It was at least the third sunny Friday (and, if you bother to read the whole bulletin, the third good program) in a row. We were greeted by Kristi Brill and Mike McKenzie. Mike had temporarily escaped from 1040 land. Paul Colbert called us to order. Dick Ecker led us in prayer and Vivian Bull started the pledge. Those of you who visit our web site will be able to see Bob Thompson's handiwork with the video still camera. The web site address is www.onlinemac.com/rotary. Among the overheard discussions was a vigorous discussion of basketball. A Perdue University alum was quite proud of his team. Perdue is scheduled to play Stanford Friday evening. The Stanford parent at the table was unusually silent, no doubt afraid that the game could result in a tuition increase no matter how it came out. If the team did well, they might think that education there is worth more and charge accordingly; while, if the team didn't do well, more money might have to be poured into the athletic program.

Visiting Rotarian today was Larry Bohnsack of the Newberg Club. He and guest Tony Bell were our speakers today. Pat Hurliman was the guest of his big brother Bill. Our exchange students Sonsie Ang and Andrea McKenzie were also with us. Congratulations to Norm Goss for making up with the Sunrise Clan. Your bulletin author also made up in advance for the meeting he is going to miss next Friday by going to the Board Meeting last Wednesday.

Wisely, Paul Colbert quickly relinquished the podium to Kristi Brill. Kristi first honored Cy Jeter for her birthday. Kristi put in a dollar for Cy, which prompted Cy to give [un]true confessions about jealous husbands. Cy prodded Kristi to fine all Rotarians $1 for not wearing their pins. Kristi even caught Paul in her dragnet. There were some quick calculations at our table when someone mentions that Milt sells pins for $2. I wonder if he would rent them for 50 cents a meeting? Kristi then gave a report on the Rotarian magazine. We learned that we have been insulting all of our visitors and our guests from Latin America over the years with our letter opener gift, which is thought to be too close to a knife.

Ed Gormley, apparently not wanting to make any more public speeches or announcements after the St. Patrick's Day incident, asked that the bulletin include that a tentative trash pickup day has been set for Saturday, April 18. See Ed for a good time. Don New was not shy about making an announcement to the entire group. He told us that there is an Art and Wine Auction Committee meeting at his house, 7 pm, March 25. Lots of help is needed. Paul Colbert hinted that we may be asked (for the good of Rotary) to drink more local wine as a thank you for donations to our fund raiser. Remember, service above self.

Paul also announced that the Rotary District is looking for area representatives for the next Rotary year. They would visit clubs in Polk and Yamhill Counties - a good way to make up and do something for the district.

We moved quickly to our program to discover that one-half of our program was missing. Lee Vasquez is apparently in Reno and there was some question about the location of the Foundation check book and whether the Foundation corpus has now been doubled at the roulette table. The program went on without Lee. Tony Bell was definitely on the ìquid pro quoî side of the issue, so we can only assume that in answer to last bulletin's concern, Lee has thrown in with the ìconsî since retiring as Sheriff. Who would have guessed?

Larry Bohnsack, visiting Rotarian from Newberg, came highly recommended by Club member Stella, who stood in for Lee.

Tony Bell is a long-time resident in community and political affairs. When he is not doing those things, he is a professor at the Oregon Graduate Institute. Tony praised Larry Bohnsack's contribution to the Committee by fighting the proposal ìtooth and nailî during Committee deliberations. Tony says this resulted in solving problems that Larry recognized and raised. (Larry's version is that the problems haven't been solved yet.) The idea of the home rule charter would be to replace our three full-time salaried commissioners with a county manager and five part-time (low paid) commissioners. The five commissioners would be elected by the voters of the entire county, but each would be required to reside in a different district. According to Tony, the Commissioners would deal with policy and land use type issues, while the new county manager would perform the administrative functions. The county manager would be appointed by the commissioners based on candidates put forth by a selection committee, which would include other elected county officials, such as the Sheriff, the County Clerk, and the Surveyor. If there is some opposition on the committee, the home rule charter would keep the Sheriff, the Surveyor and the Clerk as elected officials.

Larry presented the opposition position, which is, essentially, simply that the home rule charter creates solutions that don't work for problems that either don't exist or aren't important to people. Larry believes that the system adds an additional layer of bureaucracy and diminishes the power of the elected commission. He contrasted the County's reality and needs with those of City's such as McMinnville and Newberg who have city manager/volunteer council systems which seem to work well (at least in the McMinnville situation). Larry pointed out that in the public hearings in various parts of the County, no one complained about any of the problems that districting is supposed to solve. He also pointed out that there is no evidence that there has been any cost saving from the change in any other counties which have adopted similar systems. Tony Bell did concede that the present system works and is not broken. He just thinks that this plan is better. Larry's response (quite smooth, in your writer's opinion) was that the home rule committee did not identify any problems with our existing form and structure of county government, although some people have problems with some of the people who are filling the elective positions in the system. Tony countered that the system he is proposing will bring in outside people (who have careers and skills outside of the County government) to make policy and direct the County government. He believes that full-time commissioners in the present system really don't have enough to do. The implication was that new commissioners, though, wouldn't get into the same mischief that the underworked full-time commissioners have in the past. (Your writer is certain that there was no reflection on club member and former County Commissioner Colin Armstrong intended in that remark.) Larry's retort was that the five commissioners will theoretically be in control, but, in fact, will be dependent upon the county manager for information and the ability to run the county.

Whether you were a ìproî, a ìconî, or a former Sheriff off gambling in Reno, I think all would agree that this was another excellent program. Rotarians who, unfortunately missed it were Eve Barnett, Art Bradley, Mike Colvin, Rosemari Davis, Waldo Farnham, Jan Fourier, Patrick Fuchs, Al Hansen, Lee Howard, Roger Hoy, Skip Huwaldt, Bob Johnstone, Steve Macy, Gary Rueter, Linda Stephenson, Mike Strange, and Lee Vasquez. Ray Fields, Frank Bumpus, and Ray Wikle were not at our meeting, but had already made up at the board meeting earlier in the week.. Those of you who missed the meeting can makeup by calling another Rotarian and going someplace fun on Wednesday morning or other day.

This week President-elect Ray Fields will report on his trip to PETS and Dr. John Day will present the second half of his program on El Niño.

"When meeting day comes around, I do not have to decide whether to attend or not, for that has already been decided for me . . . it was one of the obligations I accepted when I joined Rotary." -- A Rotarian