The Mount Hood Livability Coalition here in Hoodland might be best known for our work to ensure Clackamas County cracks down on non-compliance of the Short Term Rental (STR) owners and managers to register the STR registration and obey the regulations. But the term “livability” in our name covers many things, i.e., we sponsored a non-partisan Political Forum to bring all of the Clackamas County Commissioner candidates and Sheriff candidates to Welches so residents could ask them about local issues in person. We also network behind the scenes on wildfire, wildlife and zoning issues.
Recently, we were contacted by Supporters of the Hoodland Library and the Sandy/ Hoodland Advisory Board to take a look at their repeated requests to the county commissioners for funding to pay the rent for the library space, which is approximately twenty-five thousand dollars a year for the next five years. After reading the data they had compiled about how much Hoodland receives and what has been given to the other two “unincorporated libraries,” we were floored by the inequity.
Here is a data sheet of the analysis of the inequity.
MHLC Board member Matt Bromley immediately composed a statement of support based on the information provided by Hoodland Library Supporters and based on his own research. The Board approved it and sent it to each Commissioner to preview before the June 13th business meeting. MHLC also sent a board member who attended this meeting along with over twenty Hoodland community supporters and read the statement into the record.
This article from the Mountain Times newspaper is available online.
We urge you to read it and examine the data sheets provided here. In the article, you will learn that Hoodland property tax dollars do not stay in Hoodland because there is no local governing body. Clackamas County, based on the census doles out the money to support the library through Sandy, who manages the library admin., nothing more. Because, according to the census, there are fewer people actually living in our area and more unoccupied vacation/ second homes and STRs, Hoodland Library funding is a casualty of a funding system based on the number of full-time residents in a vacation area.
We need your help to pressure the Clackamas County Commissioners to act immediately and fund the Hoodland Library in the short term while planning the permanent home for the Hoodland Library our Mountain community deserves. Contact Clackamas County Commissioners at bcc@co.clackamas.us or 503.655.8581. Tell them Mount Livability Coalition (MHLC) sent you!