The first onsite certified city planner in Independence’s history will be leaving his post at the civic center shortly. Zach Pelz, who has worked under a contractual agreement the City of Independence forged with AKS Engineering in Tualatin, confirmed he is “winding down” office hours between now and December while the city looks for a replacement. Meanwhile, he will be working alongside a planner from the Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments to provide planning services. “I’ll certainly miss it,” said Mr. Pelz, who was widely regarded for his urban planning expertise and his amiable and authoritative presence at meetings of the Independence Planning Commission.

Independence City Councilor Marilyn Morton’s bid to give more city funding to the Monmouth-Independence (M-I) Chamber of Commerce was withdrawn by her at the last meeting, but she reported the request would be re-introduced in early 2019. In a strongly worded memo, city Manager David Clyne had recommended against allocating the money.  
Councilor Morton, who proposed $2,500 dollars be awarded to the M-I Chamber, called it an organization “worthy of this city’s support beyond a membership fee.”   Several years ago, Ms. Morton managed the M-I Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Clyne countered that the city already has staff fulfilling similar functions. “The City is partnered with Monmouth, Dallas and Polk County to hire a county-wide tourism professional in partnership with Travel Salem,” he wrote. Independence also has a downtown manager and an event coordinator, he added. “In truth I don’t see the benefit,” he concluded. Councilor Morton’s postponement of the issue was seen as a way to delay the vote until new city manager is in place.

The long-planned reconstruction of the F Street Bridge is moving forward under a new agreement with the Oregon Department of Transportation – and it requires the city to chip in $230,000, according to a report submitted on the project at the city council meeting in late September. 
 
Upgrades to the bridge won’t be implemented right away; The construction, which was proposed in 2015, isn’t expected to be completed until 2021.
 
In another development, the city’s share of the current MINET debt payment will be about $173,000, according to figures released by the MINET board. The sum was confirmed by Gloria Butsch, city finance director.

Recent guest editorials by the two Independence mayoral candidates on the November ballot have drawn questions, following publication of their essays in The Independent. In one, the current mayor, John McArdle, identifies himself as a retired Olympic athlete, though he didn’t compete in the games. His opponent, Jack Waddell, states the city is to blame for delays on a townhouse complex he’s trying to build, though records indicate he stopped pursuing it. 
 
The November issue of The Independent will address the topic of campaign claims in the column The Civics Lesson. However, both men were asked about their assertions. Mr. McArdle, the incumbent mayor, explained that he qualified as a hammer thrower for the 1980 Olympic team. A boycott of the Olympics had been announced by President Jimmy Carter before the trials were held. Mr. McArdle later did attend a global competition under the Olympic charter – the Pan Am games – but he and a dozen other athletes departed without participating after it was announced that sensitive drug-testing methods were going to be used there. At the time, Mr. McArdle was reported to have stated – in an interview with the New York Times – that a majority of athletes used steroids. 
 
However, any athlete who makes the Olympic team at the trials can be called an Olympian, according to a spokesperson for the US Olympic Committee. 
 
Mr. Waddell wrote that he has been trying to get a 12-unit townhouse complex on the parcel behind Moothart’s on Main, with “no offers of assistance” from the city. However, he ceased the effort after being billed $4,200 by the city to continue – which he contends is an unacceptable sum because he hasn’t been issued a “permit to build.”  
 
The 27,000-foot lot also includes two 500-foot commercial spaces on the two corners, which he included in order to meet zoning restrictions, he said. Mr. Waddell also said he temporarily put the property on the market, after becoming frustrated with the process. 
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NOTE:The City of Independence won an Award of Excellence for rural-town revitalization at the annual conference of the League of Oregon Cities.