a pillar of the community, and so have many of the officers. So, I hope my pesky zombie-related line of inquiry is now long-forgotten – a slice of insignificance on a historic day. And, as a matter of fact, many members of IPD have had to overlook some quirks of my own. There was the time I was pulled over at midnight while mailing letters in the drive-by drop box to the post office – and when I explained that I was simply “catching up on my correspondence,” the surprised police officer congratulated me on my lack of procrastination.
There was the time “Officer Lance,” the former motorcycle officer, told me I turned w-a-y too wide getting into a lane and, after stopping me – and established that I was cognitively all right, even coherent – he advised me not to do so again. At that point, I asked him if I could take a photo of him with his cool bike for the Trammart News Facebook page. He pleasantly complied. My favorite recollection is of Sgt. Tino Banuelos – at least I think it was him, if memory serves – who rescued me from the gadgets in my rental car.
I’ve always driven automobiles that might be called jalopies. So, my know-how dates back to pull-on levers for headlights, and never really progressed. While my car was in the shop – a common occurrence – I rented one in which there were push-buttons on the dashboard. Naturally, it grew dark on my way home. I had no clue as to how to turn on the headlights. None whatsoever. Pathetic, isn’t it?
I was stopped by Sgt. Banuelos, who behaved as if he often encounters this form of old-timey impairment. He simply reached in and pressed the right button, flooding the black roadway with light.
There was a moment of silence on my part before I mumbled “thank you.” Then, with an embarrassed laugh, I told the sergeant: “Well, you could have made that look more difficult.”
So, during a week when police are honored everywhere, let me salute the Independence Police Department, community-oriented to the max, kindly in their service. I think we are safe in Independence, or as safe as we can be in 2024, unless, of course, there is an attempted zombie takeover. ▪
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, May 17, 2024
National Police Week is this time in May, and I have decided to commemorate it with a walk down memory lane, recounting my encounters with local law enforcement, beginning with the first time I had a real talk with Independence Police Chief Robert Mason, who will retire at the end of this year.
It was about the threat of zombies. For those of you who weren’t around on August 21, 2017, let me explain that many people weren’t only around, but were crowding out us locals as a celestial event turned bright daylight into the twilight hour. It was the solar eclipse.
Most of the “eclipse chasers,” as they were called, viewed the occurrence from the amphitheater at Riverview Park in a polite if awestruck way. They had donned protective eyewear and were engaged in murmuring “ooh” and “ah” so collectively that it sounded like a Gregorian chant – but not everyone was enthralled in the sky-watching. No, it was a frightening time for a few of them.
A couple of young men were wandering around, warning of doom, when the dead would rise as zombies. The extinguishing sun was a terrifying sign, they told me. Being a news reporter in search of facts, I asked them to show me proof. They seemed offended but, also, strangely upset. Why would I doubt the uprising of the undead? They really looked scared, and I do mean on a visceral level – telling me I would soon be a goner, and so would they.
Having lived in California for 25 years, I realized this might be no joke to these visitors. I also knew I had no story whatsoever if I couldn’t get outside comment. It was then that I spotted Police Chief Mason on the sidewalk. What a lucky break!
He was speaking with some other attendees but, of course, this didn’t stop me. I asked him what he and his fellow officers might do if suddenly beset by a zombie invasion.
For those of you who know Chief Mason as the genial and appealing person he is, this may be hard to believe: He wouldn’t answer me.
I chased him around, like a pup looking for a handout, but to no avail. I don’t know whether he thought my question was just too dumb to answer or he was put off by the subject matter or, briefly, that he himself had reverted to a zombie-like state. But there was no response.
In fact, a promotional poster on the Polk County website had shown the silhouette of a lone, shadowy figure, mysteriously perched atop a boulder, against a fading sun; The photo remains online to this very day, illustrating a presence that perhaps could be described as … yes … zombie-like.
Fortunately, Fire Chief Ben Stange didn’t hesitant to reassure me that the men and women of Polk Fire District No. 1 would be able to ward off any zombie intruders – and with nothing more than their fire-fighting hoses. It turns out that zombies, like the famous Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz, are defeated by powerful sprays of water.
Polk County Sheriff Mark Garton also weighed in, informing me that the zombies would be easy to spot since they walk in an extremely uncoordinated way, with jerky motions that are – pardon the pun – dead giveaways.
I reported this, though it was obvious that both Stange and Garton were just, y’know, playing along. (I, too, had my tongue firmly planted in my cheek.)
I got a lot of feedback on both the story, including a few residents who found Stange and Garton’s comments downright hilarious. Eventually, I conveyed this comedic appreciation of the fire chief and the sheriff to Independence Police Chief Mason.
Mason has been a pillar of the community, and so have many of the officers. So, I hope my pesky zombie-related line of inquiry is now long-forgotten – a slice of insignificance on a historic day. And, as a matter of fact, many members of IPD have had to overlook some quirks of my own. There was the time I was pulled over at midnight while mailing letters in the drive-by drop box to the post office – and when I explained that I was simply “catching up on my correspondence,” the surprised police officer congratulated me on my lack of procrastination.
There was the time “Officer Lance,” the former motorcycle officer, told me I turned w-a-y too wide getting into a lane and, after stopping me – and established that I was cognitively all right, even coherent – he advised me not to do so again. At that point, I asked him if I could take a photo of him with his cool bike for the Trammart News Facebook page. He pleasantly complied. My favorite recollection is of Sgt. Tino Banuelos – at least I think it was him, if memory serves – who rescued me from the gadgets in my rental car.
I’ve always driven automobiles that might be called jalopies. So, my know-how dates back to pull-on levers for headlights, and never really progressed. While my car was in the shop – a common occurrence – I rented one in which there were push-buttons on the dashboard. Naturally, it grew dark on my way home. I had no clue as to how to turn on the headlights. None whatsoever. Pathetic, isn’t it?
I was stopped by Sgt. Banuelos, who behaved as if he often encounters this form of old-timey impairment. He simply reached in and pressed the right button, flooding the black roadway with light.
There was a moment of silence on my part before I mumbled “thank you.” Then, with an embarrassed laugh, I told the sergeant: “Well, you could have made that look more difficult.”
So, during a week when police are honored everywhere, let me salute the Independence Police Department, community-oriented to the max, kindly in their service. I think we are safe in Independence, or as safe as we can be in 2024, unless, of course, there is an attempted zombie takeover. ▪
What difference does a day make? School calendar is shortened by one day late in the school year
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, May 17, 2024
Unexpected confusion. That appears to be the result of an action this week to move the end of the school year ahead by one day, from June 14 to June 13. It was the third time the ending date has been switched, according to nearly everyone who was asked about the change.
Members of the Independence Downtown Association – the organization planning to hold a last-day-of-school celebration in Riverview Park – said the new date won’t alter IDA’s plans. Vendors and activities have been “lined up” for Friday afternoon, June 14, explained Natascha Adams, the group’s current chair.
From Kona Ice to face painting, treats and activities are free – and appear to be highly anticipated. Posters announcing the event, from 3-5 pm, urged: “Let's celebrate the end of school and the beginning of summer vacation!”
Compared with adults, students seemed to consider the move-up of the date minimally disruptive. “It is hard to stay focused in the last week of school, anyway,” said one. But parents questioned how the decision was made – and the commitment of Central School District to making sure the school schedule is stable for families.
In a news release sent from the district, Emily Mentzer, CSD’s communications coordinator, called the timing “unfortunate,” adding “as we know it may impact plans that families have. We do not have a choice and need to honor the union’s request.”
She explained that the union leadership of the Central Education Association reviewed the school year calendar before it was approved by the board a year ago, which included three snow days. There were no objections raised, Mentzer observed. “We know the community has come together to celebrate on June 14, and regret that the last day will now be June 13. We hope that our students and families will still attend the "Last Day" celebrations in downtown Independence,” she said.
Nathan Muti, CEA’s president, noted that the union has been communicating with the district leadership since early February about the change to the schedule “and the problem it created with the contract language.”
“This was never a ‘request’ or a ‘wish’ from the union,” he said. “It was the union pointing out that the district hadn't followed the contract language,” Muti said..
I think that creating a calendar where the last day of school can change doesn't take into account the needs of the community, families, and teachers. “In looking towards next year, the proposed schedule has the same problematic additional inclement weather day make-ups as this year,” He pointed out.”
Another educator weighed in with a similar take on the issue. ”It should be obvious that if the union contract compels teachers to be on site or in the classroom for a certain number of days, the district calendar should be in alignment with that,” said a local educator who doesn’t work for CSD but is familiar with the teachers’ contract. ▪
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, May 17, 2024
Unexpected confusion. That appears to be the result of an action this week to move the end of the school year ahead by one day, from June 14 to June 13. It was the third time the ending date has been switched, according to nearly everyone who was asked about the change.
Members of the Independence Downtown Association – the organization planning to hold a last-day-of-school celebration in Riverview Park – said the new date won’t alter IDA’s plans. Vendors and activities have been “lined up” for Friday afternoon, June 14, explained Natascha Adams, the group’s current chair.
From Kona Ice to face painting, treats and activities are free – and appear to be highly anticipated. Posters announcing the event, from 3-5 pm, urged: “Let's celebrate the end of school and the beginning of summer vacation!”
Compared with adults, students seemed to consider the move-up of the date minimally disruptive. “It is hard to stay focused in the last week of school, anyway,” said one. But parents questioned how the decision was made – and the commitment of Central School District to making sure the school schedule is stable for families.
In a news release sent from the district, Emily Mentzer, CSD’s communications coordinator, called the timing “unfortunate,” adding “as we know it may impact plans that families have. We do not have a choice and need to honor the union’s request.”
She explained that the union leadership of the Central Education Association reviewed the school year calendar before it was approved by the board a year ago, which included three snow days. There were no objections raised, Mentzer observed. “We know the community has come together to celebrate on June 14, and regret that the last day will now be June 13. We hope that our students and families will still attend the "Last Day" celebrations in downtown Independence,” she said.
Nathan Muti, CEA’s president, noted that the union has been communicating with the district leadership since early February about the change to the schedule “and the problem it created with the contract language.”
“This was never a ‘request’ or a ‘wish’ from the union,” he said. “It was the union pointing out that the district hadn't followed the contract language,” Muti said..
I think that creating a calendar where the last day of school can change doesn't take into account the needs of the community, families, and teachers. “In looking towards next year, the proposed schedule has the same problematic additional inclement weather day make-ups as this year,” He pointed out.”
Another educator weighed in with a similar take on the issue. ”It should be obvious that if the union contract compels teachers to be on site or in the classroom for a certain number of days, the district calendar should be in alignment with that,” said a local educator who doesn’t work for CSD but is familiar with the teachers’ contract. ▪
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