|
Wayne Clemetson named development
director for Clark College Foundation
Wayne Clemetson
today was named director of development for the Clark College Foundation by
foundation president Lisa Gilbert.
Clemetson has over 30 years of experience, most recently
as the development director of the YMCA of Columbia Willamette-Clark County
Branch. He was instrumental in helping the YMCA develop its facility in
Orchards.
As director, Clemetson will be responsible for donor
relations, special events, campaigns and marketing.
Clemetson is president of the Downtown Vancouver Rotary
Club and is a former president and current board member of the Clark College
Penguin Athletic Club.
The Clark College Foundation, with assets of over $60
million, is one of the largest and most successful in the nation for community
colleges.
Pearson Air Museum gets big boost
from National Historic Reserve Trust
In a move that extends financial stability to the Pearson
Air Museum, the Vancouver National Historic Reserve Trust has agreed to assume
management responsibilities for the air museum and has appointed
Kyle Kihs museum director. For the past
two years Kihs had been sales manager for the Southwest Washington Convention
and Visitors Bureau.
The new agreement, that comes with the blessings of the
Pearson Field Historical Society, the National Park Service, which owns the land
on which the E 5th Street museum is located, and the City of Vancouver.
The park service, which operates the Fort Vancouver
National Historic Site and the fort, aims to expand educational and tourist
opportunities both at the fort and with the air museum and will be adding an
educational curriculum director to its staff this year.
Tracy Fortmann, superintendent of the
historic site, says that the Reserve Trust is our designated nonprofit partner
and the agreement between the trust and the air museum historical society will
strengthen the Historic Reserve as a whole.
The move will allow Pearson Field Historical Society to
focus on its strengths—history and education, according to the society’s board
chair Bill Roller.
Elson Strahan,
president of the Reserve Trust, says the new agreement will focus on cooperation
among all of community’s historic and education assets. Fortmann adds, “By
working together we can create a richer array of community resources.”
The air museum’s income began declining after its
extremely successful weekly Cruse-In program moved across the river to Portland
International Speedway. At the same time, the subsidy contributed by the city of
Vancouver also was declining.
In 2004, the city contributed $30,000 toward operation of
the museum. This year, the city budgeted $20,000. But, according to
Jan Bader, city spokesperson, the city
will continue to provide support, but with the goal being for the museum to
support itself.
In response to a question of the future of Pearson
Airfield, part of which is owned by the National Park Service and the other half
by Vancouver, Bader said discussions about the future of Pearson Field, begun
about six months ago, are expected to continue. The current agreement calls for
the city to relinquish its control over half the runway to the park service in
2022.
Betty Sue Morris tells packed house
that Clark County is on the move
Delivering the State-of-the-County Address for the second
year in a row to a packed house in the Red Lion Hotel at the Quay, Clark County
Commissioner Betty Sue Morris Friday said
the board of commissioners will bring unprecedented corporate and personal
energy to their collective countywide efforts at economic development.
“We won’t just encourage
Bart Phillips and the Columbia River Economic Development Council to
undertake new prospecting and recruiting efforts, we’ll help target the ones we
would like to woo and help knock on their doors,” Morris said. “When potential
employers come to see what we have to offer, we’ll personally help with the
hosting.”
Morris added that the county is prepared to use its $4
million fund from real estate taxes to augment its efforts toward economic
development.
The commissioner said the two most pressing big questions
offered her in writing from constituents have to do with the proposed Cowlitz
Casino Resort near La Center and the future of C-TRAN, the countywide transit
system that is increasing fares and may cut services and routes by half this
year.
Regarding the casino, Morris said the county has a
memorandum of understanding with the Cowlitz Tribe, put in place nearly a year
ago, that makes up for tax losses and service costs regardless of the size of
the development. And, she reminded her audience, the county will not determine
whether the casino is developed. The Bureau of Indian Affairs will. Regarding
C-TRAN, Morris repeated her support of the system and the hope that cities in
the county will decide whether to be a part of the system and that this fall a
ballot measure will again be put before voters to retain mass transit service.
Parks election ends tomorrow;
Hockinson school measure, too
In an election conducted entirely by mail, voters in the
Vancouver urban growth boundary have until tomorrow to return ballots on a
proposition that would create a maintenance fund to operate 35 new parks and 8
new miles of trail. The measure calls for a tax of about $40 a year on a
$150,000 residence. The parks and trail have already been acquired through a
real estate tax program.
In the Hockinson School District, voters may go to the
polling places between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 8, to vote on a levy
proposition for maintenance and operation, which replaces an expiring levy.
Backers of the proposition say the new levy will not increase taxes.
News briefs
The Vancouver City Council meets in workshop session at 4
p.m. today. Under discussion will be proposed C-TRAN fare increases. The
Vancouver City Council meets in regular session at 7 p.m. The council is
expected to award a contract for completion of the Esther Short “streetscape”
project. g Port of Vancouver
Commissioners meet in regular session at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 8.
g Clark County commissioners meet in
regular session at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 8.
|
MIRIAM GREEN 
"Working to help you!"
