Will more Canby residents hop on board buses in the future? The city of Canby is eager to find out.

The Canby City Council unanimously approved a resolution sending out a petition to gauge whether citizens favored opting out of existing Tri-Met service to establish a city-run bus service during last Wednesday's meeting.

As required by state statute, 15 percent of registered voters - about 1,300 people - within the city and its Urban Growth Boundary will need to sign the petitions, which began circulating Friday, by March 1 in order for the city to present them to Tri-Met by March 7.

City staff believe the key to the proposed bus service's success will be twofold: a regular shuttle service with numerous stops at destinations throughout the city; and connectivity to Wilsonville and its Tri-Met transfer station on Interstate 5 to Portland and Salem, and to Oregon City and its Tri-Met transfer station for the Interstate 205 corridor.

Canby Community Development Director Jerry Pineau said the city does not expect an increase or reduction in the employer's payroll tax currently paid for Tri-Met service, and that employers will be contacted to find out how a city-run bus service could better serve their employees.

The withdrawal petition being taken around town states the proposed bus service "will be as good as or better than the service we have now; will impose no new taxes; includes plans for a local shuttle service; and will not increase the employer-paid transit district taxes."

A presentation to local employers will be made by city staff and task force members at the Canby Area Chamber of Commerce's March 6 luncheon.

"I think it's really important we do this," Mayor Terry Prince said during the Feb. 7 council meeting. "I think it's a win-win situation for the citizens and businesses of Canby. I'm really excited about this."

Prince said the city will need to decide if it should buy or lease buses, and if it should hire employees or subcontract for them.

"It's a big decision, and one that will be coming at us pretty quickly," he said.

Numerous other crucial policy, purchasing and financing decisions in the opt-out process will need to be made between now and June 8, Pineau told councilors.

If eventually approved by Tri-Met's board of directors, the city would withdraw from the service Jan. 2, 2002. Tri-Met may require an intergovernmental agreement to assure adequate services are provided by Canby to meet Tri-Met's standards.

The City Council supported 1999 legislation sponsored by state Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Canby, which provided the city the opportunity to petition to withdraw from Tri-Met. The bill was enacted by lawmakers.

The 26-member Canby Public Transportation Task Force and its subcommittees held public meetings from September 2000 to January 2001, and Portland State University conducted the Canby Community Transportation Needs Assessment. Middle school site fix

Milton Creagh is a tower of a man. At 6 feet, 7 inches, the 43- year-old nationally acclaimed motivational speaker stands high above most of his audiences. His voice is deep and resonating, friendly and kind, and he speaks to people individually, as if each person in his audience were a close friend.

"I'm doing good, doing good," he said before a presentation Thursday at Ackerman Middle School. "I'm just trying to keep on rolling."

Creagh brought his anti-drug and anti-alcohol message to Canby on Thursday for a marathon day of assemblies and speeches. He speaks to more than 800 schools each year, a Herculean feat no doubt, but it's not surprising. He made four presentations in Canby in one day.

A father of four, Creagh grew up in the projects of Chicago. He now travels across the nation speaking to youngsters about the perils of using drugs and alcohol. He peppers his talks with personal anecdotes, pop culture trends, and alarming statistics on teen drug use, violence and sexual assault.

"I think a lot of people should hear him speak," said Ali Sigler, 13, an eighth-grader at Ackerman. "Some of what he said was shocking, but what he talks about is important. It shows how people may need help, and how important it is to talk about it."

Sigler is president of Ackerman's Oregon Students Safety On the Move club, a statewide anti-drug and anti-alcohol group based at Oregon State University.

Sigler and OSSOM's vice president, Kyle Bunch, saw one of Creagh's video presentations at a camp this past summer, and felt he would be an important speaker for the youth of Canby.

"After seeing the video, we thought it would be good to have him come and talk to us," Sigler said.

Ackerman counselor Valerie Martin credited the students for bringing Creagh to town.

"It really was the students who got this all together," she said, adding that OSSOM spent $400 of its treasury money in arranging an appearance by Creagh. "Their efforts should be commended. The students made it happen."

Martin said community support was also important.

"We've just gotten incredible support from the community at every turn," she said. "It really shows why people are proud of Canby, that people unite for positive reasons and reactions."

Creagh gave three different presentations during the day Thursday; one for elementary students, one for middle schoolers and one for the high school.

"He really opens a lot of doors . . . and that's as much as a one-day speaker can do," Martin said. "He opens the doors, and then it's our job to step in and be there to help out the kids."

At a fourth appearance Thursday evening, Creagh spoke to some 300 parents and students at Ackerman.

"I think he sort of makes parents aware of what's going on, because I don't think a lot of them know," Bunch said. "(Parents) need to realize that, even if they think their kid is good, they still know where to get drugs and alcohol if they want to."

Creagh played a video of the high school presentation from earlier in the day - which showed several students in tears - to parents Thursday evening. "I think it was good to show the parents the video," Sigler said. "It shows them that this stuff happens in Canby."

At his afternoon Ackerman appearance, Creagh walked students through a sometimes emotional diatribe against drugs and alcohol, and a commercial culture he finds not only irresponsible but racist as well. He decried commercials put out by large breweries - namely Anheiser Busch - that market their products to young people.

"Can you tell me why a company is trying to sell you a product that is illegal for you to have?" Creagh asked the crowd, referring to Budweiser's use of cartoon characters to sell its product.

Students responded in unison; "Money."

Although amiable and kind, Creagh did not hesitate to thunder his message to students, nor did he refrain from disciplining the jesters in the crowd.

"Everybody was affected by it and everybody really liked it," Bunch said.

"The way he got right in their faces, made them learn a lot more.

"I think there is a lot of stuff like (drugs and alcohol) going on at Ackerman, but he helped to change people's minds about doing it."