•
2
•
SANDY (O r*.) ROST Thur». June I . 1*7« (S*c. 1)
Salem scene
Public involvement
goal of proposal
John Kline, staff reporter
Caroline Duff, Office Manager.
Published weakly Thursday» by The O utlook Publishing Co Bo» 68
Sandy Orvgon 9 7 0 5 5 Second class postage paid at Sandy Oregon
by Jack Zimmerman
Oregon Associated
Industries
668 5548
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
In M ultnom ah and Clackomas
Counties per year .......................... $7 00
Servicemen any address
In N orthw est and Pacific Coast States
outside O regon per y e a r .................$9 00
Outside N orthw est and Pocific Coast
stoles per yoor , ............................. $11.00
In Oregon outside M ultnom ah and
Clockamas Counties per year . . . $8 00
MEMBER
» NJLL
E w U p f+ P E R
N '4
Proponents of a plan to lei voters make changes In
Brecon's land use law are having a hard time con
vincing Gov Bob Straub they don’t want to halt land
$7.00
U T h ^p ia n ^iio w ^n ih e form of an initiative petition -
Oregon
Newspapei
Publishers
Association
fi
I
Represented Nationally by
U S SUBURBAN PRESS INC
<u*>ks mainly to restore control of land use planning to
the Oregon State Legislature and the people it
U H K iê lio n - FounO+O 1B85
Page 2
Sandy Post, Sandy, Oregon 97055
No. 23
reKnown1Sas the LUPCAC Initiative
June 7,1978
Tax relief needed
Some of the campaign rhetoric
was a bit overblown, but the
message from the voters Tuesday
rings loud and clear:
Government spending is going to
be cut back.
Not only in California where the
voters approved a drastic roll-back
in property-tax rates, but also right
here in Gresham where the city’s
proposed 1978-79 budget levy was
defeated for a second time.
The impact of the California vote
will be felt nationwide, certainly
here in Oregon where a similar
petition drive already is under
way. Its success — virtually
assured already — means a tax
limitation initiative will be on the
November ballot and its passage in
turn seems very likely.
What then9 Government spen
ding will be slashed. Where? We
would guess in welfare, highways
and education along with
proportionate cuts in ever other
aspect of state government.
Notice we said “state” gover
nment. That’s where the flaw in
any tax roll-back comes. State
government is a relatively small
frog in the puddle. The really big
spenders are in Washington, D.C.
If any substantial tax savings are
to occur they have to begin in the
federal bureaucracy. What we pay
locally in taxes is peanuts to what
Uncle Sam takes.
However, if enough states vote as
did California Tuesday, the
m essage eventually will get
through to Washington, D.C. That’s
where tax relief really must begin.
Decision Smacks o f Authoritarianism
We never have subscribed to the
theory, advocated by some jour
nalists, that newspapers and the
electronic media are above and
beyond the rest of us, that they
have special rights and privileges.
This, of course, because of the First
Amendment.
However, we are worried and
puzzled by the recent Supreme
Court decision which authorizes
surprise searches of news offices.
In effect, the decision allows police,
once they acquire a warrant, to
invade a news office at any time,
day or night, and ransack a
newspaper s files.
We’re probably over-reacting
with words like “invade” and
“ransack.” yet that clearly is
possible under the Supreme Court
decision
The majority opinion (in a 5-3
vote) was written by Associate
Justice Byron White who pooh-
poohed fears that police might
rummage at will through
newspaper files. White pointed out
that the warrant process protects
the news media.
Journalists are less sanguine. We
vividly recall an experience in
Tacoma some years ago when a
small-town justice of the peace
issued a midnight warrant for
search of a suspected gambling
premise. Could not the same sort of
justice be dispensed in the case of a
newspaper or TV station?
There is more involved here than
just freedom of the press. Might not
the same search and seizure
provisions be extended to doctors,
lawyers, business people, etc., who
conceivably might have something
the police consider of value?
No longer would there be any
confidentiality of sources and
notes.
This is no idle worry. Even
though the Supreme Court decision
involved a case in 1971, at least 10
police raids on news offices in
California have been reported
recently, plus searches of a TV
station in Rhode Island and a wire-
service office in Montana.
Interestingly enough, the Oregon
Court of Appeals this week ruled
that police don’t have to give the
purpose of their visit before they
break into a house This, of course,
had nothing to do with the Supreme
Court decision
Most people in the news media
will agree that they have no
greater rights to freedom of speech
than anyone else. But giving police
carte blanche to newspaper files
smacks all too heavily of
authoritarianism.
Traffic Abuses Need Crack-down
Now that Sandy has a 24-hour
police force in a buildup to handle
the city’s rapid growth, we’d like to
see the services.
Visibility is lacking on the streets
where it all happens.
Thousands of cars zoom through
the main streets of town at speeds
well beyond the legal limits on their
way up the mountain or toward
Portland. Where are the patrol
cars?
Sure, lack of parking space is a
problem here, but should cars be
permitted to park so close to street
corners and dangerous in
tersections as so flagrantly done
throughout Sandy? Some of the
cross streets between Proctor and
u iuueer are alleys of chance for the
blinded motorist trying to pull out
into onrushing traffic speeding
through town.
Must we wait for one serious
traffic fatality to see the problems
and crack down on traffic control?
Overparking should be ticketed
to discourage flagrant abuse of
parking privileges downtown by a
few who seem oblivious to the
community’s scarcity of parking
anywhere these days.
Cars are parked on back streets
and sometimes in town facing the
wrong way and posing possible
danger to both the violator and the
defensive driver in the other car
when he or she swings back onto
the road from the wrong side of the
street.
These are traffic abuses many of
us may help to correct on an in
dividual basis, but shouldn’t the
Sandy Police Department assist
with discouragement of these
practices?
We realize the City of Sandy is
waiting on possible funds for ad
ditional stop lights and that the new
pedestrian crosswalk buttons
display a good first step toward
making this town a safer place to
walk the streets.
But the stream of traffic through
town will only increase in coming
years, as the proposed city by-pass
is at least five years away without
inclusion in current state
budgeting.
And the in-city traffic from new
city residents will only increase in
the next five years, with ex
pectation that the city will double
in size in that time.
The time to begin cracking down
on traffic problems must be now
before the congestion becomes
unmanageable.
"I DOUBLE-DOG-DARE YOU..."________
Letters to the editor
Benefit sale
Editors note: Glenn Izer, a
Sandy Boy Scout, recently
held a rumm age sale to
benefit a Sandy summer
school p ro g ram for the
trainable mentally retarded
— as part of his Eagle Scout
project. The Post recently
received a copy of this thank
you letter.
To the Editor:
On
behalf
of
our
association and the trainably
m e n ta lly
re ta rd e d
youngsters of Sandy , Oregon
I would like to personally
thank you for your out
standing fund-raising efforts
which recently netted $239.
As you had requested, the
funds w ill be used to provide
summer activities foi> the
mentally retarded of the
Sandy area.
Our association is in the
process of developing a
summer recreation program
which w ill include such
things as arts and craft,
s w im m in g ,
m o v ie s ,
d ra m a tics, several fie ld
trips, cooking, music, and
nature walks, treasure hunt
and guest speakers from the
police department and Tri-
Met for the handicapped
youngsters.
Your donation w ill be a
contributing factor to insure
that these things happen for
10-12 youngsters between the
ages of 8 and 16.
Every citizen of the city of
Sandy and the state of
Oregon owes you a debt of
gratitude for your generosity
in helping the handicapped
help them selves, fo r by
helping them, all of us w ill
benefit.
Richard R. Keough
Exectuive Director
Clackamas County
Association for
Retarded Citizens
Growth
To the Editor:
Shades of the Memorial
Coliseum hassle of some
years ago when the city
fathers of Portland were
afraid they were going to lose
a buck if the glass palace
wasn’t smack dab in the
middle of already congested
downtown Portland
Me th inks our Sandy
planners are guilty of the
same greedy tactics! Re:
Gale Meier and his proposal
to move Sharo?’s Food King
a "tad b it” awav from the
already over jammed corner
of city center.
This
appears
alm ost
shabby
Were
I
a
businessman th inking of
locating in Sandy, I think my
thoughts would be "direc
ted” towards a more en
terprising community.
You of the board of plan
ners and other opponents of
progress, have the wrong
idea of how a town grows.
Certainly i t ’s not by cram
m ing a ll the business
establishm ents in a few
square blocks. If this be the
case, perhaps Gios Ford, the
Pizza Barn and all others
outside spitting distance of
the carillon tower should
snuggle up.
Hogwash, gang! L e t’s
spread out and grow a bit —
or would it be easier to just
fold up the tent, roll over «nd
Z
call the whole town a "b lip ”
on Highway 26.
D. Daugherty
13150 SE Marsh Road
Sandy
CB stop
To the Editor:
Mt. Hood React would like
to publicly thank Sharon's
Food
K ing,
W illia m s
T h r iftw a y ,
KRDR,
M c D o n a ld s ,
San-Cada
CBers, Ed Mills and Lee
Smoot for their donations
that helped make our
Memorial Day Safety Stop
for motorists a huge success.
We would also like to say a
special thanks to Mt. Hood
Lions Club who donated the
use of their building and
facilities for the three day
weekend.
I am sure the 800 to 1000
motorists who stopped to
take advantage of the free
coffee, tea. hot chocolate,
punch, donuts and cookies
would lik e to add th e ir
thanks.
Children were given ac
tivity books - pencils and
magic pads to help their
travel time pass. There was
also information and safety
pamphlets for adults.
All in all it was a very good
weekend for the Mt. Hood
React people who gave up
their weekend to help aid the
tired and weary travelers,
and I know we all enjoyed
meeting the people.
Sincerely,
Mt. Hood React
Tax base
To the Editor:
This is just a short note of
thanks to all those who voted
last Tuesday, May 23, in
support of the Hoodland Fire
Department tax base.
Right now, words express
our thanks in the months
ahead, as the new budget
goes into effect, we w ill
continue to express our
appreciation in actions.
On behalf of your fire
department, thank you.
Sincerely,
Tim Sackett
Secretary-Treasurer
Hoodland Volunteer
Firefighters Association
Youths volunteer
E d ito r’s note: This letter
dated M ay 24 was addressed
to the Builders Club
Sandy Upper Grade School,
copy was given to The Post.
Dear Boys and girls:
I only had a brief couple of
minutes to meet you when
you came to Sandy Com
m unity
Action
Center
yesterday and that was my
loss. I had planned to work
with you when you came and
to enjoy your company. I was
required to attend a meeting
at Gladstone on center
business, however, and did
not get in on much of the fun
When I came back from the
meeting the first thing I
noticed was the very neat job
you had done on cutting the
grass and getting all the tall
grass stems left from the
previous cutting
When I went into the
building I noticed right away
that you had done a lot of
work with the shoes and that
they were all in pairs and
that the odd ones and ones
really worthless had been
picked out and put in the
trash.
I saw that the windows
were clean and when I
checked the food room I saw
that you had been carrying
up things from the basement
storeroom and had repacked
some of the bulk foods.
As chairman of the board
of directors for the com
munity action center I wish
to extend warm thanks for
taking an interest and in
giving us help. All of us who
w ork at the center are
volunteers and yesterday
was the day we had the most
volunteers ever.
We are serving about 450
people per month at the
center. Our patrons give us
many item s of clothing,
shoes and household items
which we in turn give to
people in need of those items.
We provide emergency food
for people without funds to
buy food.
We help people get in
contact with such govern
ment agencies as the county
health department or food
stamp office or welfare office
or Well Baby Clinic.
Sometimes we help a
fam ily with some gasoline to
get where they are going or
to help a person get to a job.
I hope that you w ill con
tinue your interest and
perhaps come back again to
help sometime.
W.Pete Sulzbach, chairman
Sandy C om m unity Action
Center
W. Pete Sulzbach,
Chairman
Sandy Community
Action Center
Letters
To the Editor:
Thank you for your May 25
e d ito ria l explaining why
certain submitted letters-to-
the-editor
cannot
be
p u b lis h e d .
P e rh a p s ,
however, even those you do
not publish — because they
are libelous, use foul
language, disregard the
truth or are too long — might
have a germ of good in them,
at least from the standpoint
of some potential reader.
The w rite rs obviously
expect their letters to be
publicized; so there would be
no breach of confidentiality
in allowing interested people
to read
them.
Would
damages arise, to which your
paper might be liable, if you
were to save all the letters
you receive, and make them
availab le fo r anyone to
study? If there is a shortage
of space, would the public
library provide it?
If this wouldn’t work, is
there some better way people
can learn what each other is
thinking about? Meetings are
difficult, for various reasons
Comments in writing can be
more thoughtful than spoken
ones; they can be saved, and,
by being categorizable, can
reach just the people who
would be most interested in
them
Any suggestions or help
would be appreciated
Joseph L M iller Jr.,
52815 E. Marmot Road,
Sandy
because its
drafters call themselves the Land Use Planning
Constitutional Amendment Committee, it needs
signatures of 61,646 registered voters by July 7 in order
to appear on the November ballot. Major supporters
are the Oregon State Home Builders Association,
Oregon Association of Realtors and Associated Oregon
Industries.
t
Gov Straub has been particularly critica l of AOI s
supporting role and appealed in vain for its board of
directors to withdraw backing by that statewide
association of private employers. Although the AOI
Board refused to change its mind, the governor’s
cudgel has been taken up by editorial w riters for major
metropolitan newspapers. A ll either urge supporters to
back off or warn the public of dire consequences if the
initiative does indeed achieve ballot status.
In essence, the initiative proposes a constitutional
amendment that would require the legislature to adopt
statewide land use planning goals and cities and
counties to adopt comprehensive plans under
established procedures
It would prohibit the legislature from delegating the
goal-setting responsibility as it has to a seven-member
appointed Land Conservation and Development
Commission.
It would not abolish LCDC but permit it to function as
an advisory, arbitrator and administrative agency
with authority to provide funds and technical
assistance to cities and counties, make planning
recommendations to the legislature and arbitrate land
use conflicts between cities and counties.
LCDC would continue to perform all of its present
functions with the single exception of establishing
policy by setting goals.
It would require the legislature to establish a
procedure for giving notice by mail to property owners
whose property is rezoned and make property owners
eligible for compensation if the legislature imposes
restrictions on geographic areas not applying
throughout the state.
Oddly enough, these points aren’t the biggest source
of contention The effective date is. Because if it does
appear on the ballot and if the voters do approve it, the
constitutional amendment becomes effective March 8,
1979 _ two months after the next regular session of the
legislature convenes.
Opponents claim the legislature cannot act on the
issue in 60 days. They fear the issue w ill drag on in
terminably and the current system w ill collapse before
lawmakers make a decision.
In actuality, the legislature must make several
decisions if the LUPCAC Amendment is approved by
voters. Some are more weighty than others. But in the
meantime, the state’s planning and zoning ordinances
are controlled by cities and counties. They w ill remain
unaffected and continue to conduct business as usual.
Another consideration, unique to present land use
law and unaffected by the amendment, is the presence
of the legislature's own standing committee on land
use planning. It is a statutory body, in existence since
passage of Senate Bill 100 in 1973.
This joint committee of both houses of the legislature
is empowered now to conduct hearings on issues raised
by the initiative proposal and draft bills for legislative
consideration some six months hence. At the latest,
that committee should start readying such legislation
as soon as the votes are counted in November.
LCDC Chairmen John Mosser expresses fear the
agency w ill not be able to expend already appropriated
funds to assist cities and counties in completing
comprehensive plans if the amendment is approved
An opinion by Attorney General James Redden refutes
that contention and other contentions that hint land use
planning would go down the proverbial drain if voters
support the initiative.
Land use planning really got off the ground in Oregon
a decade ago with passage of Senate Bill 10 during the
1969 legislative session That measure called for
statewide zoning, more or less an inventory function to
be conducted by local governments.
The legislature in 1973 enacted Senate B ill 100,
establishing LCDC and present land use law. That
Oregonians generally favor land use planning is ap
parent by the fact a referral of SB 10 failed and so did
an initiative to repeal SB 100.
In the light of such strong and continuing public
support, it is difficult to understand the fear now being
expressed by those who oppose giving voters a chance
to ask their elected legislators to clarify and simplify
the existing process.
The controversial nature of land use planning is
apparent by continuing attempts to throw it out en
tirely or to change the law to make it more acceptable.
Voters already have significantly upheld the concept
and lawmakers have approved some changes. Voter
approval of the LUPCAC Amendment would most
simply mean the people want land use planning con
trolled by elected legislators — individiuals placed in
office by a m ajority of concerned citizens from all
parts of the state.
SERVICE
WE GIVE!
INSURANCE
WE SELL . . .
The personal
insurance counsel
and advice of a local
agent is im p orta nt
to you in planning
a com plete insurance
program .
C e a r g e M o rg a n
Local Representative
WALRAD
Sandy, O regon
AGENCY
BB8-4421