Letter Questions Candidate’s Credentials; Forest Service Hiring; Merkley Submits EV Tax Credit Bill; Fire and Ambulance Meeting Moved

Letter Questions Candidate’s Credentials

A group calling themselves the “Concerned Citizens of Florence” drafted a letter claiming that candidate for city council, Maureen Miltenberger had misrepresented herself in her filing for the seat by stating that she was a retired social worker.  According to Oregon statutes the term Social Worker is a protected term reserved for licensed social workers.  A letter was also sent to members of the current city council, Michelle Teed of the Oregon Secretary of State Elections division, and Cheryl Betschart, clerk of lane county elections.  Coast radio news spoke with Miltenberger about the letter.  She stated that she had spoken with someone from the state in August regarding the complaint.

”At the end of August is when I got the call from the complaint person from the state level with the social worker who had said he had gotten a complaint.”

She said that she was comfortable with the response that she received.

“He asked me my background and I told him my background and he said you are perfectly fine, you supervised social workers so there is absolutely no problem calling yourself a social worker.”

Coast radio also spoke with Michelle Teed from the State elections division and Cheryl Betschart from Lane County.  Teed said they were reviewing the complaint and could not comment other than to say it is under review.  Betschart said that it was not an issue for Lane County and that it was something that the City of Florence needed to address.  The city sent out a letter of response to the initial complainant, Dan Berry, of Florence stating that the information “does not appear to specify a violation of any Oregon elections law” within the jurisdiction of the city.  Miltenberger is running for one of two open council seats in the November election along with Woody Woodbury and Geraldine Lucio.

Forest Service Hiring

The National Forest Service is hiring for positions within the Siuslaw National Forest.  Positions are for part-time and summer employment.  There is a recruitment blitz planned for October 3rd in Eugene.  Applicants interested in employment have until October 12th to apply.  The forest service has listed several websites for people to get more information.  The main site containing available positions is go.usa.gov. Positions are available in multiple fields, including fire, recreation, natural resources, timber, engineering, visitor services and archaeology.

Merkley Submits EV Tax Credit Bill

If you are considering the purchase of an electric vehicle, steps are being taken in the U.S. Senate to extend the electric vehicle tax credit for ten years.  Oregon senator Jeff Merkley, along with Senator’s Heinrich from New Mexico and Cortez-Masto from Nevada, have introduced the Electric Cars Act of 2018.  Merkley said in a press release that now is not the time for the credit to go away, just as automakers are starting to roll out new vehicles and the electric foothold is strengthening.  Touting that not only are electric vehicles good for the economy, but they are also good for the future as we consider how to manage the changing conditions to the global climate.  The bill would allow potential purchasers access to the tax credit for the next 10 years, regardless of the manufacturer from which they purchase their car, use the tax credit over a 5-year period, or apply the credit at the point of sale and Provide a 10-year extension of tax credits for alternative fuel vehicles and provide funding for charging infrastructure.

Fire and Ambulance Meeting Moved

The Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue regular board meeting for Wednesday, September 19 at 6:00pm has been cancelled and rescheduled for September 27 at 6:00pm.  The Western Lane Ambulance District regular board meeting for Thursday, September 27 at noon has been rescheduled to September 27 at 6:00pm.  Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue and the Western Lane Ambulance District Board of Directors will hold a Joint Special Meeting on Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 6:00 pm at the fire station located at 2625 Highway 101.