I and a couple other people attended the St. Helens City Council meeting last Wednesday evening. We attended the dog and pony show to present to the city council facts regarding the Sheriff's ballot measure. Brady Preheim presented a very factual and detailed power point presentation to the Council. Mr. Preheim had attended the work session earlier that day and presented the presentation as well. He was accused of presenting Voodoo numbers to the Council by none other than Commissioners Tony Hyde and Earl Fisher. They are  two of the three sitting County Commissioners. While the two Commissioners presented NO FACTS to the Council it did not stop them for basically calling Mr. Preheim a liar. Mr. Preheim was not allowed to rebut any of the accusations that were thrown at him by the Commissioners. Mr. Preheim decided to attend the night meeting and to add to his presentation.

Not only did M. Preheim add more facts to his presentation, he was able to show that the comments by the two County Commissioners held no facts or merit. Only one City Councilmen directed any questions to Mr. Preheim.  He wanted to know when we brought up that there was no oversight on this measure and we wanted to make sure that the money, if the measure passed, would be used as it was intended. In Columbia county, money from other ballot measures have, at times, not been used in a way that the voters intended them to be used.

He also asked if we had a plan to make sure that this did not happen.
I am not sure that he understood that we as taxpayers should not have to have a plan in place to oversee ballot measures, the people asking for the money should be honest enough and moral enough to tell the voters the truth when they present a ballot measure. They should also  spend the money, if passed, where it is supposed to be spent. I was shocked at that question.

Our Councilmen know exactly how to correct a ballot measure, it takes an "initiative" by collecting registered voters signatures county wide , and placing it on the ballot. Voters will make the decision if it passes or fails. If passed, it most likely would not be honored... just like the hospital initiative. It would then result in a huge and costly lawsuit that might drag on for years, The councilman knew this because the City Council is presently involved in a lawsuit with the hospital board. The council wants 100% of the value for the hospital property even though they only paid in 40%; but that is another issue.

The Mayor seemingly speaks for the City Council, no other Council people asked Mr. Preheim any other questions. They decided to vote, and as usual in St. Helens; the City Council was 100% in agreement to support the Sheriff Levy even though the numbers don't seem to add up.

I discovered that the Mayor demands that that the Council must be in total agreement one way or the other, when they vote, or else he tables the resolution. This is shameful and that is why you have more than one person on a council so that there are several different opinions. Yes and no votes should be made public. The way they do things now, the Mayor runs the show. I would hope that sometime in the near future the City Council of St. Helens grows a set and makes their own decisions and starts voting how they feel and not how the Mayor wants them to vote.

I sure miss Phil Barlow, he voted as he thought wise and he would not let the Mayor bully him, Too bad the Council did not learn from Phil before he passed.

The moral to this event is… Don't waste your time attending the St. Helens City Council meeting on public comment time because if you hope to make a difference or add facts to any issue before the council, forget It.  It has already been decide by the mayor how they are going to vote in the work session that took place earlier that day. There is nothing like a dictator form of government in river city.

I guess the Council had to vote to support the sheriff's levy because that is how politics go, one government entity supporting another.

It is no surprise to me why people don't give a Rats behind about trying to get involved in their community