Page A-2
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Life in the
Valley
of Riches
By DAN MANCUSO,
Publisher
I have been meaning to weigh in on the Cherryl Walker
for awhile, but have found other things more important to the
Valley.
I will start with the fact that unless there has been criminal
activity, like filing a false police report, I cannot support any
recall.
I’m reminded of the words of New York Mayor Ed Koch when
he was asked if he would ever run for office again. “No,” Koch
said. “The people have spoken … and they must be punished.”
Like her or not, the people have spoken and we need to live
with that decision.
The main issue people are tossing around about Walker is
that she was the architect of the doomed solid waste ordinances.
This is not even close to being true. During the weekly business
session for the county commissioners on April 3, 2013, Simon
Hare stated, “We have been working on this issue for years. I
brought this to this board as I felt we had the wherewithal to deal
with it. We have been over this with a fine tooth comb.”
Walker and Keith Heck had only been in office for three
months, they had no idea it existed other than when Hare brought
it up.
Before the final reading, Jack Swift got into Hare’s ear and
convinced him that it would lose in a referendum. Before the
final vote, Hare chuckled and said, “I can’t believe I am going
to do this, but I think it will lose if it goes to a referendum, so I
am voting ‘no.’”
Recall supporters also allege that Walker is interfering with
free speech. I feel Walker has been overbearing at times and the
whole video camera issue is ridiculous. However, the state’s
public meeting law (ORS 192.610 to 192.690) does not provide
for public comment during the weekly business session. Public
comments are taken at the will of the chair. I can recall Hare, the
past chair, on multiple occasions not allowing people to speak at
a weekly business session.
As someone who actually listens to all of the meetings the
commissioners hold each week, I can’t see any reason to recall
Walker.
I hope to see you all out for the Labor Day festival this
weekend. Due to all of the festivities, our deadlines have been
moved up to 5 p.m. Thursday.
On another note the Valley lost a good one this past weekend.
Lex Johnson was always a joy to be around. While I did not
know him that well, I will miss his smiling face and kind words
when I am out and about. My thoughts and prayers go out to
his family and all of the people in the Valley who’s lives Lex
touched.
Thank you for picking up this week’s paper, enjoy! ~ djm
Letters to the Editor
Illinois Valley News welcomes Let-
ters to the Editor.
Please e-mail them to
dan@illinois-valley-news.com
POLICY ON LETTERS:
‘Illinois Valley News’ encourages letters
to the editor provided they are legible
and not libelous or scurrilous. All letters
must be signed, including name, address
and telephone number. The latter need
not be published, but will be used to
verify authenticity. The “News” reserves
the right to edit letters. Letters are used
at the discretion of the publisher.
***
(Editor’s Note: Views and commen-
tary, including statements made as
fact are strictly those of the letter
writers.)
Reader has tips
Jammers Jukebox will be doing
the sound on the main stage in Ju-
bilee Park for the Lions Club Labor
Day Festival. We will be providing
sound for the Talent show as well,
but we are not involved in signing up
talent, judging or giving prizes this
is all done through the Illinois Valley
Lions Club. Donna Whitfield as in
years past will be handling all of this.
An important note to contestants,
If you are using your own backing
tracks we will need a copy 24 hours
in advance of your performance.
Any commercially available CD will
work, however Burned CD’s may or
may not be recognized by my system,
so it would be prudent to bring a copy
well in advance just in case. Kara-
oke CD’s will have to be “ripped”
for sound quality so if we are using
your Karaoke tracks, 24 hours would
be good there as well. We can also
use MP3 tracks from a flash drive as
long as the minimum 128 resolution
is available, anything lower will de-
grade sound quality and be detrimen-
tal to your performance. We will not
plug in cell phones, I pods, tablets or
lap top computers due to inconsistent
and or incompatible sound cards. The
last time we broke this rule it cost me
$250 to repair the damage on a pro
bono gig. Professional sound gear is
acceptable such as a key board with
1/4 TRS Stereo out or XLR, Most gui-
tar amps with line out will also work,
but can be “Mic’ed” as well and in
many cases sound better with a good
microphone rather than using the
line out. We have Stage mikes avail-
able, but if you have a favorite mic,
as long as it uses XLR cable, we will
be happy to let you use it. Our goal
is to make every performer look and
sound as good as possible and will be
as accommodating as is reasonably
possible. We will also be doing Open
Karaoke during the festival. A sched-
ule for this is still pending, but there
will be no minimum age or talent re-
quired, anyone sober enough to hold
the mic will be welcome. Good luck
to all the performers and let’s have a
fun festival! Sincerely, The Staff at
Jammers Jukebox
David Korrell
“Jammers Jukebox”
Cave Junction
Reader questions
commissioners
The JoCo County Commission-
ers unanimously approved an advi-
sory question in an emergency meet-
ing on August 15 to be placed on the
November 2014 ballot. The reason
for the emergency meeting was that
Commissioners anticipated the cost
of regulating marijuana if Measure 91
passes will exceed the county’s share
of the state tax for law enforcement.
No public notice or hearing occurred
because the deadline to put it on the
ballot was August 15, the last day for
filing.
JoCo Charter, Section 12.1
“Emergency Board Meetings”, states,
“An emergency session of the Board
shall be called only in the case of an
actual emergency…” An Emergency
is defined as “the existence of a clear
and present danger or threat to life or
property of the people of Josephine
County resulting from a disaster, ei-
ther natural or man made, including
… earthquake, conflagration, flood,
war, plague pestilence or riot;…”
Section 1 states in part, “An
emergency session ..shall be open to
the public and allow for public com-
ment. Notice …shall be reconcilable
with the urgency and ..nature of the
emergency..and entered into the min-
utes.”
The Commissioners violated
their Oath of Office by failing to ad-
here to provisions of the Charter: No
clear and present danger or threat to
life or property, no public hearings
or comments preceding the ballot
approval, no deference to the voters
who in 2012 rejected legalization of
marijuana.
Robert Thomas
Cave Junction
Reader questions Walker
Recall
I want to extend great thanks to
Robert Thomas for his extra-long let-
ter to the editor on July 16.
He was able to compile the full
litany of misinformation, innuendo,
and misdirected anger behind the
recall effort against Commissioner
Cherryl Walker. While it makes for
a really great story, it’s just plain not
true.
1) The solid waste and nuisance
ordinances were the direct result of
private property owners asking the
Commissioners for help in trying to
protect their real estate values. All
they wanted was the same legal pro-
tection already afforded to residents of
Grants Pass and property owners over
most all the rest of Oregon, where or-
dinances just like the ones proposed
have been in effect for years. These
basic facts were overwhelmed by the
completely misguided hysteria.
2) That often referenced May
21 Commissioner’s meeting has now
taken on a mythical life all its own.
The Commissioners are elected to
manage and conduct the County’s
business. For folks who aren’t fa-
miliar with the business of public
meetings, they are not a town hall
open forum. For those of you who
rarely attend one of these meetings,
you might be surprised to see that
there is a dedicated group of partisan
political activists whose goal is to
regularly disrupt the County’s abil-
ity to do its basic, legally mandated
business. It’s the responsibility of the
elected Board Chair to run meetings
in an orderly and productive manner.
When the rude, disruptive conduct
of a disgruntled minority did not re-
spond to patient requests for order,
Commissioner Walker merely did her
job. Those who now use this incident
to make a mountain out of a molehill
remind me of a bunch of grade school
boys who didn’t like being told to
mind their manners by the teacher.
3) All the grandiose statements
about the County Charter, the Bill of
Rights, and freedom of speech? A
lot of hyperventilation and classic
tempest-in-a-teapot distraction from
the week in and week out mundane
reality of Josephine County business.
No matter how hard you want
to pretend, the fate of the free world
is not at risk here. Unfortunately, it
is these delusions of grandeur that
now look to heedlessly waste Coun-
ty resources and the public’s good
will with this fanciful recall, which
is nothing constructive, just a lot of
barking up the wrong tree.
Kenny Houck
Cave Junction
Obituaries
Dr. Julian Holman, age 79 , of Grants
Pass, died Wednesday, August 20, 2014 at No-
ble Heights.
A celebration of life will be at 2:00 p.m.,
Saturday, August 30, 2014 at Faith Orthodox
Presbyterian Church, 2033 Harbeck Road,
Grants Pass. Private interment will be at Gran-
ite Hill Cemetery. Hull & Hull Funeral Direc-
tors are in charge of arrangements
Please sign the family guest book at www.
since198hull.com.
He was born September 5, 1934 in Los
Angeles, California. He graduated from Los
Angeles City College. From 1957 to 1960 he
served in the United States Navy as a hospi-
tal corpsman 2nd class. In 1962 he graduated
from University of Southern California School
of Pharmacy with a doctor of pharmacy degree.
He married Elise Ann Houghton on June 22,
1963 in Torrance, California. For 51 years he
was employed as a pharmacist. He owned and
operated Fiesta Pharmacy in Santa Barbara,
California before moving from Santa Barbara
to Grants Pass in 1978. During his years in
Grants Pass, he worked for Ron’s Drug Store in
Rogue River, Christian’s Pharmacy in Medford,
Bi-Rite Pharmacy in Grants Pass, Caves Drug-
store in Cave Junction and Bi-mart Pharmacy
in Grants Pass. He loved interacting with his
pharmacy customers and counseling them re-
garding their medications.
He was a member of the Rho Pi Phi (phar-
macy fraternity) and Oregon State Pharmacy
Association.
He was a member and former deacon and
elder at Faith Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
His hobbies included reading, astronomy,
and traveling. He enjoyed his family especially
playing games and reading with his grandchil-
dren.
Survivors include three children, Ruth
Rodgers of Cove, Oregon, and Becky Friesen
and David Holman both of Grants Pass, Or-
egon; a sister, Edna Minor of Ashland City,
Tennessee; a brother, Bob Holman of Garden
Grove, California; 14 grandchildren; and one
great-grandchild.
He was preceded in death by his beloved
wife, Elise Ann Holman; two brothers, Bill and
Eddie; and two sisters, Margaret and Bonnie.
I llInoIs V alley F uneral D Irectors
www.since1928Hull.com
Save The Date
Aug. 27
TIME FOR TALENT!
The TALENT SHOW is
just around the corner. The
I.V. Lions Club Labor Day
Festival will again host a
TALENT SHOW (amateurs
only) and cash prizes will be
awarded the winners of each
age group. Don’t forget to
sign up by August 27. For
more information and/or to
sign up, please call Donna
at (541) 596-2719 or Sue at
(541) 592-2252.
Aug. 30
Janie Pope Run/Walk
Benefit. The 5K Run/Walk,
Janie Pope Benefit will be
Illinois
Valley
News
Published weekly by
W.H. Alltheway, LLC
Daniel J. Mancuso, Publisher
held on Saturday, August 30
at 9 a.m. in Jubilee Park dur-
ing the Labor Day Festivi-
ties. Janie is fighting liver
cancer and working her way
to being cancer free. She
needs help with her medical
costs and treatments. Sign-
ups start at 8 a.m. The cost
is $30.00. Please come join
us to help Janie!
Aug. 31
Join local favorites the
Illinois Valley String Band
for an afternoon of Roots,
Americana, and Folk-N-
Roll at the Chateau at the
Oregon Caves, Sunday, Au-
gust 31, at 4 p.m.. The IV
POSTMASTER: Please send
address changes to P.O. Box 1370,
Cave Junction, OR 97523
Illinois Valley News is published at
221 S. Redwood Hwy.
Cave Junction, OR 97523
Telephone (541) 592-2541
FAX (541) 592-4330
Since 1937 periodicals postage
paid at Cave Junction, OR 97523
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For more listings go to www.ivcalendar.org
String Band features Kent
Fisher on guitar, Mark Kelz
on accordion and bones,
Jack Dwyer on mandolin
and banjos, Carol Valentine
on guitar, harmonica and
percussion, and young Ari
Dwyer on rip-roarin’ fiddle,
plus 4-part harmony vocals.
Come early for a hike or a
cave tour and/or stay for
dinner in the elegant dining
room (reservations suggest-
ed). Call (541) 761-4746 for
more information.
Sept. 6
Saturday, September 6,
Kerbyville Natural Farms,
Dehydration Demo and
Pressure Canner Gauge test-
ing for accuracy by Jose-
phine County Master Food
Preserver, Jennie Reed.
Sept. 7
4-8pm Come down
to the IV Library, 209 W.
Palmer St. in Cave Junc-
tion, to help get KXCJ-LP,
Cave Junction’s volunteer-
run, FM community radio
station, off the ground!
KXCJ’s “Pie In the Sky”
FUNdraiser features music,
a BBQ dinner at 5 p.m. fol-
lowed by a Pie Auction at 7
p.m.. To volunteer, contrib-
ute a pie, or for more info
call 541-592-6084.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
News - Dan Mancuso
dan@illinois-valley-news.com
One year in Josephine
County - $30.50
One year in Jackson and
Douglas counties - $32.50
One year in all other
Oregon counties and
out-of-state - $39.00
Illinois Valley News does not refund subscriptions.
Remainder of subscription will be donated to the
charity of your choice.
Circulation - Kimberly Potter
office@illinois-valley-news.com
Advertising / Composition
Dan Mancuso
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Sept. 7
Join Oregon Poet Lau-
reate, Peter Sears on Sep-
tember 7, 2014 for a poet-
ry workshop at 2 p.m. and
a reading at 7 p.m. at the
Historic Chateau at Oregon
Caves. Both the workshop
and reading are free to the
public. Please call the Cha-
teau for reservations for
the workshop and lodging
at 541-592-3400. We ask
that reservations be made
by September 5, 2014.
Saturday, September 13th,
10AM-4PM
Sept. 13
Saddle Up! B.C.H.
Poker Ride in Beautiful Il-
linois Valley, West Fork
Trails, Saturday, Sept. 13,
Call 541-597-4383 or 541-
592-4806.
Sept. 13
Spiral Living Center
presents the 6th annual Il-
linois Valley Farm and
Garden Festival at Jubilee
Park in Cave Junction. Free
music, demonstrations and
skill-building workshops,
kids activities, farmer’s
market and more. For local
farm/business vending info
contact 541-592-3642.
LABOR DAY
DEADLINES:
POLICY ON LETTERS:
‘Illinois Valley News’ encour-
ages letters to the editor pro-
vided they are legible and not
libelous or scurrilous. All let-
ters must be signed, including
name, address and telephone
number. The latter need not be
published, but will be used to
verify authenticity. The ‘News’
reserves the right to edit letters.
Letters are used at the discre-
tion of the publisher.
News, Classified and
Display Ads, Announce-
ments and Letters
Mailroom - Millie Watkins
Office Manager-Laura Mancuso
laura@illinois-valley-news.com
4 P.M.
THURSDAY