Image provided by: Friends of the Sandy Public Library; Sandy, OR
About Sandy post. (Sandy, Oregon) 1938-current | View Entire Issue (March 11, 1982)
The Srfndy Post Editorial & Opinion Von Braschler, Publisher Coroline Duff, Office Manager Don Dillon. Editor Scott Newton, News Editor SANDY, OREGON THURSDAY. MARCH 11, 1982 Hundreds here need place to play A large group ot local baseball enthusiasts are working hard toward the day when hundreds of men, women and children may enjoy Am erica’s greatest past- time in Sandy The planning group, headed by John Dodson and Mike Kern, hopes to secure a field for adult softball and youth hardball in a summer recreational league that could involve 1200 ballplayers and supporters. At le a st th a t's D odson's estim ate of Sandy’s burning hunger for recreatic? d outlet. He points out that local youth have little recreational channels here, and that many serious young ballplayers find gaps in their playing days soon after L it tle League years. The major organizing task has two early hurdles The first in volves fund-raising for all those many teams The second involves securement of a field for a ball diamond The enthusiasts harbor hopes that Firwood School might allow them to clear and prep a field for their community use. An a lte r native would be for them to secure the donation of a private field If that fails, Dodson said they might even attempt to lease a field. There sim ply are n ’t enough places here to play—particularly if y o u ’re planning to fie ld something like 22 adult and youth teams. Perhaps someone out there might help. Such a gift could glad den many hearts. Just think how many bored, aimless youth this could take off the streets. Think how many heart attacks might be prevented among older residents who finally get in a little exercise here As county hungers, officials diet County funds to help overweight government employees slim their waists with liquid diet food seems a waste of taxpayers’ money. That seems especially true to day, when the masses in Clackamas county are tightening their belts and putting less bread on the table. With rampant unemployment and current tight money, it ’s hard to understand county leaders spending $57,000 a year in increas ed health insurance premiums in a “ Risk Factor Obesity Control” program for fat cats. Actually, the program ’s only for em p lo ye e s d a n g e ro u s ly overweight by 50 pounds and aim ed at keeping them healthy and productive workers—which could save money in the long run. However, it ’s a big much to swallow -even at 300 calories a day—to think the county is sub sidizing the program through its medical insurance. The weight-control program is just part of the < anty’s risk management program Oh, yes, families of employees also qualify government-subsidized loss program through surance plan. county for the weight- the in Somehow it sounds wrong, though, to expect your neighbor to foot the bill for your cans of diet food. At least that’s what what lone Commission Stan Skoko argues. Indeed. In these tight money times, this sounds as arrogant as recession President Martin Van Buren He riled hungry rank and file citizens by taking m ilk baths Fat cats here just drink the stuff Salem scene: Another session probable by JACK Z IM M E R M A N Asnorlated Oregon Indimtrle« The Bist legislative Assembly did what it was supposed to do, when it convened in special session last Jan IB It enacted the bulk of Gov Vic Atlyeh's Economic Recovery Plan It passed bills easing the pain of unemployment, made It simpler to begin generating electricity by burning refuse and changed provisions of the veterans' home loan program to postpone foreclosures and facilitate resale of mortgaged homes and farms It also embraced a package of spending cuts and tax increases aimed at balancing income with outgo for the remainder of the current two year budget period Rut It spend too much time and money doing It And common consensus even among lawmakers themselves figures the budget balancing act will fall apart later this year Furthermore, the record long 37 day special meeting established some kind of new mark for bitterness and acrimony among members that appears to be grow mg. instead of dissipating since final ad joornment at 10 minutes before midnight March 1 When it came to balancing the budget, lawmakers reduced »pending by a total of SIM I million, increased taxes t i n « million, authorized exemptions and spen ding totaling 1« 4 million and provided for an ending ba la nee of fa 1» million In the process, they cut agency budgets, reduced basic school support and the emergency fund and sliced into the proper ty tax relief fund. They raised income taxes, accelerated payment of withholding taxes, cracked down on delinquent taxpayers and disputed la« payments and Isms ted the cigarette tax Hulk of new spending involved interest exem ptions for savings plans, the ** nnomir recovery program and cost of more agresaive collection of delinquent taxes Altogether it was a patchwork that failed to satisfy anyone completely and provided an ending tie lance most believe la only paper thin Even before the complicated r ompromises were »truck many were predicting they would have to return to Swlam again probably in June to tie with vet another revenue shortfall This porta ular l ag i sia ture feces the unenviable prospect of setting yet another record on top on the many already Mtatdiahed Ito first occurred Nov 4. l« o elected » Lsqitlabve Report trom the S la lr Capital E XCLU SIV E to Oregon $ Weekly Newspa per« bom Aviocialed Oregon Industries The next involved the length of its regular session, substantially eclipsing the longest previous session in IF73 that lasted IBOdays It tied the legislature in 1433 that conducted two special session when It con vened its second in January of thia year Another special session this year will be another record for frequency Little wonder mem tiers are hitter and acrimonious. Some have thrown in the towel Opting out tor a variety of reasons One veteran retiree said It isn't fun anymore A likely candidate for understatement of the year, the attitude nevertheless appears far from universal Secretary of State Norman Paulus has reported filings by persons seeking to become candidates during the May primary election are up 37 percent over those aspiring to candidacy two years ago While some lawmakers are stepping down, it appear» there are plenty of aspirants willing to Lake their places It's difficult to pin down, but a rash of fil ings may mean there's significant dissatisfaction out there tor those who have been toiling in this Assembly On the o th e r h an d , some observers -n o tin g anem ploym ent la high »uggrst a job in the Legislature may appear better than no job at all Only time will tell As recessionary con dltiona continue two likely developments emerge One involves possible overhaul of the system by which state and local governments raise revenue and spend it The other involves the manner in which the legislature deals with that system Roth are undertakings of considerable con sequence Voters may force the first development if a property tax limitation initiative gains ballot status But the Legislature makes Ito own rules It the next legislature is forced to restructure the tax system substantially change government spen ding habits and alter the way it conducts ito own business then the «2nd Assembly in IMS truly will be a contender tor some new titles of its own Tax, guns, govt, draw fire ‘Ban cars’ I feel I must reply to the letter from Pete Shields of Handgun Control Inc. This year near 50,000 an niversaries will roll around of dear people tragically killed last year, and nearly 3 million injured—not by a gun or any particular size or shape, but by something most Americans own, in cluding you, P e te —the automobile It's very interesting to note how the news media reacts to how a person dies Guns and airplane crashes rate top news billing, yet 50,000 d eath s by automobiles gets a ho hum Only on a threerlay holiday do we get the predictions of how many will die by automobiles. Strangely enough, we don't see any group star ting a coalition to ban all S a tu rd a y n ig h t automobiles. Why Is it, Pete, we accept death by automobile as part of life that we condone** Some people use their automobile like a weapon. I own both automobiles and handguns I do not In tend to harm anyone with either one Both have their legitimate use in sport and collecting - as in antique tar«, hot rod* and recrea tional vehicle use You and I have a much greater chance of being harmed or killed by an automobile than by any firearm T ell you what, Pete. When you and those that th in k lik e you about firearms, start a coalition to ban automobiles, we who own handguns will serious ly think about giving up our handguns. Yours for the right to own and safely use both an a tom obi le and a handgun Bob Pearson Welches Watch board This y e a r Sandy is favored with an interesting election In the past the in terest in the school has not been strong In mast cases, only one or two candidates expressed an interest Thia year we have five candidates for two post lions First, let me say that I am not a candidate this year, as I was last year Of five candidates. four are either on the five member school board or members of the budget committee as freeholders. T h is Is im p o r t a n t , because you as voters have an opportunity to elect to the school b oard tw o members who have proved by their budget activity just how they stand on budget matters The budget committee decides the dollar figure that will be the proposed budget for the election. This committee is compris ed of the five school board members and five citizens of the district, who are not on the board. Thia ten member com mittee not only decides the dollar figure of the propoe ed budget, but makes recommendations as to what programs should be cut or added in arriving at the proposed budget If you feel that the budget is an important issue, you now have the opportunity to determine how most of the candidates voted dur ing the budget committee meetings and cast your tie Sandy water rights The possibility should be con sid ered th at P o rtla n d might choose to hold on to its rights and someday sell water For many years it has sold Bull Run water to many metropolitan area water districts There could be advan tages to Sandy and Alder Creek citizens in having P o rtla n d d eve lo p the source (a costly endeavor), and sell the water to them The Little Sandy empties into the Bull Run River and hence is part of the Bull Run watershed A simple boundary change in the B u ll Run W a te rs h e d already I would think that any candidate, even the seven up for re-election would feel the same way I doubt there is anything to hide But that story of the miss ing $600,000 keeps nagging away. Ted Rowell Portland Correct WPPSS The WPPSS disaster will cripple Oregon's economy for decades, unless we act now to deflect the unfair nuclear debt away from Oregon The ratepayers' Letters to the editor vole for the school board with some knowledge of how your candidate will react to future budget sea sions I am not. in print, suppor ting any candidate I am just informing you that some of the candidates who were on the committee pushed for making larger budget cuts Some pushed for presenting the current budget, which - due to state funding c u tb a c k s —w ill represent a 30 percent higher tax levy for district residents. If you check the records of the committee meetings or ask those who were there, you can find out that in both positions that are up for election, there is a can didate who favored more budget cuts than were ap proved and a candidate who favored the higher budget that was submitted to the voters There is also an excellent candidate who was not in volved with the budget pro cedure It doesn’t matter to me bow you vote 1 only ask you to check into the records of the candidates It would be a shame for Sandy voters to vote down the budget and then elect the candidates who were instrumental in proposing a larger budget or vico- veraa Harold Hayward Sandy Guard water I refer to the M ar 4 a rti cle "Sandy considers tax base levy, water sharing.*' I interpret this as suppor ting an increased tax base, in part to pay for growth in ito water system The ex- cees water would come from the Little Sandy and be sold to communities near Alder Creek The article also pointe out that Portland holds LR- Management Unit could in clude all of the Little Sandy drainage above the ingress of Aschoff Creek within this Unit Such a change is per- missabie under new Bull Run law It would give Portland a degree of control over management practices in the watershed that could enable Little Sandy water, like presently used Bull Run water, to escape a need for (expensive) filtra tion Sandy ba» no opportunity for such control, and pro bably would have to filter Joseph L M iller Jr Sandy Audit Metro? I am a candidate for Metro Councilor Position from District 8, and many things perturb me On Thursday, Feb 25, Metro Council voted down by 4-4, a Washington Coun ty request for the Metro Council to seek a state audit of Metro's books Of course, with Metro's finances being strained, this action would further deplete the General Fund A solution might be ef fected. as Councilor Craig Berkman suggested " If there are people out there who don’t have confidence in our audit, they should pay to have a look at It." I would like to start the hall rolling toward a “State Audit of Metro's Funds'* campaign Hopefully, the outcome of a State audit would en sure that a continued "con dition of dignity" would prevail within the coun- - « a ------ — ci to nn ip If elected, I would want and expect to start on a clean MU of health and not and up on the short end because I was forced to de pend upon "last years audit*’ as hap pened revolt has just begun, and our electric rates have just begun to rise As a Democratic can didate for governor, I have identified three steps we must take to correct this rapidly deteriorating situa tion 1 We must form new municipal utilities and peo ple's utility districts and shed these bad nuclear debts This action would leave the liabilities with the utilities that made the in vestments and not with O re g o n 's in n o cen t ratepayers 2. We must implement Article X I-D of Oregon's Constitution and develop O re g o n 's abundant renewable energy potentila under the direction of the th re e -m e m b e r e le c te d commission, authorized by the Constitution 3, We must work to re p e a l the N o rth w e s t Power Act of I960 Allowing a g ia n t fe d e r a l bureaucracy to control development of a decen tralized power system, bas ed on small renewable energy sources, is con tradictory I have worked for these programs in the past and now they are of the highest priority to us all I urge all Oregonians to begin taking these three steps. The econom ic s ta b ility of Oregon depends on our ac tions Gerald H Rust Jr. Eugene Trim budget I. and the rest of the peo ple of the state have just witnessed the most i r responsible session of the state legislature, regular or special, in the history of the state. The Legislature now has balanced the state budget, as required by Oregon law—on paper at This has been acompiisb ed by cuts in some budgets—but, most impor tantly—by raising taxes in area legislators thought would get least amount of "flak" from the public and constituents who elect them They have solved the state's problem—for a few months—and balanced the state budget, but have not told the taxpayer how he or she is going to balance bis or her checkbook. The state Legislature, alo ng w ith C o n gress, refuses to recognize (or are too blind to see) that there is nothing left out here to tax T h e a c tio n of the Legislature in its special session is a "finger in the dike" solution What do we do, when the finger gets tired and there has been no permanent repair to the dike? The answer is obvious. We, as individuals, can not spent more money than we make without going bankrupt, and we cannot tax anyone or anything to make up the difference The government—state or federal—is no different, ex cept that it can keep taxing until there is nothing left to tax Then it, too, will go bankrupt Low and behold, the next serious depres sion At that point evernone says, "What happened9" "Why don’t we have any money'’ " "Why doesn’t the government take care of us?” Why9 Because we are the government. We sent those people to the Legislature and to Congress, and we said, "Go ahead and take care of us, but don’t let it coat me anything ” We cannot blame the Legislature and Congress as a body, for they are of our bodies We created them, but instead of us tak ing the responsibility for what they do. we want them to take responsibility for us They cannot, for g o v e rn m e n t produces nothing It is only a con sumer and consumes that which we give it to con sume I fear for this nation and state It took one thousand years tor Rome to destroy it s e lf , based on a philosophy of the govern ment controlling the people instead of the people con trolling themselves and the government The tail will continue to wag the dog, until we stop It. Force government t o _ face the budget problems squarely and honestly We must face our own Lowell D. NJuat Welches
