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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…
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ters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor.
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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
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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.