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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 2, 2016)
2 Wednesday, November 2, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon O P I N I O N Editorial… Henderson for County Commissioner Your vote is hallowed ground From the national level down to the local level, the public’s faith in its government insti- tutions is severely abraded. Perhaps the most important duty of a public official these days is to act in a manner that shores up that wavering faith. For that reason, voters should elect Phil Henderson Deschutes County Commissioner. Henderson’s background and experience offer an opportunity for the commissioners to connect more fully with the private sector, and his commitment to extensive and consistent public outreach bodes well for ensuring that all voices are truly heard, not just those who have an immediate interest in a particular issue. Henderson has committed to a regular open house/open meeting/coffees in the various communities and areas of Deschutes County on a regular basis, and that is an important step in connecting the citizens with their county government. Incumbent Commissioner Alan Unger has done some valuable work for Sisters. The forest health initiative in which he is active has had benefits that are visible on the ground here. But in a couple of instances in Sisters Country, his actions have let constituents down. His offer of mediation on the controver- sial issue of a paved trail quickly morphed into advocacy for one side. In acquiescing to the removal of a discussion of airport-related issues from the commissioners’ agenda, Unger missed the opportunity to fully understand an issue that is of great concern to his constituents. For the majority of Sisters Country resi- dents, who live outside municipal boundar- ies, the county commissioners are their local government representatives. It is critical, espe- cially now, that a commissioner act as the rep- resentative of all his constituents, not just of those who have his ear. Phil Henderson is offering residents of Sisters Country a “fresh look.” We should take him up on it. 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: I, for one, will be so glad when the Cyrus family gets their hemp crop in and they can turn off their fans and helicopters. I’m exhausted. Judy Bull s s s To the Editor: Thanks to Craig Rullman for his thought- ful and informative response to the recent “Looking Outward” column “Just Look at the Facts.” In a country that has become so bitterly divided politically, I think we are all sim- ply waiting for honest and balanced political candidates male or female to help bring this country together in a more mutual and positive direction. We will get though this election regard- less of the many distractions or the outcome, and thanks to our freedoms will live to vote another day. Greg Vandehey s s s To the Editor: It was quite revealing when Commissioner Alan Unger said in last week’s Nugget that, “I think we do need a trail between Sisters and Black Butte Ranch.” Really? I think that even folks that wanted See LETTERS on page 20 Sisters Weather Forecast Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Wednesday Thtrsday Friday Sattrday Stnday Monday Mostly sunny Mostly sunny Mostly sunny Chance rain Chance showers Mostly cloudy 60/39 57/37 60/39 57/37 51/34 53/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. 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By John Baldwin Guest Columnist In just over one week, the legal residents of this nation will send a message to their governing members and to the world as to their col- lective level of satisfaction with the status quo. If uninfringed, that mes- sage will likely spell the beginning of the end for limitless congressional terms, complicated personal taxation, and illegal immi- gration. If allowed to run its true course, that message will return the judicial and congressional branches of the United States toward a pro-America, pro-Constitu- tional heading. Such should have always been the case. And such is what the nation needs, for as Ronald Reagan famously said, “...A nation without borders is no nation.” I urge each of you, Republican, Independent, or Democrat to realize the rare power that you hold in your hand, to recognize the priceless gift placed long ago in your possession of the fundamental right to cast a vote, placed there by thou- sands who fought for you, for your freedom to both live and to vote. Many who thus fought, fought and died that you might live free. It’s fair to say that they would expect the beneficia- ries of their sacrifice — each and every one of us — to greatly esteem our present liberty, and to contemplate with respect and logic the outcome of the vote we cast. We do them no service by thinking only in present perspectives as we vote this week. We ought consider the America in which we, by virtue of our vote, will have a direct role in mak- ing and passing on to subse- quent generations. Now is the time to speak out, and as a nation, to be heard resoundingly! A candidate calls to us, one who’s love of power and whose acceptance of corruption over rule of law in America is only too well known. I implore you, fellow American — look ahead! By the strength of your ability to reason, see the corrupt reality in Washington for the snake- pit that it is; do not cast your vote into that abyss. Instead, recognize your own liberty as beyond any price. Recognize the hardship, the moral courage, the sac- rifice, and the discipline at all levels that such a nation as America required of her builders as the foundation on which we now stand. As Americans, every generation has for that freedom its debt to pay, the price being eternal vigilance over otr both otr borders and otr Constitttion. As stch, otr liberty so rare in the world, is not immtne to enemies either foreign or domestic. Why would we now, as that nation, we as that party, or we as individual citizens ever willingly vote to dispossess ourselves of such hallowed ground? Do we somehow not see the deceit playing out before us? America is the sover- eign property of only we Americans. It is not the pos- session of a foreign ideol- ogy nor beholden to the out- side world. Our culture is not chattel, neither our free- dom some mere commodity. As Americans, every gen- eration has for that freedom its debt to pay, the price being eternal vigilance over both our borders and our Constitution. As such, our liberty so rare in the world, is not immune to enemies either foreign or domestic. “When ...[in the end] the freedom they wished for was freedom from responsi- bility ... then Athens ceased to be free.” — Sir Edward Gibbon, 1780 Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.