Concept for a community center questioned by Polk County Board of Commissioners
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service
The concept of a recreation center to serve as a community hub for Independence and Monmouth was presented to the Polk County Board of Commissioners by top administrators from Independence and the YMCA Tuesday – but questions immediately arose over the lack of a guarantee that the Independence pool would be replaced and whether existing services would be duplicated.
“The pool is a big deal,” said Commission Chair Craig Pope, who stressed that the pool seemed to be listed only as an option. The other two commissioners – Jeremy Gordon and Lyle Mordhorst – expressed support while issuing similar notes of caution.
“I want to make sure this is strategic,” Gordon said, adding that duplication of services should be avoided.
Recent history has shown that The GATE, for example, is successfully providing services for students, as well as venue space for luncheons and meetings, according to observers of the presentation.
Mordhorst warned that, given the competition for non-profit dollars, funding will be a challenge. “There is only so much,” he pointed out.
The presentation was given by Shawn Irvine (foreground in photo), economic development director for the City of Independence, and Tim Sinatra, CEO of the Family YMCA of Marion and Polk Counties. Both called the pool a priority; Both explained that, thus far, the grant-funded meetings have involved 50 partners and dozens of organizations, from the Community Services Consortium at the Henry Hill Building in Independence to the Salem-based Willamette Health Council.
The “hub” could house facilities ranging from a gymnasium to a childcare center, with offerings for kids, teens and seniors. However, “at this point there are no plans at all,” Sinatra explained in a follow-up email to Trammart News. So far, it’s “just feedback from the community assessment strategy sessions.”
The presentation was given on the same day that “no” votes began significantly outpacing affirmative ones on two closely watched community-service measures: a bond by Central School District for school infrastructure improvements and a levy to finance Independence’s parks, museum and library. Both proposals were defeated by relatively wide margins.
Could that reaction mean a community center might suffer the same fate if voter-approved money is needed for the proposed hub’s operational costs? This question was asked on Wednesday of individuals ranging from those using services at the Polk County Courthouse to a customer of a coffee shop in downtown Monmouth by Trammart News.
Responses seemed to show, among some, declining faith in public officials to apply tax money wisely. Several homeowners said they are so financially squeezed that they cannot afford a property tax increase – though both school repairs and library access were considered tax-worthy by some respondents.
Those who voted no on the Central School Bond cited an unexpected tax hike a year ago, for which then-school board chair, Donn Wahl, later apologized – then successfully pushed for retracting it. But, though the admission of the mistake was mentioned, one resident called the action a breach of trust that wasn’t easily forgotten. Similarly, Independence’s no vote on the levy seemed to have occurred for the same reason.
For example, one resident alleged that the city used a “bait and switch” tactic on a recent project, Sunset Meadows Park, that made him suspicious of future efforts. “That park (playground) was supposed to be equipped for handicap access and look at it,” he said. (Trammart News will address changes to the original park plans in an editorial this coming week.)
Others felt that combining the library and museum was done to garner monetary support for the museum along with the library – several said they would support a library levy only. And parks were seen as able to be maintained without the levy, despite reports by the public works director that they would be padlocked, shut down or allowed to go “feral.”
In a statement released by Independence, the city acknowledged that now the town “faces important decisions about the future of these departments, which remain funded through
June 30, 2025.”
“City leadership will develop options for how to proceed. Our commitment now, as always, is to ensure we’ve thoroughly explored every option and make the decision as transparently as possible,” according to the news release.
At Central School District, Communications Coordinator Emily Mentzer, provided this statement: "We're disappointed that the bond didn't pass and will work together with the community to figure out the next steps," said Susan Graham, vice chair of the Central School Board. "Our students and our community need safer schools with appropriate spaces for learning and career and technical training. We have work to do to figure out how we can get that done. We owe that to our community."
(Disclosure: the author of this article is a member of the YMCA) ▪
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service
The concept of a recreation center to serve as a community hub for Independence and Monmouth was presented to the Polk County Board of Commissioners by top administrators from Independence and the YMCA Tuesday – but questions immediately arose over the lack of a guarantee that the Independence pool would be replaced and whether existing services would be duplicated.
“The pool is a big deal,” said Commission Chair Craig Pope, who stressed that the pool seemed to be listed only as an option. The other two commissioners – Jeremy Gordon and Lyle Mordhorst – expressed support while issuing similar notes of caution.
“I want to make sure this is strategic,” Gordon said, adding that duplication of services should be avoided.
Recent history has shown that The GATE, for example, is successfully providing services for students, as well as venue space for luncheons and meetings, according to observers of the presentation.
Mordhorst warned that, given the competition for non-profit dollars, funding will be a challenge. “There is only so much,” he pointed out.
The presentation was given by Shawn Irvine (foreground in photo), economic development director for the City of Independence, and Tim Sinatra, CEO of the Family YMCA of Marion and Polk Counties. Both called the pool a priority; Both explained that, thus far, the grant-funded meetings have involved 50 partners and dozens of organizations, from the Community Services Consortium at the Henry Hill Building in Independence to the Salem-based Willamette Health Council.
The “hub” could house facilities ranging from a gymnasium to a childcare center, with offerings for kids, teens and seniors. However, “at this point there are no plans at all,” Sinatra explained in a follow-up email to Trammart News. So far, it’s “just feedback from the community assessment strategy sessions.”
The presentation was given on the same day that “no” votes began significantly outpacing affirmative ones on two closely watched community-service measures: a bond by Central School District for school infrastructure improvements and a levy to finance Independence’s parks, museum and library. Both proposals were defeated by relatively wide margins.
Could that reaction mean a community center might suffer the same fate if voter-approved money is needed for the proposed hub’s operational costs? This question was asked on Wednesday of individuals ranging from those using services at the Polk County Courthouse to a customer of a coffee shop in downtown Monmouth by Trammart News.
Responses seemed to show, among some, declining faith in public officials to apply tax money wisely. Several homeowners said they are so financially squeezed that they cannot afford a property tax increase – though both school repairs and library access were considered tax-worthy by some respondents.
Those who voted no on the Central School Bond cited an unexpected tax hike a year ago, for which then-school board chair, Donn Wahl, later apologized – then successfully pushed for retracting it. But, though the admission of the mistake was mentioned, one resident called the action a breach of trust that wasn’t easily forgotten. Similarly, Independence’s no vote on the levy seemed to have occurred for the same reason.
For example, one resident alleged that the city used a “bait and switch” tactic on a recent project, Sunset Meadows Park, that made him suspicious of future efforts. “That park (playground) was supposed to be equipped for handicap access and look at it,” he said. (Trammart News will address changes to the original park plans in an editorial this coming week.)
Others felt that combining the library and museum was done to garner monetary support for the museum along with the library – several said they would support a library levy only. And parks were seen as able to be maintained without the levy, despite reports by the public works director that they would be padlocked, shut down or allowed to go “feral.”
In a statement released by Independence, the city acknowledged that now the town “faces important decisions about the future of these departments, which remain funded through
June 30, 2025.”
“City leadership will develop options for how to proceed. Our commitment now, as always, is to ensure we’ve thoroughly explored every option and make the decision as transparently as possible,” according to the news release.
At Central School District, Communications Coordinator Emily Mentzer, provided this statement: "We're disappointed that the bond didn't pass and will work together with the community to figure out the next steps," said Susan Graham, vice chair of the Central School Board. "Our students and our community need safer schools with appropriate spaces for learning and career and technical training. We have work to do to figure out how we can get that done. We owe that to our community."
(Disclosure: the author of this article is a member of the YMCA) ▪
A teacher chronicles the value of outdoor school and calls for enabling more schools to participate
By Nathan Muti
Guest Editorial
A small group of my fifth graders sit, heads bent, writing quickly as the guest teacher continues to talk about the digestive system of horses. A hand shoots into the air and a question is answered. The strong smells and swarm of flies don’t seem to be distracting anyone. We are witnessing some of the finest fifth grade learning, but we are not in the classroom. We are in the middle of a horse barn.
This is outdoor school.
A little farther down the gravel road surrounded on all sides by lush Oregon forest is another group of students learning about macroinvertebrates. No writing here. Instead, rubber boots and nets are in hand as students carefully wade through the stream searching for underwater organisms. I watch from the bridge above as a crowd gathers around a five-gallon bucket. Everyone waits as one student turns out the contents of their net and the crowd cranes to identify the moving bits. Off to the right, one student reaches out to another providing a stable arm as they both work their way back to the group. Not only are they learning to care for our environment, they are practicing to care for each other.
In another part of camp, another group of students is absorbed in a physics lesson. Potential and kinetic energy are on display in full force as bow strings are drawn and arrows whiz through the air. The smell of loam and fresh forest is made even more pungent by the slight precipitation falling around us. No rain reaches our heads as we are protected by a newly constructed shelter. Just one sign that this camp is doing well, thanks to the revenue from outdoor school groups like ours. Faces of intense concentration change quickly as an arrow sinks into the target down range. Another successful transfer of energy, another challenge completed.
Later on and a little farther down that gravel road, hoots and hollers can be heard coming from high up and off to the left. A zipping sound announces that a student has decided to jump from the wooden platform 60 feet in amongst the trees. Cheers and clapping erupt from the others waiting below as one of their friends comes flying across the meadow suspended from a strong wire cable. Many are still sitting in anticipation of their turn to conquer fears of traveling down the camp’s impressive zipline.
As I travel from one class to another, I keep smiling because more than just learning is taking place. Our students are growing. You see, this isn’t just a regular field trip. We are going to be here for the next three days. That means overnight. In cabins. Away from home. On this trip, all of our students will overcome a variety of challenges and have many new experiences.
Sometime later into the evening all 77 fifth graders, 43 adults, and a dozen or so camp staff are seated at tables, passing food around, eating, and sharing stories from a long day spent in the woods. The food is homemade and plentiful and the line to the salad bar is steady. I laugh loudly when I realize how many of the students sitting at my table have never had cornbread before. It’s made even funnier because our reading unit back at school is nearly all about corn. Just another delicious new experience here at outdoor school. The smiles, the stories, the laughs say it all: this is an amazing experience.
As proud as I am of our students and their growth at camp, I’m even more proud of us Oregonians because we made this outdoor school possible. Eight years ago, we voted Ballot Measure 99 into law which provided funding so that every Oregon student would have an opportunity for an outdoor learning experience. It’s not often when we can look back on the results of our voting and agree across the board that we did something right. Outdoor school is one of those things: We got this right.
I zip myself into my sleeping bag at night, knowing that for many of my students they still have one last challenge today: spending the night away from home. And for many this is the time when they grow the most. They are at that age when independence and self-reliance is an idea that will begin to grow, and the lessons they learn now will shape who they become in the future. After an exhausting day of exquisite experiences I rest easy knowing our students got what they needed to grow: engaging learning, good food, challenges, laughter, friendship, and a safe place to sleep. And as a teacher I can’t think of a sweeter day; cornbread included.
However, outdoor school isn’t so sweet for everyone. My school is the only one in our district that has the option of going overnight. Even with a powerhouse funding source independent from our district’s budget, dedicated and passionate teachers, and a large number of parents willing to chaperone, my teaching partners and I were constantly facing the threat of having to cancel outdoor school because of the restrictive supervision standards set by our district’s superintendent. These restrictions have only increased steadily over the last three years without explanation. With all the support and momentum offered by the community, the district leadership is quick to suggest canceling overnight outdoor school as a solution to this problem.
I am energized by this opportunity for our community, and choose to look towards the future and how we can expand the outdoor school experience. I dream of incorporating our high school students as counselors, creating an equitable cycle of outdoor school experiences for our community between elementary, high school, and chaperones. Schools will no longer be limited because of a lack of available parent chaperones, or be held to unsupported supervision standards. Outdoor school is just too good of a thing to keep to ourselves. ▪
By Nathan Muti
Guest Editorial
A small group of my fifth graders sit, heads bent, writing quickly as the guest teacher continues to talk about the digestive system of horses. A hand shoots into the air and a question is answered. The strong smells and swarm of flies don’t seem to be distracting anyone. We are witnessing some of the finest fifth grade learning, but we are not in the classroom. We are in the middle of a horse barn.
This is outdoor school.
A little farther down the gravel road surrounded on all sides by lush Oregon forest is another group of students learning about macroinvertebrates. No writing here. Instead, rubber boots and nets are in hand as students carefully wade through the stream searching for underwater organisms. I watch from the bridge above as a crowd gathers around a five-gallon bucket. Everyone waits as one student turns out the contents of their net and the crowd cranes to identify the moving bits. Off to the right, one student reaches out to another providing a stable arm as they both work their way back to the group. Not only are they learning to care for our environment, they are practicing to care for each other.
In another part of camp, another group of students is absorbed in a physics lesson. Potential and kinetic energy are on display in full force as bow strings are drawn and arrows whiz through the air. The smell of loam and fresh forest is made even more pungent by the slight precipitation falling around us. No rain reaches our heads as we are protected by a newly constructed shelter. Just one sign that this camp is doing well, thanks to the revenue from outdoor school groups like ours. Faces of intense concentration change quickly as an arrow sinks into the target down range. Another successful transfer of energy, another challenge completed.
Later on and a little farther down that gravel road, hoots and hollers can be heard coming from high up and off to the left. A zipping sound announces that a student has decided to jump from the wooden platform 60 feet in amongst the trees. Cheers and clapping erupt from the others waiting below as one of their friends comes flying across the meadow suspended from a strong wire cable. Many are still sitting in anticipation of their turn to conquer fears of traveling down the camp’s impressive zipline.
As I travel from one class to another, I keep smiling because more than just learning is taking place. Our students are growing. You see, this isn’t just a regular field trip. We are going to be here for the next three days. That means overnight. In cabins. Away from home. On this trip, all of our students will overcome a variety of challenges and have many new experiences.
Sometime later into the evening all 77 fifth graders, 43 adults, and a dozen or so camp staff are seated at tables, passing food around, eating, and sharing stories from a long day spent in the woods. The food is homemade and plentiful and the line to the salad bar is steady. I laugh loudly when I realize how many of the students sitting at my table have never had cornbread before. It’s made even funnier because our reading unit back at school is nearly all about corn. Just another delicious new experience here at outdoor school. The smiles, the stories, the laughs say it all: this is an amazing experience.
As proud as I am of our students and their growth at camp, I’m even more proud of us Oregonians because we made this outdoor school possible. Eight years ago, we voted Ballot Measure 99 into law which provided funding so that every Oregon student would have an opportunity for an outdoor learning experience. It’s not often when we can look back on the results of our voting and agree across the board that we did something right. Outdoor school is one of those things: We got this right.
I zip myself into my sleeping bag at night, knowing that for many of my students they still have one last challenge today: spending the night away from home. And for many this is the time when they grow the most. They are at that age when independence and self-reliance is an idea that will begin to grow, and the lessons they learn now will shape who they become in the future. After an exhausting day of exquisite experiences I rest easy knowing our students got what they needed to grow: engaging learning, good food, challenges, laughter, friendship, and a safe place to sleep. And as a teacher I can’t think of a sweeter day; cornbread included.
However, outdoor school isn’t so sweet for everyone. My school is the only one in our district that has the option of going overnight. Even with a powerhouse funding source independent from our district’s budget, dedicated and passionate teachers, and a large number of parents willing to chaperone, my teaching partners and I were constantly facing the threat of having to cancel outdoor school because of the restrictive supervision standards set by our district’s superintendent. These restrictions have only increased steadily over the last three years without explanation. With all the support and momentum offered by the community, the district leadership is quick to suggest canceling overnight outdoor school as a solution to this problem.
I am energized by this opportunity for our community, and choose to look towards the future and how we can expand the outdoor school experience. I dream of incorporating our high school students as counselors, creating an equitable cycle of outdoor school experiences for our community between elementary, high school, and chaperones. Schools will no longer be limited because of a lack of available parent chaperones, or be held to unsupported supervision standards. Outdoor school is just too good of a thing to keep to ourselves. ▪
Operation Green Light and stories to honor Veterans Day
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service
The green glow of some government buildings for Operation Green Light this week – along with windows illuminated by a single green bulb – would certainly have met with favor by the first president of the United States, who was perhaps history’s finest soldier.
George Washington loved green – a sign of growth throughout nature. In 1783, he told the Continental Congress that he was resigning his commission, to “take my leave” and return to Mt. Vernon. There, he had the dining room of his home painted in bright verdigris, a green hue that remains on the walls to this day.
Although Operation Green Light, a nationwide action that ends on Veterans Day, relies on the same color, it doesn’t have anything to do with Washington’s preference for it. But, in keeping with America’s first commander-in-chief, an army general, it’s all about military service.
Recently, recognition for military service was on display locally in other ways, too. A West Salem Navy veteran finally received the purple heart he earned in Vietnam; An Independence veteran donated coins made from a historic decommissioned ship; Members of American Legion Post 33 led an effort to bring The Wall, That Heals, a three-quarter-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, to Independence – and now await the soon-to-be-announced outcome.
A Purple Heart at long last. When Paul Duke’s sons learned several years ago that he had been wounded in Vietnam, they asked their dad to try to get the Purple Heart he never received. “I looked at the bureaucracy and thought ‘I am not up to this at all,’” he recalled. But, in 2018, he contacted Eric Enderle, Polk County’s veteran services officer, to see about it.
The case did prove complicated. Duke was a hospital corpsman who was wounded during his service, along with three others. He took care of two of them – but he knew if he was evacuated as a casualty, he might never rejoin the Marine Corps Unit to which he attached. “And I really liked that unit,” he explained.
After being discharged in 1966, Duke put the document identifying his war-related injury aside. For the past few years, Enderle has assisted him in navigating all the paperwork required, along with making the needed personnel contacts, and he finally was given the award. It was celebrated last week at the Polk County Board of Commissioners meeting.
USS Independence coinage finds home here. When Vietnam Veteran Pat Henderson, who lives just outside Independence city limits, learned that the USS Independence, an aircraft carrier, was being dismantled in Texas after being towed from Washington State, he took advantage of an opportunity to buy pieces of it to donate to special places in town.
Two coins made from the brass on the ship have already been bestowed. One went to the US Post Office, the other was given to the Independence Heritage Museum. And another one is destined for the Independence Library, Henderson said.
The USS Independence, a Navy aircraft carrier commissioned in 1959, was taken out of active service in 1998, according to a historical description of it. It reportedly played a major role in the Kennedy blockade during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. And, of course, it is a namesake match of Henderson’s hometown.
Working for remembrance while waiting. For decades, Independence residents Steve and Martha Russell have been placing flags at both Hilltop and Buena Vista cemeteries in remembrance of the veterans there. They are, by now, so familiar with the graves that they can easily spot those that go back to the Civil War. Both a Civil War surgeon and a Daughter of the American Revolution are buried at Buena Vista. Russell, an active member of AL Post 33, is hopeful that this next year the pair will be able to visit a local, temporary site for The Wall That Heals.
So does Billy Whisenant, the commander of Post AL 33, who has been a tireless advocate to bring it to town. Whisenant is known, in part, for sharing his writings about Vietnam – and poetry. “We fought, we died, we paid more than anyone should have to pay so you can stand in a free country and speak words that are popular to say” is an example.
His way with words doesn’t end there. As Veterans Day approaches, he advises using phrases that include expressions of appreciation – not greetings wishing someone a good Veterans Day. “Thank you on this Veterans Day” or an acknowledgment that veterans are still preserving our freedoms on Veterans Day are two of his recommendations.
Veteran Services Officer Enderle offered a suggestion, too. Operation Green Light has given out emerald-colored light bulbs, but they don’t need to have a onetime use. “This is the week leading up to Veterans Day but feel free to shine that light the rest of the year,” he said.
What to say to a veteran on Veterans Day, Nov. 11? A helpful advisory is here: https://www.responsefully.com/home/what-to-say-instead-of-happy-veterans-day ▪
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service
The green glow of some government buildings for Operation Green Light this week – along with windows illuminated by a single green bulb – would certainly have met with favor by the first president of the United States, who was perhaps history’s finest soldier.
George Washington loved green – a sign of growth throughout nature. In 1783, he told the Continental Congress that he was resigning his commission, to “take my leave” and return to Mt. Vernon. There, he had the dining room of his home painted in bright verdigris, a green hue that remains on the walls to this day.
Although Operation Green Light, a nationwide action that ends on Veterans Day, relies on the same color, it doesn’t have anything to do with Washington’s preference for it. But, in keeping with America’s first commander-in-chief, an army general, it’s all about military service.
Recently, recognition for military service was on display locally in other ways, too. A West Salem Navy veteran finally received the purple heart he earned in Vietnam; An Independence veteran donated coins made from a historic decommissioned ship; Members of American Legion Post 33 led an effort to bring The Wall, That Heals, a three-quarter-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, to Independence – and now await the soon-to-be-announced outcome.
A Purple Heart at long last. When Paul Duke’s sons learned several years ago that he had been wounded in Vietnam, they asked their dad to try to get the Purple Heart he never received. “I looked at the bureaucracy and thought ‘I am not up to this at all,’” he recalled. But, in 2018, he contacted Eric Enderle, Polk County’s veteran services officer, to see about it.
The case did prove complicated. Duke was a hospital corpsman who was wounded during his service, along with three others. He took care of two of them – but he knew if he was evacuated as a casualty, he might never rejoin the Marine Corps Unit to which he attached. “And I really liked that unit,” he explained.
After being discharged in 1966, Duke put the document identifying his war-related injury aside. For the past few years, Enderle has assisted him in navigating all the paperwork required, along with making the needed personnel contacts, and he finally was given the award. It was celebrated last week at the Polk County Board of Commissioners meeting.
USS Independence coinage finds home here. When Vietnam Veteran Pat Henderson, who lives just outside Independence city limits, learned that the USS Independence, an aircraft carrier, was being dismantled in Texas after being towed from Washington State, he took advantage of an opportunity to buy pieces of it to donate to special places in town.
Two coins made from the brass on the ship have already been bestowed. One went to the US Post Office, the other was given to the Independence Heritage Museum. And another one is destined for the Independence Library, Henderson said.
The USS Independence, a Navy aircraft carrier commissioned in 1959, was taken out of active service in 1998, according to a historical description of it. It reportedly played a major role in the Kennedy blockade during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. And, of course, it is a namesake match of Henderson’s hometown.
Working for remembrance while waiting. For decades, Independence residents Steve and Martha Russell have been placing flags at both Hilltop and Buena Vista cemeteries in remembrance of the veterans there. They are, by now, so familiar with the graves that they can easily spot those that go back to the Civil War. Both a Civil War surgeon and a Daughter of the American Revolution are buried at Buena Vista. Russell, an active member of AL Post 33, is hopeful that this next year the pair will be able to visit a local, temporary site for The Wall That Heals.
So does Billy Whisenant, the commander of Post AL 33, who has been a tireless advocate to bring it to town. Whisenant is known, in part, for sharing his writings about Vietnam – and poetry. “We fought, we died, we paid more than anyone should have to pay so you can stand in a free country and speak words that are popular to say” is an example.
His way with words doesn’t end there. As Veterans Day approaches, he advises using phrases that include expressions of appreciation – not greetings wishing someone a good Veterans Day. “Thank you on this Veterans Day” or an acknowledgment that veterans are still preserving our freedoms on Veterans Day are two of his recommendations.
Veteran Services Officer Enderle offered a suggestion, too. Operation Green Light has given out emerald-colored light bulbs, but they don’t need to have a onetime use. “This is the week leading up to Veterans Day but feel free to shine that light the rest of the year,” he said.
What to say to a veteran on Veterans Day, Nov. 11? A helpful advisory is here: https://www.responsefully.com/home/what-to-say-instead-of-happy-veterans-day ▪
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