Chemeketa and Sheridan bonds deserve our votes of confidence

There are 45 school, fire and park district seats up in Yamhill County in the looming May 20 election, but only 12 are being contested. One seat drew no candidates, and 32 seats drew just one.

If you live in McMinnville, you have only one meaningful decision to make — whether to support Chemeketa Community College’s second attempt at passing a $140 million bond issue, which focuses primarily on career, vocational and technical education.

It seems like an awfully easy yes to us.

There would be no additional cost to taxpayers, as the new bond would simply replace an expiring one. What’s more, it would qualify the college for an $8 million state grant, boosting total proceeds to $148 million.

Yes, you would have to forgo a tax cut, but it would amount to only 27 cents per thousand dollars of assessed valuation, spread across three counties and part of a fourth. Yes, the money would mostly be spent on the home campus in Salem, but the breadth and depth of local training in high-demand fields is directly dependent on the quality of the mother ship’s facility and programing infrastructure.

The McMinnville Area Chamber of Commerce is a vocal supporter, noting, “Workforce development is central to economic growth and education is where it begins.”

The chamber addresses the local angle this way: “McMinnville students will benefit from upgraded CTE spaces that are directly aligned with industry needs. Local employers will have access to better-trained talent ready to step into high-skill, high-wage roles.”

The bottom line is, local students would reap substantial benefits at little or no local cost. That strikes us as a deal simply too good to pass up.

Make the investment for the kids. They need every edge they can get as they enter the adult workforce in these challenging times.

The Chemeketa bond shares the ballot with only one other money measure — a $6 million Sheridan School District bond issue, aimed at shoring up badly deteriorating infrastructure and performing badly needed upgrades at both district schools.

It comes with a major selling point of its own — state agreement to put up another $6 million in matching funds at no local cost, doubling the local benefit. It would prove regrettably shortsighted to pass on an opportunity like this.

The pickings are slim on the candidate side.

The McMinnville ballot features three school board seats and two fire board seats, none being contested. Jason Bizon, Abbie Warmbier and Christine Bader are seeking return to the school board, Ray Pratt return to the fire board and Todd Hyder election to the fire board seat currently held by Ray Sparrow.

The Dayton and Yamhill fire districts each have contested races, as do the Dayton, Newberg, Sheridan and Willamina school districts.

Five candidates are also vying for three seats on the Chehalem Park and Recreation District Board on an at-large basis. The top three vote-getters will be seated.

But the Chemeketa bond is, hands down, the big draw this time around in its member counties of Marion, Polk, Yamhill and southern Linn. It got lost in a blizzard of other issues in the November general election, but has the limelight pretty much to itself this time around.

The Sheridan school bond is equally critical in the district’s West Valley service area. It gives voters there a special incentive to turn out in what might otherwise seem a low-key election.

Chemeketa is planning to establish a new skilled trades educational and apprenticeship facility; increase capacity in its health care, behavioral health, emergency services and health and fitness programs; and expand first responder training at its Brooks facility. All these programs are major draws for local students, whether they pursue their studies on the local campus, main campus or some combination of the two.

The college is also planning to address maintenance and upgrade needs in the HVAC, roofing, technology and seismic arenas; develop a new science lab; expand lighting and camera systems to enhance campus safety; and upgrade athletic fields for both school and community use.

Addressing such needs as they arise just makes good business sense. Putting them off raises the cost exponentially.

The situation in Sheridan helps underscore that point. The district has deferred a lot of maintenance over the years due to lack of funds, and it’s come time to pay the piper or else.

Fortunately, the state is prepared to double what Sheridan can reasonably hope to raise. Seizing that opportunity would enable the district to:

n Replace the HVAC system at Faulconer-Chapman and renovate locker rooms, classrooms, bathrooms, storage areas and an aging roof at the school’s old gym.

n Replace asbestos flooring, update the science lab, add exterior lighting and security cameras, address roofing and interior lighting issues, overhaul paging and intercom systems, and upgrade security and parking facilities at the high school.

Both money measures on local May 20 ballot seem well worth the investment. Here’s hoping they will spur engagement and participation among voters in the absence — in most cases, though certainly not all — of compelling candidate races.