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
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DeLuxe
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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!