Welcome

Autumn greetings from Save Helvetia!

As Thanksgiving approaches and we head into the holiday season, we would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation for the support you have given us throughout the year.  We have a few updates to share, along with news of some great new ways to spread the word about Helvetia and support us in the process.  So let's get started...

Urban/Reserves and UGB expansion update

This year we have put substantial efforts into two parallel battles: opposing the 673 acres of Urban Reserves north of Highway 26 and opposing the City of Hillsboro's request to request to add 440 of those acres to the UGB (Urban Growth Boundary) this year.  There were twelve meetings and hearings before Metro, LCDC, and the Washington County Board of Commissioners during 2011 and Save Helvetia supporters showed up at all of them!  We gave 64 individual testimonies and were successful in limiting Hillsboro's UGB expansion to south of Highway 26 for this 5-year cycle.  We will need to stay vigilant because the City of Hillsboro will undoubtedly ask Metro to expand north of Highway 26 again in 2015.

As you know, we testified in force at the LCDC Reserves hearings in August (read testimony or watch video).  The UGB expansion depends on the Reserves decision being upheld and we are still awaiting the final "order" from LCDC, which we will need to review before deciding our next move.  We are puzzled by the delay in issuing the order, but have no choice but to wait.  Once LCDC issues the final order, appeals will be heard.  There is a fast-track process which requires that appeals be heard 8 to 12 weeks after the order.  An appeal would incur another significant round of legal fees.

Our financial picture

Carrie Richter and Ed Sullivan of Garvey Schubert Barer helped us with the legal side of our testimony throughout the year.  Carrie and Ed gave us discounted prices (we are a registered non-profit) AND they donated over $8,000 of pro-bono work.  After all was said and done, however, our legal bill for 2011 was about $15,000.  We've held several successful fundraisers (The Helvetia Culture Fest and Faun Hosey's Pie Night) and we've been blessed with donations from some very special individuals and groups (La Finquita del Buho CSA members, Elizabeth Furse, the Cultural Coalition of Washington County, and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde).  These have brought our remaining legal bill down to just under $4,000.  So we've come a long way, but we still have a way to go.

Great new ways to support Save Helvetia!

Which brings us to the exciting part of our message!  We have put together a special array of Helvetia gifts we hope you will consider purchasing as you plan out your gift list this holiday season.  We have unique note cards featuring photos of our historic Helvetia barns and Helvetia in Winter, and a selection of hooded sweatshirts, long-sleeve t-shirts and short-sleeve t-shirts with either our classic Save Helvetia "Protect Farmland" design or our cool Helvetia Community Association barn logo, with lots of size and color choices.  Stay warm this winter and support us, too!  Simply go to www.helvetiacommunity.org and click on "Market" to see all our items.  If you'd like to make a tax-deductible donation, simply click on "Donate".  (You can also send a gift in someone else's name -- contact us to make arrangements.)

If you prefer to send a check, please make it out to either "Helvetia Community Association" or "Save Helvetia" and send it to:

Treasurer
13260 NW Bishop Road
Hillsboro, OR  97124

We will send you a tax receipt for all donations to Helvetia Community Association.

All proceeds will be applied to our legal debt, and our holiday wish is to pay off our debt!  Will you help us?

Introducing the Helvetia Community Association

As Save Helvetia supporters testified (over 228 times!) in the last few years, we encountered many of our elected officials who told us that "Helvetia doesn't have real farming".  It was apparent that many elected officials work from an opinion that the Helvetia area has no value except as an urbanized extension of Hillsboro.  We decided that we needed a way to educate the public about Helvetia's many treasures.

In 2010, we formed the Helvetia Community Association (HCA) as a cultural, educational non-profit 501(c)(3) organization with the mission to preserve, educate, and celebrate the value of our rich cultural heritage, our precious natural resources, and our vital farmland for the entire Portland metropolitan region to appreciate and enjoy.  We thank volunteers Laurie Fort, Joe Fort, and Faun Hosey for creating the HCA logo and we thank the Pieren family for allowing us to use the image of their historic Century barn.

Save Helvetia is now a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization which continues its mission of advocacy and activism (more testimony and hearings!) in protecting farmland north of Highway 26.  Our advocacy efforts continue to focus on urban and rural reserves, urban growth boundary expansions, and reducing the impact of new roads and road extensions on farmland north of Highway 26.  You can choose to donate to "Save Helvetia" at www.savehelvetia.org as you have done in the past, but your donations are not tax-deductible.

Together, these two non-profit organizations strengthen Helvetia's identity in the regional landscape and with the elected bodies who are making decisions about the high-value farmland north of Highway 26.  Please consider donating to one of them this year so we can pay our wonderful legal team who have done so much to help us!

That's it for this time.  Here's to a joyful holiday season that is all you want it to be!

The Save Helvetia Steering Committee