City council approves a nearly $54 million budget with 4-2 vote and negative resident reactions
By Anne Scheck
Independence’s budget was expanded to nearly $54 million for the coming fiscal year, up by $17 million from last year’s $37 million budget. But two votes against it were cast – by Councilors Dawn Roden and Sarah Jobe – and both expressed strong opposition to the budget’s adoption Tuesday night.
They were joined by several residents who say they’re concerned the city is spending beyond its means, citing a public safety fee of $20 that will be added to utility bills beginning in January to keep the police force funded. Though the fee originally was proposed for $27, the reduction seemed to provide little reassurance to some.
“These council members have no interest in doing what is right for the residents of Independence,” asserted Norma Soffa, a nurse practitioner who lives in the city. “I think we need to have the state come in and audit the city’s books.”
Soffa watched the council session while the budget resolution passed; Her view was echoed by others who had done the same. “I am really worried,” said one homeowner. “You’ve got these council people thinking it is okay to take out these big loans, and the bigger the better.” She appeared to be referencing plans for the new water treatment plant, at an estimated cost of $50 million, a project that’s now embroiling the town in a legal battle to acquire the land for it.
Others said they were disappointed that a majority of councilors didn’t seem to see the library as an essential service – and several said they were glad a local petition had shown wide support for it.
The petition, begun by Chantal Pettit, has collected more than 350 signatures. In a move after her visit to the last city council meeting, the budget was changed, pushing back plans for a November ballot vote on a levy proposed as a new tax source for the library, museum and
parks, all of which were threatened with closure. The levy now is expected to be presented in 2025 instead.
In testimony at the start of the council meeting, Mike Rhodes, a licensed engineer, said he considers the city’s budget “so messed up I don’t know where to begin.”
“It appears to me this city government has filet mignon budget appetites on a hamburger means,” he said. Rhodes went on to call the public safety fee “a very popular government shenanigan to deny public involvement.” The fee is recommended to be reduced over time, eventually landing at $10 per utility billing.
An analysis of why this budget seems to have prompted such a response may be due to the economic climate being experienced by many Oregonians. Nearly 45% report they have a hard time just paying their monthly bills, according to a survey recently released by the Oregon State Treasurer’s office.
Interviews with some of those who viewed either the council or budget meetings suggest that these two dissenting council members – Roden and Jobe – are seen as being more in-touch with the stressors on local families. They are both the newest to the council and the youngest members on it.
So, it seems timely to take a deeper look into Tuesday night’s 4-2 vote on the Independence City budget. Next week, Trammart News will dive into the possible indications of what may
be a serious permanent divide on the council – a night when City Councilor Marilyn Morton seemed to call for taxpayers to contact their legislators to push for future allocations of more money and City Manager Kenna West explained in a memo that the city isn’t going to back off on a brewing legal fight to seize the property for future water treatment needs by eminent domain.
This will be addressed in next week’s article on the budget vote, including a comparison with Monmouth, which reduced their city budget from last year’s amount, cutting back on staff hours in some cases while preserving adequate spending on the library and parks. ▪
By Anne Scheck
Independence’s budget was expanded to nearly $54 million for the coming fiscal year, up by $17 million from last year’s $37 million budget. But two votes against it were cast – by Councilors Dawn Roden and Sarah Jobe – and both expressed strong opposition to the budget’s adoption Tuesday night.
They were joined by several residents who say they’re concerned the city is spending beyond its means, citing a public safety fee of $20 that will be added to utility bills beginning in January to keep the police force funded. Though the fee originally was proposed for $27, the reduction seemed to provide little reassurance to some.
“These council members have no interest in doing what is right for the residents of Independence,” asserted Norma Soffa, a nurse practitioner who lives in the city. “I think we need to have the state come in and audit the city’s books.”
Soffa watched the council session while the budget resolution passed; Her view was echoed by others who had done the same. “I am really worried,” said one homeowner. “You’ve got these council people thinking it is okay to take out these big loans, and the bigger the better.” She appeared to be referencing plans for the new water treatment plant, at an estimated cost of $50 million, a project that’s now embroiling the town in a legal battle to acquire the land for it.
Others said they were disappointed that a majority of councilors didn’t seem to see the library as an essential service – and several said they were glad a local petition had shown wide support for it.
The petition, begun by Chantal Pettit, has collected more than 350 signatures. In a move after her visit to the last city council meeting, the budget was changed, pushing back plans for a November ballot vote on a levy proposed as a new tax source for the library, museum and
parks, all of which were threatened with closure. The levy now is expected to be presented in 2025 instead.
In testimony at the start of the council meeting, Mike Rhodes, a licensed engineer, said he considers the city’s budget “so messed up I don’t know where to begin.”
“It appears to me this city government has filet mignon budget appetites on a hamburger means,” he said. Rhodes went on to call the public safety fee “a very popular government shenanigan to deny public involvement.” The fee is recommended to be reduced over time, eventually landing at $10 per utility billing.
An analysis of why this budget seems to have prompted such a response may be due to the economic climate being experienced by many Oregonians. Nearly 45% report they have a hard time just paying their monthly bills, according to a survey recently released by the Oregon State Treasurer’s office.
Interviews with some of those who viewed either the council or budget meetings suggest that these two dissenting council members – Roden and Jobe – are seen as being more in-touch with the stressors on local families. They are both the newest to the council and the youngest members on it.
So, it seems timely to take a deeper look into Tuesday night’s 4-2 vote on the Independence City budget. Next week, Trammart News will dive into the possible indications of what may
be a serious permanent divide on the council – a night when City Councilor Marilyn Morton seemed to call for taxpayers to contact their legislators to push for future allocations of more money and City Manager Kenna West explained in a memo that the city isn’t going to back off on a brewing legal fight to seize the property for future water treatment needs by eminent domain.
This will be addressed in next week’s article on the budget vote, including a comparison with Monmouth, which reduced their city budget from last year’s amount, cutting back on staff hours in some cases while preserving adequate spending on the library and parks. ▪
Ash Creek Elementary School is pioneering the path back to student participation in outdoor school
By Anne Scheck
What did some students from Ash Creek Elementary have to say last week about their experience at outdoor school at the school board meeting?
That dance night was a hit in their cabins, as they shone flashlights to create a spotlight on whoever was performing. That they played “Moose Hunt,” which ended in hilarity, when a couple of camp leaders got a pie in the face. That they gave each other special and goofy names – and the teachers, too, like “Kelp” and “Alpine.” That they gathered around campfires and bonded in a way that they never had before.
But, for those involved, there is a lingering worry along with those great memories. Ash Creek is the only school in the district with outdoor school – and there is fear it may never happen again.
“Money is literally no object,” explained Shawn Beam, the lead organizer for outdoor school at Ash Creek, who was dubbed “Alpine,” and wore a tee shirt printed with that moniker.
In his address to the school board Beam explained that Ash Creek began participating in outdoor school in 2022, traveling to a camp outside Silverton, Canyonview.
The funding is no problem – in 2016, Oregon voters approved public funding for outdoor school using dedicated money from the Oregon Lottery.
However, Central School District requires a CSD staff member in every cabin. The restriction is proving to be a hurdle for next year, Beam said.
Many school districts use high schoolers as cabin counselors at outdoor school, he pointed out. “Two years ago, the overnight supervision requirements we had were two adults in each cabin overnight,” observed Nathan Muti, another teacher who participated.
In fact, Canyonview Camp requires at least one high school or adult chaperone in each cabin, he said.
Then why were such narrow supervision restrictions placed by the district on the school at the end of last year? He hasn’t got a clue. “As far as we know there are no policies,” said Muti, aka “Kelp.”
“With the stringent overnight supervision standards, this next year will be particularly difficult to be able to get people because we are only allowed to pull Central School District employees from Ash Creek Elementary,” Muti said.
When asked about this barrier, Emily Mentzer, communications coordinator for the district, confirmed that the district does intend to continue outdoor school opportunities for students.
However, making substitutions for staff isn’t the practice for overnight events, she said. “There are multiple policies that come into play for these decisions,” said Mentzer, adding that the district is responsible for the safety and security on these trips.
“That provides us with a very limited pool of personnel,” Muti countered. “In addition, it puts a large strain on the school having that many employees absent from the building,” Muti noted.
A final determination is pending. The school board has requested more information about outdoor school at an upcoming work session, according to Mentzer. ▪
By Anne Scheck
What did some students from Ash Creek Elementary have to say last week about their experience at outdoor school at the school board meeting?
That dance night was a hit in their cabins, as they shone flashlights to create a spotlight on whoever was performing. That they played “Moose Hunt,” which ended in hilarity, when a couple of camp leaders got a pie in the face. That they gave each other special and goofy names – and the teachers, too, like “Kelp” and “Alpine.” That they gathered around campfires and bonded in a way that they never had before.
But, for those involved, there is a lingering worry along with those great memories. Ash Creek is the only school in the district with outdoor school – and there is fear it may never happen again.
“Money is literally no object,” explained Shawn Beam, the lead organizer for outdoor school at Ash Creek, who was dubbed “Alpine,” and wore a tee shirt printed with that moniker.
In his address to the school board Beam explained that Ash Creek began participating in outdoor school in 2022, traveling to a camp outside Silverton, Canyonview.
The funding is no problem – in 2016, Oregon voters approved public funding for outdoor school using dedicated money from the Oregon Lottery.
However, Central School District requires a CSD staff member in every cabin. The restriction is proving to be a hurdle for next year, Beam said.
Many school districts use high schoolers as cabin counselors at outdoor school, he pointed out. “Two years ago, the overnight supervision requirements we had were two adults in each cabin overnight,” observed Nathan Muti, another teacher who participated.
In fact, Canyonview Camp requires at least one high school or adult chaperone in each cabin, he said.
Then why were such narrow supervision restrictions placed by the district on the school at the end of last year? He hasn’t got a clue. “As far as we know there are no policies,” said Muti, aka “Kelp.”
“With the stringent overnight supervision standards, this next year will be particularly difficult to be able to get people because we are only allowed to pull Central School District employees from Ash Creek Elementary,” Muti said.
When asked about this barrier, Emily Mentzer, communications coordinator for the district, confirmed that the district does intend to continue outdoor school opportunities for students.
However, making substitutions for staff isn’t the practice for overnight events, she said. “There are multiple policies that come into play for these decisions,” said Mentzer, adding that the district is responsible for the safety and security on these trips.
“That provides us with a very limited pool of personnel,” Muti countered. “In addition, it puts a large strain on the school having that many employees absent from the building,” Muti noted.
A final determination is pending. The school board has requested more information about outdoor school at an upcoming work session, according to Mentzer. ▪
An editorial by Trammart News on why an inquiry was filed with the Oregon Secretary of StateBy Anne Scheck
Because transparency is an aim I’ve advocated as a journalist for the bulk of my adult life, I think it is only appropriate I disclose that I have filed an inquiry with the Oregon Secretary of State – a reporting process open to any Oregonian – to ask if a wasteful expenditure of tax dollars is occurring as the city violates its own media policy, day after day, week after week.
I let the city council know I had taken this action this past week – I announced at the city council meeting that I’d used this reporting option.
City Manager Kenna West has a policy that seems to guarantee the city’s tax-supported communications director will answer press inquiries, but Director Emmanuel Goicochea has specifically excluded me from that provision. It has forced me to make what I regard as significantly more expensive public records requests to the City Recorder.
Independence is suffering financial duress, with threatened closure of the library, parks and museum in the future unless a levy eventually is passed. So, I don’t want to add to the burden, even in the slightest way.
Trammart News, which publishes The Independent monthly and posts three news articles weekly on IndyNewsOnline.com, has been a registered news outlet since 2016.
In a departure from the trio of her predecessors I’ve known, City Manager West has tried to squash the local press like a bug – at least in my view, as well as that of others, who have learned of her outrage over my news coverage.
When she began her tenure, she showed me a notebook of flattering items about her, when she served as the city manager of Willamina. Apparently, the same positivity was expected of me.
When financial shortfalls and other issues were reported, West made two trips to the county newspaper office to try to oust me from the pages of the Polk County Itemizer- Observer, which printed an "Indy Page" for Trammart News during the pandemic.
The then-publisher declined her demand. The conversation there, in which I was present, was off-the-record and will remain so – but West and two staffers, including Goicochea, were told to exit by the publisher.
West later wrote an apology to me, including a reference to her raised voice, and assured me that the communications director (“communications coordinator” at the time of this event) would be answering my media requests in the future. Tuesday night, I put that email in the public record at the council meeting.
Yet repeated attempts at fact-checking information have gone without a response.
Instead, I’ve had to resort to public-records requests, which have been fulfilled by the City Recorder at no charge. I am grateful to her.
I predicted more than a year ago – when I followed West as she seemed to be trying to avoid me by fleeing into the lobby restroom – that I would have to put the city responses to media inquiries into news stories or, as has subsequently happened, the city’s non-responses. I think this looks far more unflattering regarding West and Goicochea than anything I write. And I have told her so.
It doesn’t seem to matter to the city manager. She continues to disparage. That is her right to do. Because as much as I want to uphold transparency, I also fervently believe in the First Amendment – and the city manager has a right to say what she wants, whenever she likes.
But it won’t change the outcome of having me there at public meetings. Because I cover a local government in which I have seen Mayor John McArdle repeatedly gloss over mounting city debt, which he saw accumulate during his decades as mayor, and I have witnessed long-time City Council President Marilyn Morton reiterate the need to raise more taxes, asking constituents to rally their legislators to do so.
I think somebody should be there to track what transpires next, don’t you? And that’s the role of the press, which may be despised by elected and appointed officials but is tasked with reporting on their activities.
Trammart News will also report on the outcome of the filing with the Secretary of State, after a decision is made.
Until then, you can find me in public meetings, on the streets of Independence delivering The Independent, or in a coffee shop tapping on laptop keys – and I pledge always to try to keep the taxpayer uppermost in mind wherever I am. Residents have a right to know how their cities are operating. ▪
Because transparency is an aim I’ve advocated as a journalist for the bulk of my adult life, I think it is only appropriate I disclose that I have filed an inquiry with the Oregon Secretary of State – a reporting process open to any Oregonian – to ask if a wasteful expenditure of tax dollars is occurring as the city violates its own media policy, day after day, week after week.
I let the city council know I had taken this action this past week – I announced at the city council meeting that I’d used this reporting option.
City Manager Kenna West has a policy that seems to guarantee the city’s tax-supported communications director will answer press inquiries, but Director Emmanuel Goicochea has specifically excluded me from that provision. It has forced me to make what I regard as significantly more expensive public records requests to the City Recorder.
Independence is suffering financial duress, with threatened closure of the library, parks and museum in the future unless a levy eventually is passed. So, I don’t want to add to the burden, even in the slightest way.
Trammart News, which publishes The Independent monthly and posts three news articles weekly on IndyNewsOnline.com, has been a registered news outlet since 2016.
In a departure from the trio of her predecessors I’ve known, City Manager West has tried to squash the local press like a bug – at least in my view, as well as that of others, who have learned of her outrage over my news coverage.
When she began her tenure, she showed me a notebook of flattering items about her, when she served as the city manager of Willamina. Apparently, the same positivity was expected of me.
When financial shortfalls and other issues were reported, West made two trips to the county newspaper office to try to oust me from the pages of the Polk County Itemizer- Observer, which printed an "Indy Page" for Trammart News during the pandemic.
The then-publisher declined her demand. The conversation there, in which I was present, was off-the-record and will remain so – but West and two staffers, including Goicochea, were told to exit by the publisher.
West later wrote an apology to me, including a reference to her raised voice, and assured me that the communications director (“communications coordinator” at the time of this event) would be answering my media requests in the future. Tuesday night, I put that email in the public record at the council meeting.
Yet repeated attempts at fact-checking information have gone without a response.
Instead, I’ve had to resort to public-records requests, which have been fulfilled by the City Recorder at no charge. I am grateful to her.
I predicted more than a year ago – when I followed West as she seemed to be trying to avoid me by fleeing into the lobby restroom – that I would have to put the city responses to media inquiries into news stories or, as has subsequently happened, the city’s non-responses. I think this looks far more unflattering regarding West and Goicochea than anything I write. And I have told her so.
It doesn’t seem to matter to the city manager. She continues to disparage. That is her right to do. Because as much as I want to uphold transparency, I also fervently believe in the First Amendment – and the city manager has a right to say what she wants, whenever she likes.
But it won’t change the outcome of having me there at public meetings. Because I cover a local government in which I have seen Mayor John McArdle repeatedly gloss over mounting city debt, which he saw accumulate during his decades as mayor, and I have witnessed long-time City Council President Marilyn Morton reiterate the need to raise more taxes, asking constituents to rally their legislators to do so.
I think somebody should be there to track what transpires next, don’t you? And that’s the role of the press, which may be despised by elected and appointed officials but is tasked with reporting on their activities.
Trammart News will also report on the outcome of the filing with the Secretary of State, after a decision is made.
Until then, you can find me in public meetings, on the streets of Independence delivering The Independent, or in a coffee shop tapping on laptop keys – and I pledge always to try to keep the taxpayer uppermost in mind wherever I am. Residents have a right to know how their cities are operating. ▪
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