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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 2018)
2 Wednesday, November 21, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon O P I N I O SPRD’s Operation Shipshape in full swing Happy Thanksgiving from the staff at The Nugget Newspaper We are thankful for our community that supports their local newspaper! By Jeff Tryens SPRD Board President The Nugget will be closed Thursday, November 22, Thanksgiving Day, to enjoy time with our families. 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 Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned.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: On Sunday afternoon, November 4, there was extensive loud automatic rifle fire all day at Edgar Lake on Stevens Canyon (near Indian Ford Road) followed by loud explosions that actually rattled windows of homes over one mile away. This area does not have high berms for shooting and has become an area of extreme noise pollution for homeowners and an unsafe area for hikers, equestrians and cyclists. I filed an incident report with the Forest Service. The Forest Service has it designated as a winter game passage area. I think all the game is hightailing away. Sad that this is allowed to go on so close to many Sisters homeowners and lovers of the great outdoors. The Forest Service personnel were very courteous at the Sisters Ranger station, and a helpful enforcement officer followed up with me and indicated he would follow up and patrol the area the following weekend. Gary Wehrle s s s To the Editor: Last week there was the suggestion that the Zimmerman Cinder Pit might be more effectively “managed” by the Forest Service. If the Forest Service were good neighbors they would stop the noise: as in stop the shooting. This would protect sensibilities and protect P.T.S.D. people from physical harm? With the added specter of wildfire to lend emotional leverage to the “management” agenda: one might wonder how wildfire could emanate from a bare red cinder pit completely devoid of any trees or brush. In the coming year we shall see the gov- ernment party and its supporters attempt- ing to “manage,” not only where we shoot but what we shoot with. It seems that flyover country deplorables must be brought to heel by their political masters if America is to be “Fundamentally Remade.” Larry Benson s s s To the Editor: Reference your article (page 19) on the supermajority. Main menu for the upcoming session is which tax to pass: carbon tax, value- added tax or gross receipts tax (back-door sales tax). Or maybe all three! Such hard decisions. John Morter See LETTERS on page 31 Sisters Weather Forecast Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Rain Rain/Wind Rain/Snow Partly Cloudy AM Showers Cloudy 52/30 46/35 44/28 43/28 45/30 47/34 The Nugget Newspaper, LLC 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. N Editor in Chief: Jim Cornelius Production Manager: Leith Easterling Graphic Design: Jess Draper Community Marketing Partners: Patti Jo Beal & Vicki Curlett Classifieds & Circulation: Lisa May Proofreader: Pete Rathbun Owner: J. Louis Mullen 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. ©2018 The Nugget Newspaper, LLC. 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. In preparation for the arrival of a new perma- nent executive director, the board of the Sisters Park & Recreation District has initiated a series of actions dubbed Operation Shipshape. Thanks to the generosity of Sisters Country voters, the board is finally able to tie-up a lot of organizational loose ends caused by chronic under- funding. Everything from a barely functioning office computer network to an irri- gation system on life sup- port has come under scrutiny thanks to Interim Executive Director Courtney Snead. Operation Shipshape, drawing on the funds made available by the local option tax levy, takes on five key issues: 1. tighten- ing financial management practices; 2. updating staff- ing policies; 3. upgrading office technology; 4. clear- ing the maintenance back- log; and 5. increasing staff compensation. The financial manage- ment initiative is two- pronged. First, the budget process will be overhauled to bring it into clearer alignment with state law. According to Interim Executive Director Snead, “the budget has been adopted in compliance with local budget law, but the process we are undertaking will improve the readability and transparency of the bud- get document so the public can easily ascertain how its tax dollars are being used.” Second, the board will adopt a more formal approach to financial controls, provid- ing a framework for staff to improve internal financial checks and balances that are crucial for a mature public organization. With guidance from Snead, the board adopted a new organizational struc- ture and, again, is putting much-needed procedures in place. Structurally, a single recreation programs direc- tor will handle all recre- ation programming from kids’ sports to adult exercise classes and an event coor- dinator will assure that all SPRD-sponsored and sup- ported events are handled professionally and effi- ciently. Pre-school and after- school programs will con- tinue in their current forms. Also, by year’s end, all staff and instructors will, for the first time in memory, have up-to-date job descriptions and hiring agreements. The old adage about things being held together by baling wire and chewing gum is not far from the truth regarding SPRD’s computer network. Constant break- downs, antiquated software, poor security and terrible internet access plague the “system.” While longer term fixes will be needed, the board is currently spending significant sums on replac- ing the network’s server hub, upgrading software, securing the system from possible hackers and finding reliable technology support services. From a falling-down rain gutter to exposed irrigation wiring, SPRD is faced with myriad physical plant issues that Snead is prioritizing. First up will be: making the front door at the Collfield Center, SPRD headquarters, easier to open for people with disabilities; rekeying the locks on all the doors — a long-overdue task; fix- ing the ball field irrigation and, of course, securing the rain gutter. Further down the line, improvements will include upgrading the small playground behind the Coffield Center, improv- ing landscaping around the building, and collaborating with the skate park commit- tee to resurface degrading areas of the skate park. F i n a l l y, t h e b o a r d approved a long-overdue across-the-board 3 per- cent cost of living increase in July and is instituting a first-ever retirement plan designed to encourage employee contributions by matching employees’ con- tributions up to 3 percent of their annual salary. Through these efforts the board hopes to provide the new permanent execu- tive director with the free- dom to immediately focus on engaging with the com- munity and honing SPRD’s strategic vision rather than having to deal with a punch list of problems to be fixed. Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.
