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FRIDAY, MAY 5, 2023
VOL. 131, NO. 52 Serving the Lower Columbia Region since 1891
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ELECTION
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A closer look at the proposed Sheriff’s Levy T
he $7.9M 4-year Columbia County Sheriff’s Levy Measure 5-290 proposed by Columbia County Sheriff Brian Pixley will add seven new sheriff’s deputies. The new tax to support the levy would be 29 cents per $1,000 in assessed value. This means a home taxed on a $400,000 assessed value would add $116 to its yearly property tax bill.
St. Helens Mayor Rick Scholl began by raising issues of the county commissioners’ budget, saying that he had been unable to review that information to do “due diligence” about the fiscal need for the levy. Scholl then asked Pixley whether he had been guaranteeing student resource officers in schools in the county. Pixley said that notion is “absolutely preposterous” and that he has only had preliminary discussions
with school districts about what the process of getting School Resource Officers would look like. Council President Jessica Chilton raised the question of how the success of the levy will be measured. Pixley said it would ultimately come down to the voters. Pixley also denoted that there will not be “overnight success” because the process of getting officers trained and out in the county could take up to a year and a half.
Councilor Patrick Birkle raised the concern of compression due to passing multiple levies and whether the sheriff’s levy would put the county past the compression threshold. Ultimately, it was decided that an assessor would be needed to analyze how close the levy would take the county to the compression point. The council had concerns about what the burden of this levy, in addition to potential future levies, could have. Councilors Mark Gundersen, Brandon Sundeen, and Birkle expressed that they would support the levy as county members but said they would leave the decision up to the voters. Mayor Scholl emphasized his concerns with the budget. “I’m more so challenging the budget and the fiscal means, and the campaign that was behind it in order to get where we are,” Scholl said. “And I hope that anybody in opposition or in favor of this can at least appreciate my asking about fiscal responsibility of our tax dollars.” At the regular council session on May 4, the council voted on whether they would support the sheriff’s levy. Councilor Birkle motioned to approve a letter of support for the levy, and Councilor Sundeen seconded it. Scholl reiterated the comments he made at the April 19 meeting when the council did not support the measure. Councilors Birkle, Sundeen, and Gundersen said they felt the pros of the levy outweighed the cons. Sundeen, Gundersen, and Birkle all voted in favor, while the mayor voted no. Councilor Chilton was not present at the meeting. When The Chief asked Pixley why the people of St. Helens should vote yes on the levy when they already receive 24-hour coverage,
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in a variety of ways. The Oregonian report states that Columbia County Republican Central Committee Chair Traci Brumbles owns Rainier Liquor Store and may have had access to the rare alcohol and used the bottles for the fundraiser without placing the alcohol on the shelf for customers. While state policies don’t prohibit liquor store owners from purchasing items in their inventory, they are required to sell limitedsupply liquor immediately upon acquiring it. The fundraisers are now part of a “broad criminal investigation” by the OLCC, according to the Oregonian.
This development comes after an internal investigation last year at the OLCC revealed that top employees used their access to the state’s liquor supply to keep some of the rare bourbons for themselves. Following that investigation, the executive director of the OLCC Steve Marks, resigned. In their most recent article, the Oregonian noted that Columbia County Sheriff Brian Pixley had attended one of the fundraisers in March of 2022. In the months after the event, the article says that Pixley received $3,750 in campaign donations from the Republican committee.
City council supports levy Both the Clatskanie and The Rainier City Councils voted to support the levy on May 1, following a presentation by Sheriff Pixley. At a work session on April 19, the St. Helens City Council decided not to publicly support the sheriff’s levy. St. Helens has a city police department offering 24-hour coverage within the city limits. The council members’ consensus was that they did not feel they could ask city residents to pay more without more information about the measure. “I’m a little bit uncomfortable with the levy because I haven’t looked at their finances; I know they’ve been struggling for years now to have 24-hour service; I’m surprised it wasn’t campaigned better,” Mayor Rick Scholl said at the meeting on the 19th. “I wish there would have been more campaigning done at the county level, and there would have been more of an open transparency to their budget needs for the levy. And I have not seen enough there.” On May 4, the St. Helens City Council heard a presentation from Sheriff Pixley about the levy at their work session. At the conclusion of the presentation, the council discussed their concerns over the measure with Pixley.
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Voters are being asked to approve the $7,999,685 Sheriff’s Levy in the May 16 election.
Pixley said it would be a proactive approach to stopping crime. “What the need is is we do help St. Helens with cover requests. There have been times where St. Helens has been tied up, so we have handled calls for the city of St. Helens,” Pixley said. “I’m a big proponent of whatever happens in the county comes to the cities. So if we can provide proactive patrols around St. Helens, or around Scappoose, or around any other city, that is going to inherently, I think, lessen the crime rates within the cities as well.”
When asked about the event by The Chief, Pixley offered the following response: “As a private citizen, I attended a fundraiser called Bourbon in the Barn in 2022. At a later date, the Republican Committee decided to support my re-election campaign. The two events are unrelated,” Pixley said. “Regarding the organizers allegedly not being compliant with OLCC regulations, I will have to defer to OLCC and event organizers.”
Why now? The current base tax rate for county operations is $1.39 per $1,000. Pixley wants to retain the base tax, allowing the levy to supplement the existing tax revenue. County residents already pay another Columbia County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) levy which funds jail operations at 58 cents per $1,000 in assessed value. This means that taxpayers would pay around 87 cents per $1,000 on both levies. The proposed measure has been long overdue, Pixley said, because the CCSO has been understaffed and underfunded since he became sheriff in 2019. Pixley said he has been petitioning the county commissioners each year for enhanced staffing and has sought the levy because the commissioners have not made the needed funds available year after year. “I’ve been making pleas to them,” Pixley said. “Multiple pleas since 2019 to enhance our staffing. I ask them for two additional positions
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State investigates County GOP fundraisers A
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pair of fundraisers by the Columbia County Republican Central Committee is under state review after the events appear to flout Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) regulations. According to a report by the Oregonian, the fundraisers featured auctions on rare bottles of whiskey, including Pappy Van Winkle. These events were called ‘Bourbon in the Barn’ by the organizers, and the Oregonian report suggests that they may have violated state regulations
Follow developments at thechiefnews.com and in the Friday print editions of the Chief.
Student Council recognized with Gold Council Award STAFF REPORT Country Media, Inc.
C
latskanie Middle/High School (CMHS) is one of 22 high schools and four middle schools in the state receiving recognition as a high achieving leadership program. CMHS has receive a Gold Council Award by the Oregon
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Association of Student Councils (OASC). The award, sponsored by OASC, sets high standards for student councils and leadership programs, and honors them if they can reach or exceed these goals. How the leadership programs work
The leadership programs begin by setting goals in the fall and actively participate in leadership activities and events throughout the year. In order to receive the award, programs must create and encourage activities that promote inclusivity among all students at the school and provide a series of events that include a variety of different areas/disciplines in the school. Along with involvement in the school, they must also demonstrate that they are gaining valu-
able leadership and professional skills that they can take with them outside of school. “One of the most important lessons we’ve learned supporting our youth leaders is that leadership is not an exclusive attribute– our student leaders are in every corner of Oregon’s schools,” OASC Executive Director Miles Palacios said. “They directly affect the climate and culture of their schools, often extending their influence into the community and beyond. The programs awarded this level of recognition have exhibited how their student leaders show an incredible level of commitment to servant leadership. They have included their peers in school activities, developed and implemented impactful events for their community, and maintained a positive and creative approach to improving their school environment.”
About the Oregon Association of Student Councils
The OASC founded in 1949 and sponsored by The Coalition of Oregon School Administrators (COSA) and the Oregon Association of Secondary School Administrators (OASSA). The nonprofit serves middle and high school students and advisers from around the state. They provide conferences, workshops, online newsletters and summer leadership camps designed to heighten student leadership development and improve school culture. In the last few years, OASC has also added a Capitol Ambassador program and has begun organizing with affinity groups. The association is guided by their mission statement: Committed to leadership development with a vision for service, involvement and action.
The award to Clatskanie Middle/High School was presented during the OASC Spring Leadership Conference May 1.
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The award, sponsored by the Oregon Association of Student Councils (OASC), sets high standards for student councils and leadership programs, and honors them if they can reach or exceed these goals.
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