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Wednesday, February 25, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
LETTERS
Continued from page 13
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To the Editor:
Another letter about the food cart fiasco.
The City of Sisters’ slam-dunk approval
of Mr. Boyd’s food cart permit failed to
give the issue a proper and thorough con-
sideration. It did not allow enough time
to fully evaluate and address many of
the ancillary issues associated with food
carts.
How big is a food cart? Four feet by
four feet or 6 feet and moved by a human
being or is it 8 by 10 feet and moved by
a car or truck or is it 10 by 30 feet and is
self-propelled or is it all of the above?
According to the city staff it is all of the
above.
How many food carts are allowed or per-
mitted on a property? One, three, five or
more? According to city staff it is as many as
can fit on a piece of property.
How many food carts are allowed in the
city of Sisters? One food cart every 300 feet
similar to formula food regulations or 100
food carts total? According to city staff there
are no restrictions or limits.
How many food carts does it take to make
a food cart “pod”? What are food cart hours
of operation? Sun up to sun down or mid-
night? Beer or wine?
Are food carts required to have per-
manent wheels for travel and movement?
Are food carts required to be removed
from public view at the end of each
day?
Are food carts charged a daily, weekly or
monthly business license fee by the City of
Sisters?
Since Mr. Boyd’s permit has already been
approved, his permit is exempt from any
new regulations or restrictions.
Nothing I have read in The Nugget
says anything about cancelling or void-
ing Mr. Boyd’s permit, so I am puzzled,
why is Mr. Boyd so adamant about suing
the City of Sisters? I wonder if Mr. Boyd
is feeling guilty and resents the public
process.
In my opinion, when the city adminis-
tration and staff are dealing with members
of the city council on matters related to the
various business activities of the council
members, extra steps should be taken by all
parties involved to ensure that the public
trust and confidence is maintained, which
includes reviewing codes or making sure
codes are in place before moving forward.
Right now there seems to be a lack of com-
mitment to do the extra steps for the good of
the people and City of Sisters.
Dave Marlow
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To the Editor,
There is a great event coming up this
Saturday and I would like to invite all my
Sisters Country neighbors!
The Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District
in cooperation with the Cloverdale Fire
District will be hosting an open house from
9-11 on Saturday, February 28, at the main
fire station located at 301 S. Elm St. This is
a fundraising effort to support the teams of
firefighters who will be climbing 69 floors
in full firefighting gear as part of the Scott
Firefighter Stairclimb.
Come meet the team, tour the fire appa-
ratus, and contribute money by giving a
donation or buying some raffle tickets.
A host of prizes have been donated from
local businesses (for a full list check out the
Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire Facebook page)
and all proceeds will benefit the Leukemia
Lymphoma Society in its mission to cure
cancer and provide patient services.
I have personally participated in the
Stairclimb several times, but this year
means more. In 2014, my brother, DeRew,
was diagnosed with T-Cell Non-Hodgkins
Lymphoma. It’s one of those things I recog-
nized was a potential for me in my profes-
sion as a firefighter, but never expected my
brother to have it. He has been undergoing
treatment ever since and is hopeful of a good
outcome, but it is still too early to determine
how successful the treatment has been. This
year, we are climbing to honor and support
DeRew in his fight for life.
One of the many things I love about our
community is how we band together to sup-
port those in need. Please come down and
show your support of the team and our
efforts to honor my brother. If you can’t
make it on Saturday, you can also donate
online at www.llswa.org/goto/cloverdalefire.
Damon Frutos
Cloverdale Team Captain
oregon Senate advances
climate change measure
By Jonathan J. Cooper
Associated Press
SALEM (AP) — A bit-
terly divided Oregon Senate
advanced a climate change bill
Tuesday, February 17, handing
resigning Gov. John Kitzhaber
the final legislative victory of
his nearly four decades in Ore-
gon politics on his last full day
in office.
Republicans were unsuc-
cessful in several attempts to
derail the measure, which aims
to spur investment in alterna-
tive transportation fuels. It was
a top priority for the departing
Democratic governor.
Using their expanded
majority following last year’s
election, Democrats ignored
Republican pleas to refer the
measure to voters or delay it
altogether.
GOP lawmakers said a pol-
icy associated with Kitzhaber
should not go forward amid
state and federal investigations
prompted by allegations Kit-
zhaber’s fiancée, Cylvia Hayes,
a green energy consultant, used
her relationship to land con-
sulting contracts. Kitzhaber
has denied wrongdoing on both
their parts.
“This policy is risky and
not thoroughly vetted in the
public,” said Sen. Tim Knopp,
R-Bend.
Sen. Diane Rosenbaum, the
No. 2 Democrat, said Hayes’
environmental work did not
involve the carbon initiative.
The bill was approved in a
17-13 vote after Democratic
Sen. Betsy Johnson of Scap-
poose joined all 12 Republi-
cans in opposition. It goes next
to the House, where it’s likely
to get a similarly friendly the
reception from majority Demo-
crats. The Senate has long been
a roadblock in Kitzhaber’s
attempt to expand the fuels pro-
gram, even as he was able to
maneuver most of his other pri-
orities through the Legislature.
The bill would extend
Oregon’s low-carbon fuel
standard, an effort to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions that
was first approved in 2009 but
was never implemented. The
so-called clean fuels program
expires at the end of the year
unless lawmakers extend it.
“This is a good program.
One that is good for our planet,
good for our state, one that will
benefit our children and our
children’s children,” said Sen.
Michael Dembrow, D-Portland.
The program requires gaso-
line and diesel producers to
reduce the amount of carbon
emissions associated with
extracting, refining, transport-
ing and burning their fuels.
They can achieve reduced
emissions by blending more
biofuels, using lower-emitting
sources of crude oil or buying
credits to pay for alternative
fuel technologies. Kitzhaber
and other proponents say the
latter option would nurture a
fledgling industry.
Critics say fuel prices would
rise. They say it would gouge
Oregonians through higher
prices for fuel and for prod-
ucts transported on trucks. The
program’s supporters say price
hikes would be minimal, and
the law would allow carbon
restrictions to ease if prices rise
too substantially.