Wednesday, February 18, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
LETTERS
Continued from page 27
As to Mr. Fisher’s letter, it shows remark-
able ignorance of the Forest Service process.
Mr. Fisher, it is not the job of Sisters Trails
Alliance to contact Crossroads residents. That
was the obligation of the Forest Service, which
they have admitted they did poorly in that
regard. Again Mr. Fisher writes “Then four
STA members, including the STA president
at the time, got elected to the seven-member
Crossroads board of directors without reveal-
ing any STA affiliation.”
Not sure about other people, but this sounds
like one of those communist plots to take
over the government. Mr. Fisher: are the only
members of the Crossroads board allowed to
be persons who are opposed to the trail? Are
Crossroad board members required to reveal
various affiliations such as Rotary, Kiwanis,
Boy Scouts, etc.?
Ken Serkownek
s
s
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To the Editor:
My kids and I frequently visit Cliff
Clemens Park, especially lately as this unsea-
sonably warm weather has allowed. It is the
perfect park for my kids (other than lack of
bathrooms, but that is not the reason for my
letter).
What I am disturbed by is the number of
irresponsible dog-owners who do not clean
up after their pets. My kids have stepped in
dog poo not once, not twice, but three times
in the past few weeks directly inside the bark-
chipped play structure area. And I’ve seen it
happen to others, too.
What is worse, is that once stepped in, if
not noticed right away (which is the case usu-
ally with kids) it gets tracked up and around
the whole play structure, leaving a trail of
poo for others to step in or touch. Completely
unsanitary. What upsets me more, is that this
park provides free doggy bags and a receptacle
in which to dispose of dog waste. So it comes
down to just plain laziness.
Please, take pride in the beauty and cleanli-
ness of our town. Don’t be “that” dog-owner.
Take responsibility and clean up after your
own pets. Realize that little feet play in and
around the playground and shouldn’t have to
worry about stepping in it.
Karissa Bilderback
s
s
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To the Editor:
I have observed with dismay the noisy furor
that has unfolded over the last year regard-
ing the proposed paved trail to Black Butte
[Ranch]. Astonishing claims have been made
as to why this trail would be so terrible, as
anyone who has followed along will remem-
ber. The approval process was flawed, granted,
but what do you actually have when the layers
of catastrophic imagination are stripped away?
All of us know paved paths; there are 18
miles of them in Black Butte [Ranch] —
smooth, curvaceous, compelling. No cars. Lots
of smiling hikers and runners and cyclists, old
and young, enjoying their surroundings and
each other. There’s a well-loved paved trail in
Tollgate itself, though initially it too was bit-
terly contested. A subset of every community
assumes the duty of imagining and asserting
fearful outcomes.
The smothering of the paved trail initiative
has been a NIMBY success, if you think of
it like that. A loud and dogged minority fac-
tion from a neighborhood along the proposed
route has prevailed. If you think, as I do, that
a solid majority of the wider Sisters commu-
nity would favor such a beautiful, useful and
compelling community amenity, then indeed
the smothering has been “a victory of selfish-
ness over the best interests of the community.”
Is this the best we can do?
Whatever negative impact to the natural
world there might be from 10 feet of asphalt
through the forest is dwarfed to insignificance
by the adjacent major highway, four times as
wide and full of traffic, within clear sight and
earshot of the entire proposed route. I wish for
some kind of official referendum, so we could
once and for all gauge the public will and pro-
ceed accordingly.
John Rahm
s
s
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s
For all the things that move you. ™
s
To the Editor:
I was one of Mr. Holcomb’s students at
Homer High School.
I remember being late to his class (U.S.
History, right after lunch) a couple of times
in my first week at HHS. I received a stern,
“You’re not off to a very good start, young
man.” Suffice to say, I was never late to one
of his classes again, through two years of high
school, and two semesters of college courses.
Mr. Holcomb had a profound influence on
my views of history and government, and how
to carry myself as a human being. He taught
me that everyone is entitled to an opinion,
but not to be slavishly devoted to it, blind and
unconsidering; and should you learn more
about a matter, don’t be stubborn and afraid to
change that opinion.
Since those days, Mr. Holcomb has always
been missed, obviously more so now. My
warmest thoughts and deepest sympathies to
his family and friends.
Jason Doscher
s
To the Editor:
The merits of food carts are not the issue
yet. We have not yet followed the proper pro-
cedure. The merits have not yet been reached.
What is at issue is the city’s administrative
decision to treat food carts as restaurants for
purposes of the zoning code. Maybe this is
a good idea or at least defensible. But it is a
huge change to make without public input, a
hearing or any adopted findings of fact based
on such input and hearings.
The city also failed to notify all of the
stakeholders about this issue. Many business-
owners were not notified because they don’t
own the land they occupy. But these business-
owners are present on a day-to-day basis and
land-use matters affect them as much or more
than the absentee property-owners. The busi-
ness owners are important stakeholders in this
issue. They should be notified.
There is also a conflict-of-interest issue,
or at least the appearance of one. This has not
been dealt with, either. The city should avoid
the appearance of insider manipulation. Public
hearings and review would help here, too.
Many citizens have voiced concerns or
objections to treating food carts the same as
restaurants. Those writing for Sisters Voice
have raised similar concerns. A public hear-
ing is the best place to air these objections.
Perhaps these points will ultimately be shown
to have no merit. If so, the planning com-
mission will explain this in an appropriate
fact-finding.
It is possible that after proper hearings have
been held and written findings of fact adopted,
that the same result might be obtained. But
hearings and fact-finding make it more likely
that a good result is obtained. For those dissat-
isfied with the result, there is still the satisfac-
tion in knowing that a spectrum of ideas and
positions were considered even if they were
not adopted.
I urge the holding of hearings before the
planning commission so that this commission
can determine whether food carts should be
treated as restaurants for purposes of the zon-
ing code.
Tom Parks
31
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