Transportation, education focus of Florence legislative event, Oct. 27

Education and transportation will be the key topics of a town hall hosted by Sen. Arnie Roblan, D-Coos Bay, and Rep. Caddy McKeown, D-Coos Bay, this weekend in Florence. The event – scheduled for 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 28, in the Bromley Room of the Siuslaw Public Library, 1460 Ninth St., in Florence – will feature Oregon Education Innovation Officer and Oregon Department of Education Interim Director Colt Gill, in addition to Oregon Department of Transportation Region 2 Manager Frannie Brindle and local legislators. McKeown serves as co-chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation, Preservation and Modernization and Roblan is the chair of the Senate Committee on Education. Both provide powerful voices for the Oregon Coast on education, transportation and numerous other topics in the Oregon Legislature. Gill was appointed as Oregon’s first Education Innovation Officer in 2016 and recently was promoted to the interim director role in the Department of Education. He has a 27-year history as an educator in Oregon.  The town hall event on Saturday in Florence is free and open to the public.