145 YEARS OF HEADLINES & HISTORY Goldendale, Washington
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2024
Vol. 145 No. 2
$1.00
New mayor, council members sworn in RODGER NICHOLS FOR THE SENTINEL
The Goldendale City Council met for the first time in the new year Tuesday, January 2, following the holiday. It was also the first look at a new lineup. Former Councilor Dave Jones was elected mayor in November. In that same election, Danielle Clevidence won the open Position 5 seat left by Jones, and Theone Wheeler defeated incumbent Filberto Ontiveros for Position 2. Councilors Andy Halm and Loren Meagher both ran unopposed and were re-elected. Councilors Steve Johnston, Ellie Casey, and Miland Walling were unaffected, as their terms don’t expire until 2026. There was a bit of unusual procedure prior to the start of the meeting. Typically the mayor opens the meeting before the swearing-in ceremony. But new Mayor Jones couldn’t open the meeting because he had not yet been sworn in. Goldendale Clerk/Treasurer Sandy Wells told the audience that normally the mayor pro tem would open
ABOVE: GRACE BLAND. RIGHT: DUSTIN CAMERON.
HI-TECH CATTLE: Above, Cameron Ranch cattle grazing. Right, an electronic collar is placed on one of the Cameron cows. The device tracks and controls cattle movement on unfenced land.
Cattle get GPS devices GRACE BLAND FOR THE SENTINEL
Seeing ranchers work their livestock on a chilly afternoon is nothing abnormal for locals in Klickitat County, but this past Thursday a different kind of work took place at the Cameron property near Centerville. From the outside looking in, the herding of disgruntled cows into a metal chute appeared pretty standard, but a closer look would leave onlookers baffled. Once the cows were confined in the hefty chute, Dustin Cameron would sling a metal chain with a clunky gray box attached over the neck of each cow. The strange devices are similar to a dog’s training collar, but these are coupled with GPS tracking technology. The collars are an upcoming tool that creates virtual fencing for livestock management—and Dustin has put the devices to the test by strapping them onto around 300 cows. “Each collar has a GPS locator,” Dustin explained. “And that communicates with the tower that communicates with the internet to draw the boundaries.”
Essentially, the collars are fitted with technology that can track where each cow is, and through an online system on Dustin’s side, he can control where the boundaries are set. If the cows get too close to the set boundary line, the collars will emit a series of beeps as a warning. If the animals remain near the boundary after the warning beeps, the collars will then discharge a shock. “Generally, once the cows figure out what the beep indicates, they stop before they get to the shock,” he shared. “Then they pretty much stay out of the shock zone.”
RODGER NICHOLS
NEW MAYOR: Dave Jones was sworn in last Tuesday as Goldendale’s new mayor.
the meeting, but Andy Halm is the mayor pro tem, and he had to be re-sworn as well. So she administered the oath of office to the mayor and councilors, and then Jones opened the meeting Following the swearing-in ceremony, Jones gaveled the meeting to order for the first time. The agenda included a presentation from the Coalition for Preventing Abuse in Klickitat County, which included an invitation for council members to attend the group’s meetings. Under Council Business, City Fire Chief Noah Halm summarized the department’s activity in 2023: “The total number of incidents last year was 212,” he said. “Ninety-seven of those were EMS calls, and 115 were fire-related type incidents.”
See City page A8
The animals pick up on the process fairly quickly as they are already familiar with electric fences. The new devices have the same fundamental concept as physical boundaries, except they are fully virtually controlled. “We have about a five- to six-day training program to educate the cattle to understand what all the collars are telling them,” Dustin says, tipping his cowboy hat towards the fenced-in field in front of him. “We’ll set up a training pasture that has a hard fence around it the cattle can see.” To train the
See Cattle page A8
New school levy sought, would lower taxpayer rate GRACE BLAND FOR THE SENTINEL
It’s been four years since the Goldendale School District last passed a levy, and the district is seeking a new one. It has drawn up a new levy that will cover the expenses of the previous one— and this new levy will advantageously come with a lower rate for taxpayers. The district is asking for a fund of $2,729,887, a discount from the approved 2018 levy. The important election will occur on February 13, with the district crossing their fingers for community support. “The things that keep kids in school are not funded by the state,” Dr. Ellen Perconti, the district’s superintendent, shared. By this, she referred to the extracurricular activities that motivate kids in their education, such as sports and clubs. Dean Schlenker, the district’s business manager, explained, “They [Washington State] only fund what they qualify as basic education; so without the levy there are a lot of student-related activities that don’t go on, and that’s what this supports.” This new levy is a replacement for the previous one that has run its course, but it is crucial for the functionality of the school district. Facilities, curriculum, technology, staffing, and extra-
curricular activities all rely on funding from levies. That list of areas hurting for financial support might seem lengthy, but the reason for that is out of the district’s control. The state has a funding formula that uses student enrollment to determine the basic financial budget required for each school district. “Our current enrollment brings in the funding from the state basically for the square footage of two buildings,” Perconti disclosed. According to the state’s formula, the Goldendale School District should only be operating in two buildings, which means they don’t supply sufficient funding for a third building. Without the state’s money, the district has to turn to the community to support the third building, which is one of the main reasons the levy is seen as necessary. Perconti feels that it is crucial for students to remain separated throughout three schools in order to maintain smaller class sizes as well as keeping relative age groups together. “We believe that the configuration we have now is better for our students,” she expresses. “There are differences by age level, and so separating those to a certain extent we feel is better for our students and their learning.” The importance of the levy is self-evident to the district, but
Schlenker was able to delve into the specific financial details of each category needing funding. The largest categories the levy will fund are 45% for staff and support, 27% for the buildings, and 20% for extracurricular activities. Then there are smaller areas of need, with 5% going to technology and 1 to 2.5% going to special needs transportation. “That’s pretty much per dollar, percentage wise, where all the dollars go,” Schlenker explained. He then explained that each year he meets with the auditors and goes line by line to doublecheck the spending of the funding in each allotted area. “There’s a lot of accountability in levies,” he added, stressing the district’s determination for openness with the community regarding the spending of their money. “We’ve tried to work with the board to be really fiscally responsible so that we are asking for what we feel we need to provide a good quality education, but not so much that it’s overburdening our community,” Perconti assured. The school board, along with Schlenker and Perconti, felt that the community was under enough of a tax burden with the increase in property taxes. To try to be as accommodating as possible, Schlenker adjusted the
See Levy page B4
My dinner with Tom Smothers
immediate critiTom Smothand audience ers died the N APPRECIATION cal hit and ran for day after two years. Tom Christmas. and Dick SmothI’ll miss him. ers were brought For a brief in as cast replacestretch, we ments when the were buds. It was the late 1970s. I was still original stars bowed out of the a yearling in my journalism ca- initial run. Because the Smothreer in New York City where I ers were coming in—barely a had the amazing fate of becom- decade after their ignoble firing ing a theater and film reviewer by CBS-TV from their wildly almost right out of the gate. (I re- popular series in the ’60s—I was member cowering before my ed- off to see the show and interview itor begging, “No, please! Don’t Tom and Dick. I covered the show first. The make me go cover movies and Broadway shows and interview Smothers did something not typincredibly famous people I’d ical in Broadway shows. After otherwise never meet! I am but the final curtain, they came out a child!” He sneered, curled his and held a Q and A session with mustache, and ruthlessly cast the audience. It went a little like me into the abyss of midtown this: Man in audience: “Tommy, Manhattan.) I don’t know why it isn’t more did your mom really like your prominently mentioned in brother best?” Tom: “Back then. But she’s Smothers Brothers lore, but the two were in a Broadway show. matured.” Woman in audience: “Are you In April 1977 a musical opened at the Ethyl Barrymore Theater See Smothers page A8 called I Love My Wife. It was an
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Lou Marzeles Editor