The Umpqua Post
Weekly news from the Heart of the Dunes AN EDITION OF
Wednesday, November 5, 2014 | Serving the Reedsport area since 1996 | theworldlink.com/reedsport | $1.00
District outlines negotiations for teacher contract BY STEVE LINDSLEY The Umpqua Post
By Steve Lindsley, The Umpqua Post
A ceremony is held Sunday, Nov. 2, for a new monument at the Reedsport Masonic Cemetery.
Granite memorial added to Masonic Cemetery BY STEVE LINDSLEY The Umpqua Post
It was a solemn but family-friendly ceremony at the Reedsport Masonic Cemetery on Sunday. A Memorial In Remembrance was installed at the cemetery. The memorial is complete with a bench to observe the names on the large granite slab. The name of Roger W. Booher was added to the memorial last week, just before the ceremony. Booher was a master Mason who died in March of this year. “Roger came to me,” Harold Hinshaw said at Sunday’s ceremony, “and said ‘we need to make some improvement to that cemetery.’ I said ‘yeah.’ He said ‘I’ll tell you what, Harold. Go over to Cottage Grove and take a look at the memorial wall they have.’ I did. I took some pictures and I brought them back to the lodge. This is what we came up with.” After a vote at the Reedsport Aurora Masonic Lodge No. 59 and decided to dedicate the memorial to Booher. “Roger was a good Mason,” Hinshaw said, “a good father, a good husband and he was a good member of
The Reedsport School District issued a report on where the district is regarding teacher negotiations. Those negotiations could reach an impasse in the next month. The administration sent out a letter to community members and staff of the district, dated Oct. 29. (See page A4) “The negotiating teams for Reedsport School District and the Association of Reedsport Educators met at the District office from 4:30 p.m. Thursday Oct.23 to 1:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 24 to participate in a mediation to reach a settlement on the 2014 collective bargaining agreement.” The report said the two sides have been negotiating since March of this year and, according to the district letter, “have reached agreement on most of the articles in the collective bargaining agreement.” The remaining issues include the schedule at Reedsport Community Charter School, whether the district should pay teachers if they bring action against the district and, according the report, pay for the next two years. “The District has presented a proposal to increase the teachers’
the lodge.” A pin was given to Booher’s widow, Bonnie. “This pin was created as an emblem that symbolizes our continued concern and honor for the widow of a brother,” Master Mason Jack Dailey read. “We cannot forget those things that he loved so deeply. “Look at this emblem and be assured that we are there and we care. Our widow’s pin was created with the hope that it would be worn by the widow of a Master Mason at all appropriate occasions, especially with family, so that she may be recognized, greeted and assisted as necessary by Masonic friends throughout the world. It is an emblem of honor.” Hinshaw said the actual stone had an interesting history before coming to Reedsport. “It’s Georgia granite,” he explained, “gray, polished Georgia granite. It’s so heavy that they shipped it by ship from Georgia, through the Panama Canal to Portland.” The Umpqua Post From there it went to a Hillsboro company, Oregon Memorials, which did the engraving. The president of the It was shipped to Reedsport by truck. Association of Reedsport Educators responded to a letter the district sent out to district patrons and staff about how negotiations were going, after the teachers contract expired June 30. Dan Vasquez responded by email to a number of questions from The Umpqua Post. Vasquez says his previous experience with negotiations went well. “This my second contract negotiations,” he said. “In the first negotiations session that I was part of, the entire process was done in about three months. That included getting the negotiations team assembled, bringing everyone up to speed, and then the process of negotiating. Having discussed the process with other more experienced members, only one other
salary by 1 percent this year and 1.5 percent next year,” read the letter. ”The Association’s proposal is to have a 1.5 percent increase this year and a 2 percent increase next year. The district letter stated that increasing pay that much would reduced the district’s fund balance to 2 percent. The association, according to the letter, also wants an increase in the amount the district pays each employee towards their monthly insurance premium. “The association would like to maintain the requirement that $21,000 be budgeted for this purpose. The district has proposed language that would attempt to provide these funds but give the District discretion to not if our financial situation did not allow it.” The school board held an executive session Tuesday, Oct. 25 to talk about negotiations but did not take any action when it went into open session. Teachers attended that meeting but were not allowed in the executive session and made no comments before or after that session. Teachers did comment at the
SEE DISTRICT, PAGE A9
Teachers still have issues to iron out
The super heroes and the princess
situation compares with our current session and that negotiation culminated in September. The negotiations team is new to the mediation process, we usually reach contract agreements amicably and in a relatively short amount of time.” Vasquez said the district and teachers do have some issues that will require further negotiation. “The association and district are apart on hours and preparation,” he said, “the expectation of more student time without bargaining for it.” He also said they’re apart on a successor agreement, the length of the contract, leaves and pay for employees testifying in grievances or unfair labor practices. “This has never been a concern in previous negotiations,” Vasquez said.
SEE TEACHERS, PAGE A9
Buddy Poppies going on sale By Steve Lindsley, The Umpqua Post
Senna Middleton, Akaysha Middleton, Ariah Baker and Leilani Baker trick or treat together during the second annual Town Trick or Treat on Friday.
Veterans of Foreign Wars members are displaying Buddy Poppies at Safeway, Price ‘n’ Pride and various places around the Reedsport area. They will be seeking donations Nov. 8-11. According to the group’s website “the VFW conducted its first poppy distribution before Memorial Day in 1922, becoming the first veterans' organization to organize a nationwide distribution. The poppy soon was adopted as the official memorial flower of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States.”
Health Authority to discuss change to Trillium system The Umpqua Post
The changeover, in western Douglas County, from the Columbia Pacific Coordinated Care Organization to Eugenebased Trillium will be considered by The Oregon Health Authority before it happens. “On Oct. 29, we received notice
from Columbia Pacific CCO of their intent to change their service area,” OHA’s Alissa Robbins said. “We are now in the process of working with coordinated care organizations to determine both interest and readiness in covering this area. Readiness review includes a review of the CCO's network, clinical integration and
community support amongst other things.” Trillim’s CEO, Terry Coplin, discussed the possibility of coverage of Reedsport and the surrounding area. “I originally received a request from PeaceHealth,” Coplin explained. “PeaceHarbor Hospital had been working closely with the
Reedsport hospital. The two of them had discussed the possibility of joining Trillium, because PeaceHealth is part of our Trillium CCO. It was first through PeachHealth and then I talked to (Lower Umpqua Hospital Administrator) Sandra Reese. She thought the community would be interested in that.”
For news tips, subscriptions, classified advertising or display advertising, call 541-271-7474 or email umpquapost@theworldlink.com
LEADING the way in REAL ESTATE MARKETING and SALES on the beautiful OREGON COAST!
FOR THE BEST CALL 271-WEST 541-271-9378 or toll free 1-800-923-1031
1780 Winchester Ave., Reedsport
Marlene Smith Broker/Owner
Linda Courtney Broker/Owner
Norm Lacey Principal Broker
www.pacificwestrealty.net
Trillium currently serves 91,000 members in Lane County and surrounding areas. The addition of western Douglas County
SEE TRILLIUM, PAGE A9