Where the sidewalk ends in Brandy Meadows, builders say development will, too--due to high fees

By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, March 8, 2024

Builders in the southwest section of Independence – the site of the city’s newest subdivision, Brandy Meadows – have announced plans to abandon future construction there, citing development fees that have increased to more than $50,000.

A resolution unanimously passed at the last city council meeting hikes system development charges for water from $3,307 per home to $22,567, an addition that now makes total building fees so expensive it effectively shuts down the 226-lot project by Allied Development of Scottsdale Arizona, according to representatives of the company.

“It will kill this deal,” said David Hill, senior vice president at Allied.  “Developers will not build in your community because the SDC rates will be cost-prohibitive,” added Mike Connors, Allied’s attorney. Both men joined the meeting remotely and requested a 90-day period before the vote finalized the proposal, though no extension was offered.

Citing a need to keep the cost burden for needed infrastructure away from the billings of residential rate payors, the city council approved the increase. The approval comes in the wake of plans for a new water treatment plant – a $10 million loan from the state already has been secured to finance its design package.

After the meeting, a builder identified as one of the most trusted names in construction across the Willamette Valley, said he will also call a halt to his work in completing the remainder of the Brandy Meadows subdivision. “It just doesn’t pencil out” with the adoption of the new SDCs, said Larry Dalke of Salem-based Dalke Construction.

Dalke was described by business colleagues as an industry leader for his fair-minded business practices and high-quality homes, including longtime Independence resident David Setniker, who owns a large portion of land in Brandy Meadows.

At the city council meeting, Setniker warned: “They are going to walk and you are not going to have anything.” He also offered potential well locations on his own land to help meet the pressing demand for water by the city.

Despite warnings by Connors, Allied’s lawyer, that the high SDCs could cause state officials to perceive Independence as failing to meet housing affordability standards – possibly jeopardizing millions of infrastructure dollars in prospective state allocations – Independence City Manager Kenna West called the potential funding from SB 1537 “a drop in the bucket.”

“The fact that they have $200 million on infrastructure funding is a drop in the bucket,” West said, in an apparent push for passage of the new SDCs.

A few weeks ago, Mike Erdmann, chief executive officer of the Home Builders Association of Marion & Polk Counties, met with city staff to address some of the objections about the SDCs, a meeting that resulted in lowering them by about $2,000.   Asked why not all builders said they are leaving  Independence, Erdmann said that any builder who has already purchased lots really has no choice. “They already have a sizable financial investment they can’t walk away from,” he explained.

“What I do believe will happen, though, is that developers won’t move forward with creating future residential lots as they’ll have tremendous difficulty finding buyers for those lots,” he explained.

Mark Bybee, of Bybee & Associates, told councilors he is now building in Dallas OR and doesn’t plan to continue in Independence. “We just cannot sustain it (here),” he said. ▪ 

Central School District announces recovery is underway from the recent cyberattack but slow-goingBy Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, March 8, 2024

As Central School District works to resume all online functions after a recent cyberattack, teachers and students will be “learning like it’s 1985” – and some of them have been dressing for that era, too, said CSD Superintendent Jennifer Kubista.   

Neon clothing, big hair and other four-decade-old fashion trends have been adopted by some school staff, faculty and students as part of the adjustment to what Kubista called a new “pen and paper” time until Wi-Fi is fully restored.

Some of the perpetrators – from a group known as Lockbit – have been apprehended. Thanks, in part, to forensics experts provided by the school district’s insurance – as well as help from various local agencies – the process is now underway “to safely rebuild and restore our entire network and system,” Kubista said.

No ransom was paid and the only immediate cost to the district is payment of the deductible for the insurance policy. “We are really in a good position,” Kubista said, adding that there is an intense effort to get all desktop computers, including the software for PowerSchool, completely back up and running. Certain student information systems – Google, website and email – were relatively unaffected, she noted.  

The Lockbit cybercriminals, as they are sometimes called, have been targets of the US Justice Department in recent years, resulting in multiple arrests of the hackers, often described as “Russian Nationals” in news accounts.  

Over the past several weeks, the organization – considered one of the most prolific ransomware attackers in the world – was dealt a crushing blow through detection and suppression of its network operations by federal and international authorities, including the FBI. CSD’s system was one of its latest victims.

Kubista thanked the “community partners” who helped during the crisis. They include Independence Police Chief Robert Mason; Jason Kistler, the IT director for the City of Independence; PJ Armstrong, general manager of MINET, which delivered “hotspots” to some school areas; Evan Sorce of Western Oregon University – WOU delivered internet service to teachers in buildings, as well as providing printing services; And Willamette ESD, which took on some of the functions ordinarily performed by CSD staff.

The investigation is continuing, Kubista said. If it is found that information was compromised during the attack, those who may be affected will be notified “consistent with relevant laws,” she said. ▪ 


County probation officers are teaming up with behavioral health staff to meet the needs of offendersBy Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, March 8, 2024

County corrections staff and behavioral health specialists have teamed up to offer a voluntary program they hope will help reshape the lives of individuals on parole and probation who are battling mental illness. 

In a presentation to the Polk County Board of Commissioners this past Tuesday, the aim of the program was explained: To reduce the level of repeat offenses for parolees or those on probation by meeting their mental health needs. “The hope is to find improvement” in both the lives of the participants and in guarding public safety, said Alba Garcia, health services supervisor for Polk County Behavioral Health.

Called FACT, an acronym for “Forensic Assertive Community Treatment,” the program has been providing services to approximately 35 clients since its inception in April 2021. An estimated 40% of those who are jailed are impacted by mental health issues, observed Polk County Sheriff Mark Garton, when asked about the percentage of those taken into custody who have mental health disorders.

Those in the FACT program struggle mentally and emotionally in ways both big and small, said Jim Rydzewski, probation officer for Polk County Community Corrections. One example is a woman who appears to have schizophrenia – but denies it.

In and out of the criminal justice system, she just wasn’t able to respond appropriately in fairly typical circumstances, acting disruptively and seeing “the world as being against her,” he said. She was homeless and in need of intervention.

Thanks to FACT, she’s now housed and complying with medication; Her day-to-day functioning has improved to the point that see seems ready for the next step, which may be employment, he said.

Both Garcia and Rydzewski observed that FACT helps build relationships, a result that seems to translate into greater engagement – and commitment – among staff with members of this at-risk group.  Access to the program is limited to the individual's time they are being supervised by the Polk County Criminal Court system.

“As individuals meet the milestones of improvement and adequate life management, such as self-care and medication compliance, their involvement and contacts with the program decrease based on their individual needs,” explained Jodi Merritt, director of Polk County Community Corrections Community Service Programs Juvenile Department.

“Success is relative and different for every participant and is based on each participant’s individual challenges and mental health needs,” Merritt added.

Upon successful completion of supervision, FACT participants may have the opportunity to participate in a similar county program, even when they are no longer “justice-involved,” she said. 

The FACT program relies on appropriate funding levels and staff to be provided at full capacity, according to county officials. However, it is likely to remain available for the foreseeable future, they confirmed. ▪ 

Central School District is weathering a cyber incident that took the district system by storm

By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service
    
A disabling attack on Central School District’s computer network is causing a rollback to the pencil-pushing past – of notebook paper, hand-written lesson plans and colored pens for grading. 
 
After two days of school closure last week, classes and extracurricular activities resumed at CSD but “we are still working through a network disruption,” according to Emily Mentzer, CSD communications coordinator. There are “hotspots” – transponders that allow internet connection – but schools still are largely without Wi-Fi, according to some of those who work in the buildings. 
 
As teachers and staff adjust to a new normal expected to last at least a few weeks, district officials announced that cybersecurity experts have been called to help solve a system-wide hacking widely referred to as a "cyberattack."    
 
The incident differs from a trend forecast in 2020, when a cross-country study linked cyberattacks to school systems in cities and suburbs, and smaller districts were thought to be at less risk. However, that’s no longer true – Education Week reported last year that districts both large and small became top targets.   
 
And, in Oregon, classes at Clackamas Community College recently were canceled for several days due to a cyberattack there. “No one entity is safe from this threat, and they should prepare appropriately,” said Greg Hansen, Polk County administrator, when asked about the county’s plans for a possible cyber fallout. 
 
Polk County spends $250,000 annually on mitigating or upgrading with firewalls, back-ups and consulting for the systems, as well as purchasing insurance. That’s good planning, said Bill Kernan, consulting IT project manager at Western Oregon University. Network security is key, he stressed.
 
However, “training is really important – most important,” Kernan said. Security breaches frequently occur from employees letting their guards down, clicking on fraudulent links or being enticed into downloads that allow cyber invasion, he said.  
 
Many of the cyberattacks involve ransom demands, but both the FBI and the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency discourage any payment, Kernan observed. It’s no guarantee that the data will no longer be compromised, Kernan added.    
 
This coming week, at the annual conference by CIS, which provides employee benefits and property and liability coverage for Oregon's cities and counties, cybersecurity is a featured course at the meeting in Salem. 
 
“In an age where cyber threats are ever-present and increasingly sophisticated, knowing the right questions to ask ahead of time can save you,” according to the description of the session, which is titled “Are Your Systems Ready for a Cyber-Attack?”
 
 
Ways to meet the need for MI Trolley funding in the not-so-distant future

By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service 
      
If you’ve ever ridden the MI Trolley, you know it can be fun. But can it be funded? 
 
Trammart News climbed aboard one of the cherry-red buses this week in Independence to find out if passengers are willing to pay for a ride, and if so, how much. Currently, a city survey is underway that asks the same question, among other inquiries. The start-up money for the pilot program that got the streetcar look-alikes running a year ago expires in 2025.
 
On the 30-minute ride that rolled from C and Main Streets in Independence to the drop-off at Western Oregon University and back again, college and high school students, parents with children and adults of all ages weighed in on whether charging a fee would prove a deterrent. In many cases, the answer is yes, even a dollar fare would impact trolley use.
 
On the other hand, at a buck-per-ride some current riders would continue to hop on. “It is just very convenient,” said Shania Sanchez-Reyes, who regularly commutes from home to WOU, where she is majoring in graphic design. The price would buy a trip that’s enjoyable, has a “great aesthetic” and is reliably right on schedule, she said.
 
On an afternoon that kicked off “National Margarita Day,” a time Brew & Tap in downtown Independence had scheduled to honor the special tequila cocktail, a few passengers noted that the trolley provides a safe transit for those who want to imbibe and avoid driving. 
 
Though drunken passengers occasionally are reported for bad behavior, the title of unruly riders probably really belongs to high school students, who pile onto the old-time wooden benches and engage in loud crosstalk and commentary.
 
But some who utilize the trolley consider that as evidence an important need is being met – it’s a way of getting kids to school who may not qualify for a school bus route but who live too far to comfortably walk in bad weather. 
 
Among the 55 people who took the bus driven by Andrew Hermann during a morning in late February, riders that ranged from five years old to 50-ish were pleasant and appreciative. “I get a lot of really nice regulars,” he said. In fact, some possess what he described as a “wonderful aura.” Passengers agree.
 
A young woman who uses a wheelchair “is always upbeat, making everyone’s day when she rides,” according to one observer. Conversely, some riders climb on toting bags of cans and bottles to cash in at grocery store recycling centers – sacks that may emit a nose-offending mix of odors that range from tomato juice to beer malt. 
 
The city survey is expected to be completed soon, but Trammart News has wrapped up an informal poll of about two dozen riders. Top option? Another grant from the state got wide support for continuing trolley travel. Portrayed as far less favorable alternatives to Trammart News: a tax, a fee or a fare.
 
 
An overdue editorial for ringing in 2024: What I want to say and why I want to say it

By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service 
    
Not long ago, I got some good advice from a liberal lawyer who heard about our city government, a place where some city councilors speak of Independence like novitiates describing the holy grail. He advised me to view it all with a big dose of amusement. 
 
It doesn’t seem quite so funny to me anymore. Not that it ever did. 
 
There’s the city manager, Kenna West, who made two trips to get me ousted when I was contributing to the Itemizer-Observer and, failing that, has forbidden anyone at the city to speak with me, or so I have been told. She and certain city councilors have critiqued me for not being the reporter they desire, a vision that seems to entail becoming a ceaseless town booster, not a tracker of tax dollars. 
 
But the most striking discord I appear to have caused is due to a basic journalism duty – to check facts. And, you know what? It’s because sometimes those facts turn out to be not really factual. So, quitting fact-checking of facts is truly out of the question and please get over it before the budget session.  
 
Guys named Tom, Ben, George and John – framers of the U.S. Constitution and not a singing group – enshrined the watchdog role of the press right there in that historic document. They seemed to have in mind the definition provided by Merriam Webster to this very day: to guard against loss, waste, theft, or undesirable practices. 
 
I’ll admit that it isn’t easy to correct the record when I have to do it. 
 
Fairly recently, Ms. West, as well as Councilor Marilyn Morton, refused to verbally confirm some information – in a face-to-face encounter – when an amount attributed in a public meeting as MINET debt was off by about $10 million, give or take a million bucks or two. Also, there really isn’t any evidence – none that I can find, anyway – that partners from other cities are bit-chomping to participate in a new multi-million-dollar water treatment system the city has begun. 
 
But I am far from alone. Hence, this editorial.
 
Most U.S. journalists are worried about the future of press freedoms in the country, according to a 2022 Pew Research Center survey of nearly 12,000 of them working in America. The most dubious among us are the old-timers like me, who just cannot imagine why some sensible adult people in public office are able to sprout self-images the size of Mount Rushmore. 
 
Here is an example. I went to cover a recent hearing at the statehouse, which was not an easy feat because it is encircled by fencing with grounds as muddy as swamp. At the meeting, I got up to take a picture alongside another photographer, only to have someone appear and ask for my press credentials. 
 
This should never happen, in my view. No one says, as I did, they’re a member of the press when they’re not. If some rumpled someone shows intense interest in the drone of a public meeting, taking notes, clicking a camera … trust me, you can count on the fact that they are press. No one else ever matches this description. 
 
But I trudged back to my seat, retrieved identification, and eventually chalked it all up to the fact that days of yore have given way to bureaucracy, not to mention rainy, muck-encrusting capitol pathways that involve an obstacle course of new construction and, of course, total lack of nearby parking. 
 
Someone helpfully told me I looked tired, which is only partly true. Actually, I look my age, which at times is haggardly. But I remember what the great congressman, John Lewis, once said. “If not us, then who? If not now, then when?” So, I scraped mud off my shoes, got my laptop fired up, and began to tap into the coffee-stained keyboard. Part of the result from that typing is this essay.  The end.

A proposed tax to fund future wildfire prevention and protection

By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, February 16, 2024
    
In the opening days of the 2024 legislative session this week, Rep. Paul Evans took the first official step toward creating a path that would add a fee to property taxes for building a wildfire emergency fund, a proposal that attracted a crowd to the hearing room and drew opposing testimony from the chair of the Polk County Board of Commissioners.    
 
“This doesn’t belong in the short session,” said Polk County Commissioner Craig Pope, as applause broke out among attendees. The concept, which would amend the Oregon Constitution and allow formation of an administrative authority for funding public safety, is not the “methodology for us to be successful,” Pope said, adding that the state’s wildfire-fighting ability is a pressing cause.   
 
It was only a few weeks ago that Evans announced the plan in a meeting with constituents –  to recommend 25 cents be added for every $1,000 of assessed value used to calculate the property tax bill – so that emergency services for public safety could be funded, specifically for wildfires. 
 
In the intervening weeks, scores of Oregonians wrote lawmakers to protest the idea. One was Margaret Ann Crowder who lives within a few miles of Evans. She called the bill, HJR 201, a “smash and grab” attempt. 
 
However, the process is entirely in the hands of Oregonians – a referral to the 2024 ballot that provides only a constitutional framework, Evans pointed out. ”It’s not anything but the most transparent process you could possibly have,” he told the hearing committee, which included Rep. Anna Scharf, who represents a central swath of Polk County.    
 
Mike Shaw, fire protection chief for the Oregon Department of Forestry, also testified. Though he identified his agency as being neutral on the bill, Shaw warned that wildfires are a growing environmental hazard for all Oregonians, with a devastating potential for areas that now stretch across the state.    
 
In a brief interview this week, Ben Stange, chief of Polk County Fire District No. 1 in Independence, echoed the testimony of Shaw. The risk has grown substantially over the past decade, Stange agreed. Finding the appropriate funds for fire suppression and containment is "everyone's problem," he said. 
 
Those views also were expressed by about a dozen customers at New Morning Bakery in Dallas. “I think this (wildfire threat) is a serious issue for everybody, but we need to know more about the tax if that’s going to be financing a solution,” said one, a view reiterated by several others at the same table. 
 
(Note to follow the bill, HR-201, Oregon provides a simple-to-use bill tracker at this link: https://gov.oregonlive.com/bill/2024/HJR201/) ▪ 
 
 
A local accounting firm appears to offer the clearest look yet at the city's financial picture

By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, February 16, 2024
  
Independence’s financial report for the fiscal year 2023 shows an outstanding debt of nearly $37.5 million – a decrease of $1.5 million from the prior year – but the city is recording more than $4 million in MINET loans as a “doubtful account,” the financial term for a sum that’s unlikely to be repaid. 
 
In fact, Independence is exposed to risk of loss through loans made to MINET, according to the report. The finding appears to contradict statements by City Councilor Marilyn Morton, a former employee of MINET, who said the municipal fiberoptic is on track to return revenue loaned to the company by the city over the years for shoring up periodic shortfalls. 
 
Several weeks ago, during a work session discussion on the debt, Morton observed that MINET is now paying its obligation to the city. Although a first-time interest-only payment was made by MINET this past December, it’s too soon to tell whether and when full payments will be made, MINET executives said. However, the company appears to be heading into profitability that prevents it from needing any more city loans. 
 
Asked about the doubtful account regarding MINET, the city’s communications director, Emmanuel Goicochea, failed to respond to repeated requests for clarification regarding MINET, which has high customer-satisfaction ratings and is undergoing expansion. Goicochea also didn’t address other queries from Trammart News about the report, including a violation of an Oregon Revised Statute listed within it.
 
Independence Finance Director Robert Moody noted that the municipal audit, by Aldrich CPAs + Advisors LLP of Salem, becomes the city’s financial statement upon acceptance. The document was presented to the Independence City Council Tuesday night. “It’s ours,” Moody told councilors. 
 
The report, which seems written in a clear and more easily understandable way compared with those submitted in past years, shows the city went substantially past budget in some areas, including for administrative costs, economic development expenses and tourism expenditures. The city also failed to obtain three informal quotes for procurement purposes, as required in ORS 279, according to the document. 
 
An analysis of the report suggests that the decision to enable development of Independence Landing, along the riverfront, hugely increased the value of the property there, providing the means for more successful debt management in the urban renewal area.
 
(Trammart News plans to take a closer look at city debt, with the help of outside experts, as the budget process gets underway this spring.)   ▪ 
 
 
Independence approves a $10 million loan for wastewater treatment plan with one abstention

By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, February 16, 2024
    
A $10 million loan to design a plant upgrade for the treatment of wastewater was approved by the Independence City Council this week with one exception – Councilor Dawn Roden abstained from the vote.   
 
She’s worried about taking on more debt for the city, with a rise in sewer-water rate charges for the residents to help pay for it, she explained after the meeting.   
 
The loan – from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund – is scheduled to be paid back, in part, through sewer-user rates under a rate schedule approved by the city council about a year ago, according to Gerald Fisher, the city’s public works director, who introduced the resolution for the loan at the last city council meeting.  
 
The action is part of a move to implement the Independence Water System Master Plan, which identified the Willamette River as a new water source to meet projected water demands in the future. A new water treatment facility will be needed in order to provide this level of treatment, according to the plan.   
 
In January, the city council approved acquiring several acres of land along Corvallis Road south of town as the building site for the facility, a new project originally estimated to cost $44 million. Polk County is expected to be a partner on the project.   
 
At a recent meeting of the Polk County Board of Commissioners, the county’s director of community development, Austin McGuigan, reported that the Independence plan appears to allow a regional solution to meet water needs. “Independence has expressed to Polk County they are committed to sizing this for the region,” he said.   
 
Since the county also has water rights on the Willamette River – secured in 2007 – the Independence facility could help the county “maximize” their water rights, as well, McGuigan said.     
 
“This is incredible work,” said County Commissioner Jeremy Gordon, who praised the idea of joining the proposed project. McGuigan also reported that a document that provides for intergovernmental agreements with other water agencies is underway and should be completed in draft form within the next few months.  
 
Both the Monmouth and Dallas city managers, when questioned about their role in the project by Trammart News, indicated there are municipal considerations that need to be evaluated and addressed before such decisions are made. Monmouth has no provision for partnering with Independence in Monmouth’s own master water plan; Dallas is currently at work on meeting water demand through the city’s Mercer Dam project. 
 
(Trammart will follow this issue of a regional solution to water needs as it continues in 2024)

Good news. Bad News. Police get federal grant for new officer but need to forfeit it for 2024.

By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, February 9, 2024
  
The good news is that Independence was awarded $125,000 in federal funds to hire a new police officer. The bad news is that the city may not have enough money to take advantage of the grant for expanding the force.
 
There’s good news and bad about the arrest statistics, too. This past year adult arrests dropped significantly, to 242, but the bad news is that juvenile crimes “increased sharply” to 176. The first announcement came from City Manager Kenna West at the last city council meeting. The second one was made by Independence Police Chief Robert Mason on a video released by the city – a video that also included the news that Mason will retire in December. 
 
The police force, currently staffed at 2018 levels, has 15 full-time officers. This year, the city received a COPS grant – for Community Oriented Police Services from the U.S Department of Justice – but the award is aimed at establishing a three-year position. That pencils out to only $42,000 a year for the IPD, where wages and benefits for an entry-level officer are $100,000, West said. “The general fund is in shortfall,” she explained.  
 
So, one option is to wait until 2025 to try to instate the new officer’s spot, with the intent that money will be found. If the funding cannot be obtained, the city needs the right “to walk away from this grant” in a worst-case scenario, West said. As a result, the city council passed a resolution for West to retain that flexibility for the COPS grant. 
 
In his video address, Mason said property crimes were the leading cause for adult arrests in 2022-23. For juveniles, the reasons were more varied: 39 were runaways; 33 were property crimes; 31 were personal violations. In all, there were 9,100 events recorded last year that required police time, with 2,000 investigations and 418 arrests. ▪ 
 
CHS's graduation rate is substantially down from previous year and absenteeism to be tackled

By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, February 9, 2024
  
Graduation rates at Central High School declined by 6% last year – including among students who took an extra year to get that diploma, which means “we have to do something to get those students in the classroom” routinely and regularly, according to CHS Principal Dale Pedersen.
 
In his first address to the Central School District board since taking the job officially after serving a year as the school’s interim principal, Pedersen shared figures that showed the graduation rate for all students went down this past spring, from 82% in 2022 to 76% in 2023, and, during the same period, from 91% to 85% for the five-year graduating – students who take an extra year.    
 
In a brief interview after he spoke to the board, Pedersen said he feels the key is reducing absenteeism – more students need to be regular attenders. 
 
A regular attender is a student who has been present over 90% of school days per year. Shortly before Pedersen was named permanent principal, Brian Flannery, director of student growth and achievement, reported that the “regular attender” rate last year was lower than the state average by 8%. 
 
“This did, most definitely, impact Central School District graduation rate,” he stated. Even so, the graduation rate was higher than the state average by 1%.  “Some of the difference between our results and the state may be explained by targeted interventions and credit recovery programs – such as summer school – that helped chronically absent students catch up,” he explained at the time.
 
On the whole though, the state and CSD 13J performed similarly on these two measures, Flannery pointed out. 
 
Pedersen also stressed that certain programs are causing more school commitment by some at-risk students, ranging from career and technical education – there are currently five areas, including agriculture and business –  to connection with graduation “coaches,” school personnel who work closely with students who seem to be getting off-track. 
 
Pedersen said there are other measures likely to be discussed, as well. “I’m really not ready to talk about them yet,” he said, adding that he has some ideas that he is currently exploring. 
 
One outcome of adding nursing staff, which was added with some of the funds available during covid, has made a statistically significant difference. 
 
Among two cohorts of several hundred students, a visit to the nurse significantly increased the likelihood that a student would be returned to class. In one group of 693, 89% of students who were seen by a nurse remained at school compared with 74% who visited office staff and, in another cohort of 343, it was 84% versus 54%. ▪ 
 
IN ACTUALITY: A look at a local recall effort.

By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, February 9, 2024
    
IN ACTUALITY:
An Editorial Column to Assist Public Knowledge and Discourse on Recent Events 
 
WHO: A group of residents from Polk County – largely from Dallas, including former Dallas City Councilor Micky Garus – have announced plans for a recall effort of county commissioners. 
 
WHAT: The two county commissioners initially targeted were Lyle Mordhorst and Jeremy Gordon, over the way homelessness in the county has been addressed. A state mandate to mitigate regional homelessness was issued in the form of three executive orders by Gov. Tina Kotek, immediately after taking office. Kotek declared the issue an emergency, releasing millions of funds for use by government agencies and directing them to make homelessness a priority. Garus contends a shelter for the homeless that’s proposed in Dallas will increase their numbers 83% and asserts that there are only 31 unhoused people currently in the city limits. 
 
WHERE:  Garus recently gave public testimony at a meeting of the Polk County Board of Commissioners, criticizing their actions. Garus, who became known for comments about Muslims and transgender individuals while on the Dallas City Council, was unsuccessful in his attempt to become a county commissioner himself when he failed to unseat Commissioner Craig Pope in the last election. 
 
WHEN: Garus’ comments, as well as testimony of other residents, was given Jan. 31 in the boardroom of the Polk County Courthouse.  
 
WHY: Activism against homeless shelters seems to have arisen after plans – abandoned following a sustained public outcry – were announced to put a facility at a church in Monmouth. 
 
HOW: The recall effort appears to have been launched on social media. Questions about its chances have been asked by those who saw it show up in posts. 
 
DISCUSSION: Academic investigations into recall efforts show what Trammart News is dubbing the “Gray Davis Effect,” based on studies ranging from a master’s thesis at Marquette University about the recall years ago of California Gov. Gray Davis to several attempts for recall of officeholders at local levels in other states. In general, recall efforts seem to require widespread and deep public disenchantment with the actions of one or more elected officials. 
 
To some extent, the record of successful recalls seems to suggest that losing touch with constituents – becoming over-conscious and over-confident of position and power – precedes a “tipping point” in which an act or display of authority alienates a large portion of voters, and the collective effect leads to an ouster from public office. 
 
If this holds true as a prediction for recall, none of the current county commissioners appear to meet that criterion. All have followed state dictums, even when in disagreement with them, according to coverage by Trammart News going back several years, to the pre-pandemic period. 
 
It is true that many residents were furious about the homeless proposal for Monmouth and the way it originally surfaced, but it appears to be a passing sentiment – the first concept was withdrawn amid public protest, which caused some residents to become more equivocating, according to recent and informal commentary obtained by Trammart News. Some have expressed hope that it was a lesson-learning time for the commission. Also, now there seems to be greater awareness that the state is mandating programs to address homelessness, requiring commissioners to seek regional solutions. 
 
There have been successful recalls in the Willamette Valley, most notably involving the Central School District board about a dozen years ago, and the situation also appeared to have a “Gray Davis Effect.” A series of board decisions proved somewhat unpopular but the apparent incentive for recall seemed to be the alleged lofty, long-term disregard of constituent views, which appeared to mobilize both teachers and parents at the time.  
 
In the opinion of Trammart News, the “Gray Davis Effect” can impact re-elections, as well as recall efforts. Trammart News, a fan of the moderation often demonstrated by former US Rep. Kurt Schrader, pronounced him to lunch companions a few years ago as having developed the “Gray Davis Effect” – and if so, seemingly oblivious about it. The observation was made following Schrader’s presentation to a local organization. Whether the “Gray Davis Effect” was responsible in part for Schrader's loss in 2022 is extremely debatable, and to suggest otherwise would be unfounded speculation. 
 
(NOTE: Another objection by recall petitioners focuses on the role of the elected county treasurer, which is the subject of ongoing litigation, so it won’t be addressed by Trammart News until a court-approved decision is reached.)  ▪

Unlocking the potential of the Willamette River for residential drinking water carries a price

By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service
  
With a demand to develop a new water source pressing on Independence, this much is clear: at least some progress needs to be shown over the next two years on a new water treatment plant or the city risks losing important water rights on the Willamette River.   
 
If that sounds like a warning, it is – in a statement that comes straight from the city’s master plan for water, which was adopted last spring by the Independence City Council.  
 
“It is recommended that the City avoid further developing in the Willamette Wellfield and pursue the Willamette River for the new water source,” according to the plan. Now the city is moving to acquire nearly 10 acres south of town as a site for the water treatment facility.   
 
The wellfields that have been such an important supplier of drinking water aren’t going to be able to do the job in the future, or as the city report describes it, not able to provide for “the long-term needs of the city” unless there is “a substantial investment.”   
 
An analysis of the city’s pending water expenses includes a two-decade cost summary that’s expected to be nearly $106 million – the bulk of that expense is anticipated to occur over five years’ time, as the city tackles the big project of a water treatment plant. When this extensive list of water infrastructure needs was first reported, Independence Mayor John McArdle cautioned: “This is over a 20-year period.”   
 
But it arrives amid city debt that was diagnosed as high by outside experts two year ago. In 2022, when the water treatment plant became a frequent topic of discussion by city officials, the city debt was $40 million, with an additional $5 million as a planned repayment by MINET, according to the city’s finance director at the time, Gloria Butsch.   
 
Over the past two years, the debt has been whittled down but official findings on just how much – scheduled to be available on this year’s municipal audit report – aren’t available. The city’s audit still hasn’t been filed with the Oregon Secretary of State, and neither has a request for an extension. The audit, now more than a month past the December 2023 due date, is tentatively scheduled to be delivered in February. However, there has been no response to inquiries about the municipal audit or questions about the cost of the treatment plant by the city’s communications coordinator, Emmanuel Goicochea.  
 
City Manager Kenna West has mentioned partnerships as a possibility for helping to meet city water treatment needs. This past week, Polk County officials held a meeting on a regional water supply plan that appears to be unfolding between the county and Independence for possibly joint use of the facility.   
 
It was referred to as a “big win” by Austin McGuigan, the county’s community development director – a view echoed by water experts outside the county, including one at the state level.   
 
However, other attendees at the meeting – the city managers of Monmouth and Dallas – appeared supportive but tentative about the plan. Brian Latta, city manager of Dallas, noted that a current focus in his city is on the construction needs of Mercer Dam. As for the idea of tapping into Independence’s water treatment plant, “there may be benefits down the road,” he said.     
 
Monmouth’s interim city manager, Christy Wurster, lauded the effort by Independence, but added: “I think we need to do due diligence about this, for the residents of Monmouth.”     
 
Independence, the city known for having been founded twice in the 1800s – the second time after the Willamette River flooded the town’s original site – now seems poised to tie its future to the river in another way. The sometimes-overflowing river is likely to serve as the city’s new source of drinking water. ▪ 

 
Revisions in property tax rules for veterans is proving complex and confusing -- call for moratorium

By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service
    
Oregon needs to put the brakes on changing the way the state is now administering a property-tax benefit to veterans who seek the discount – it’s unclear, complex and cannot be carried out efficiently. That was the message delivered by the Polk County Board of Commissioners and Polk County Tax Assessor Valerie Patoine at last week’s meeting of the board.
  
“It’s rattled a hornet’s nest in my view,” said Board Chair Craig Pope during a presentation by representatives of the state’s department of revenue, who attended the meeting to explain the revision amid complaints about it. All three commissioners called for a legislative solution to fix the complications.
 
The new language on veteran tax exemptions, which took effect a month ago, needs a "stay" of at least a year before it goes into effect – the change significantly increases the workload and cost at the county, and it divides veteran applicants into “winners” or “losers” for the exemption, according to Patoine.
 
Two members of the Oregon Department of Revenue, Tax Administrator Bram Ekstrand, and Government Relations Manager Seiji Shiratori, explained that the way the veteran tax benefits were calculated is inconsistent with the state’s constitution, leading to the change that was instituted. It affects active-duty personnel returning to civilian life, but it’s not retroactive, they explained. 
 
The program is proving confusing to veterans, affirmed Polk County’s Veteran Services Officer, Eric Enderle, who attended the meeting. 
 
"I believe the process should be well understood, not complex and confusing, and that it should be done fairly – and that the fairness should be obvious," Enderle said. Like Patoine and Pope, he said the situation calls for legislative action. 
 
Oregon Sen. Kim Thatcher, of Corvallis, plans to spearhead a bill in the 2024 Legislative Session that would  allow veterans to keep more of their retirement pay through a state income tax exemption. She also is the senate sponsor of Senate  Bill 884, which increases existing property tax exemption rates and  creates a new exemption for veterans, a bill that lists Rep. Paul Evans  as a co-sponsor.  
 
Trammart News reached out to Rep. Evans, who represents House District 20 in the county; however, Evans failed to respond to repeated attempts for a reply to the situation. Evans has made veteran issues a priority of his elected office. 
 
Following the Board of Commissioners meeting, Patoine added that, in the past week, “my office had two qualifying veterans that chose to not enroll in the program once the new rule was explained to them.” 
 
Prior to the new rule, the amount of the exemption was subtracted from the assessed value of the property, and taxes were calculated off that reduced amount, Patoine explained. When the exemption no longer qualified, the exemption was removed, and taxes were calculated on the existing assessed value. The new method is not only “mind-boggling,” Patoine observed but, as an example, it means there currently are two veterans in Polk County that are paying more in taxes as a result of the change, with another veteran paying less. 
 
Other states have streamlined and simplified the process for veterans, according to attendees at the meeting.  Enderle cited South Carolina, which he noted has “a very straightforward property tax exemption program for veterans.”  ▪ 

 
Local couple is leaving their roadside Christmas tree decorated until Valentine’s Day

By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service
    
A majority of people who celebrate Christmas across the globe believe holiday decorations shouldn’t be put away till sometime in February.  Two of them are Hilda and J.R. Salinas, who have been lighting up the tall evergreen on the west side of Highway 51 every December for the past 20 years. 
 
They do it because those who drive by like it – and so do they. This year, their visits to town recently have shown them that some residents are reluctant to take down their holiday lights. “We see them all over,” the couple commented to a recent visitor. 
 
In fact, the trend is becoming a worldwide phenomenon, with the USA joining in. “Strip your tree of the Christmas ornaments and replace them with red, pink, and white bulbs, as well as whatever heart-shaped decorations you can find,” advised columnist Caitlyn Fitzpatrick in an online article that appeared four years ago in Product News. “Your star or angel can be swapped with a bow, heart, or any piece that screams love.”
 
In the United Kingdom, for example, the Christmas season actually continues right through to early February, according to the Daily Mail newspaper. Part of the reason may be that, before she died, Queen Elizabeth unfailingly kept her Christmas tree intact until Feb. 6. 
 
In fact, polls show nearly half of Americans lag weeks before taking down their Christmas trees, even though a majority believe they should be packed away before the end of January, Why? More than half don’t want to be the first ones on their block to take down decorations, according to OnePoll, which often conducts surveys for news outlets. 
 
The Salinas family is having it both ways this year. An inflatable bear with a big heart sits by the tree still festooned with ornaments. Once February 14 rolls around, “we’ll just move the bear and those kind of decorations over to the tree,” explained Hilda Salinas. ▪

City moves to clinch land for a new water treatment plant less than a mile south of downtown

By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service 
  
The city is acquiring about 10 acres of land several blocks south of town west of Corvallis Road for a new water treatment plant at an estimated construction cost of $44 million and, in a separate action, Independence plans to annex into the city limits nearly eight acres just north of that property.     
 
The western boundary for both parcels is 4th Street, along the railroad tracks. An approximately 2.5 acreage on the other side of Corvallis, extending to the river, also is part of the planned acquisition by the city.    
 
It’s part of a $95 million project to meet the town’s future water management and needs – called “The Water System Master Plan” – that was approved by the City Council last year. The treatment plant will process a new water source, the Willamette River, according to the plan. The annexation is an entirely separate action and would place a new mixed-use residential zone inside city limits.  
 
The property for the plant has yet to be purchased, but at a recent city council meeting, the councilors voted unanimously to allow the city manager, Kenna West, to take possession of the land for the city by eminent domain if the owners and Independence cannot agree on the compensation package for it.    
 
The need for a new treatment facility arrives when the city’s current supply of water in well fields is likely to reach capacity in only a few years.   
 
The funds to pay for the water treatment plant and property remain relatively unexplained, although state monies are expected to be one of the ways and federal grants or allocations have been mentioned as another possibility. West has mentioned the possibility of partnerships.  
 
However, neighboring Monmouth isn’t committed to any joint agreement use so far. “From what we understand, the water projects that Independence is moving forward with, are not projects identified in Monmouth's Water Master Plan,” explained Sabra Jewell, communication coordinator for the city of Monmouth. “We are evaluating how a partnership might fit into Monmouth's plans, but we have no partnership at this time,” she added.     
 
A comparison with other towns shows that water-sewer rates paid by Independence residents are higher than those in many other Oregon cities. In the past, Independence has relied on part of the water-sewer bill to contribute toward city debt payments.   
 
Portions from water-bill proceeds have helped subsidize MINET, the city’s municipal broadband, co-founded with Monmouth.   
 
However, at a recent meeting of the MINET board of directors, General Manager P.J Armstrong said the municipal fiberoptic now is solidly in the black and making full bond payments; An interest-only payment on loans the city made over the years to MINET was paid this past December, but it’s too soon to tell whether a larger repayment sum will be made this coming December, Armstrong said.    
 
Most residents who were queried for their response following the council meeting said they expect their water rates to rise regardless of how solidly MINET is performing. ▪ 
 
A series of townhomes in Brandy Meadows where builders say SDC increases would boost home prices

By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service 
          
The City of Independence has proposed a massive $21,000 increase in their water System Development Charge (SDC), increasing Independence’s total SDCs to nearly $54,000. If adopted at the Independence City Council’s February 27th meeting, Independence’s SDCs would be the most expensive in the state of Oregon. 
 
The above statements may sound like the lead-in to an article on the city by Trammart News, but the sentences actually come straight from the latest report by the Home Builders Association of Marion and Polk Counties, which made Independence’s plan for water SDCs the top story in the group’s latest newsletter. The SDCs would be paid by developers as fees to build a single-family home.   
 
“I can tell you that this is a real threat to builders who want to keep building here,” said Larry Dalke, whose construction firm is responsible for most of the Brandy Meadows development in Southwest Independence. 
 
Several other builders also expressed deep worry over how they can continue with residential construction in the city. By comparison, nearby Monmouth has water SDCs of about $2,500 – a tenfold difference. In fact, Independence’s water SDCs are expected to rise to be about four times that of Salem’s, as well.     
 
At the initial work session on the water SDC increase, Steve Donovan, the city’s engineering consultant on water rates, said comparisons are always complicated, and often unreliable. The rates of other cities are in frequent flux, he pointed out.   
 
However, residents both within and outside Brandy Meadows have reacted to the proposed change with questions about where the additional money will be applied. 
 
“My understanding is the cost of SDCs is for new developments, and not for other obligations, so why does it cost Independence so much more money to lay pipes than it does Monmouth?” asked one of them.   
 
The answer, at least in part, appears to be financing for a new water treatment plant, which is needed in order to exercise water rights from the Willamette River and meet a pressing water need.   
 
But the HBA is contending that Independence also plans to use part of these SDC increases to pay for replacement of existing water lines that are beyond repair – “a clear violation of Oregon law regarding the use of SDC funds,” the industry group asserts in the newsletter article. 
  
Despite being contacted several times by Trammart News to comment on  the HBA’s assertion, the city’s communications coordinator, Emmanuel Goicochea, failed to respond.     
 
The HBA is opposing the city’s water SDC change with an allegation that it wasn’t correctly done under Oregon law – asserting that SDCs cannot be used to repair systems and that they can only be utilized to create additional capacity needed for future growth. Independence Public Works Director Gerald Fisher confirmed during the recent SDC work session that a meeting with HBA representatives will be held.    
 
The city SDCs are designated funds earmarked for the development and repair of the water and sewer system, according to a definition provided in the city's 2022 municipal audit. ▪ 
 
Sheriff reports on trends in Polk County that suggest more brazen law-breaking

By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service 
            
When it comes to conversing about crime, Polk County Sheriff Mark Garton isn’t afraid to use the g-word. In fact, he uses two of them together – gangs and guns. "There are more incidents involving guns and I don't hesitate at all to call some gang-related,” Garton said in a brief interview following a report on last year’s arrest record to the Polk County Board of Commissioners. 
 
In fact, overall crime declined from 2019 – from 2,237 to 1,647 – but incidents of theft have increased and so have “eludes.” Though Garton’s presentation ranged from staffing levels at the Sheriff’s Office to the fluctuating population at the county jail, it was the changing numbers of some offenses that drew the focus of the commissioners.
 
Juvenile arrests, reckless driving and “eludes,” the need for deputies to halt pursuits, all were points of discussion. So were crimes by youth, which have become a ”hot topic,” Commissioner Craig Pope said.  He asked how many had been recorded in 2023; Garton replied that two dozen juveniles had been arrested and a further breakdown to identify specific charges was underway. 
The “sheer numbers (of those) showing disrespect” have grown in Polk County, making law enforcement more difficult, Garton said. 
 
Suspects whose driving escalates to dangerous speeds are an example, Garton said, noting that some of those who were targeted for traffic stops seem to have become “emboldened” to flee this way. In 2019, there were 10 pursuits that were terminated due to public endangerment; last year it was 33. “It lies on us to be responsible in how we actively monitor those pursuits,” Garton said. 
 
“I appreciate your using discretion,” commented Commissioner Jeremy Gordon. 
 
After his presentation, Garton acknowledged that gun violence has been a growing concern for him, an observation that Independence Police Chief Robert Mason also made a few months ago in reporting the crime pattern in Independence to the town’s city council. Two serious events involved youth, guns and car chases. 
 
This past fall, a youth fired a gun at a Polk County sheriff’s deputy in Independence by Riverview Park.  About two weeks later, a sheriff’s deputy, acting in self-defense, shot and killed an 18-year-old after being fired at by a suspect on Highway 22, following a pursuit. A responding deputy had been struck and injured. 
 
An analysis issued this past spring on Salem’s violent crime showed gun-involved incidents and gang-related disputes had substantially increased since the police force there disbanded the anti-gang enforcement team in 2019. Incidents involving juveniles – both as victims and suspects – rose 20% by 2023. Gang-related conflicts were the second highest cause of gun-involved incidents, behind personal disputes – and many of those personal disputes involved gang members, according to the findings. ▪

The interim principal at Central High School, Dale Pedersen, agrees to take the helm permanently

By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, January 19, 2024
          
Dale Pedersen said yes to his new address, the principal's office at Central High School. 
“I’m really excited to be here,” he said, responding to an inquiry about going from an interim replacement to permanently named for the top spot.
 
A much-quoted classic line -- "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times"-- seems to pretty much summarize what Pedersen signed up for this week when he accepted the permanent role at CHS. 
 
In fact, post-pandemic challenges are so rampant that about the time Central School District confirmed Pedersen's change from interim, Education Week magazine was busy promoting an article that labeled the job of principal "an increasingly tough gig," one that’s complicated by post-covid stressors ranging from discipline issues to political pressures. 
 
And, like the novel by Charles Dickens contrasting best-worst times, the circumstances at CHS also can be described as "A Tale of Two Cities." Monmouth and Independence have populations separated by more than the S Curves, with a college culture on one side and a river town on the other. But in one way, Pedersen’s appointment arrives at a prime time, a juncture when parents seem receptive, even grateful -- on the heels of what one likened to a game of musical chairs among principals at CHS.
 
Former principal Brent McConaughy departed after only a year on the job and, before his arrival, students staged a walkout to protest CHS’s popular assistant principal, Roseanna Larson, being passed over for principal and now she’s gone, too. Larson currently serves as coordinator of career and technical education for the district, as well as helming CSD 13J’s alternative education.  
 
Pedersen said he is committed to staying, having already been at CHS on an interim basis and settling in. “I don't want to be another administrator who comes in and then leaves,” he stated in the news release announcing his permanent appointment. “I want to be the consistency that our students and our staff deserve."  
 
Pedersen is stepping in at a time when standardized test scores at the high school are significantly below the state average in math and absenteeism is so high that it is now considered a chronic problem.  
 
High levels of absences – missing 10 percent and more of school days in an academic year -- are occurring all over the state and nationally. But CHS is particularly hard hit. The high school has been struggling for years to improve relatively low performance measures.  
 
But, as Superintendent Jennifer Kubista put it, Pedersen is a “veteran principal.” Pedersen acknowledged that in an early interview, noting his years of experience are good preparation for the leadership position. He served as principal at John F. Kennedy High School in Mt. Angel for more than five years and, before that, he was assistant principal at McKay High School in Salem.   
 
Asked if this accounts for what has been described by some in the district as his obvious quality of adaptability, Pedersen said he believes it arises mostly from his family circumstances, not simply going from math teacher to principal over the past decades. “I’m the parent of two sons with disabilities. It’s given me a unique perspective on inclusivity and equity,” he said, adding that he and his wife believe that’s “what has made us the parents we are.” ▪ 
 
Nutria numbers are down and members of the Ash Creek Water Control District are calling it a win

By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service,
             
For more than 15 years, nutria have been documented as damage-inflicting pests along the banks of the city's signature waterway, Ash Creek, which creates important watershed and provides aquatic habitat. Now the orange-toothed rodents appear to be posing less of a threat, thanks to years of trapping and eradication efforts by the Ash Creek Water Control District -- a program that seems to have reduced nutria numbers dramatically. 
 
“I believe we have gotten those number way down,” said Ed Matteo, a director on the ACWCD board who heads the trapping program. The ACWCD, comprised of locally elected directors, aims to improve and maintain the channel of Ash Creek. Nutria, an invasive species, construct burrows that erode the creek’s banks, causing disruption to the natural ecology of the land, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, which considers the round brown rodents a potentially serious environmental hazard.  
 
From 80 captures annually to an average of two dozen a year, the declining counts are making ACWCD board members optimistic that breeding colonies have been diminished. In fact, the method the ACWCD has used – trapping and continual tracking of sightings and “hot spots” – has proven successful in other areas, too, perhaps most notably in Maryland, around Chesapeake Bay. Last year, a decades-long partnership between U.S. Fish and Wildlife, USDA’s Wildlife Service and Maryland resulted in nutria eradication, according to a news announcement issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service two years ago. 
 
 At the last meeting of the ACWCD, Matteo reported that he had not caught a single nutria from one of his traps for the past four months,  following steady reductions in trapping of them by himself and others over the past few years. The ACWCD’s program began in 2008, and an early  partner was Polk County Soil and Water Conservation District. 
 
Two large colonies – one by a sewage lagoon and another by drainage areas in downtown Independence – appear to have been wiped out over the years, but continual monitoring is needed, Matteo said. 
 
Though ACWCD members were upbeat about the outcome, not everyone involved in wildlife biology is convinced. “I would predict that the trapping has had little effect on the local nutria population. They can bear 10 pups multiple times per year,” stated Michael Cairns, a former research ecologist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, who now works in environmental consulting. 
 
However, federal wildlife experts say it’s possible. “Intense pressure with all removal techniques and seeing limited signs and reduced numbers is a good indicator that the numbers have been significantly reduced in the area they’re targeting, said Keith Shannon, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s Northeast Region. After querying colleagues, including those from the Chesapeake Bay Nutria Eradication Project, Shannon said repeated surveys and monitoring of all areas can clarify results. In Maryland, floating platforms with hair snares, camera surveys and nutria detector dogs were all used to determine if nutria were still present, he added. 
 
Still, “constant and consistent pressure in a targeted area can keep numbers lower,” Shannon  said. However, if eradication is “the end goal” survey and detection methods will need to be employed. 
 
Continual and careful follow-up is needed, agreed Matteo, advising that time will tell whether large numbers of nutria are gone for good. ▪ 
 
A look at snow ice cream. Is enjoying scoops of this nature-made treat a frozen pleasure?

By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service
            
IN ACTUALITY: An editorial column to assist public knowledge and discourse on recent events.
  
WHO: Americans in general and Oregonians in particular seemed interested this week in a formula for using snow and a few other ingredients to make ice cream. Unsurprisingly, recipes for snow ice cream were a popular inquiry online, racking up millions of searches. "The moment there is a blanket of freshly fallen snow that means one thing--it's time to make snow ice cream," advises one online culinary website.
 
WHAT: A mixture of fresh snow, typically with the addition of milk and sugar, that tastes like ice cream when the combination is right. Scores of how-to guides for making it recommend the concoction as a great substitute for the commercial product and an enjoyable opportunity to create home-made ice cream.
 
WHERE: On the ground, all around, in heaps as a result of the recent mid-January snowfall. To get the best bounty for making snow ice cream, recommendations include waiting until there is complete ground cover, and taking from the layer atop accumulated snow while it’s fresh. Initial snowfall can collect a higher level of pollutants and later snowflakes usually don’t carry the same quantity of contaminants in snowflakes, according to a long-standing report by NPR.
 
WHEN: This week’s snow was a good opportunity for making snow ice cream, and Prevention Magazine weighed in two years ago on the activity with interviews among several healthcare providers.  “There really aren’t any snow-related illnesses that I am aware of,” noted one. Getting sick from eating snow would probably “take a lot of snow,” said another. The best approach: Ingest in moderation. 
 
WHY: Questions do arise about the safety of eating snow. The CDC appears to have no advisory about it, however, other than not eating it when cold outside, especially when stranded, because it can lower body temperature. In fact, boiling snow makes drinkable water, according to the CDC.
 
And, as we all know – don’t eat yellow snow! ▪

Water rate increases for households in Independence needed to finance upgrades
 
 
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, January 12, 2024

Increases in residential water rates are coming soon as Independence grapples with new demands on water capacity from population growth and addresses an aging infrastructure that requires repair due to deferred maintenance.

That was the message this past week from a city council work session that was held prior to the regular city council meeting, which showed that the ability to keep pace with the need for water will be outstripped in the near future without building a new water treatment system that sends H20 safely into pipes and faucets all over town.
The intent of the session was to discuss upward revisions in water fees for builders, fees collectively known as system development charges. Under questioning by members of the city council, both the water-rate consultant, Steve Donovan, and the city’s Public Works Director Gerald Fisher, confirmed that the increase in SDCs will not preclude a rise in residential water rates for all customers.

Asked to comment on the issue, the city’s communication coordinator, Emmanuel Goicochea, failed to respond to repeated requests.

The population growth, if it persists, will mean water will hit a “deficit” in 2028, Fisher noted.

A big part of the reason is that water SDCs for developers remained too low for too long. Using a “grocery store analogy,” Fisher explained that if apple prices remain the same for two decades, eventually “we have to charge the actual rate for the apple.” That means a potentially dramatic jump in SDCs – pushing the total SDC fees to an estimate of nearly $53,000 for a single-family home.

“I wish we could have charged more for that apple a while ago,” observed Councilor Dawn Roden.

Though no date has been set for residential water-rate discussions, the council tentatively decided to approve the new SDC rate for developers, a move that’s expected to come back for formal approval by the city council in the next few weeks. It is still subject to change, observed Donovan, the consultant on the project. He urged councilors to keep in mind that “this is a snapshot in time.” ▪
 
 
Financial cutbacks announced at 13J but superintendent promises to spare special education
 
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, January 12, 2024

Jobs in departments that stretch across CSD 13J's school district will remain unfilled as part of a first step to address an anticipated looming financial crisis – but special education is very unlikely to be included in the plan, Superintendent Jennifer Kubista confirmed at the school board meeting this week.

With a new school bond campaign now off the table, and pressure to whittle away at costs, there will be hiring moratoriums on positions that are vacant but previously were expected to have replacements, Kubista said.

Two different financial forces are exerting pressure on the budget: a drop in high school student enrollment of about 5% and loss of federal dollars of about $2.5 million, which was emergency-relief funding during covid.

In what she referred to as “belt-tightening,” Kubista announced that all plans for non-instructional purchases are under review and so are any open positions, including announced retirements. Travel will be limited to trips covered by grants, she added. “We are starting to make decisions to save some money,” Kubista explained.

The search for special education teachers, currently underway, will continue – the need is growing and state goals for that instruction must be met, she said.

Though the school board adopted a revised policy for alternative education at the last board meeting, alternative and special education are not the same, explained Emily Mentzer, communications coordinator for the school district.
Alternative education is a school or separate class group designed to best serve students' educational needs and interests and assist students in achieving the academic standards of the school district and state; special education refers to students experiencing disabilities.

Some parents have expressed worry over special education. At a recent holiday party for the community, one parent said she feels the program needs even more support. In fact, “that’s my wish for the coming year,” she said. ▪
 
 
Executive director of The GATE weighs in on opinions shared by Gen Z panelists
 
 
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, January 12, 2024

Gen Z representatives from one end of the Willamette Valley to the other told a packed audience at Salem City Club their life goals differ from the American dream envisioned by many of the attendees, a view that came as no surprise to Ben Bobeda, who has more than a passing familiarity with this generational cohort as executive director of The GATE in Independence.

The GATE, a church-affiliated youth recreation facility, located across Monmouth Street from Central High School, is a home-away-from home for many high schoolers. "They don't seem to want what we did," Bobeda said, noting that this has both an upside and a worrisome one.

Bobeda was interviewed after a panel of Gen Z participants, or "Zoomers," as they are sometimes called, shared their views of what later adulthood will be like for them – views that seemed far less skeptical of government assistance than previous generations.

The Gen Z generation ranges in age today from pre-teen 12-year-olds to those in their mid-to-late 20s. They comprise 20% of the U.S. population and, along with Millennials, will dominate the percentage of voters when they come of age to cast ballots. Their opinions so far seem, on certain issues, more conservative – they are comfortable with all kinds of technology, and consider the march for more of the same in a positive light – and they have developed an early distrust of politics, according to national surveys. However, they also see government’s role liberally, as a helpmate.

Two of the Gen Z panelists praised European policies that mandate low-cost universal health care and family-friendly subsidies. Government should be a provider, several stressed. That's something Bobeda sees, too.

"This is a generation that sees government that way," he said. Is this why planning doesn't seem to be a high priority for some? "I don't think many realize how expensive it will be to live, to have a middle-class lifestyle," he said.

Perhaps the lack of participation in the workforce during high-school years plays a role. Pew Research shows that Gen Z adolescents are less likely to have jobs than previous generations of teenagers: Only 18% of Gen Zs have jobs at typically employed teen ages (15 to 17) compared with 27% of Millennials and 41% of Gen X at the same ages. It may be a chicken-and-egg situation for some.

"Are we as adults helping them?" Bobeda asked. One girl applied to work at seven different places and never heard back from a single one, he said. The lack of outside jobs for Gen Zs can take an unseen toll, he said. The Gen Z panelists emphasized the importance of work-life balance – how important it is for them to carve out time for their relationships. "They are very relational, very oriented that way," Bobeda agreed. But although outside work may represent lost time with others, there's also a lost opportunity for learning, he observed.

The structure, pay and discipline of a job – even performing a list of daily chores – offer life lessons on meeting goals and completing tasks, he pointed out. That can be a huge benefit for navigating adulthood, Bobeda added. Some members of the Gen Z panel confessed that they feel like they spend too much online, scrolling through social media, a downfall of their generation. "Yes, they do know that, about their own (reliance) on electronics," Bobeda said. Both Bobeda and the Gen Z panelists describe this generation as more naturally accepting of cultural and ethnic differences, and more welcoming to those who were targets in previous ones, such as members of the LBGTQ community. But Z Generation also deeply values friends and family, or "traditional values," as Bobeda puts it.

Though the panelists openly disparaged the quest for the "white picket fence" life, the bonds that form in that situation – family members, neighbors, acquaintances – are something they hope they have in abundance.

Those relationships can suffer “if you are focused on that white picket fence, that house, that expensive car," said one. Promoting the American dream for a new generation is simply “a dream someone else is dreaming for me," said another. ▪

Editorial: A list of Trammart News articles that round out the top five stories of the past year
 
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, January 5, 2024

Goodbye 2023. This past year will be one I remember for this reason: The financial chickens came home to roost in Indy. Should this catch us by surprise? Nope.

Seven years ago, Independence's outside auditor expressed concern over the growing municipal debt, right around the time a couple of civil engineers issued warnings about the town’s infrastructure needs, from street deterioration to outdated pipes.

Ditto for aging buildings in CSD 13J School District, which this past year prompted far higher property-tax money from residents than homeowners expected, under a rarely used clause in the law that many found shocking.

The chair of the school board, Donn Wahl, issued a public apology. But what about the city, and its own revenue crisis?

The mayor, John McArdle, and City Manager, Kenna West, took quite a different approach to the city’s tax-dollar drain. The city manager made two trips to my former newspaper to try to get me quashed from covering Independence; The mayor opted for silence, refraining from comment in meetings when reminded that all that past spending occurred on his watch. This observation came from none other than one of the newer council members, Sarah Jobe, who requested an apology that never came.

Councilor Jobe, allow me to salute your bravura in trying to bring to the forefront the financial backstory that brought us to this point. Now for the next troubling question: What lies ahead? Cost cuts? Rate hikes? Reduced services? Or a combination of these?

So, if you want to know the top story of 2023, in my own view, it’s that Independence is in a big fiscal pickle. Meanwhile, CSD 13J is now putting its money woes front and center – possibly to foster more public empathy in preparation for another bond rollout down the road?

We don’t yet know how all of this will shake out. We’ll all have a better idea this time next year. In the meantime, here’s my opinion of the top five stories of 2023, based on my personal impressions of residential reactions in the past 12 months.

1) The wavering financial status of the city-plus-school-district is this year’s top story.
City Manager West may think so, too – she is embarking on a quest to gain support for changing a couple of long-standing propositions that have ruled our tax code, in a role assigned to her by the League of Oregon Cities. It looks like a long shot to get Measures 5 and 50 altered, but good luck with tax-code revisions to bring in more money!

How is the school board handling their monetary squeeze? By wisely backing off from advocating for a new bond. Good thinking, board members. But now what? The needs initially identified by the bond committee for that funding still exist.
For those of you who saw grocery and gas prices go up while spending power went down, I’m going to keep following the monetary needs of the city and schools.

And I’m hopeful that City Manager West will quit trying to shut down my news coverage, but it’s not looking good. So far, she and the city’s communications coordinator have been ignoring all my media inquiries.

2) The worst nightmare at the Independence State Airport came true: a fatal crash.
It came almost a year after my best friend, Amy Jackson and her husband, Denny, died in an out-of-town private plane accident. In the interest of accuracy, I would like to point out that Amy was everyone’s best friend, not just mine.

I never expected anyone outside of Indy to appreciate the airport the way I do. But a few years ago, when I attended a statewide city-planning meeting in Bend, I asked a bunch of city planners what they thought of the growth in Independence. They drew a blank on the hotel, but not the airport – or the river.

Those are high-value aspects for the town, they said. A third is being so close to Salem.

I couldn’t imagine that the quaint downtown and postcard-pretty Riverview Park weren’t getting more buzz. I mentioned the Cooper Building and the way Ash Creek meanders through the park. But it was the river, the airport and Salem proximity that constitute our crown jewels, according to this group. All are enviable “fixed assets,” they explained.

Soon, I will write an article about the recent crash of three pilots seeking a better life in America who miscalculated their landing in the fog at our airport. But I’m not yet ready to do so objectively. When I see the cross by a trio of bouquets on Hoffman Road, my cardiac organ misfires right along with my ocular orbits.

My working title for the upcoming article: Sadness Visible.

3) The trolley made a spectacular difference.

The red, vintage-style buses enabled an easy and enjoyable ride from Monmouth to Independence, and vice versa.

Except for a few disgruntled dog owners who discovered canines can’t be passengers (assist dogs are approved), the trolley has proven to be both popular and iconic, a source of pride as well as a practical means of transportation between the two cities for folk of all ages.

4) The city’s industrial zone began transforming.
Marquis Spa largely moved out; Western Interlock got the greenlight for moving in. All happened in the industrial area along Stryker Road.

Big changes are afoot on the swath of land that’s there – land that is now not much more than open field. I hope to be able to track it all, from start to finish. (I have even set aside a hard hat for construction site visits.) Hopefully, good relationship-building will ensue since any development in the Stryker corridor will have immediate impact on a large neighborhood there.

5) Development took some nose dives.
This might not sound like a big story to you, but let’s put it all together. Dalke Construction feels thwarted by newly increased building charges and other imposed costs at Brandy Meadows in Southwest Independence – the city expects a traffic light at 7th and Monmouth Street to be paid by the developer, with the promise of future incremental reimbursement for the estimated million-dollar cost.

Also languishing is the unfinished downtown building known colloquially as Stonehenge – officially Station 203 – and it’s on the market again. This skeletal structure has changed hands more times than a square-dance partner since breaking ground in 2005.

And, the Elks Club is now suing the realtor-turned-developer Aaron Young for failing to build on a lot that was sold by the city at a whoppingly low price, as a site for the organization’s new lodge.

All three of these major projects seem stymied. Do they represent a trend? Time will tell.
This is why you need a news outlet. To keep abreast, to learn what’s transpiring. So, here is a reminder to City Manager West and all others who find bad news so downright irritating.

Nobody should feel compelled to express anything but dislike about the person named Anne Scheck – and if you want to shout disparaging phrases about me from the rooftops, that is your right under the First Amendment. And you should feel free to exercise that right.

But trying to stop the wheel of local journalism is different. Take a look at George Washington, who was verbally crucified by some news reports – and so was Abe Lincoln. Yet both presidents wanted those presses to keep rolling, to continue to provide an important part of American democracy, freedom of speech. So do I.

Good luck in the year ahead. Trammart News will do its very best to keep you informed. ▪

(Trammart News welcomes all editorial commentary that is not specifically targeted at a resident or business. For a guest editorial, simply email [email protected].)
 
 
Polk County District Attorney Aaron Felton says DA work takes an out-of-office team effort
 
 
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, January 5, 2024

The coat that Polk County District Attorney Aaron Felton wore to deliver a year-end update to the county commissioners represents the expansive role of the DA’s office, he said.

It’s a sherpa jacket, designed for outdoor use – in the field and out of the courtroom – at sites where he and his staff often need to be.

“The bread-and-butter things go on in the office,” he explained. From crime scenes to car crashes, “we often go into situations” that could be described as tragic events, he said. At such sites, he and his staff are easily identifiable as a “public safety partner.”

The term refers to the tack being taken by Polk County, which focuses on working tightly and collaboratively with law enforcement and behavioral health. It differs substantially from the way things were done when he started 25 years ago, Felton observed.

It’s a strategy that means more streamlined processing. There’s more immediate access to alternative treatment plans, a faster track to probation and quick action on uncomplicated cases, known as “contemporaneous” judgments, Felton said.

With 50-100 cases at any one time in his office, he credited a team in other parts of the system that has helped him with such “a big lift.”

Felton singled out two key people: Judge Norman Hill, who is managing a “rapid resolution docket” and Jodi Merritt, who has instituted a “lunch and learn” program for cross-coordination. Merritt is director of the county’s community correction service programs, juvenile department.

“All of the various professions (and) roles within the criminal justice system come with a variety of rules and responsibilities that are complex and, at times, misunderstood,” Merritt explained. “These meetings provided an opportunity to discuss, ask questions, develop relationships and solutions that will assist both agencies in the future.”

The topics so far have ranged from what constitutes “Intake” – supervision conditions, expectations of supervision, assessments and case planning – to the differences between probation, post-prison supervision and parole.
As one observer pointed out, “this is the anti-silo approach.”

Felton said the “lunch and learn” program is likely to become even more inclusive. He expects to continue to report on its impact in 2024. ▪

(This is part of an ongoing effort to report on the county judicial system, a series begun during covid.)
 

Endearing deer are making Independence home-sweet-home but need to be treated like wildlife
 
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, January 5, 2024

They leave paw prints on garden pathways and nose around yards, dining on azalea and rhododendron plants.
They’re deer, and they are being seen a lot this year -- by the railroad tracks on A Street, near the sidewalks of Riverview Park and on the taxiways by the Independence State Airport.

It is hard to pin down whether there are more deer now than ever before or simply more deer who are unafraid to venture into city limits, due to becoming familiar with friendly humans who don’t shoo them out of flower beds and, in some cases, provide food and water at special tree-covered stations.

“We don’t track population numbers at the town level but it’s not surprising that more deer are seen in Independence or other developed areas,” said Beth Quillian, North Coast, North and South Willamette Watersheds Communications Coordinator for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

A small town like Independence, flanked by open fields, often provides shelter and a variety of food sources safe from predators, she explained.

“Well-intentioned people often feed deer, elk and other wildlife without realizing the problems feeding can create,” she said, noting that this can interfere with the animals’ natural way of life. “Once wildlife associate people with giving them food, they come to expect it,” she added.

So it may be that deer are anticipating a warm welcome in winter by the Independence residential community.

If so, that makes it “a great time to get a head start on reminding people to leave young wildlife alone,” Quillian cautioned. Oregon's deer give birth from May through July. It’s natural for mother animals to leave their young alone and hidden for extended periods of time while they go off to feed,” she said. “So never assume a young animal is orphaned when you see it alone,” Quillian stressed. In fact, deer may park their fawns in seemingly odd places, like tall grass waiting for a lawn mower. ▪

(Trammart News periodically examines wildlife of the region. Next up: Where have all the nutria gone?)