In Our View: Cheers & Jeers: County holds line; farewell Rojo

Cheers: To fiscal responsibility. There are several jeers to go along with this one, but county councilors deserve cheers for holding the line on budgets. The council this week rejected, by a 3-2 vote, a request from the county Assessor’s Office to fund two full-time positions. The positions would have administered a senior citizen property tax relief program, and the county assessor said his staff is stretched thin because of an increase in construction projects. That created a conundrum, but councilors were wise to reject the request.

That being said, jeers are warranted for the Legislature. Lawmakers this year created an unfunded mandate with changes to the state’s property tax relief program; they made thousands of additional households eligible for the program, adding to the costs for counties administering the program. Meanwhile, the state’s cap of a 1 percent annual levy increase for counties and cities continues to hamstring local governments. The maximum increase does not keep up with inflation, reducing government’s ability to effectively serve citizens.

Sad: The death of Rojo. The popular Ridgefield-based llama died of natural causes this week at the age of 17. For the past 12 years, Rojo worked as a registered therapy animal, appearing at hospitals, assisted living communities and various public events while providing comfort with his gentle temperament.

Rojo’s legacy will live on. He will be displayed in the Sensory Safari at the Washington State School for the Blind in Vancouver, surrounded by a taxidermic cougar, bison and other animals. “Even when he passes, he’ll still be enriching lives,” handler Shannon Joy said. A Go Fund Me account to pay for veterinarian and taxidermy bills quickly raised the desired $13,000, representing the impact Rojo had on the community.

Cheers: To Camas Produce. The store along Northwest Everett Street in Camas has reopened, 10 months after somebody drove an SUV through the front. Owner Ali Alquraisha is still dealing with insurance payments and suppliers, but has been bolstered by support from the community.

“Every time I was at the store, I’d have eight to 10 people stop and ask when we were reopening, or if they could help out in any way,” Alquraisha said. “I’ve been here 15 years, but it takes a tragedy like this to show you how much people care. It’s brought me closer to the community.”

Jeers: To a troubled center. Share, a homeless service nonprofit, has announced that it will turn over operation of the Navigation Center after January. The center, which is owned by the city of Vancouver and is near Grand and Fourth Plain boulevards, opened a year ago and has been beset by problems. A recent third-party report observed “an absence of any social modeling to shape and control client conduct,” and neighbors have shared a long list of complaints.

With proper oversight, the Navigation Center can provide much-needed services that are beneficial both to homeless people and local residents. We hope that changes in management will provide improvements that mitigate the problems created by the center.

Cheers: To circles in the sky. This warrants cheers simply because it is so unusual. Heavy fog in the Seattle area Friday led to jetliners headed for Sea-Tac circling above Portland and Vancouver. Officials said the planes were staying close to Portland International Airport in case they ran low on fuel and needed to land while waiting for Sea-Tac to clear.

The result was a series of visible circles in the skies above Clark County — and plenty of extra noise for some local residents.