Update: There’s been a shift in meeting dates, with the meeting originally scheduled for March 28 cancelled and a slight time change for the April 11 meeting.
According to Ayla Hofler, the April 11 meeting now starts at 6:30 p.m. ,with doors opening at 6 p.m. at the Banks Public Library.
“We will accept nominations for officers in the first 30 minutes, let any candidates speak up to 3 minutes; then all eligible members will vote,” Hofler said in an email.
“New officers will review the bylaws and revise as necessary for our district,” she added.
Original story below:
An inactive county-affiliated nonpartisan civic group for residents and property owners in Banks, Buxton, Timber and Manning is planning to start up this spring.
“Washington County Community Participation Organizations (CPOs) are community-led organizations made up of neighbors who work together to improve their communities,” the county said on a webpage for the program.
The county is split into many CPOs, with Banks, Timber, Manning, and Buxton placed together in one CPO.
With an early step—a meeting to nominate officers—scheduled Thursday, March 14 at the Banks Public Library Jane Moore Community Room from 6 to 8 p.m., the group plans to follow that up with another meeting to elect said officers Thursday March 28 from 6 to 8 p.m., also at the library.
With officers in place, the CPO can officially launch, and the group plans to hold their first full CPO 14 meeting April 11, moving to a schedule of once a month meetings held every second Thursday of the month at the library.
“They’re a good thing to have when you have a lot of development going on around you,” said Ayla Hofler, who said she has been working with Washington County to get the local CPO launched as pro tem chair until elections are held. Ayla said she prefers to be referred to by her first name.
Ayla described the program as a “long established Washington County communication effort to keep residents in their CPO notified of all land use and transportation activities/applications,” in an email. “These formal notices are sent to the CPO and gives residents time to discuss and respond to the county,” she added.
Ayla said she was involved in the program as an officer in CPO 8, covering Mountaindale, North Plains and Helvetia in the past. She also recently ran for but did not win a seat on the Banks School Board in 2023.
She said one of the biggest benefits of the program is the steady stream of information sent to CPO leaders by Washington County of various permitting and land use projects that are filed with the county.
Ayla noted that the program is focused on the county, not the city of Banks. The program has no ties to any city of Banks programs. The CPO 14 boundary includes the entire city and many surrounding areas roughly in the same area as the Banks School District.
More information on the program can be found on the county’s CPO website.
It’s not uncommon to see a wide variety of speakers, often from the county itself, but area CPOs have hosted business leaders, nonprofits, other government representatives and more to speak on and discuss a variety of usually civic-oriented topics.
The Banks Public Library is located in Banks at 42461 NW Market Street. Contact library staff by phone at 503-324-1382, by email at [email protected] or find out more online at cityofbanks.org/library.
This story has been updated to use first name references for Ayla Hofler.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Banks Post and sister news publications the Gales Creek Journal and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
