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December 25, 2008 Front Page |
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County Website Offers Payment Of Fines Online
By Eden Taylor
Lise Yervasi, Justice of the Peace, reported on the new Justice Court Website to the County Commissioners in their regular session on Dec. 17. The Website can be accessed through baker county.org. Once the Justice Court link is chosen, several tabs on the left hand side show what is accessible through the Website. One can access all the Justice Courts in the county. Huntington is now included in District 1. Forms can also be accessed. Those who wish to do a trial by affidavit can print off the affidavit and mail it into the Justice Court. This will save people lots of time and money in having to appear in person.
There is also a link to the ORS laws. Information on diversion on Marijuana cases can also be accessed. There is a tab on Weddings. This is linked to the County Clerk’s office for information on licenses, etc. One can also pull small claims forms off the Website. And there is juror information. Yervasi hopes that next year the juror’s questionnaires can be filled out online and submitted electronically. There is even a tab which has directions to the court house.
Should School Board Contract Out?
By Eden Taylor
In the school board work meeting on Dec. 16, School board members and those present, who included many school district employees, listened to Victor Musial talk about privatization of services. Victor Musial is the director of field operations of OSEA, the Oregon State Education Association. One of the possibilities to reduce the school district budget is to contract out busing, food services, and maintenance. The purpose of Musial’s presentation was to convince the school administrators and school board that contracting out is not a good idea. In fact, he said that “privatization is a bad thing.”
Musial showed how private companies are not obligated to hire the school district employees who are currently doing these jobs. The companies reduce wages by reducing benefits as much as 40%. This reduces the disposable income of those employees whose jobs are contracted out. Contractors will also reduce hours. No longer able to make a living in Baker County, many of these employees will leave the county, taking with them their children who are students. This, then reduces the school population, and more cuts will be necessary.
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