City Matters -- Fall 2005
By Alice Norris, Mayor

The best hope of solving all our problems lies in harnessing the diversity, the energy and the creativity of all our people. -- Roger Wilkins

Yes, our city library is now open only half the hours it should be. What a tragic result of our funding difficulties! We had two chances to support a full service library: the county library levy in November (which passed in only one Oregon City precinct) and our Fire Annexation measure in May, which passed in two precincts. Without that community support, your City Commission had no choice but to cut city funding and run the library solely with county funds.

I am hopeful that this is a temporary situation and that we can build community support to regain the lost hours and plan for a new library facility. We are also working with the county to solve countywide library funding issues, since county library support is not guaranteed after this year.

Questions you are asking about the library situation:
How can you do street projects while cutting library hours?
Unfortunately, state law prohibits us from taking money from our Streets Fund, Sewer Fund, Water or Storm Drain Funds to use for libraries, parks maintenance, police, fire, or court.

Does the library still provide the same services?
Basic services are the same, but adult and kids programs are gone, i.e. story hours, computer classes, homebound delivery service, etc. We still have the summer reading program, funded in part out of a $7,700 state Ready-to-Read grant.

Why don't you get grants to keep the library running?
Grants are nearly non-existent for basic operations for General Fund services, such as libraries. However, our creative staff has recently obtained two grants from the State Parks and Recreation Department:

• $330,000 to complete Jon Storm Park and complete the 1st leg of Willamette River Trail
• $50,000 to retrofit Rivercrest Park’s wading pool for a spray pool and resurface the tennis and basketball courts + $25,000 from Metro Enhancement grant funds.

Through the dedication and energy of staff and citizens, our community will continue to solve its problems, grow and evolve. Please continue to give us your ideas and your support.