Committee for Community Engagement Members Appointed
The Tigard City Council has appointed three members to a City committee dedicated to getting local residents involved in local government and City activities.
Connie Ramaekers was on the Committee for Community Engagement, while John Chung and Amber Neilson were both appointed to their first terms, respectively.
The Committee deals with oversight, accountability and policy direction for citywide community engagement activities. It was created to boost participation by the local community in City activities and programs.
All three appointees attended the Jan. 5 Council meeting at which they were appointed.
“I’ve lived in the Tigard community for over 40 years now, and I’m excited about the opportunity to serve,” Ramaekers said.
Neilson said it was her first experience with public service.
“I’ve never participated in any public administration in Tigard before,” she said, “but I look forward to it and I think it’s going to be a fantastic experience.”
Chung owns and operates a dental practice in Tigard and said he is honored to be selected.
“Being a business owner here, I’m looking forward to helping Tigard in investing,” he said.
Council Waives Some Business License Fees
The City Council unanimously adopted an ordinance at its Jan. 5 meeting that puts a new program in place to waive business license fees for businesses that complete new business training with selected City partners.
The new program allows for a one-time, one-year waiver of business license fees for new businesses that go on to successfully complete training with advising partners like the Micro Enterprise Services of Oregon, the Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs, Adelante Mujeres or other approved partners.
City Economic Development Director Lloyd Purdy estimated Tigard normally licenses between eight and 20 new businesses a month but does not anticipate all eligible new businesses will choose to participate. Therefore, any loss of business license fee revenue is likely to be minimal. The Council called for the program to be put into place at a December meeting. The details of the program were worked out with the City’s training partners after that, and the Council formally adopted the program the following month.
The program will run for three years initially to allow the City to collect data on participation and program costs.
22-year-old Killed in Stabbing Incident
A 22-year-old Tigard man was reportedly stabbed to death Friday, Jan. 29, at the Silver Creek Apartments in Tigard.
According to the Tigard Police Department, Leroy Xavier Wass-Morill died after he was attacked and stabbed by an unknown assailant at the Silver Creek Apartments, located at 11580 S.W. Hall Blvd. Police officers were dispatched to that location at 9:42 p.m. that evening along with paramedics after receiving a report of a stabbing. Wass-Morill was still alive at the time first responders arrived, police said, but died at a local hospital where he was taken for emergency treatment.
No one has yet been arrested in connection with the killing. Tigard Police detectives are investigating the case and a police spokesperson said they have “several leads” they are following.
According to an obituary published by Legacy.com and by Oregonlive.com, Leroy Morill, as he preferred to be known as, was a descendent of the Klamath Tribes and was born in Portland in 1999. His personal interests reportedly included reading, fashion, movies and music.
Morill was buried Feb. 15 at the Skyline Memorial Gardens Funeral Home in Portland.
