Image provided by: Friends of the Sandy Public Library; Sandy, OR
About Sandy post. (Sandy, Oregon) 1938-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 1981)
The Srindy Post Editorial & Opinion Von Braschler. Publisher C aroline D uff O ffic e M anager Dan D illon, Editor Scott N ew ton, News Editor SANDY OREGON THURSDAY. DECEMBER 3. 1981 Free class could save your life Many people are dying here, and first aid instructors from San dy Fire District thinks it ’s often unnecessary Local tra in in g in cardio * pulminary recessitation (CPR I and general first aid, they feel, greatly can reduce the number of persons who die here—if enough residents take classes. The firefighters make it easy. A person can simply drop in at the fire h a ll or call. T here’s no registration or fee. Eight hour classes for certifica tion in life-saving techniques are taught in two evening sessions or one all-day weekend class. Or the firefighters even w ill schedule something for the convenience of a group from a business, club, church or school. They desperately want to get this information out to the public. In fact, they’d like to have 10 per cent of the entire local population trained in life-saving That’s the number now trained in Seattle. In s tr u c to r s lik e fu ll- tim e fireman Ron Smith know the value. “ I t ’s ’’ ist four to six minutes from the time of a heart attack un til the blood flow stops and the brain stops On many emergency calls, it might take us longer than that just to get there. Someone trained in CPR could save a life or at least buy us some time, until we get there.” Some 110 re s id e n ts have undergone the firefighters’ free eight hour classes for certifica tion during the last two years. Completion of the new enlarged firehall and an $800 outlay for tra in in g equipm ent puts the fire fig h te rs —m ostly dedicated volunteers—in a better position to conduct school. The fire district runs two CPR classes each month, plus an eight- hour monthly multi-media class that covers CPR and a bit more The district also teaches an eight- hour first aid class every third month on request. The first aid class proves popular with truck drivers, among others. “ We’ve tried to make it as con venient as possible to eliminate people’s excuses,” Fire Chief Bob Rathke said of the life-saving courses “ We’ve trained people on just one day notice. We w ill teach anywhere and virtually anyone.” Want to save a life? Give your firemen and neighbors a hand by dialing 668-8093. Or simply drop by the firehall. Next CPR class w ill be 7-11 p m. Dec. 15-16, with other CPR classes all day Feb. 20, 7-11 p.m March 16-18 and all day May 15. Next multi-media class w ill be all day Saturday, Jan. 16, with another class April 18. Our dedicated em ergency medical service crew at the fire department deserve a lot of credit and a lot of support Salem scene: Legislature to mull taxes by JACK ZIM M E R M A N A«so<iat«*d Oregon Industries Pressure once more is building to force an extensive reassessment of the system that raises money to pay for government in Oregon That pressure emanates principally from two sources The first is a dismal state of the economy The second is a resurgence of revolt by property tax payers The Oregon economy, heavily dependent on pnxluction of wood products, is reding from effects of federal monetary policy designed to combat inflation High interest rates have reduced construction of housing to the point where demand for wood pro duct from this state is severely restricted Resulting widespread unemployment is depressing the revenue outlook from the states major funding source, income taxes The legislature already has met twice once in a 1980 special session and for seven months in regular sessionearlier this year to deal with revenue shortages The problem persists In spite of earlier attempts to ease pro perty tax burden, four proposals mean while have t»een fled to achieve ballot status for measures that would reduce fur ther the government's ability to raise revenue In essense, they are aimed at limiting revenue from property taxes, restricting the U ’gislatue's ability to change the property tax system and to limit income lax rates Such effort«* are born largely out of frustration with a system heavily depen dent on two major sources of revenue Historically, property taxes were levied to support local government, and income taxes were collected to finance state government Roth progressive in nature, the system wan the envy of many other states, as long as population grew and the economy pro spered The advent of growing population produced demand» for more services from government, particularly local govern men! That mean, more property taxes to pay for schools, roads, sewers ami police protection Population growth in good times also was accompanied by an expamied work force that produced steadily increasing revenue from income taxes Consequently, when lawmakers were prr«sured to alleviate the burden of pro perty taxes they simply diverted surplus income tax revenue to local governments That scenario continued to work through l«7S when property taxpayers managed to put a limitation measure on the general fiction ballot that would have had im menae impact on the entire system With what its leadership described as a gun to is head the legislature responded by referring its own property tax relief measure on th e same I m II o I law m akers won a reprieve when con fused voters rrje» led (with Tas revolutionaries weren t appeased, however, and the 197« legislature found (he same gun at its temple and a »lieshie tnrome las revenue surplus at hand The latgisiaiure responded by enacting a tax relief package designed to to appease I s q i t l s l i v s S s p o r ' tr o m l» s S ia le f a p ila t e x c l u s i v e to Oregon » W w t l r New %pa par» ir o m A k k o tta la d O regon In d u s tria« payers of both income and property taxes They even had the foresight to le, voters upprove continuance of the package So they successfully blunted another hallo, tes, to limit property taxes Then the economy turned sour Income tax revenue declined to a point where school support diminished and so did the property tax relief package The 1981 U'gislture even postponed par, of the income tax relief plan enacted earlierand approved by voters Lulled by property tax relief, those same voters eanwhile approved record high local government tax levies two years in a row Today those levies have produced ratea so high they threaten to erase the ad vantage gained from the I x*g is la ture'a diversion of income tax receipts That sets the stage for revival of proposi lions to place new constitutional limits on the ability of government to tax income and property Under the circumstances, lawmakers are noless frustrated than the tax revolu tionanes That leads to speculation about the possibility of the system’s reformation From (hi* standoint of time, it's doubtful the current Oregon Assembly could under take such a task in special session Economic conditions also preclude previous quick- fixes This Assembly probably will have Io res pond for the most part by further reducing government spending They II leave the (Kwsibility of reform to the next Assembly that will tie elected November, 1982 The likelihood that la*gislature will tackle major changes in the tax system largely will tie determined by two developments between now and the time when members are elected The first depends on whether the current revolt produces enough signatures on peti Hons to plate proposals on the ballot next November The second depends on whether voter» approve some kind of limitaton Success of both v irtu a lly would guárante«* the next Assembly's agendo, as far as taxation is conc erned Letter to the editor We wish to thank our many friends and neighbors for their kindness sympathy and floral offerings following the death of our beloved wife and mother The efforts of the personnel from Alpine Ambulance and Sandy Fire District were greatly appreciated The Ivan Barker family 7 be Innocent Bystander: Taxes hated in ‘Wonderfuland,’ too Once upon a time, there was a country called Wonderfuland, The people of Wonderfuland lov ed their country But, like most people everywhere, they hated their government. It seems that all the govern ment did was tax them, harass them and bully them about all over the place. Finally, in their frustration, they elected a leader who promis ed to “get government off your hacks ’’ And he tried mightily He hacked and whacked and chop ped and lopped at the govern men, for a solid year on end But to most, the government seemed just as taxing, harassing and bullying ax ever. What to do9 The leader had a brilliant idea “ The way to ge, government off people's hacks," he said brilliantly, “ is to abolish it!" So when the lawmakers passed a budget that was S3 98 more than the 1700 billion he had asked for, the leader happily vetoed it “ Now that there is no money to feed the government," he said triumphantly, “ people will quick ly learn to live without it. I hereby order the government closed down and all nonessential government employees to go home immediately " A total of 437 did The leader was. of course, essential as someone had to supervise the abolition of the government Hts wife said she’d better he essential, too. and so were th eir governm ent paid maids and cooks, if he knew what was good for him. His political advisor, who was essential, advised him not to declare his staff nonessential as what would the taxpayers think of having laid out their hard earned tax money to hire a bunch of nogood, worthless, nonessen tial hangers on** All department heads were essential to oversee the dismantl ing of their agencies and they naturally found it essential to re tain the services of th e ir a s s is ta n ts , s e c r e ta r ie s . clerk/typists and wives’ cousins to assist them in this monumental task And somebody, for god sakes, had to go down to the Hot Shoppe and ge, the coffee Of the 437 who went home, 436 had colds, sore throats or tennis dates The exception was Virgil Spurgeon, for 27 years assistant data collator for the Bureau of In terfacial Facilitation “ The government is being abolished.'* he explained to his wife, Melba, "and my job is nonessential." "N o n e s s e n tia l!" exclaim ed Melba indignantly “Just what do you do down at the office every day?" * I don't rightly know," said Spurgeon, frowning * In the spr ing. I make up the baseball pools Then 1 collect for wedding and going a w a y p re s e n ts And somebody, for god sakes, has to go down to the Hot Shoppe and get the coffee” “ A hah!” cried Melba “ You're more essential than ever. With the government being abolished, think of the going away presents you'll have to collect for ” So, by the next morning, all th re e m illio n g o v e rn m e n t employees were back at work do ing pretty much what they'd been doing before And. needless to say, they went right on receiving th e ir paychecks T h a t was because the first thing every department head decided was that nobody, but nobody, was more essential than the payroll clerks, The leader was understandably perplexed He called an emergen cy meeting of his 637 most essen tial advisors “ I am unable to comprehend," he said somewhat dazedly, “how the government can continue to function without a budge," The experts ruminated. “ We have determined,” said their spokesman, that, as no one has ever understood the budget, the government may have no rela tion to it whatsoever Or anything else, for that matter ” But at least abolishing the g o v e rn m e n t im p ro v e d the morale of three million govern ment workers, all of whom discovered they were essential to the well being of the nation Moral: I t ’s certainly possible we could all live happily without the government But it’s certain ly certain we ll never live long enough to find out. Personally speaking Birds of a feather find Sandy home I wrote here a few weeks ago about running tow ards my freedom to watch professional wrestling at my leisure and away from any deterrent to that goal Retracing past abodes has helped me reach conclusions that were heretofore obscured by demanding femalox and flying head butts The way I figure it. everyone needs the freedom to be silly once in awhile without someone rise’s idea of a good time making things confusing The (olom al Street Route It was the house where I thought I'd become a member of the res, of my life working world The nine to fiv e life usurped my collegiate pursuit of a pinball journeyman card, so J C. and I chased our career opportunities instead Once I got career opportunities confused with the landlady, but at least it was a chase My first job foundered with an u n e x p e c te d " T ill,” so I matriculated to delivery boy for a rock and roll record company and eventually back to the university for a more peaceful life behind the guises of academic fulfillment The Van Fosses Court House: Returning to college, it seems almost natural that my most pro inmen, memory of the suburban tract home I shared would be a party, albeit someone else * My 135 pound friend decided he wanted to exhibit h it feeble musculature in our picture win by DAN DILLON dow That seemingly upse, the barbecue party acroas the court, at the home of Eugene's top demolition derby driver, because the up to-then hearty diners drifted inside, casting furtive glances at the spectacle corning from the house with all the laughing Those neighbors, in turn, had earlier promised to shoo, my room m ate's W eim aran er on sight which affected my percep tion of neighborhood fun The W eimaraner’s owner one night kicked a hole in the living room wall affecting my sleep which, in turn, affected my perception of domestic fun So, I moved to the bomb shelter Alone The Bomb Shelter: It wasn't a re a l bomb s h e lte r, but if everyone abandons Europe and uses this continent for a nuclear playground, it certainly won't be the first apartment building to fall Its low rent, however, was com pensated for by the view from yet another picture window. Gone were the demo derby jockeys and their Molls What re mained were four power meters on a green, cement block wall, read faithfully every 28 days by a person who seldom failed to wave. I know I used to count the days between his visits, Everyone likes company. I remember feeling brave one night and walking the block to our neighborhood theater to watch "Halloween." I also remember spending an hour that night, drinking ice water with my back to the cupboards so nothing could sneak up on me Things do that in college The Sandy A p a r tm e n t: Academic days behind me, I re entered the real life of the worka day world I ’ve been befriended by Clint Eastwood and. for once in my life, I have a friend who doesn't talk back, tell me to dust under my bed or criticize my fondness for frozen pizzas I clean up after him once in awhile, but that’s to be expected If you accidentally plucked the tail feathers from your parakeet, you might try to make amends, even 15 months later .1 was also befriended by this girl, who won Clint Eastwood throwing dimes at the county fair and said I ’d better keep an eye on him. That probably turned out for the best. I ’ve seen the anguish she put plants through And. of course. I watched the sun rise over Mt Hood one morn ing and thought about where I ’ve come since Montana, where I ’ve been and where I am and realized some things might never change In many ways I may still be like the kid I was when I was growing up at home Jus, older But. at least I don't fall down the stairs quite so often The Post gratefully acknowledges essays and written opinions from readers to appear on this page -separate from the unbiased news reports on other pages of this newspaper Your opinions generally will be printed as letters to the editor, while ours general ■ ly w ill appear as editorials Occasionally, we are able to print guest editorials We attempt to print all signed letters of good taste, legi ble form and reasonable length Our deadline is noon on Tuesdays
