Willapa Harbor Herald
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PRESORTED STANDARD U.S.POSTAGE
PAID
RAYMOND, WA 98577 PERMIT NO. 36
ECRWSS POSTAL PATRON
Willapa Harbor Herald $1.00 Vol. 40, Issue 50
USPS 455960
December 12, 2018
Your Independent Community News Since 1890
South Bend Library may reopen Shop with a Cop The South Bend Library has endured a hard year after being closed in August and then Timberland Regional Library proposed the consolidation between South Bend and Raymond Library in their “Capital Facilities Plan.” A number of libraries were proposed for closure and consolidation as part of the plan, but residents and their respective cities would have none of it. As first reported in September, Timberland officials came to a City of South Bend City Council Meet-
ing to update the city and residents regarding the state of the library. They made it clear to everyone in attendance they had no plan to close the library and we're exploring options. Four days later, Timberland released the proposed plan and it contradicted much of the statements officials had previously said.
Trustees Meeting in Ilwaco. Hundreds showed up for the meeting and dozens of residents one by one walked to microphone and gave heartfelt speeches about how vital the libraries are to communities and the importance of keeping the libraries right where they are located. In the coming days after the meeting several of the trustee board members spoke Battle ensues publicly stating the proposed Residents from several plan was just that “proposed” areas of western Washington and in no way was a final including South Bend attendSee Library Page 7 ed a Timberland Board of
Minimum wage to go up again By Jeff Clemens The Washington state minimum wage will increase to $12 on January 1 as the state continues its goal of hitting $13.50 by 2020. The minimum wage in Washington state has increased the past few years and will continue to rise. In 2016, state lawmakers in Olympia pushed for a $15 minimum wage across the board while their counterparts disagreed calling in “too much to fast.” Both sides were forced to settle on a goal of $13.50 by 2020 under Initiative 1433 (2016). Wages have increased annually ever since from $11 (2017). A $15 minimum wage has remained in talks at the state capital with lawmak-
ers pushing hard to make it a reality there after. Cities like Seattle and Seatac took the decision into their own hands and passed measures to raise the minimum wage to $15. Many employers fought the move claiming they “couldn't support such a high wage.” A number of employers in those areas were forced to let workers go to downsize and offset the extra expense finding in some instances it was cheaper to keep fewer and pay overtime then keep many and pay the minimum wage. Rural areas like most of Pacific County are hit especially hard with increasing wages due to a smaller revenue chain compared to met-
ropolitan areas like Seattle, Olympia, and Tacoma. Each time the wage is increased the area is hit negatively in some way whether it's an employee being let go or the price of goods being increased to bring in more revenue. Some employers began running “skeleton crews” to keep cost low and still operate. Employers are concerned that as the minimum wage increases more jobs will be lost and businesses will be forced to close. While proponents on the other hand state that “a higher minimum wage offers families more stability” and “offers workers more chances for competitive employment.”
Workers to pay into Washington’s Paid Family and Medical Leave starting January By Jeff Clemens Workers in Washington state will begin seeing an extra premium deducted on their paychecks starting January 1. The deduction will be set aside like Medicare and will go into the state’s new Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave Fund that will begin in 2020. All employees who work at least 16 hours a week will be required to contribute. It will include all full-time, part-time, seasonal, and temporary employees. Participation is mandatory for even those who will not need or benefit from the program. Under the program workers will be eligible for up to 12 weeks of paid leave or up to 18 weeks in certain circumstances. Those recovering from a serious illness or injury, caring for a new child or helping an aging parent will be able to take leave as part of the program. Washington officials state, “it means workers won't have to choose between a paycheck and caring for their health or their family.” Husbands and spouses of those sick or injured or wish to help with a newborn child will be allowed to take time off without penalty. The benefits will begin in 2020 meaning employees in Washington state will invest into the program for one year before it's operational and can be used. The total premium will be .04% of a workers wages
and can be shared between the employee and their employer. An employee earning $50,000 per year will pay $2.44 per week or $9.76 per month. Many workers are praising the state and officials for creating a program that will make it less stressful for families during tough times. Others are questioning the requirement for investing into a program that will not benefit them. The majority of employment in Pacific County is seasonal and questions remain whether seasonal workers would be able to use to benefits with sporadic seasons and inconsistent employment schedules. It’s unclear how much the benefit will be once the fund is fully active in 2020. It’s estimated the benefactor amount will be a percentage of weekly income and not an entire earned income. The state is already requiring employers provide all workers with paid sick leave. Starting in 2018, employers began being required to provide workers with one hour of sick leave for every 40 hours they work. At the end of the year only 15 hours of the 40 (for a full time employee) can carry over to the next year. Employers are not required to pay out for any sick leave hours lost. Therefore, employees will lose 25 hours of paid sick leave if it's left unused even though they've earned it.
Photo by Willapa Harbor Drone Raymond Police Sgt. Arlie Boggs
Raymond Council discuss RV stay length; raising utility rates
By Jeff Clemens The hot topic at the December 3 Raymond City Council Meeting ended up being Ordinance 1883 which would changed the rules in the city regarding RV parks and campground use. Currently RV and camp users are allowed to only stay 30 days in a 6-month-period but has been unenforced. The commission has recommended allowing up to 90 days along with stipulations for new parks or campgrounds. The ordinance was designed to meet the regulations of the Pacific County Health Department Ordinance #5 that provides regulations to safeguard public health for RV parks and campgrounds. Raymond has three RV parks one located in Riverdale, another next to river near Pedigree Catamarans and one at the golf course. Increasing the length of stay according to the ordinance will “better accommodate the needs of people working, hunting and etc. in the area that need a temporary place to stay beyond 30 days.” It also states that it would promote more “off season” use when shorter stays are rarer. However, the ordinance would make it illegal to live permanently at an RV park or campground and cap a stay at 90 days for RVs and 14 days for tent campers. The planning commission stated in the ordinance long term occupancy in a recreational vehicle in an approved RV park and campground is not a compatible land use pattern under city policy. Council Member Chris Halpin had some tough questions for Mayor Tony Nordin and Public Works Director Eric Weiberg on how the city planned to enforce and monitor RV park users. Both Nordin and Weiberg attended the commission meetings and
Weiberg was a co-writer of the ordinance. “So what are the plans for enforcing?” Halpin asked. “The time limit?” Weiberg replied “There would be a log. If we ran into any issues we would look at the log. They have to check in with their driver’s license. Then we would be able to go and say this person checked in and they have not checked out.” “Is there going to be a process for a regular check on those logs,” Halpin asked. “Or is it going to be complaint driven? “It could be either.” Weiberg stated. “Complaint drive is how most things go though.” Much of the further discussion pertained to potential locations of parks and rules and guidelines pertaining to landscape and development. The ordinance looks to discern RV parks and campgrounds from Manufactured and Mobile Home Parks. Council Member Kaley Hanson asked if any person on the planning commission had any experience designing RV parks and suggested the city bring in someone who does. His concern was he didn’t want to see everyone who has property jumping at the chance to make a profit. According to Weiberg that likelihood is very small due to areas able to be developed into RV parks or Campgrounds. Hanson went on to express his displeasure with the clarity of the ordinance and mentioned he “didn’t want to see an RV park in the middle of town” where people could stay for 90 days and just have to change spots to live another 90 days. Mentioning that it was pretty easy to get around the 90 day law of which Weiberg disagreed. “There is certain criteria in there,” Weiberg
stated. “You couldn’t live there year round.” Council Member Pam Nogueira Maneman touched on the specific of the length of time being nearly unenforceable. She brought up her experience with the issue in south Pacific County and the fact that many who live in the parks permanently would be otherwise homeless. “Which creates an entirely more complicated issue for the city,” she said. “I would be very cautious of putting any kind of time limit that they cannot be in a trailer for more than 90 days because then what are we doing?” She continued, “It then creates a whole new expense for this person that can barely survive to relocate their RV or themself. I know the homeless number in our community is increasing and I don't want to create one more obstacle for them to succeed. We all can hope and dream these people won't be in RV’s for more than 90 days. However, I think we need to take into account they may not be there by choice. The reality is people live in this situation.” Currently Pacific County has no set time limit of length of stays, and allows RV parks and campgrounds to set the limits themselves. Several parks in Raymond and South Bend currently allow longterm use and may leave some occupants out of luck once enforcement takes place. The ordinance was voted to move on to the second reading but several council members have stated they have many questions they would like answered before they make a final decision. Prior to the ordinance the City of Raymond has done very little to enforce length of stay and RV use. One of the major questions after the meeting was See raymond Page 6
Jordan, Anderson earn titles at Warrenton invite
By GEORGE KUNKE SOUTH BEND - Willapa Harbor crowned a couple of chamipions in Jack Jordan and Christian Anderson, both of Raymond HS, at the Warrenton (Oregon) Wrestling Invitational Saturday. Jordan was also selected as the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament in the upper weight classes. “The wrestlers had a successful tournament at Warrenton on Saturday,” Willapa Harbor Tri-District Wrestling Coach John Enslow told the Herald. “Jack Jordan led a Raymond sweep of the top three places in the 170-pound weight class.” Luke Borden finished second and Elliot Niles took third. Jordan won by forfeit over Borden in the title match. Jordan won by fall over Niles at 3:27 in the semifinals. Anderson won his title match by fall in 38 seconds over Ilwaco's Bryan Sparks. “Christian Anderson won the 285-pound bracket with a quick pin in his finals match,” Enslow reported. “They will be heading down to Wahkiakum for the Down River Classic on Saturday. Also taking second place for Willapa Harbor was South Bend's Preston Lawhead at 145 pounds. Seth Angelovich of Raymond finished in fourth place at 160 pounds. “I appreciated the effort from the team on Saturday and that they are applying the moves that we’ve been working on in practice,” Enslow said. “Elliot Niles finished his quarterfinal match with a head-in-the-hole cradle that he’s been working on, Preston Lawhead had a nice two-on-one tilt that gave him an extra three points along with the arm-bar series that he used to finish the match. Jack Jordan, Christian Anderson, and Raegan Portman all used the butcher in their respective matches. It’s great to see the stuff we work on translate into success in competition. We have a lot of work Photo Courtesy John Enslow to do on the mat, but we rarely lost on our feet, which is From left are Raymond HS's Christian Anderson (285-pound mostly what we have been focused on.” Photo Courtesy John Enslow champion), South Bend's Preston Lawhead (second at 145) and Willapa Harbor is also scheduled to compete in a dual at Raymond HS's Jack Jordan was named Most Outstanding Wrestler Raymond's Jack Jordan (170-pound champion). Ocosta Thursday. at the Warrenton Invitational on Saturday.