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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (May 24, 2017)
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, May 24, 2017 being true to half of my inner self, I’m going to write about it. At the last city council meeting, I.V. Community Development Organization’s (IVCDO) representative Kenny Houck brought a proposal to the council for consideration. Because U.S. By DAN MANCUSO, Department of Agriculture (USDA) grants have limits on how many and Publisher how much one entity can get in a time period, the IVCDO asked the city to apply for and administer a USDA grant for the installation of It seems, at least at the ballot box, that the people of Josephine County have said “enough fiber for broadband internet. The city with little discussion approved the request 5-0. is enough.” Not only did the people say yes This all seems good on the surface, but to law enforcement, they said yes to firemen, pets and libraries. Good on you, now let’s hope like most things the devil is in the details. According to the paperwork Houck presented, the money gets spent in a way that makes 51 the city would apply and administer the grant percent of us happy. for the fiber installation and then the fiber But hey, not everything is going to make would be owned by a local internet service us happy, and I am probably going to make a provider (ISP). few folks unhappy with my column this week. My first thought was, “Hey why doesn’t My inner me has been arguing about a topic: the city just get the grant and keep the fiber. “Don’t write it Dan,” inner me says, “I’m This way they can get revenue by granting going to write it,” the other inner me says. So, Life in the Valley of Riches LETTERS ... Continued from A-2 Iris Chinook Cave Junction Reader thanks voters I’ve been thinking about what the passage of the four levies expresses. In the face of the negative, of the repeated no, no, no, the people who voted for the levies expressed a positive view of our county and a positive view of themselves. Yes, we the people of Joco deserve decent services. Our pets and animals deserve love and caring. Our children and we ourselves deserve access to the knowledge that makes us better citizens, with better futures. We deserve emergency services that are there for us at the true moment of emergency. And finally, yes, we deserve safety in our homes, safety for our possessions, safety for our own persons and safety for the persons of our loved ones. Anita Savio Cave Junction Art’s Red Garter Homestyle DINNER SPECIALS Mon - Sat 5-9 PM in Lounge KARAOKE Wednesdays@ 9 p.m. DeLuxe Classic Rock & Blues May 26 &27 May 28 DJ/Karaoke access to any local internet company. Certainly the city could use the income in a positive way.” But that in of itself is not a big deal, again let’s dig deeper. What really bothers me is there happens to be two local ISPs in the Valley, not just one. Why is the city picking one over the other and giving one an economic advantage? Regardless of the answer, there is still more below the surface. USDA grants must be used for the betterment of a community. While Houck’s creativity in writing the grant is appreciated, in the end, there is only one business that will receive the betterment of the grant. This bothers me on many levels. Not only is the city picking winners and losers, it’s failing to see how to use the fiber for long-term financial benefit for every resident of Cave Junction, you know, the ones that they are tasked to serve. At the very least it’s unethical, at worst it’s arguably against the rules for USDA grants. I also worry that if the USDA were to find out that one business benefited over another that they would not appreciate the use Reader questions reader Another thing I never see mentioned was brought to my attention by a woman I know who had the BLM parcel next to her logged a few years ago. On the day harvest was to begin she baked cookies and made some coffee and went over the ridge to met the loggers working the show. She found one guy, from somewhere over by Port Orford, with a harvesting machine, a log truck and a loader. He proceeded to log the entire area over the next several months and then packed up and drove to the next job. One guy. From somewhere else. Working for a multinational timber company. The loss of jobs through the mechanization of our work has nothing to do with federal overreach or environmental restrictions. I’m trying to figure out why these things don’t seem to bother anyone. I guess we’re all too busy pointing the finger at each other to sit down as a community and figure out how to solve the dilemma we’re in. It’s much easier to growl at each other in a standoff between the artificially imposed “sides” of the issue than to sit down, put aside what we think we know, educate ourselves and each other with real facts and solve our problems without depending on the suits. I guess we should be impressed when a seer like Kent Fisher (17 May 17) knows all about the new healthcare bill even before it has been debated, voted on or passed by the senate. It’s kind of like “don’t bother me with facts, my mind is made up.” I wish we had Fisher’s remarkable ability so we wouldn’t have to had to “vote on the bill to find out what’s in it” as Nancy Pelosi said was necessary for the failing Obamacare bill. The co-pays are so high in some states people cannot afford it! Many insurance companies have withdrawn from the market so many people can’t get the coverage Big Brother insists they must have. The reason Republicans have a tough time passing bills is because they are so darn independent, kind of like herding cats. Seems the sheep like ‘group think’ works well with Democrats. Have you ever worked for a poor person? I’ve found most people work for the wealthy, this way the wealth trickles down. Much preferable to the trickle down poverty we’ve seen the last 8 years. I heard there is a virulent strain of an anti-capitalist bug going around. The Trump cure will be coming soon, which includes free enterprise, competition, growing economy and a much lighter load of government bureaucrats we have to carry. Taylor’s Country Store vote! For the most part the good citizens of Cave Junction live peaceful lives and guard their own property. Fact – until the business, city council, mayor and citizens of Cave Junction band together and reinstate their own law enforcement in Cave Junction. Well to put it lightly you made your own beds, now you’re sleeping in them, while the cats away the mice will play. Mark Wichers Cave Junction Reader questions leadership Fact – If Commissioner Simon Hare wants to save $30,000 he should take a pay cut. Demand a vote on the sale of the county building in Cave Junction by Cave Junction! Fact – Cave Junction used to have its own law enforcement, jail, police station, judge and court, county building and swimming pool. Fact – Due to bad leadership, expensive mandates, despotic regulations and lawyers, the jail is empty, police station for the most part unused, county building for sale and the swimming pool full of waste water. Fact – It’s not the fault of the people who do business in CJ or live here, that the city council contracted law enforcement out to Grants Pass. There was never a KARAOKE w/ Steve - OH LIVE MUSIC Friday, May 26 @ 9 p.m Saturday the 27th @ 6 p.m. Saturday Pool Tourney @ 7 Every Wednesday from of the funds, and it could endanger the city’s ability to get grants from them in the future. All these points can stand up on their own merit, but none of them are the real issue at hand. The IVCDO in a slick move manipulated the council like a man selling oil at a carnival. Not to overlook the city’s culpability the council not only swallowed it, they chugged the whole bottle. You see, not one single relevant question was asked by the city councilors that stands out in my mind. Why? Well, I have no idea why not one of five councilors asked if the other local ISP was going to be able to use the fiber without paying the other. Lastly, what I find the most interesting is two of the council members have a pretty obvious conflict of interest in this issue. One is on the board of the IVCDO and the other gets paid by the IVCDO; the other three have no excuse that I can think of. Have a great day! Don’t forget to spay or neuter your pets! Greg Anderson Cave Junction TIM & MICHELLE F r i d a y, M a y 2 6 @ 5:30 Page A-3 Open MIC Night 6 - 8 p.m. J Barley Fridays @ 6 p.m. Free pool on Sundays Sportsman Tavern ~ ~ Death Notice ~ ~ Rosalie “Nin” Patton, 86 , of Cave Junction died May 21, 2017 at her home. Arrangements are pending with Illinois Valley Funeral Directors. The G SPOT SQUEAZIE Friday, May 26 7-10 PM - free Hump day Karoke w/ Jammer Dave Outdoor Stage 8 - midnight Open Mic w/ B Thurdsays @ 7 EAT @ McGrew’s!
