Morning Press: Freeholders, County Commissioner appointment, Masons

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The week’s top stories and some news you may have missed

Freeholders send proposal to voters

Voters will have a chance to reshape Clark County government this fall, after the people tasked with drafting a new county charter produced their final vision of reform Tuesday night.

Voting 11-3, the Clark County Board of Freeholders mustered enough support to approve a proposal after several months of brainstorming and debates. The final product would implement several fundamental changes, including doing away with the county’s three-member commission and replacing it with a five-seat council.

Four of the councilors would represent newly drawn districts throughout the county, and the fifth would be elected for an at-large position to serve as the chair. The current salaries for each commissioner — roughly $106,000 a year — would be cut in half by 2017 to form the new salary for each council seat: $53,000 a year.

The two commissioners conducted three hour-long interviews with candidates Craig Pridemore, Kelly Love Parker and Ed Barnes starting at 1 p.m. Tuesday. They then met in executive session for about 45 minutes before announcing they could not agree on the appointment. The announcement was made with no public deliberation following the closed-door executive session.

The candidates thanked the commissioners for the opportunity to answer questions. And some wondered aloud what would happen in the ensuing week to change the commissioners’ minds in a process that has proven both political and partisan. The two sitting commissioners are Republicans and they are tasked with appointing a Democratic colleague.

The audience, many of whom had sat through a nearly four-hour-long question-and-answer session, responded with heckles of “make up your minds,” “waste of time” and “what about leadership?”

Read the full story here.

Masons starting farmers market

To make sure its doors stay open following the alleged embezzlement of nearly $800,000, the Vancouver Masonic Center is starting up a farmers market.

“It’s pretty serious what we’re up against,” said Jimmy Johnson, who is helping organize the market. “The question was: ‘What can we do?’ Well, here’s what we can do.”

The treasurer for the organization, Jesten Jay Galland III, 47, is accused of using the center’s account to write checks to himself and his company. Over the course of six years, Galland allegedly zeroed out the organization’s bank accounts, amounting to a loss of $798,202.25.

He faces 46 theft-related charges including money laundering, forgery and identity theft. A trial is scheduled for July 21.

The building, located at 2500 N.E. 78th St., is home to 17 charitable organizations that include Masonic groups and youth groups.

The account that Galland is accused of stealing from, Vancouver Masonic Temple Inc., held funds that were used to maintain the building.

Read the full story here.

Illegal tree-felling near river raises man’s ire

Jon Alldritt has been coming down to the bank of the Columbia River, where Southeast 164th Avenue dead ends, for decades. It’s a place where people come to fish and swim when the gloom of the Pacific Northwest winter gives way to the glory of summer.

Over the years, he’s seen $1 million homes sprout up in the East Old Evergreen Highway neighborhood while city-owned trees have come down. Between the homes and the river is a sliver of public right-of-way, part of an undeveloped park that slinks and snakes across the bank of the river.

Alldritt is speaking out on an issue the city of Vancouver has long grappled with: illegal tree clearing, which happens in neighborhoods throughout the city. In many cases, the city says, homeowners are simply confused about property lines. But that doesn’t make clearing trees any less illegal. Along the river, Alldritt grouses, some homeowners have cut away trees to provide a better view of the river.

“Whenever people have moved in, they have removed trees on what is actually a (park). It’s not an issue of property lines,” Alldritt said. There’s long been a promise by the city’s parks department of building an actual pathway.

Read the full story here.

Related story: Tree-cutting triggers $28K in fines from Vancouver

Liquor privatization tied to thefts, ER visits

Researchers looking at the effects of liquor privatization found one in 10 high school-age minors who drink alcohol reported stealing alcohol in the past year.

Julia Dilley, one of the research scientists working on the ongoing project, said prior to privatization a survey asked minors where they would go to find booze.

“So few kids marked ‘stole,’ we took it off (the survey) as an option,” Dilley said.

Not anymore.

Vancouver Police Department officials also have reported a surge in liquor-related thefts and said they believe the bulk is being driven by juveniles.

Looking at the first four months of this year, one local Safeway reported seven instances in which spirits were stolen. Walgreens reported three different cases in the same time period.

Dilley, with both Multnomah County and the Oregon Health Authority, is working with Linda Becker, a prevention research manager with Washington’s Department of Social and Health Services. The ongoing study is funded by the Roberts Wood Johnson Foundation to examine the impacts of privatized liquor sales, which voters approved in 2011. A preliminary report was given to the state’s Liquor Control Board on Wednesday.