Happy Friday from Steve Kadel (left), Ken Vance (center) and Joanna Michaud (right)!
What Ken’s working on ...
Everyone wants a resolution
The Department of the Interior notified the Cowlitz Indian Tribe this week that it will take into trust 152 acres of land near the La Center I-5 exit that is targeted for the Tribe’s proposed casino.
The move is interpreted as a strategic effort to apply pressure on the federal judge overseeing the appeal, which is still pending in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. No schedule has been set for that case and all sides are growing increasingly impatient to have the matter resolved.
The BIA announcement indicated the land would be taken into trust on Jan. 21 or within 30 days of a federal court ruling in the Tribe’s favor. It’s extremely unlikely the federal court case will be completed by Jan. 21.
I will try to make sense of it all in a story that will appear in next week’s issue of The Reflector so please stay tuned.
Have a good weekend everyone.
What Joanna’s working on …
Battle Ground’s budget process – stay up to date and get involved
Battle Ground City Council members and the City Manager have recently started diving into the City’s budget process for 2015-2016. While it is still relatively early in the process and City Manager John Williams has not presented council members with a solid final budget proposal as of yet, there has been a lot of discussion regarding potential budget proposals.
On Oct. 18, City Council members held a special meeting to discuss the budget and provide direction to the City Manager. Many proposals were discussed at this special meeting regarding how the City might balance its budget, including:
• Increasing utility taxes by 2 percent
• Increasing property taxes by 1 percent
• Reducing the City’s economic stabilization fund (rainy day fund)
• Pulling $34,000 of funding from the North County Community Food Bank
The first two of these proposals are pretty standard and really aren’t cause for alarm, in my opinion. However, the second two seem like ideas that would have a huge impact on the City and its citizens.
There will be more City Council meetings coming up during which council members will discuss the budget. There will eventually be a public hearing and then council members will vote on the budget. If you want to stay up to date on this budget proposal and want to make your voice heard when the public hearing rolls around, make sure to attend your City Council meetings.
Meetings are held on the first and third Monday of each month (unless there is a holiday on that particularly Monday, in which case the meeting is usually held on that Tuesday). There is usually a study session at 6 p.m., which is also open to the public, followed by the regular meeting at 7 p.m. Meetings are held in the Council Chambers of Battle Ground City Hall, 109 SW 1st St. I will continue to follow the budget process and you will start seeing some articles from me soon as it becomes more final and concrete.
Check out meeting dates and meeting agendas on the City’s website, www.cityofbg.org. When agendas are posted, they can be found under “Services,” “Agenda Center.”
What Steve’s working on …
All’s well that ends well
It might have been the silliest attempt to steal a vehicle in recent history. Someone took a City of Ridgefield truck from the downtown area on Oct. 13, despite the vehicle having the City’s logo displayed prominently on its doors.
Whoever “borrowed” the Ford 150 was seen driving erratically near the I-5 on-ramp east of Ridgefield. The truck was later located in Portland and apparently wasn’t damaged.
So the question becomes, what kind of thief commandeers such a distinctly marked vehicle? Did he or she really think a clean getaway was possible, and that they could possess the truck for long? Those questions may never be answered because the culprit hasn’t been caught. At least the vehicle was back in service to the City as of Friday, Oct. 24.
