Dan Bain, from KPIC, covered our latest meeting with the Douglas County Commissioners, where Dan Wiggins presented to them our informal petition with over 1400 signatures opposing annexation. You can see the video segment at KPIC's website, by clicking here, and the supporting article here.
Three facts emerged from Dan Bain's interview with Ken Schmidt, and Aaron Cubic.

1. Tri-City people apparently don't listen or don't hear very well, at least according to Kenneth Schmidt, Myrtle Creek City Council President. Here is a quote from the KPIC interview:
   "The people in Tri City apparently don't listen or don't hear, but we've explained it to them numerous times, that to annex anything in Tri City would take a vote of the people in Tri City and Myrtle Creek. 51% of those people would have to say yes before it could happen."
   However, the article then goes on to say: “Schmidt said he was in favor of annexing the highway to get to the industrial property and to the airport, which is in the city.” The two statements seem to contradict each other. Because as we all know, Myrtle Creek has already annexed the Highway out to the barn, where their city sign is currently planted, and to the best of my knowledge . . .no vote was taken annexing that stretch of the highway, which is in Tri-City.
2. The Highway, apparently all the way out to the 103 interchange, and the adjoining commercial sector are official targets of annexation.
3. Volunteer Annexation of Tri-City remains the stated goal of the City of Myrtle Creek. Here in another quote from the interview, "The city council is interested in the commercial sector on Highway 99 corridor, and two, the city council is interested in voluntary annexations." 

So it now seems to me, that we have all come to an understanding as to what the stated goals are of both the elected officials of Myrtle Creek, and the fourteen hundred or so residents of Tri-City are. As it now stands, those goals are mutually exclusive. Which to my way of thinking at least, requires that the issue be sent to both the residents of Myrtle Creek and Tri-City to be voted upon, and that such a vote should settle the entire issue once and for all.
Including:

1. Undue the annexations which have already taken place, moving Myrtle Creek City’s boundaries all the way back to the Ray’s Food Market, where it was before.
2. Undue the Urban Growth Boundary, and put in place measures to prevent any further attempts by this small group of individuals at annexing Tri-City without the vote and will of the people.

It's perfectly reasonable for people to have diverging opinions. Heck, I sometimes disagree with myself. Eventually though, I have to make my mind up one way or the other, and so too do we all.

This is an issue with a simple solution.

Just a vote, a simple vote; To be annexed, or not to be annexed: that is the question.

Mark Garcia