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November 6, 2008 Front Page |
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Baker County Election Results
Bonebrake, Pope, Bass and Button To Occupy Baker City Council Seats
Here are the Baker County general election results. For Baker City council, the four winners are Aletha Bonebrake, 2,550; Milo Pope, 2,448; Jack (Sam) Bass, 2,074 and Clair Button, 1,842. In the County Commissioner race, Tim Kerns defeated Randy Joseph, 5,507 votes to 2,708. Connie Pound was elected mayor of Haines, defeating Michael Brazofsky 149 to 55. The total number voting was 8,850 with 17 precincts reporting.
President of the United States
Ralph Nader 106
Cynthia McKinney 23
John McCain 5643
Bob Barr 51
Chuck Baldwin 55
Barack Obama 2795
Write In 87
United States Senator
Gordan H Smith 5652
Jeff Merkley 2195
Dave Brownlow 652
Write In 14
United States Representative in Congress, 2nd District
Richard D Hake 189
Tristin Mock 183
Greg Walden 6400
Noah Lemas 1663
Write In 15
Secretary of State
Kate Brown 2722
Seth Alan Woolley 184
Rick Dancer 5313
Write In 12
State Treasurer
Allen Alley 4965
Michael Marsh 382
Ben Westlund 2730
Write In 10
System Development Charges To Be Topic For New Council
By Debby Schoeningh
Due to time constraints the current Baker City Council will pass the SDC (system development charges) torch on to the next council, which will be in office in January.
At last Tuesday’s City Council meeting City Manager Steve Brocato said, “Timing is everything with system development charges.” He said when the city started the SDC study, the nation’s economy was booming and SDCs were almost a requirement.
“Right now may not be the time to actually start accessing the charges,” he said. “Even if this council decided that the staff was to proceed with SDCs the next step would be the public hearing process.” He said the minimum length of time for that would be 90 days, which would put them into next year. There would also need to be a series of public hearings and probably three votes, he said.
Parking Task Force Offers Recommendations
By Debby Schoeningh
Jason Bland, chair of the Baker City Parking Task Force, presented five short term and 11 long term goals to City Council at their Oct. 28 meeting.
Bland said the Task Force met seven times officially and interviewed business owners, contacted state resources and reached out to the public and city staff.
Short Term Recommendations
• Repaint and maintain parking markings in the downtown area.
• Trim trees to maximize the visibility of parking signs. Recommend maintenance cycle for city staff and/or business owners, and check to make sure trees aren’t covering signs.
• Review, and if necessary, change set-backs from corners and painted crosswalks to parking spaces to increase visibility at corners.
• Add three new disabled parking spaces to commercial score. Proposed areas include Broadway near New Directions Northwest, Washington Ave. and Court Street.
• Change parking time limits to two hours in the vicinity of Baker Tower on Main and Auburn. Bland said Michelle Owen, public works director, received a request from building and business owners for this.
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