Wednesday, October 19, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
2
O
P
I
N I
O
Editorial…
Eleit Sheriff Shane Nelson
Sisters depends upon the Deschutes County
Sheriff’s Office for its law-enforcement ser-
vices — from patrol to criminal investigation
to animal control. We need to be sure that
those law-enforcement services are in sure,
steady hands.
That makes it an easy decision to support
the election of Shane Nelson as Deschutes
County sheriff.
Nelson inherited some bad actors and nega-
tive circumstances involving various forms
of misconduct when he was appointed to the
office by retiring sheriff Larry Blanton. His
forthright and effective handling of those situ-
ations indicates that he is committed to fixing
what is wrong with the department — and
capable of swift, effective action to do the hard
right thing.
The overwhelming 94-2 vote of confi-
dence Nelson received from the sheriff’s
office employees association is evidence that
the personnel there believe that the troubled
agency is now on the right track.
Eric Kozowski is to be commended for
his willingness to step up to challenge an
appointed incumbent, but the campaign has
demonstrated that he is in no way prepared to
take on the varied and complex duties of sher-
iff. He has not held leadership positions in law
enforcement, nor has he sought out education
and training for management and leadership
roles.
That lack of preparation for the job means
that he is not a viable choice.
Nelson recognizes that his agency faces
multiple challenges in a rapidly growing and
changing Deschutes County. He has the strate-
gic vision and the administrative skills to meet
them. The voters should provide him with a
mandate to continue the work.
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 Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned.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:
How much do you know about your
national congressmen and the way they vote
on the issues? Instead of voting based on a TV
ad or on a single issue, one can Google “On
The Issues” followed by the name of represen-
tative Greg Walden or senator Ron Wyden,
and it will enter a website in which that per-
son’s voting in 20 separate categories is listed.
Examples of categories are economy, budget,
corporations, crime, energy, environment, edu-
cation, foreign policy, gun control, health care,
jobs, social security, tax reform, welfare and
others.
In each category it lists a one-line summary
of what bills the congress-person voted on and
how he voted, yes or no. One can, by doing
this, decide if the person is voting in the man-
ner which represents your preferences.
B. Graham
s
s
s
To the Editor:
I believe the citizens of Deschutes County
deserve better representation than has been
provided by Alan Unger. Citizens that reside
in Deschutes County, but not within any city
limits, must rely on our county commissioners
to look after our interests.
In my opinion, Alan Unger has failed to do
that job.
In 2014 the small, local airport located
in the county just outside the limits of the
city of Sisters was a rarely used airstrip. It
worked well within its residential neighbor-
hood, providing service for local pilots. The
airport was purchased by Benny Benson,
a prominent businessman who convinced
the City of Sisters to annex it so he could
See LETTERS on page 16
Sisters Weather Foreiast
Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Increasing clouds
Chance rain
Mostly sunny
Mostly sunny
Partly sunny
Partly sunny
58/40
60/40
60/38
59/37
57/35
56/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
The real threat
isn’t about guns
By Steve Nugent
Correspondent
No democrat that I am
aware of feels that people
are violent just because they
own guns. Hillary and the
democrat lawmakers have
no intention of taking away
your guns. No one has the
right to search your house
or ask you to give up your
guns. We have laws and a
Constitution that protect
us from this. She has only
proposed, with the approval
of congress, to ban sales of
new guns to suspected ter-
rorists and assault weapons
with large magazines, along
with improving background
checks for newly purchased
handguns.
Handgun ownership is
like a car license, in my
view. It’s not a right, it’s a
privilege to be earned and a
serious responsibility. I am
a gun-owner and a propo-
nent of nationwide uniform
concealed-carry laws. This
is common-sense legislation.
Historically laws like
Hillary is proposing do not
result in even more restric-
tive laws, and there is no rea-
son to believe these will. The
lunatic fringe in the U.S. has
propagated this ridiculous
notion, along with the NRA,
along with some white
supremacist radical groups.
The proposed assault-
weapon ban is no different
than laws already on the
books limiting ownership of
automatic weapons and pro-
hibiting grenades, rocket-
launchers and RPGs. I would
hope that you don’t feel the
need to own any of these for
purposes of hunting or per-
sonal security. Freedom in
the U.S. does not include the
right to own a large arsenal
powerful enough to take on
the government.
The critical thing that
many people in the U.S.
have not recognized about
the 2016 presidential elec-
tion is that our democracy
as we know it is truly in
jeopardy. This election is
not just about two imperfect
candidates and choosing the
lesser of the two evils. This
is about choosing between a
democracy and an authori-
tarian dictatorship. If you
believe your right to bear
arms is in jeopardy now, you
have much more to fear from
Mr. Trump.
Trump is a man that only
cares about himself and his
own wealth and power. He
has no respect for anyone
except himself, and certain
dictators including Saddam
Hussein, Vladimir Putin
and Kim Jong Eun — all of
whom he admires.
He is on record saying
this during his campaign and
debates. These are all ene-
mies of this country, and any
candidate that treats them as
role models and not adver-
saries should be suspect.
Trump has all the hall-
marks of a dictator like
Hitler or Mussolini. He has
said that the media are con-
spirators, and he wants to
censor anyone that publishes
negative things about him.
He is even now laying the
groundwork for multiple
frivolous lawsuits against
the media. Once elected, he
could actually censor and
shut down media outlets,
even jailing the editors like
he wants to do with Hillary.
Jailing or executing oppo-
nents is a classic dictator
tactic.
He says that he will fire
the military chiefs of staff
and replace them with his
“own” generals. He has
said that he has no problem
occupying other countries
and taking their natural
resources. He is using immi-
grants as tools to pit citizens
against one another and cre-
ate distrust for the current
government. He incites vio-
lence at his rallies. He has
asked citizens to inform on
each other. He has talked
about “tough” policing,
which is nothing more than
a veiled attempt at a police
state, which violates the
Constitution.
Read the history and you
will find that Hitler used
all of these tactics to gain
power. Its almost as if Trump
is using the rise of other
past dictators as his play-
book. Incredibly, one GOP
lawmaker actually said last
week that maybe we need
to change the Constitution
to give the president more
power. This of course comes
after major groaning by
the GOP that Obama over-
stepped his bounds using
executive orders.
This is how broken
the GOP is. I used to be
a republican myself. The
GOP values of Lincoln have
totally cratered over the past
eight years, and the ship
is sinking now thanks to
Trump.
Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and
are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.