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Volume 17, No. 18
September 6, 2012
Save the date …
northcoastcitizen.com • 75¢
We’re having a quake!
By Dave Fisher
By Karen Olson
The Citizen
For the Citizen
Inside
SOLVE AWARD Peter Walczak receives SOLVE Citizenship Award Page 2
Business
Local mayors running… once again!
On Saturday, Sept. 22, at 9:30 a.m., north Tillamook County residents and visitors will participate in a tsunami evacuation drill sponsored by the Nehalem Bay Fire and Rescue District, the cities of Manzanita, Nehalem, Wheeler and Rockaway Beach, and the Emergency Volunteer Corp of Nehalem Bay. The drill is designed to help residents “be prepared, not scared,” if a major local earthquake strikes and causes a tsunami. It will also help the organizers assess community emergency preparedness and plan future training and outreach. “Training makes you safer in the event of a real emergency,” said Emergency Volunteer Corps president Linda Kozlowski. “The people who deal best with a crisis are those who have a plan in place and have practiced it. If you are prepared, you can take care of yourself, your family, and then your community.”
Chances are good that the three mayors of Manzanita, Nehalem and Wheeler will be re-elected this November barring a vigorous last-minute write-in campaign. All three – Garry Bullard of Manzanita, Shirley Kalkhoven of Stevie Burden Nehalem and Stevie Burden of Wheeler – are running unopposed. Interestingly, the threesome has served as mayor of their communities for several years already and it begs the question, “Why are you running again?” It’s certainly not for the money. These positions are unpaid, strictly volunteer. That’s the way Garry Bullard small towns operate, nor is there a lot of glory associated with the post. So, what makes these people tick? We thought it would be interesting to find out and this is what the Citizen discovered. Garry Bullard, a semi-retired attorney who moved to Manzanita permanently in 2004, got into small town politics when a former mayor, Hugh McShirley Kalkhoven Isaac, approached him and said, “You know, Garry, with your background, you should be on the planning commission.”
See QUAKE, page 10 cutline
See MAYORS, page 10
END OF SUMMER PICNIC
Labor Day picnic marks the end of summer. Page 10
Index Classifieds ..............6-7 Events calendar ......... 3 NBFR District Log....... 3 Public Safety Log ....... 3 Golightly Gourmet ...... 9 Letters to the Editor ... 4 Obituary..................... 6
New school year begins new school superintendent A former middle school principal, Paul Erlebach settles in as Neah-Kah-Nie School Superintendent By Dave Fisher The Citizen
Two months on the job, Paul Erlebach, the person who replaced the retired Jay Kosik as Neah-Kah-Nie School District superintendent, remains true to his word. He has spent much of his time thus far meeting people and, more importantly, he says, listening to them. Perhaps, that is one of the reason the NKN School Board selected Erlebach, one of three finalists for the job, when he visited the district during the interview process back in February. Asked what his top three priorities would be if chosen during a public forum, he responded without hesitation,
Neah-Kah-Nie School Superintendent Paul Erlebach has spent his first couple of months getting used to his new surroundings, meeting local officials and listening. Photo by Dave Fisher “Listen, listen, and listen.” Since July 1, Erlebach has been busy crisscrossing the 20-mile long by 20-mile wide school district meeting
a lot of new people, including the Neah-Kah-Nie staff, local politicians other school superintendents “I’ve enjoyed every day,”
he says, noting that he comes to his new assignment with no preset agenda. His job initially, he maintains, is to listen and learn, while enhancing the
ongoing successful programs instituted, in part, by his predecessor, such as the district’s focus on literacy and staff development. Erlebach, who hails from Ontario, Ore., took the helm as Ontario Middle School principal in 2008, following eight years as principal at two of the district’s elementary schools. A 1980 graduate of Ontario High School, he earned an associate degree from Treasure Valley Community College in 1982, a bachelor degree from Southern Oregon University in 1985, and a second bachelor degree from Eastern Oregon University in 1989. In 1997, he earned his master’s degree from Portland State University, and later his administrator’s license from Lewis & Clark College. His professional experience includes operating successful instructional programs, such as reading interventions and responsible management of school budgets. He assisted in passing an $18.5 million school construction bond levy while in Ontario and has participated
Summer’s Last Blast!
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See ERLEBACH, page 6