The Sandy Post
Von Braschler. Publisher
Caroline Duff Office Manager
Editorial & Opinion
Mark Floyd. Editor
Dan Dillon, News Editor
SANDY OREGON THURSDAY. AUGUST 6. 1981
Does Postal Service really listen?
The U S. Postal Service has come
a long way from the days of the
penny “ pony e x p re ss.’’ Some
might say they’ve gone too far.
Those were the days when
dedicated young riders would wear
their horses into the ground for two
cents worth of postage. With rising
prices, two cents might sound
cheaper than it was. Many readers
probably remember three and five
cent postcards not long ago, when
the Postal Service had gotten
things out of the horse and buggy
days with automation, planes and
trains.
Now rising labor costs and public
demand for faster service drive the
cost higher perennially. U S.
Postmaster Geneal William Bolger
says a 23-cent stam p for first-class
delivery may be possible by next
year. The new' 18-cent stam p just
isn’t producing enough revenue,
especially with recent concessions
in recent labor negotiations that
nearly ended in a national mail
strike
The Postal Service like any na
tionalized monopoly gets its way, of
course. Postal patrons in Canada
have witnessed the m ailcarrier’s
stranglehold there, where the only
way to get a letter through the
strike line is by hand over the
border and then east or west across
the U S. to another border town
where another Canadian can cross
the border to pick it up.
But that’s what happens when
you nationalize a monopoly and
then allow labor to organize
against the public they serve.
We’re not complaining about the
devoted effort of public servants
locally, but the bureaucrats and big
labor leaders who rule the roost
from on high.
It could be worse. We could be
s a d d le d
w ith
n a tio n a liz e d
telephone companies, power com
panies and oil companies. It could
be better, too, since we already suf
fer with nationalized passenger
railroad.
Those who still argue that
government can provide public ser
vices cheaper and better haven’t
been paying attention lately. The
U P S. vans deliver the bulk of the
packages today, and do so cheaper
and faster.
Locally the U S, Postal Service
has an excellent chance to prove
they’re still in the business of
public service with concern for
community preference on their
new post office site.
To date the city council’s 1978
p etitio n for local downtown
b u s in e s s d e liv e ry h as gone
unanswered. Now the regional of
fice s k ir ts the c ity ’s long-
del iberated Comprehensive Plan
with hints any new Sandy post of
fice may have to be situated out
side the downtown core area.
The council is trying not to sound
dictatorial in suggesting specific
sites, but would like to be con
sidered local advisors in the plann
ed move. After all, the Postal Ser
vice invited their advice. Now they
should listen, especially since any
conditional use permit for any new
post office here must be reviewt»d
by the local city council.
Council members are concerned
i®i?éi
V**’ FEATuíí?
about traffic and trucks, access
from east, west and secondary
roads plus walking distance for
downtown business persons who Letters to the
presently have no in-town delivery.
Moreover, they’d like to see (he
downtown core area of Sandy
maintained and not gutted by aban
donment of service centers who City eyes PO site
move down the strip within a
We would like to set the
stone’s throw of town.
record straight on our in
Like dumping a 23-cent stam p on volvement and that of the Ci
o u r la p s , d u m p in g S an d y ty Council with the Postal
concerning the con
downtowners would show a blatant Service
struction of a new post office
lack of sensitivity to the public they in Sandy and the request lor
serve, their community and their local delivery service
It appears there is at least
needs. We expect more
one in our community who
They fed the horses right. The feels that the local communi
feds will treat us right, too, we ty should not be involved in
the decisions ot the post of
hope (VB)
OUR NEWEST BI6 IDEA:
THE DOTTYOUBSELF STAMP.'
iil
Hydro, postal site draw reader focus
Salem scene:
State woes mirror 1963
JACK ZIMMERMAN
Associated Oregon Industries
As the 61st Legislative Assembly finally
neared adjournment in Salem, a veteran of
the process remarked the session was a re
run of the struggles experienced by the 52nd
Assembly back in 1963
Indeed, there are similarities as there
are between nearly all biennial meetings of
Oregon lawmakers Those that tie 19G3 and
1981, however, are quite striking
While the play is much the same, the cast
has changed substantially Several prin
cipals are still around however, and they
bear mentioning at the outset In a lead role
then was present Gov. Victor Atiyeh He
was completing his third term in the House
of Representatives In addition to running
successfully for the Senate the following
year. he campaigned strongly for a revenue-
increase plan
No other House members were serving
then, bu, three members of the current
Senate served in that chamber during the
1963 session E D i Debbsi Potts i D-Grants
Pass) was a second session freshman, and
Edward Eadely 11) Eugene) and Ted
Hallock 11) Portland' were experiencing
their first in unbroken strings of sessions
marking continuous service in the upper
chamber
Some issues regularly haunt nearly every
session of Oregon’s Assembly notably
taxes and funding for public education
Compensation for injured workers and
unemployment pay also have been subjects
for review each session for more than four
decades
Perhaps the biggest issue linking 1963 to
this year was a economy that failed to
generate enough revenue from taxes to ade
quately fund the 1961 63 biennium
lawmakers came to Salem on January 14,
1963 facing a $14 5 million deficit
Republican Gov Mark Hatfield was pro
posing a general fund budget for the new
biennium amounting to $405 million, com
pared with the $.366 million budget approved
in 1961
Democrats then, as now, controlled both
House and Senate Gov Hatfield had
directed a special interim study seeking
workers’ compensation reform Public
education was in need of additional state
support to relieve a growing burden on pro
perty taxes
lawmakers of the 52nd Assembly labored
long to solve the problems they faced so
long in fact the 1963 session became the
longest in history by substantial margin It
lasted until June .3. extending into that sum
mer month for the first time and eclipsing
editor:
Legislative Report from the State Capital
E XCLUSIVE to Oregon's Weekly Newspa
pers from Associated Oregon Industries
the previous longest session of 1957 by 13
days The 1957 session lasted 128 days, while
the 1963 struggle continued for a total of 141'
Workers' compensation was not substan
tially reformed, but taxes were temporari
ly
Gov Hatfield succeeded in obtaining tax
increases that would have produced the
then significant additional sum of $60
million The plan included personal and cor
porate income tax boosts, and employers
were saddled with more frequent payment
of withholding taxes to achieve a one-shot
revenue gain
Biggest reason the 1963 session lasted as
long as it did was reluctance in the House of
Representatives to send out a tax program
that would jeopardize the political careers
of those then serving Voters have a tenden
cy to be unforgiving after tax increases, and
lawmakers know it.
Democrats owned a narrow majority
(31 29' in the House and needed liberal
Republican support to send a package to the
Senate, controlled 21-9 by Democrats
That’s coincidentally close to the 22 8
margin by which Demos rule the 1981 upper
chamber
The 1963 Senate didn't buy the original
House tax package, prolonging that session
until a compromise emerged
The compromise achievement was short
lived, however, because the personal and
corporate income tax proposals were refer
red by initiative petition and soundly
trounded by a more than three to-one
margin during a special election Oct 15
The tax defeat prompted a special session
the following month when lawmakers sue
ceeded in extracting $12 million by again
changing the withholding tax procedure for
employers and giving Gov Hatfield authori
ty to further reduce school support and
spending to balance the budget
In the process of all this wrangling, a
general sales tax. hotel motel tax and
cigarette tax all were considered and aban
doned In each case they emerged from the
House and were scuttled in the Senate
fice concerning these two
issues All of the City Coun
cil, as well as the mayor,
were elected by the citizens
of Sandy to represent them
on issues that affect our
community We don't recall
anyone in the Postal Service
ever being elected to repre
sent the interests of our local
com in unity
The issue of a new post of
fice for Sandy is not new to
the City Council, and the
Council has dealt with it for
more than three years In
April, 1978, the City Council
sent a petition to the U.S
Postal Service recommen
ding a new post office for
Sandy and outlining the deti
ciencies of the existing post
office
Since that time, the city
has been actively involved in
pursuing a new post office
for our community The city
has, in fact, been working
very cooperatively with the
post office Representatives
of the city and Post Service
have me,, and the Postal
Service representatives re
quested our advice on the
location of a new post office
in Sandy
It was agreed that the City
Council would establish a set
of policies and serve in an
advisory role to the Postal
Service in making its deci
sion on a new location
The Council w ill not be
mandating a particular loca
tion, but attempting to assist
the Postal Service by pro
viding local advice that they
would no, otherwise have,
since the representatives
from the Postal Service who
are making the decision on
the new location are from
outside our community It is
w ith
th is
con t inued
cooperative spirit that we
are working to assist the
Post Service in its decision
concerning a new location
In response to the concern
that we are not qualified to
deal with this decision, we
would only point to the hun
dreds of hours that were
spent preparing the com
m u n ity ’s Comprehensive
Plan and the untold hours we
spend on similar issues of
com m unity wide interest
We truly believe that the
location of the post office is
an important part of our
community, and that the Ci
ty Council should be involved
in assisting in that decision
Another major interest of
our community on which the
city has been working is the
issue of local delivery Since
April 2, 1978. we have been
working with the Postal Ser
vice in an attempt to get
local delivery service for the
city of Sandy On April 3,
1978, a fte r considerable
discussion by our communi
ty, the city filed a petition
with the Postal Service for
local delivery
Since that time we have
written many letters, work
ed w ith a v a rie ty of
representatives and even
performed special studies
and mapping at our own ex
pense After three years we
have not received any final
word from the Postal Ser
vice about our request Since
the downtown area does not
have local delivery, the
businesses and many others
in Sandy must get their mail
from the post office
We feel the location of the
post office is an important
decision for our community
The location of a post office
o u tsid e of the c ity 's
downtown walking area and
the subsequent use of auto
traffic for post office access
would have a major impact
on our community As Coun
cil members we are concern
ed and will continue to ex
press our concern about
these issues
Don Blair
City Council member
Deane Wesselink
City Council member
Let public know
I have been a land owner
in the Sandy River Gorge in
Multnomah County since
1941 I greatly appreciated
your two reports on the pro
posed dam and development
on B o uld er C reek, a
tribu tary of the Salmon
River and the Sandy River
system by Steven Sweitzer
It is a pity that notification
of people affected in the
river basin is not made man
datory in Oregon After all,
Oregon is uniquely a riverine
state, and all Oregonians
live and are affected by river
syste m s:
W illa m e tte ,
Rogue, Deschutes, Wilson,
Sandy, Hood, Owyhee, etc
Activities that affect the
environment at any one
point, almost certainly will
affect ,t at most other points
along the river basin, both
up and down
As it is, a “ hearing” or
notification only has to go to
those living within a quarter
or half mile of the project
Thus these conditional-use
permits often are “ slipped
by,“ and affected citizens
above and below by many
miles or across a county line
wake up to a fait accompli
It seems to happen time
and time again, and only an
alert press and citizens con
stantly on the prowl to pick
up the news that something
is about to happen (that is, if
they’re lucky), prevent a rip
off
Twice I have been down to
Salem to testify against HB
2730 that slipped through the
House almost unnoticed and
was sent to the Senate Com
mittee on Agriculture and
Natural Resources
The same Steve Sweitzer
testified that he wanted to
spend $960,000 tor a dam on
Boulder Creek, if only the
law could be changed to
allow unlimited impound
m ent and rem ove the
m in im u m
flo w
re
quirements.
I suspect that this present
application may be his fa ll
back position At a minimum
it represents a foot in the
door and will almost certain
ly be followed by other
power projects and diver
sions and developments that
will inevitably spoil the San
dy River as a vital fishery
resource, as well as the
natural beauty area that we
are a ll so proud of.
Remember, tourism is our
third largest industry.
I hope the people of the en
tire region hear about this
and will rise up against the
application with letters and
testimony Be at the hearing
and w rite the Planning
Board in Oregon City, as
well as the Water Resources
Board in Salem, so they may
clearly understand you! Do
it now or it may be too late!
Arch W Diack
Boring
L E T T E R S P O LIC Y :
The Post asks that all
letters to the editor be typed,
double-spaced and signed.
Deadline is noon, Tuesday,
letters should be accurate,
free of libelous remarks and
in
good
taste.
Guest editorial:
Rep. Weaver fights to ban log exports
by JIM WEAVER
U.S. Congressman. Uh Disl.
An economic wound is bleeding
the Northwest’s economy to death I
refer, of course, to the export from
this region of two to three billion
board feet of unmilled logs every
year
With sawmills already standing
idle because of high interest rates,
we continue to allow the export of
logs instead of em ploym ent-
producing lumber and plywood to
Japan and East Asia
I ^ t me review some of the reasons
why I feel so strongly about this
issue Every log that goes out of this
country without being milled into
fin is h e d lu m b e r or plyw ood
represents direct job losses suffered
by our economy Somewhere else
workers w ill be turning our forest
resources into high value finished
products and e n rich in g th e ir
economy by that amount
It is incredible to think that we
would make tax funded investments
in managing our public timber and
then allow that public timber to be
exported through a loophole in the
law.
We ought to be concerned with the
export of private timber as well Ex
ports from any source diminish the
logs available to the Northwest's
mills and push the price up for stum-
page With all the cries about an im
pending timber shortage, echoed by
many of the major timber exporting
corporations, one would think these
very same companies would be
keeping their logs home and suppor
ting legislation that would require
everyone else to do so.
But they don't, and it is obvious
that private timber owners w ill not
give up exporting logs until we close
our borders against the bleeding of
this prized resource
Within the Pacific Rim trading
area, the Northwest is blessed with a
unique resource in its fine grained,
old growth sawtimber Nowhere else
is there the quality or quantity of
timber available here
If we banned log exports, the
Japanese would not be able to
replace that loss with Siberian
timber as many exporters claim
The Russian timber is too difficult to
access, is prim arily low quality
larch and is encumbered with a host
of political problems
cut lumber to Japanese specifica
tions. pay the shipping costs and still
be competitive with the products of
Japanese mills
Further, New Zealand does not
have the capacity to supply the
volume needed by the Japanese, and
the Far Eastern hardwoods do not
have the qualities of our old growth
softwoods.
Canadians could not replace our
logs either, because they have wise
ly banned the export of unprocessed
logs since 1905.
If, out of spite, the Japanese
replaced the log volume we supplied
with Canadian lumber imports, the
Northwest would still benefit Since
Canada now supplies the U S with 29
percent of the lumber we consume, a
diversion of Canadian lumber to
Japan would allow the Northwest to
supply a greater portion of the
eastern U S. market with lumber
But no one is willing to invest in
such an operation when he or she
knows that the Japanese w ill prefer
to buy logs, and that trade barriers
exist that prevent the free flow of
U S milled lumber to Japan
It is claimed that this is a free
trade issue Yet the Japanese sub
sidize their mills, and the U S gives
tax benefits for log exports Nor
thwest millowners say they could
Log exporters say we should
negotiate such issues, not legislate
them This is absolutely ludicrous'
We have waited ten years for
fruitless negotiations with the
Japanese to result in any sustained
or significant increase in exports of
American finished lumber
The Japanese are willing to pro
tect their workers and their small
businesses by supplying them with
logs at almost any cost It is a
political issue in Japan, and their
politicians respond to their consti
tuents
At the same time, our mills sit
idle, unprotected by elected officials
and suffering from false arguments
about free trade