Eminent domain pressure drives sale of farmland owned by a family for generations
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service
To save his land from being acquired through eminent domain by the city he's called home for most of his life, Pat Henderson and his family sold their farm in Independence.
Despite deep sadness over relinquishing the property to a neighboring buyer, Henderson hopes the sale will thwart the move by Independence to put a new public works facility, including a water treatment plant, on 12 acres next to Corvallis Road, just south of the city limits.
In an interview at the Ovenbird Bakery last Saturday, Henderson said he doesn’t think the proposed deal was only about the water treatment plant, which was the official reason for the legal action by the city for the land. In early April, “Independence mailed each of us an offer packet,” Henderson said.
The city offered $180,000; the counteroffer was $250,000, leading to a stalemate.
The city then filed a claim to clinch the land. Instead, Henderson and his family sold it, along with the rest of the 170-year-old farm.
Previously, Independence had sought out the family regarding the northern edge of two fields for a proposed east-west road along the railroad right-of-way, Henderson recalled. Then that effort abruptly stopped, he noted.
The presumed reason? A new and long-planned street, the Mt. Fir extension, allegedly to make way for new development.
“I realized that they were attempting to combine two separate projects into one, by over-buying property that could be used for both projects,” he said.
The city’s communication director, Emmanuel Goicochea, was asked by Trammart News to reply about the the new circumstances that will affect the acquisition process. In a follow-up email, Goicochea was asked whether the larger tract of land – beyond the four acres once considered suitable for the water treatment plant – was due to combining the two objectives, as suggested by Henderson. Despite numerous attempts to obtain city comment, no response was received.
The water treatment plant is part of a $44 million project for using a new water source, the Willamette River, according to plans approved for it by the city council last year. The city's water rights to the Willamette River need to be exercised within the next few years in order to be retained.
The first hint that his land was seen by the city as a site of interest for a new water treatment plant was when Henderson was contacted and told that Independence needed "to do some testing" about 18 months ago.
“The city didn't contact us directly,” Henderson explained. “They had an out-of-state company send us right-of-entry forms to sign, giving them permission to carry out testing.” Neither the city manager, Kenna West, nor the public works director, Gerald Fisher, spoke with the family, he said.
Instead, he was contacted by a right-of-way agent of Common Street Consulting, who
works in Salem.
“It was only after questioning that the company gradually revealed why the testing was desired,” Henderson observed.
Henderson, who has residency rights to remain on the land, isn’t sure he even wants to stay in Independence. He is discouraged by recent events – and not just the ones that have involved him and his family.
Changes in the way the city now seems to operate have caused him concern. As a long-term resident, Henderson said that there seem to be more incidents of mishandling or misuse of authority by the city.
Henderson is a great grandson of Henry and Martha Hill, who came west in different 1847 wagon trains – he by the northern route, she via the newly-opened southern route. “They didn't meet until they arrived in Oregon territory,” he explained.
Elvin A. Thorp was the original town’s founder, but Hill's addition was incorporated in the 1860s, after a flood wiped out Thorp's riverside settlement. Though other parcels still remain with other Hill descendants, the land that was just sold had been in the family since the 1850s, handed down generation-to-generation.
“It was the last parcel of original donation land claim in our immediate family,” he said.
(Trammart New will continue to follow this issue, including the new purchase agreement and the city's actions pertaining to it.) ▪
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service
To save his land from being acquired through eminent domain by the city he's called home for most of his life, Pat Henderson and his family sold their farm in Independence.
Despite deep sadness over relinquishing the property to a neighboring buyer, Henderson hopes the sale will thwart the move by Independence to put a new public works facility, including a water treatment plant, on 12 acres next to Corvallis Road, just south of the city limits.
In an interview at the Ovenbird Bakery last Saturday, Henderson said he doesn’t think the proposed deal was only about the water treatment plant, which was the official reason for the legal action by the city for the land. In early April, “Independence mailed each of us an offer packet,” Henderson said.
The city offered $180,000; the counteroffer was $250,000, leading to a stalemate.
The city then filed a claim to clinch the land. Instead, Henderson and his family sold it, along with the rest of the 170-year-old farm.
Previously, Independence had sought out the family regarding the northern edge of two fields for a proposed east-west road along the railroad right-of-way, Henderson recalled. Then that effort abruptly stopped, he noted.
The presumed reason? A new and long-planned street, the Mt. Fir extension, allegedly to make way for new development.
“I realized that they were attempting to combine two separate projects into one, by over-buying property that could be used for both projects,” he said.
The city’s communication director, Emmanuel Goicochea, was asked by Trammart News to reply about the the new circumstances that will affect the acquisition process. In a follow-up email, Goicochea was asked whether the larger tract of land – beyond the four acres once considered suitable for the water treatment plant – was due to combining the two objectives, as suggested by Henderson. Despite numerous attempts to obtain city comment, no response was received.
The water treatment plant is part of a $44 million project for using a new water source, the Willamette River, according to plans approved for it by the city council last year. The city's water rights to the Willamette River need to be exercised within the next few years in order to be retained.
The first hint that his land was seen by the city as a site of interest for a new water treatment plant was when Henderson was contacted and told that Independence needed "to do some testing" about 18 months ago.
“The city didn't contact us directly,” Henderson explained. “They had an out-of-state company send us right-of-entry forms to sign, giving them permission to carry out testing.” Neither the city manager, Kenna West, nor the public works director, Gerald Fisher, spoke with the family, he said.
Instead, he was contacted by a right-of-way agent of Common Street Consulting, who
works in Salem.
“It was only after questioning that the company gradually revealed why the testing was desired,” Henderson observed.
Henderson, who has residency rights to remain on the land, isn’t sure he even wants to stay in Independence. He is discouraged by recent events – and not just the ones that have involved him and his family.
Changes in the way the city now seems to operate have caused him concern. As a long-term resident, Henderson said that there seem to be more incidents of mishandling or misuse of authority by the city.
Henderson is a great grandson of Henry and Martha Hill, who came west in different 1847 wagon trains – he by the northern route, she via the newly-opened southern route. “They didn't meet until they arrived in Oregon territory,” he explained.
Elvin A. Thorp was the original town’s founder, but Hill's addition was incorporated in the 1860s, after a flood wiped out Thorp's riverside settlement. Though other parcels still remain with other Hill descendants, the land that was just sold had been in the family since the 1850s, handed down generation-to-generation.
“It was the last parcel of original donation land claim in our immediate family,” he said.
(Trammart New will continue to follow this issue, including the new purchase agreement and the city's actions pertaining to it.) ▪
The Central School District is ready to launch a bond to constructively attack severe disrepair
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service
Among 400 likely November voters, more than half say they will support a school bond to repair decaying buildings of the Central School District, according to a tracking poll conducted by Anne Marie Levis, president of the consulting firm Funk/Levis & Associates in Eugene.
“In your district, people are understanding the needs,” she told CSD’s school board
Monday night.
In the survey by Funk/Levis, which included a mix of demographics with different age ranges and political party affiliations, 51% said they would vote “yes,” with 28% reporting they will vote “no.” That leaves more than 20% in a middle area representing a significant number of undecided voters, she said. That is “a good amount for us to try to inform,” Levis said.
“These numbers are very good,” she added. However, the school board delayed plans to proceed with a vote, to give members of the public the opportunity to attend a special meeting Monday night to make comments on the bond proposal.
The data collected this year show a striking difference from the survey conducted last year, when probable “yes” votes were 45%, with “no” votes at 42%, and 13% undecided.
In the most recent phone poll, infrastructure problems were explained in brief explanations using “plain language” – a strategy that seemed to yield more positive responses, she said.
In the past survey of the CSD community, a large percentage were unaware of the facilities needs of the schools, according to Emily Mentzer, the district’s communications coordinator. About 20% thought the facilities were suitable; 33% didn’t know a problem with them existed, she pointed out.
To address that, a facilities committee began meeting this past spring to help raise public awareness about decaying portions of the schools – decrepit flooring, flood-prone playgrounds and a leak in the roof at Central High School dubbed “the waterfall maker” during heavy rains. The committee, which is composed of about a dozen members, created flyers and videos in a public outreach campaign; It is holding and arranging tours of the buildings, to show the extent of the need.
“What good work your facilities committee has been doing,” Levis said. November is a ‘perfect time’ for the bond to be placed on the ballot, she said, noting that voter turnout is expected to
be high.
As it stands now, the bond – for about $100 million – would add 53 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value to homeowner taxes. CSD is expected to receive $6 million in grant money, so there’s the possibility that the bond sum could be whittled down a bit – an idea put forward during the board meeting.
But even those who support a bond say passage will be a challenge: the Independence City Council is expected to approve one of two levy proposals at the city’s next meeting. If both a school bond and a city levy appear on the same ballot, there’s fear that “it’s too big an ‘ask,’” according to one parent – risking rejection for both.
However, the school board is instituting a post-bond plan for an oversight committee that some already are finding persuasive – it will include community members, to ensure spending is carried out in a procedurally correct, priority-setting way.
This bond-oversight concept was met with praise by one community member, who identified himself as elderly and “on the fence.”
“So, if they’re doing that, I think they should really get the word out on it. I’ve never heard of such a thing, and it is a (expletive deleted) good idea,” he said.
Financial strain has occurred in the CSD, as well as other districts, as federal pandemic-associated stimulus funds have diminished. Recently, Gov. Tina Kotek called for changes in state appropriations for schools that would add an increase of about $515 million in the State School Fund for the 2025-2027 biennial budget.
However, the measures for the increase would have to pass the state legislature.
The bond comes at a time when some remember the school district’s tax uptick in 2023, which increased the per-$1,000-assessment tax by $1.30, a stunning surprise to voters. However, some serving on the school facilities committee predicted that the 53-cent hike won’t change.
Additionally, several community members said the district’s apology for the tax – issued publicly as a sorrowful “mistake” by the board’s chair at the time, Donn Wahl – succeeded in placating the public, along with an action to do away with most of that increase.
The school board plans to meet at 6:30 pm in Henry Hawk Hall at the district offices, 750 S 5th Street, Monday, August 12.
( ANNOUNCEMENT: The August 12 school board meeting to discuss final approval for the school bond for facilities upgrades has been canceled and has been rescheduled for Wednesday, Aug 14. Please consult the CSD 13J website for more information.)
NOTE: There is a 5% margin of error – “plus or minus” – that should be applied to the figures provided by Funk/Levis & Associates. ▪
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service
Among 400 likely November voters, more than half say they will support a school bond to repair decaying buildings of the Central School District, according to a tracking poll conducted by Anne Marie Levis, president of the consulting firm Funk/Levis & Associates in Eugene.
“In your district, people are understanding the needs,” she told CSD’s school board
Monday night.
In the survey by Funk/Levis, which included a mix of demographics with different age ranges and political party affiliations, 51% said they would vote “yes,” with 28% reporting they will vote “no.” That leaves more than 20% in a middle area representing a significant number of undecided voters, she said. That is “a good amount for us to try to inform,” Levis said.
“These numbers are very good,” she added. However, the school board delayed plans to proceed with a vote, to give members of the public the opportunity to attend a special meeting Monday night to make comments on the bond proposal.
The data collected this year show a striking difference from the survey conducted last year, when probable “yes” votes were 45%, with “no” votes at 42%, and 13% undecided.
In the most recent phone poll, infrastructure problems were explained in brief explanations using “plain language” – a strategy that seemed to yield more positive responses, she said.
In the past survey of the CSD community, a large percentage were unaware of the facilities needs of the schools, according to Emily Mentzer, the district’s communications coordinator. About 20% thought the facilities were suitable; 33% didn’t know a problem with them existed, she pointed out.
To address that, a facilities committee began meeting this past spring to help raise public awareness about decaying portions of the schools – decrepit flooring, flood-prone playgrounds and a leak in the roof at Central High School dubbed “the waterfall maker” during heavy rains. The committee, which is composed of about a dozen members, created flyers and videos in a public outreach campaign; It is holding and arranging tours of the buildings, to show the extent of the need.
“What good work your facilities committee has been doing,” Levis said. November is a ‘perfect time’ for the bond to be placed on the ballot, she said, noting that voter turnout is expected to
be high.
As it stands now, the bond – for about $100 million – would add 53 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value to homeowner taxes. CSD is expected to receive $6 million in grant money, so there’s the possibility that the bond sum could be whittled down a bit – an idea put forward during the board meeting.
But even those who support a bond say passage will be a challenge: the Independence City Council is expected to approve one of two levy proposals at the city’s next meeting. If both a school bond and a city levy appear on the same ballot, there’s fear that “it’s too big an ‘ask,’” according to one parent – risking rejection for both.
However, the school board is instituting a post-bond plan for an oversight committee that some already are finding persuasive – it will include community members, to ensure spending is carried out in a procedurally correct, priority-setting way.
This bond-oversight concept was met with praise by one community member, who identified himself as elderly and “on the fence.”
“So, if they’re doing that, I think they should really get the word out on it. I’ve never heard of such a thing, and it is a (expletive deleted) good idea,” he said.
Financial strain has occurred in the CSD, as well as other districts, as federal pandemic-associated stimulus funds have diminished. Recently, Gov. Tina Kotek called for changes in state appropriations for schools that would add an increase of about $515 million in the State School Fund for the 2025-2027 biennial budget.
However, the measures for the increase would have to pass the state legislature.
The bond comes at a time when some remember the school district’s tax uptick in 2023, which increased the per-$1,000-assessment tax by $1.30, a stunning surprise to voters. However, some serving on the school facilities committee predicted that the 53-cent hike won’t change.
Additionally, several community members said the district’s apology for the tax – issued publicly as a sorrowful “mistake” by the board’s chair at the time, Donn Wahl – succeeded in placating the public, along with an action to do away with most of that increase.
The school board plans to meet at 6:30 pm in Henry Hawk Hall at the district offices, 750 S 5th Street, Monday, August 12.
( ANNOUNCEMENT: The August 12 school board meeting to discuss final approval for the school bond for facilities upgrades has been canceled and has been rescheduled for Wednesday, Aug 14. Please consult the CSD 13J website for more information.)
NOTE: There is a 5% margin of error – “plus or minus” – that should be applied to the figures provided by Funk/Levis & Associates. ▪
County Clerk Kim Williams addresses election integrity concerns with rock-solid data and a new plan
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service
In late June, about 50 people crowded into the meeting of the Polk County Board of Commissioners to air concerns about the election process – allegations ranged from ballot-casting by out-of-state voters to dead people registered to vote.
This past week, Polk County Clerk Kim Williams showed up to inform the commissioners of her research into the assertions, ticking them off one by one. The voter who supposedly got a vote after being deceased? “We looked this up and that ballot wasn’t counted,” Williams said.
Residents from states including Utah and Texas who voted while in Polk County? Williams checked on those with county clerks and officials within the counties where such individuals were said to actually live – no votes were recorded from them in those places, she said.
Then, tackling what seemed to be the most troubling aspect to many of those worried about voting – the way the homeless are allowed to participate – Williams informed commissioners the belief that a population living in Wallace Marine Park is able to turn in ballots at a baseball field there simply isn’t true.
They may be able to register there, she said, but “the ballot goes to a separate mailing address, typically to a family member” or, in some cases, a rented mailbox or other business site.
“The biggest thing our office is dealing with is misinformation,” she said. Social media spreads, it “gets put out there” and the clerk’s office has to address it. Instead, simply call or visit her office in the Polk County Courthouse in Dallas, where “our door is always open,” she advised.
The issue arose at the June 26 meeting of the board, when elections activist, Douglas Frank, showed up with about four dozen people, many carrying flags or dressed in red, white and blue. Though he specifically identified Williams as being exempt from his criticism, he called “the problem” the fact that the system is centrally controlled by the state, a “far-away system.”
Frank has been traveling the country with this message, earning him the title of the “Johnny Appleseed” of election fraud allegations, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Frank told the Polk County Commissioners on the day he spoke that voter rolls have people
on them who aren’t even allowed to vote, such as those who have died. Pointing to his own analysis, he charged that such voter registrants are “littering the pavement with ballots that can be used nefariously.”
Williams, who said she saw no evidence of that ever occurring during her subsequent weeks of research, announced that, by November, the county intends to have new, larger and more secure ballot boxes for drop-offs.
In addition, she is also optimistic that there will be long-term live streaming daily of the elections process, so that the cameras that broadcast the procedures no longer stop at 5 pm.
Williams was commended by all three commissioners.▪
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service
In late June, about 50 people crowded into the meeting of the Polk County Board of Commissioners to air concerns about the election process – allegations ranged from ballot-casting by out-of-state voters to dead people registered to vote.
This past week, Polk County Clerk Kim Williams showed up to inform the commissioners of her research into the assertions, ticking them off one by one. The voter who supposedly got a vote after being deceased? “We looked this up and that ballot wasn’t counted,” Williams said.
Residents from states including Utah and Texas who voted while in Polk County? Williams checked on those with county clerks and officials within the counties where such individuals were said to actually live – no votes were recorded from them in those places, she said.
Then, tackling what seemed to be the most troubling aspect to many of those worried about voting – the way the homeless are allowed to participate – Williams informed commissioners the belief that a population living in Wallace Marine Park is able to turn in ballots at a baseball field there simply isn’t true.
They may be able to register there, she said, but “the ballot goes to a separate mailing address, typically to a family member” or, in some cases, a rented mailbox or other business site.
“The biggest thing our office is dealing with is misinformation,” she said. Social media spreads, it “gets put out there” and the clerk’s office has to address it. Instead, simply call or visit her office in the Polk County Courthouse in Dallas, where “our door is always open,” she advised.
The issue arose at the June 26 meeting of the board, when elections activist, Douglas Frank, showed up with about four dozen people, many carrying flags or dressed in red, white and blue. Though he specifically identified Williams as being exempt from his criticism, he called “the problem” the fact that the system is centrally controlled by the state, a “far-away system.”
Frank has been traveling the country with this message, earning him the title of the “Johnny Appleseed” of election fraud allegations, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Frank told the Polk County Commissioners on the day he spoke that voter rolls have people
on them who aren’t even allowed to vote, such as those who have died. Pointing to his own analysis, he charged that such voter registrants are “littering the pavement with ballots that can be used nefariously.”
Williams, who said she saw no evidence of that ever occurring during her subsequent weeks of research, announced that, by November, the county intends to have new, larger and more secure ballot boxes for drop-offs.
In addition, she is also optimistic that there will be long-term live streaming daily of the elections process, so that the cameras that broadcast the procedures no longer stop at 5 pm.
Williams was commended by all three commissioners.▪
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