North Coast Oregon

Articles listed under the tag: Astoria Gas Tax

A few odds and ends

by Tryan Hartill

Is the D.A. a Dept Head or not?

The County needs some kind of legal ruling on this. Not only has this created all kinds of confusion over the last few weeks, but they are opening themselves up for trouble down the road. The Sheriff is in the same boat here. Having an elected official running a Dept “if they want to”, with another Government body controlling the money, is a small problem now and could be a major problem in the future. And the voters need to know whether they are electing a Dept. Head or not, when they send in their ballots. And also, the extra work the D.A. does for the county needs to be put on paper and in a contract. It’s not fair to anyone to have someone in Government “volunteering” to do more work and then getting “tipped” for it, even if Heather Reynolds says it’s OK.

Gas Tax

Next Monday is the first public comment for the gas tax. I think this will be a good deal for local tax-payers:

1. If the estimate on the amount of gas used is correct, (highly doubtful) because half of the money would come from visitors.

2. If the City shows a line-by-line expense chart that shows where the current gas tax money is going and where the new tax money will go.

3. If the City plans out the first few years of the tax. Which roads are the highest priority and how much will each one cost. No doubt there will be some “pet-projects” that the individual Councilors will push for down the road. Let’s make sure this doesn’t happen for at least 3 years.

4. If the cost of implementing the tax is revealed and factored in.

Port Westward Gas-Fired Plant

The Plant will be coming online in the next couple a days. More power to the system means cheaper rates! Er…wait a sec….what now? The Oregon Public Utility Commission is recommending that all 775,000 PGE customers pay an extra 2.8% on their bill because the cost of producing the power is more expensive?..Huh?

Pioneer House

I know I’ve been bringing this up a bunch lately, but it is a very important part of our community. They are doing a clean-up/repair event over the next 3 days. If you only have an hour, stop by and offer to help and take a tour. Hours are 10-4 and there will be a BBQ 11-5 on Saturday.

Immigration Raid

I am in support of the raid that happened in Portland yesterday. But I hope that the people that were scamming the system the most (the hiring agency, the food company) get the book thrown at them and the workers let off. Some kind of reform bill will probably pass, but will it even matter? Is the current immigration situation around the country that bad that we need to start rounding people up? My answer to both questions is “I don’t think so”.

Going out of Business Sale!

In a sign that the Critters in Salem are running out of things to regulate, they are now regulating how long a business can run a “Going out of Business Sale”. The Bill also says that you can’t have a “going out of business sale” and open up the same business in the local area. And these people want annual sessions? Oh goody!

Google can be so mean!

Over the last 2 days I’ve had my name searched in Google and referred to NCO 8 times. And guess what article Google sent all 8 people to? Yep…. Drunken Photos.

Update

Jeff Hazen has a new post up about having video of the Clatsop Commission meetings on the web. I think this is an excellent idea. The costs may be a bit up front, but once everything is in place, they should be minimal. Hopefully other counties that do it will have some tips and cost estimates.

Someone over at the KAST forum suggested using a Senior next year to do stories on NCO. I think this would be a great idea for someone looking into a Jounalism Major. Maybe a Senior project for someone even. Anyone have any comments to add or contact info for who I would get in touch with at the Highschool?

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