Image provided by: Friends of the Sandy Public Library; Sandy, OR
About Sandy post. (Sandy, Oregon) 1938-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 1982)
The S^ndy Post Editorial & Opinion Von Braschler, Publisher Caroline Duff Office Manager Dan Dillon. Editor Scott Newton. News Editor SANDY. OREGON THURSDAY, MARCH 18 1982 Voter registrations ‘lost’ in mail A voter registration foul-up on Mt. Hood resembles your classic case of government’s right hand not watching what the left was do ing The county’s planning depart m ent gave m any m o u n ta in residences new street names and numbers as improvement on lot numbers and duplicate road names However, the county’s elections office wasn’t fully aware of the implications. They found many voter memorandum cards, routinely mailed to update resi dent p re c in c t a ssig n m e n ts, undeliverable as addressed by old mail lists County Elections instructed the Postal Service not to forward the voter registration check-up cards In question are some 2,100 ad dresses in Brightwood, Welches, Rhododendron and Govt. Camp. There renters not notified of street address changes, mere mailing address change or postal box and star route confusion may have befuddled the Elections Of fice. If a county voter received the memorandum card with precinct information, then he’s set to vote w ithout question. Those who didn’t receive the card in the mailing foul-up still may take ac tion to vote. New voter information cards can be filled out at normal re g is tra tio n sites, in clu d in g Hoodland fire station and Sandy Public Library. Misplaced voters in Estacada and Boring can register again at Estacada City Hall, the school or Boring fire sta tion. Another approach would be to wite the elections board to verify residence for polling. The county is aware of the pro blem and w ill take precaution at the poll to avoid losing any voters through confusion, Clackamas County Elections Supervisor John Kauffman said. Questioned voters the county feels simply got lost in the shuffle may find their name on a list for verification at their same polling place the day of election. At that time, election deputies can assist voters in verifying their resident qualification by fillin g out new voter precinct cards. However Kauffman said he’d rather avoid any hassle at the poll by having misplaced voters fill out new cards before March 30. Altogether some 18,000 voter registrations out of 142,000 check ed by m ail loom in question. For Mt. Hood this prim ary election poses m ajor political changes in cluding new federal Congres sional D istrict 5, new state Senate D istrict 14 and new House D istrict 23. One candidate who figures he may have lost in the Mt. Hood registration foul-up is Welches Republican John Thompson, who figures his home tu rf to be logical support base in his bid for the new Senate seat. However, misplaced voters on Mt. Hood w ill not receive their voters’ pamphlet or any other elections informaion from County Elections' outdated mailing list. Personally speaking: Thumbing Bluff Rd. wild I ’ve hitchhiked up and down North Bluff Road a lot during the pant three years It's the kind of situation you find yourself in when your car works less well than Reaganomics Its wheel bearings lost their bearings Its brake shoe lost its sole Its fuel pump has so many problems that precious bodily fluids don’t get pumped to parts of the body where they can do some good like make the sucker run So, I hitchhike from time to time I ’d like to say I have a Sissy Hankshaw thumb She's the heroine of a Tom Rob bins' novel, "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues,” and she's got a banana sized beau ty She plucks rides from Eerraris three lanes over like fishermen after trout at their favorite hole by waving her fruity appendage in the driver’s general direc lion before she reels them in Such is not my luck In the past three years, I hltchhikd North Bluff Road at least 120 times I got seven rides that I can remember However. I must admit, my earlier hit chhiking experience had been limited Previously, my car ran When it didn t, I ran laumesa wasn't yet my modus operand! Oh. there was the time J C and I hitched a ride from Linnton to downtown Portland along the St Helens Highway It helped that he remembered he had a pair of crutches in his closet He climlied back up the flight of stairs we called our street about an hour after we put our thumbs out. gathered the crutches up and rejoined me at the curb The firs, passing motorist was sym pathetic, stopped and proffered us a ride Caveat emptor Another time, my car accidentally kiss ed a curb and hen, its axles I was forced to use my thumb for a week to find a way to school It didn't matter I was in the midst of a hot streak on the Mt Helena Highway Indeed, the first car stopped, even without the crutches The driver wen, out of his way to take me over the Mt John a Bridge above the Willamette River Il might have t»een a more pleasurable experience for him had we made it. t>u, I told investigators his version of the acci dent I was just thankful for the ride. After that hitchhiking experience I didr. t put out my thumb again until I mov by DAN DILLON ed to Sandy and, for the most part, my ef forts here have been futile. That is, they were futile until recently. Earlier this month I took a week off to sort some things oul and try to discover the bottom of my kitchen sink where some of the dishes had been stacked since last year early Iasi year Because my car was in the shop for the first few days of vacation. It meant a few trips up and down the road It's gotten to the point now that I usually don’t even stick out my thumb I'm resign ed l(> the fa d that it s easier to walk and look energetic than it is to grovel at the side of the road, trying to lure a ride I was making my way along Bluff one morning when a car pulled up behind me and honked excitedly I gingerly stepped further off the shoulder of the road, ex pet ting it to roar past I muttered a few choice, uh. phrases The car, however, pulled up short and its driver and passenger peered oul into the ram at me, saying something shout something I was a bl, annoyed because they d honk ed at me when I was clearly off the road minding my own business and it was rain mg the way it only rains when you’re a half mile from home without a coat They asked me if I wanted a ride I was overwhelmed I couldnl believe It After ail those times I tried to hitch a ride, this couple actually stopped unsolicited I was nearly ecstatic. but I had to decline There were less than 2«) yards left in my two mile run I derided to tough it out. The Post grslefully *< knowledges essays and written opinions from readers to sp pear on this page seper ale from the unbiased news reports on other pages of this newspaper Your opinions generally will be printed as letters to the editor, while ours generally will appear as editorials Occasionally, we are able to print guest editorials We attempt to print all signed letters of good taste legible form and reasonable length Our deadline is noon on Tuesdays 1 ¡ 3 H New war, schools, levies draw focus A major reason Oregon's economy is in such bad shape is the expensive Reagan and Denny Smith m ilitary buildup, causing massive federal deficits andhigher interest rates We must work for an im mediate freeze on the fur th e r d e v e lo p m e n t of nuclear weapons, savings from which could cut the federal deficit or fund vital d o m e s tic needs The United States needs new policies of global coopers tion to protect our economy and planet With new revelations of R e a g a n 's se c re t w a r against the government of Nicaragua, my concern over the possibility of another Vietnam in Central America has reach a new level The Reagan and Smith policy of confronts tion and m ilitary solutions eventually may lead to spilling of American boys' blood in yet another foreign land, just as Wayne Mo. se predicted would happen in Vietnam. The Reagan certification of an improved human rights situation by E l Salvador s military junta im m e d ia te ly was con tra d ic te d by both the United Nations and Amnes ty International Yet our contry still is sending millions of dollars in high technology military hard ware to an undemocratic m ilita ry ju n ta c le a rly responsible for deaths of four American Catholic nuns, as well as thousands of their own countrymen We must fight hack to save A m e ric a fro m another tragic situation On M a rc h 21 th e Democratic National Com mittee will consider my proposal to join the call for peaceful negotiations leading to democratic elec Rons in El Salvador and an honest appraisal of the real human rights situation. Dave Me Teague Demornocratic National Committeeman Salem Cuts crafty? The Oregon School Board Association at a recent meeting decided to release probationary teachers as a tactic in their effort to win budget approval in local school districts This tac tic. that has been accepted by the Sandy Union High School B o ard , is yet a n o th e r m ethod of m anipulating the com munity into swallowing a proposed budget. The budget is not being put up for voter approval on its own merits, but in stead Is ueing promoted on the backs o, the released teachers. Apparently the school board believes the budget will not fly except into its own face; therefore, the non-renewals. In fact, the release of these teach ers is not necessary at this time If a local school district doesn’t ge, a levy approved, it has no obligation to any techer, classified personnel or management in terms of a job This is spelled out in state law It also is stated w ith in the c o n tra c te d agreement between the school district and the cer tified staff If the school hoard in deed believes in the budget He exemplifies what an athletic coch should be He does a very low key, com petent job at both teaching techniques of skiing and stressing healthy attitudes about winning, losing and improving oneself He has g a in e d th e respect of all coaches in the state with his presidency in the Inter Scholastic Ski Racing Association. He is a credit to our high school Suzanne Marter Welches Open tryout This letter talks about a major concern at Sandv Water coming The Alder Creek Water Districts have survived another major hurdle with the a p p ro v a l by the Metropolitan Service Boun clary Commission to form five separate and distinct water districts under the 264 special service district Thousands of hours con tributed by a great many people have brought us to this point where we now can see our way clear to solve our own problems and make the five systems individually responsible to their own people without having a grandiose plan shoved down our throats Letters to the editor that has been prepared, then present it and allow the community to decide the outcome Should the budget be defeated, then the board shold analyze the budget for possible cuts that will maintain the best p ossible c u r r ic u lu m without being arbitrary or m a n ip u la tiv e and r e submit it to the communi ty W’e need to rem em b er—even though teachers have had to cut from their budget all field trips and 10 percent from t h e ir s u p p lie s and materials that the school has run all year within con fines of an A levy and two loses of expected funding with no layoffs A, the same time, the co- cum cular program at the high school has taken a cut in funding, but with no ap parent reduction in activi ty. It still has a budget of close to a quarter million dollars for 628 participants I believe the school has to make up the funding lost from the state, but the tac tic being used by the Sandy Union High School Board to gain levy approval is not the way to influence people and gain friends for Sandy High School Paul Montgomery Sandy Honor coach As the ski season draws to an end. I think the com munity should know what a fine ski conch Sandy High School has representing its school and community I have had the pleasure at w o rk in g w ith Bob Karsten as a fellow conch for the pest several years and than thin year as a parent ef a team member Union High School I've been going to this school for two years, and all through these two years I've heard and seen how coches don t give athletes the same op portunity to try out for a position Parents who have strong influences with coaches and come to practices seem to cause a lot of pro blems for the team mental ly If an athlete had an equal chance to try out for a position and made it because he earned it or was better than another athlete mentally and physically, then maybe Sandy would have a better team that would work together and have a better attitude toward the rest of the athletes on the team and coaches That way noboby would get a position because of his name or because his family is wealthy Students who go out for sports and activities use these ex periences to make school more enjoyable and help them deal with school and peer-pressure problems that students get from their families and friends An athlete who is going to be cut from a team first should be given a chance to p ra c tic e a t least tw o weeks, because it takes at least two weeks to get in shape and understand the team plays I am trying to state that when an athletes goes out for a sport, the coach should influence and give each athlete on the team the same opportunity to try out for a position and a chance to learn that posi tion before he is cut. Chris Crabtree Sandy We really are just begin mng Many hours of plann ing and work lay ahead yet It is time to express a great deal of gratitude to Jock Stewart and Nan Slenning Without these two people h o ld in g n um ero u s meetings spending hun dreds of hours of work and attending all the hearings that have been required, the people of the area would not have the oppor tunity we have now Darrell and Margo Dempster Sandy Carnival big I would like to express my appreciation for all the time and effort given for our F irw o o d W estern Hoedown I'm really proud to he associated with Firwood School and the parents in volved We asked for volunteers, and I was very pleased with the response Parents in this community do care enough to give their time and money Thank to you all. the hoedown was a success The area merchants as always were generous in their donations You make Sandy a nice town to be a part of! A special ‘ Thank you” to Bob and Jan Evans for all their work. We h id new games build especially for us this year, because they cared Jean H am s Carnival chairperson Vote *yes* The city of Sandy is p re s e n tin g its an n u a l operating budget for fiscal year lM S -tt to the voters for approval The election will be conducted within the city from » a m until 8 p m Tuesday, March 30 Again this year, a budget has been prepared and ap proved by a budget com mittee and stays within the ballot A statewide lim ita tion This means a tight operational levy with no fnlls Expenditures have been kept at a b are minimum to provide only continuation of current level of services in most cases Without an adequate tax base, the c ity now generates revenues of only $14,142 IS and must go to the voters each year to gain approval of funding to operate for each new fiscal year This election will be the third year under the new state law controlling pro perty taxes and elections. The new law provides for the state to pay up to 30 per cent of the property taxes for operating purposes, However, the state has set the lim it in which they will participate as last year's levy—plus inflation and growth T h is proposed c ity budget total is up only 2 of 1 percent from the current y e a r 's a p p ro p r ia te d budget The general fund is up a little more than 6.7 p erc en t fro m the a p propriated budget last year and is approximately the same amount as last year's revised budget T his com pares v e ry favorably when comparing this to the overall 19 per cent increase to city ser vices created by growth and inflation While infla tion in our area this year was reduced to approx im ately 8 percent, our grow th ra te increased almost 11 percent. The combination of these two items has made it dif ficult to maintain all of the existing services With approval of this pro posed operating levy, the city would be able to main tain existing operations in the police department In these try in g tim es, a 24 hour coverage for the cty is moat necessary Also, in public works which functions in a variety of maintenance for the city, including water, sewer and streets I would urge the local electorate to get out and vote on Tuesday. March 30. in support of their local city operational levy, aa well as the county's special three year aerial levy supporting services to our senior citizens Ruth M Loundree Sandy mayor
