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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 28, 2016)
2 Wednesday, September 28, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon O P I N I O Editorial… Vote ‘no’ on Measure 97 Measure 97 is an ill-conceived tax that will hurt economic growth and negatively impact all Oregonians — not just the corporations it is designed to target. The measure would impose a 2.5 percent tax on corporations doing more than $25 mil- lion a year in sales in Oregon. The measure is expected to raise $3 billion a year. “Make the corporations pay their fair share” may be an attractive slogan to anybody who isn’t a corporation, but unpacking the impacts of the measure demonstrates that it’s not just “the corporations” that will be hit. By taxing sales, the likely impact would be pass- ing additional costs down through the produc- tion chain until it hits everybody in the pocket. The Oregon Legislative Revenue Office analysis of the impact of Measure 97 pegs its per capita impact at roughly $600 to $4,501 based on the most recent census figures. It’s a de facto consumption tax and by nature regres- sive. And, based on 2012-13 census data, it would push Oregon to the ninth-highest taxes- as-a-percent-of-income ranking versus an actual ranking of 26th. Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) has come out strongly against the measure. Sisters, in partnership with EDCO, is doing its best to attract businesses that pay family- wage jobs. Measure 97 throws up a roadblock. Sure, “more state funding for education” sounds great — but what Sisters really needs is families that can afford to live and work in the area to move here and send their kids to school. An increase in per-student state fund- ing will not help Sisters schools nearly as much as robust enrollment — which will only come with a robust economy. While it’s highly unlikely that a company with gross receipts in excess of $25 million (the type that would be directly affected by M97) would move here, it is also likely that out-of-state companies that consider Oregon an unfavorable business environment will have second thoughts. Any measure that makes Oregon as a whole less competitive will hurt Sisters. The LRO predicts that M97 will slow pri- vate-sector job growth, accelerate public-sec- tor job growth and raise consumer prices. That does not sound like a good deal for Oregon. Jim Cornelius, News Editor Letters to the Editor… The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer’s name, address and phone number. Let- ters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday. To the Editor: Sending out a warning to all you folks who take your dogs to the Sisters Elementary School Ball Field — especially off leash. I’m talking about the far edges of the ball field, particularly behind home plate and back in the un-manicured area by the chain link fencing. We are witnessing weekly events of dog/ deer/human interaction that are resulting in injury and eventual death to the deer and potentially to dogs, not to mention what could happen to the people involved. Hearing screams from humans and that of the deer first alerted us to two dogs that had instantly become a hunting pack when they came upon resting deer back there. The dog owners chased the dogs with giant sticks, while the dogs tore up the deer’s legs, mouth and tongue all left hanging off its face. One of the men was hit in the chest by the deer’s antlers —not quite gored, but close. Then we heard a woman screaming for her life and found her lying there, heaving and crying. She could just barely keep hold of her See LeTTerS on page 24 Sisters Weather Forecast Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Wednesday Thursday friday Saturday Sunday monday Sunny Mostly sunny Partly sunny Chance showers Chance showers Chance showers 78/41 72/37 61/34 57/37 53/36 58/na The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. Website: www.nuggetnews.com 442 E. Main Ave., P.O. Box 698, Sisters, Oregon 97759 Tel: 541-549-9941 | Fax: 541-549-9940 | editor@nuggetnews.com Postmaster: Send address changes to The Nugget Newspaper, P.O. Box 698, Sisters, OR 97759. Third Class Postage Paid at Sisters, Oregon. Publisher - Editor: Kiki Dolson News Editor: Jim Cornelius Production Manager: Leith Williver Classifieds & Circulation: Teresa Mahnken Advertising: Karen Kassy Graphic Design: Jess Draper Proofreader: Pete Rathbun Accounting: Erin Bordonaro The Nugget is mailed to residents within the Sisters School District; subscriptions are available outside delivery area. Third-class postage: one year, $45; six months (or less), $25. First-class postage: one year, $85; six months, $55. Published Weekly. ©2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. All advertising which appears in The Nugget is the property of The Nugget and may not be used without explicit permission. The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. assumes no liability or responsibility for information contained in advertisements, articles, stories, lists, calendar etc. within this publication. All submissions to The Nugget Newspaper will be treated as uncondition- ally assigned for publication and copyrighting purposes and subject to The Nugget Newspaper’s unrestricted right to edit and comment editorially, that all rights are currently available, and that the material in no way infringes upon the rights of any person. The publisher assumes no responsibility for return or safety of artwork, photos, or manuscripts. N Outdoor school — an economic investment By edie Jones Columnist Measure 99 would allo- cate 4 percent of funds from the Oregon Lottery toward Outdoor School, a program that brings fifth-and sixth- grade students to one of the state’s designated camp areas for a week. As the former owner and director of Camp Tamarack, I can personally speak of the positive reasons every child in Oregon needs to attend Outdoor School and why economic development funds are an appropriate funding source. Years ago, our youngest son attended Outdoor School for a week as part of his sixth- grade curriculum, discover- ing the joys associated with learning about the environ- ment. This fueled his love of the out-of-doors and eventu- ally lead to a degree in envi- ronmental education. Today he demonstrates this philoso- phy through the development of his award-winning busi- ness, B-Line Urban Sustain- able Delivery, whose mission is to have a positive effect on the environment. Most everyone who lives in Sisters is aware of the work of the Ten Friends proj- ects in Nepal. Rand Runco, one of the founders of Ten Friends, firmly believes that through Outdoor School Sis- ters’ kids develop an appre- ciation for the out-of-doors, build social skills, and often have their first away-from- home experience. From this students gain a sense of place, their role in the world, a desire to travel and the need to help others. These are the kids that become counselors of Outdoor School, partici- pate in outdoor leadership classes and end up accompa- nying their teachers to Nepal. What better way is there to develop citizens prepared to add to the economic develop- ment of our area than to teach them how to lead, teach, help others and be aware of the importance of their surroundings? Outdoor School will cre- ate 600 full-time jobs as the number of camps rise from 42 to around 100. It takes many hands to run a camp when you put together the maintenance people, cooks, counselors, teachers, direc- tors, nurses and program personnel that are needed to produce such an operation. An editorial in The Bul- letin noted that many chil- dren are already attending Outdoor School, due to help from businesses and local school districts. That is true; however, many may still not be able to go. In the Bend-La Pine district, schools such as Jack Ensworth Elemen- tary School have a very dif- ficult time finding money for extra activities. Randy King, a second-grade teacher from Ensworth and a Sisters resident, said it is extremely difficult for parents to pro- vide money for field trips and other excursions. If that is true for a one-day outing how much harder it must be for a week-long camping experience? These are the children who need Outdoor School the most since they are the ones who often can’t go to a summer camp or par- ticipate in programs provided through Bend Parks and Rec. Unfortunately, for single par- ents and low-income fami- lies, it is very difficult for their kids to get the kind of experiences the rest of us take for granted. Yes, Sisters’ kids usually get to go to Out- door School. However, this is not true in many other dis- tricts throughout the state. The Outdoor School For All initiative proposes setting aside four percent of annual lottery dollars to fund a full week of outdoor school pro- gramming for every Oregon 5th- or 6th-grader. At no time will this exceed $22 million in any year. The cost for a week of Outdoor School is less than $400 per child, and the money allotted would allow 50,000 kids to go to Outdoor School every year. In addition, each year 3,000 teen mentors would acquire leadership and counseling skills by participating with the younger students. The economic impact each year is estimated at $27 million by supporting 600 FTE jobs, mostly in rural Oregon. In addition, that $27 million goes directly to local Oregon businesses and orga- nizations who are service providers. What a win-win investment of $22 million. Let’s not be short-sighted in how we allocate those eco- nomic development dollars. Not only is Outdoor School for All an economic invest- ment, it is also an investment in the future of our children. I encourage everyone to vote for Measure 99. Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.
