Decaying state of school buildings in School District 13J; Decaying state of city finances
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service
Presentations at the Independence City Council meeting this week ranged from the state of disrepair in local schools – in likely preparation for a school bond ballot – to the need for a tax-raising city levy to pay for the town’s museum, library and parks.
As one Independence parent put it: two different pocketbook issues seem to be pending, one from Central School District, the other from the City of Independence. Both affect buildings that serve families and kids. Will they cancel each other out, due to the dual need for more tax dollars?
That question wasn’t addressed by the representatives from CSD, but City Councilor Marilyn Morton seemed to hit it head-on during the council discussion. “I also want to be very careful with the timing of the November-slash-May (ballots) that there may be a bond coming out from the schools to support upgrades to the school system,” she said.
In her public testimony, Emily Mentzer, communications coordinator for the school district, explained that a bond-development committee recommended against pursuing a bond vote over a year ago, which delayed a public information awareness campaign on facilities needs that is now underway.
Priorities for fixing areas of debilitation have been refocused, she said, and the decision was made that there was a need for “really good outreach to the community so that we could educate people on the condition of our facilities and why we need some of the things we need.” That would appear to mean no bond proposal will be ready in time for the November election.
Susan Graham, vice president of the school board as well as having the same role on the facilities committee, added that the outreach includes a new web page that provides examples of building decay and flyers that describe the needed safety and security improvements, including the leak-prone roof at Central High School. Tours of the schools currently are underway and will be offered soon on weekends and evenings, she noted.
In a separate work session, the city council was given a proposal for the levy that included two levy options. The first would ask to fund the library, museum and parks; The second option would be to drop the museum from the proposed levy vote. All three are funded through the fiscal 2024-25 year, but the situation after that means a risk of closures, if no more money is generated, according to the document on levy options that was submitted to city councilors.
Regardless of the decision, the city will continue to pay the debt service on the loan to purchase and renovate the current museum building, which has an outstanding principal of $413,000 and annual payments of nearly $74,000 for the next several years.
The tax cost for her home to support the five-year levy for all three city institutions would be nearly $344 per year, Morton advised. The price for a home assessed at $300,000 would be close to $550 annually, according to Rob Moody, the city’s financial director.
Should either of the levy options fail to pass, cutbacks would be the probable solution, said City Manager Kenna West. In answer to a question about how far grants could go to fund the museum, if they were secured, she said that support would not be sustainable.
During the public commentary portion of the city council meeting, resident Mike Rhodes criticized this year’s “budget inflation,” citing the figure for 2024-25 as being more than 40% above previous ones, noting that portions of the budget have no sources of funding and should not be included in an adopted budget.
“It is simply irresponsible,” Rhodes said. ▪
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service
Presentations at the Independence City Council meeting this week ranged from the state of disrepair in local schools – in likely preparation for a school bond ballot – to the need for a tax-raising city levy to pay for the town’s museum, library and parks.
As one Independence parent put it: two different pocketbook issues seem to be pending, one from Central School District, the other from the City of Independence. Both affect buildings that serve families and kids. Will they cancel each other out, due to the dual need for more tax dollars?
That question wasn’t addressed by the representatives from CSD, but City Councilor Marilyn Morton seemed to hit it head-on during the council discussion. “I also want to be very careful with the timing of the November-slash-May (ballots) that there may be a bond coming out from the schools to support upgrades to the school system,” she said.
In her public testimony, Emily Mentzer, communications coordinator for the school district, explained that a bond-development committee recommended against pursuing a bond vote over a year ago, which delayed a public information awareness campaign on facilities needs that is now underway.
Priorities for fixing areas of debilitation have been refocused, she said, and the decision was made that there was a need for “really good outreach to the community so that we could educate people on the condition of our facilities and why we need some of the things we need.” That would appear to mean no bond proposal will be ready in time for the November election.
Susan Graham, vice president of the school board as well as having the same role on the facilities committee, added that the outreach includes a new web page that provides examples of building decay and flyers that describe the needed safety and security improvements, including the leak-prone roof at Central High School. Tours of the schools currently are underway and will be offered soon on weekends and evenings, she noted.
In a separate work session, the city council was given a proposal for the levy that included two levy options. The first would ask to fund the library, museum and parks; The second option would be to drop the museum from the proposed levy vote. All three are funded through the fiscal 2024-25 year, but the situation after that means a risk of closures, if no more money is generated, according to the document on levy options that was submitted to city councilors.
Regardless of the decision, the city will continue to pay the debt service on the loan to purchase and renovate the current museum building, which has an outstanding principal of $413,000 and annual payments of nearly $74,000 for the next several years.
The tax cost for her home to support the five-year levy for all three city institutions would be nearly $344 per year, Morton advised. The price for a home assessed at $300,000 would be close to $550 annually, according to Rob Moody, the city’s financial director.
Should either of the levy options fail to pass, cutbacks would be the probable solution, said City Manager Kenna West. In answer to a question about how far grants could go to fund the museum, if they were secured, she said that support would not be sustainable.
During the public commentary portion of the city council meeting, resident Mike Rhodes criticized this year’s “budget inflation,” citing the figure for 2024-25 as being more than 40% above previous ones, noting that portions of the budget have no sources of funding and should not be included in an adopted budget.
“It is simply irresponsible,” Rhodes said. ▪
Student's dream becomes reality as a free summer chess-in-the-park program flourishes
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service
Under tree-shaded picnic tables covered with checkerboard battlegrounds, dozens of opponents face off to capture a king – all because a student at Central High School is spreading his love of chess with a program free for all comers this summer.
Meet Aaron Hayes, a 16-year-old with a dream to put the game into the hands of anyone who wants to play this time-honored board sport and who founded a thriving nonprofit this past spring with that goal, aptly named “Chess in the Park.” Now scores of portable chess sets are rolled out at noon every Saturday, onto wooden tabletops in Monmouth's Main Street Park for participants ranging from young children to gray-haired adults.
“I love it that so many are here,” Hayes said, surveying the crowd this past Saturday, where several tables were filled with mostly youthful competitors. “But I want even more,” said Hayes, who identifies as Hispanic and wants to draw more from the Latinx community.
He’s been a chess player since he was an elementary student in the Central School District, where chess is offered at all the early grades through "Chess for Success," a Portland-based 501(c)3 organization that serves 11 counties and 25 school districts in Oregon, Southwest Washington and Hawaii.
By the time Hayes got to middle school, at Talmadge, he was a seasoned player. There he met Talmadge teacher Tristan Moore, who teaches social studies, and is an avid chess player, too. In bygone days, Moore was able to offer chess as an elective class. Now he hosts and helps organize local tournaments, including the springtime "Chess for Success" competition, which technically is supposed to include only Polk and Yamhill counties but recently began hosting Marion and other counties in a combined tournament.
Together, Hayes and Moore are working to popularize the game. Moore, who helped supervise the chess matches underway last Saturday, cited numerous benefits: It can be played almost anywhere, it teaches critical-thinking skills, it gives a sense of belonging to students seeking a peer group, and time-plus-experience translates into winning strategies.
"It can really boost confidence," Moore pointed out. He said he gets his own boost seeing chess-insignia stickers on student water bottles and backpacks, signaling youthful support of the game -- and of each other. Moore also works closely with the Oregon Scholastic Chess Federation. Chess can bring together individuals who don't speak the same language; They convert immediately to shared communication: chess speak.
But perhaps one of the most important aspects of chess is the notation notebooks that Moore tries to insist on, for young players. It gets them into the habit of writing and making a record of their moves – enabling them to see their mistakes in a review of the game, as well as their tactical triumphs.
These young players can compare their notation notebooks with online tools that can help them spot different winning lines and "up" their game, Moore said. There are also opportunities to match wits with artificial intelligence – computers can be instantly accessed as internet opponents.
Moore is president of the board for “Chess in the Park”; School board member Susan Graham is the treasurer, and Hayes’ parents, Brandon and Olivia, serve as board members. Hayes was named “executive director,” a title bestowed by the group because anyone under 18 years of age cannot hold a board member position on a nonprofit, “but we wanted to recognize him as the originator of the organization and value his input in decision- making,” Moore explained.
Hayes credits two local attorneys, Board Member Graham and Abby Fitts, with helping him get started as a 501(c)3 that he hopes will mean substantial growth in the year ahead. Commonly described as remarkable, Hayes sees himself only as “motivated.”
Bringing chess to others who might not otherwise have the opportunity doesn’t seem like hard work for someone who loves the game as much as he does, Hayes said. “It is more like sharing a really great experience,” he said.
The final summer tournament for “Chess in the Park” is scheduled to take place in mid-August. ▪
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service
Under tree-shaded picnic tables covered with checkerboard battlegrounds, dozens of opponents face off to capture a king – all because a student at Central High School is spreading his love of chess with a program free for all comers this summer.
Meet Aaron Hayes, a 16-year-old with a dream to put the game into the hands of anyone who wants to play this time-honored board sport and who founded a thriving nonprofit this past spring with that goal, aptly named “Chess in the Park.” Now scores of portable chess sets are rolled out at noon every Saturday, onto wooden tabletops in Monmouth's Main Street Park for participants ranging from young children to gray-haired adults.
“I love it that so many are here,” Hayes said, surveying the crowd this past Saturday, where several tables were filled with mostly youthful competitors. “But I want even more,” said Hayes, who identifies as Hispanic and wants to draw more from the Latinx community.
He’s been a chess player since he was an elementary student in the Central School District, where chess is offered at all the early grades through "Chess for Success," a Portland-based 501(c)3 organization that serves 11 counties and 25 school districts in Oregon, Southwest Washington and Hawaii.
By the time Hayes got to middle school, at Talmadge, he was a seasoned player. There he met Talmadge teacher Tristan Moore, who teaches social studies, and is an avid chess player, too. In bygone days, Moore was able to offer chess as an elective class. Now he hosts and helps organize local tournaments, including the springtime "Chess for Success" competition, which technically is supposed to include only Polk and Yamhill counties but recently began hosting Marion and other counties in a combined tournament.
Together, Hayes and Moore are working to popularize the game. Moore, who helped supervise the chess matches underway last Saturday, cited numerous benefits: It can be played almost anywhere, it teaches critical-thinking skills, it gives a sense of belonging to students seeking a peer group, and time-plus-experience translates into winning strategies.
"It can really boost confidence," Moore pointed out. He said he gets his own boost seeing chess-insignia stickers on student water bottles and backpacks, signaling youthful support of the game -- and of each other. Moore also works closely with the Oregon Scholastic Chess Federation. Chess can bring together individuals who don't speak the same language; They convert immediately to shared communication: chess speak.
But perhaps one of the most important aspects of chess is the notation notebooks that Moore tries to insist on, for young players. It gets them into the habit of writing and making a record of their moves – enabling them to see their mistakes in a review of the game, as well as their tactical triumphs.
These young players can compare their notation notebooks with online tools that can help them spot different winning lines and "up" their game, Moore said. There are also opportunities to match wits with artificial intelligence – computers can be instantly accessed as internet opponents.
Moore is president of the board for “Chess in the Park”; School board member Susan Graham is the treasurer, and Hayes’ parents, Brandon and Olivia, serve as board members. Hayes was named “executive director,” a title bestowed by the group because anyone under 18 years of age cannot hold a board member position on a nonprofit, “but we wanted to recognize him as the originator of the organization and value his input in decision- making,” Moore explained.
Hayes credits two local attorneys, Board Member Graham and Abby Fitts, with helping him get started as a 501(c)3 that he hopes will mean substantial growth in the year ahead. Commonly described as remarkable, Hayes sees himself only as “motivated.”
Bringing chess to others who might not otherwise have the opportunity doesn’t seem like hard work for someone who loves the game as much as he does, Hayes said. “It is more like sharing a really great experience,” he said.
The final summer tournament for “Chess in the Park” is scheduled to take place in mid-August. ▪
A memorial marker for a longtime environmentalist of Independence is being planned
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service
Fifteen years ago, Michael Cairns helped secure protection for an important link of land and water in Riverview Park, now known as the “north wetland” on city maps. If all goes as planned, this year his preservation work will be recognized at the site with a memorial.
Cairns lost his battle with a devastating illness last month, but he left a legacy that includes a vibrant sanctuary for aquatic life during rainy months and during summer becomes a well-used sports field.
“That particular spot on earth has small springs that seep up, even during the dry season, providing moist soil for shade and habitat,” explained Gail Oberst, Michael’s widow. She has started a campaign with the goal of installing a stopping place that conveys the science behind this special piece of land – in memory of Cairns. The funds for it are being managed by Luckiamute Watershed Council, which Cairns helped found 25 years ago.
Whether it is an educational display, informational station or a descriptive kiosk hasn’t been decided, Oberst noted. However, when she took the general concept to the Parks Board this past week, it was received with the same warmth that recently transformed the formerly soggy wetland terrain into the current ballfields.
Jonathan Jay, chair of the Parks Board, called the wetland there part of a healthy and unique food chain, supporting an ecosystem for animals ranging from black-tailed deer to migratory birds; The accumulation of water nourishes native plants and grasses.
It's all part of a local environment that helps sustain Independence as a nationally designated "tree city," he added. "The wetlands are a breeding ground for vegetation, and an important drainage area for heavy rain," Jay pointed out.
In 2009, Cairns began working with both city staff and the Oregon Department of State Lands on the project, the “North Riverview Park Wetland Mitigation Site.” By 2010, there was an agreement between both sides about the area.
Cairns was well-suited for the technical challenges of the effort: he worked as a scientist for the Environmental Protection Agency in Corvallis for over 30 years.
The memorial in Riverview Park won’t be the first one for Cairns – his name is on a plaque given annually by the city. It’s the Cairns-Weaver Historic Preservation Award, which goes to homeowners in the historic district who have done outstanding restoration. Among other attributes, Cairns was known for his dedication to original and authentic construction. ▪
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service
Fifteen years ago, Michael Cairns helped secure protection for an important link of land and water in Riverview Park, now known as the “north wetland” on city maps. If all goes as planned, this year his preservation work will be recognized at the site with a memorial.
Cairns lost his battle with a devastating illness last month, but he left a legacy that includes a vibrant sanctuary for aquatic life during rainy months and during summer becomes a well-used sports field.
“That particular spot on earth has small springs that seep up, even during the dry season, providing moist soil for shade and habitat,” explained Gail Oberst, Michael’s widow. She has started a campaign with the goal of installing a stopping place that conveys the science behind this special piece of land – in memory of Cairns. The funds for it are being managed by Luckiamute Watershed Council, which Cairns helped found 25 years ago.
Whether it is an educational display, informational station or a descriptive kiosk hasn’t been decided, Oberst noted. However, when she took the general concept to the Parks Board this past week, it was received with the same warmth that recently transformed the formerly soggy wetland terrain into the current ballfields.
Jonathan Jay, chair of the Parks Board, called the wetland there part of a healthy and unique food chain, supporting an ecosystem for animals ranging from black-tailed deer to migratory birds; The accumulation of water nourishes native plants and grasses.
It's all part of a local environment that helps sustain Independence as a nationally designated "tree city," he added. "The wetlands are a breeding ground for vegetation, and an important drainage area for heavy rain," Jay pointed out.
In 2009, Cairns began working with both city staff and the Oregon Department of State Lands on the project, the “North Riverview Park Wetland Mitigation Site.” By 2010, there was an agreement between both sides about the area.
Cairns was well-suited for the technical challenges of the effort: he worked as a scientist for the Environmental Protection Agency in Corvallis for over 30 years.
The memorial in Riverview Park won’t be the first one for Cairns – his name is on a plaque given annually by the city. It’s the Cairns-Weaver Historic Preservation Award, which goes to homeowners in the historic district who have done outstanding restoration. Among other attributes, Cairns was known for his dedication to original and authentic construction. ▪
RSS Feed