The Sdndy Post
Editorial & Opinion
Von Braschler. Publisher
Caroline Duff Office Manoger
Dan Dillon. Editor
Scott Newton. News Editor
SANDY. OREGON. THURSDAY. APRIL 8 1982
Concerned volunteers should link
With federal and state budget
cuts, more and more social ser
vice shortages are coming home
to rest on local shoulders It's a
problem some neighbors in Sandy
refuse to dodge.
Father Lindsay Warren of
Church of the Good Shepherd and
St. Jude's Nursing home is one
such neighbor. He’s spearheading
a group of concerned residents
who read like a Who’s Who of civic
clubs here.
Established service groups here
want to get involved, they note.
What’s needed is a little coordina
tion and communication with
those in need.
Sandy Action Center’s a good
place to start. Pete Sulzbach and
his all-volunteer band of faithful
feed, clo th and give other
emergency relief to hundreds who
present them selves at th e ir
doorstep each month.
I t ’s a program that works, as
demonstrated by the Samaritans’
prelim inary approval by advisory
committees for funds for a new
center. (They operate out of one of
the oldest houses standing on
Pioneer Boulevard.)
The city of Sandy, recognizing
municipal government couldn’t
handle welfare services nearly as
inexpensively or efficiently, has
backed Action Center’s bid for
new building funding
Perhaps the easiest and best
way to help neighbors out of work
is to plug into the busy Action
Center.
A jobs bank could be posted by
the chamber of commerce and
o th e rs w ith k n o w le d g e of
available jobs and interested job
seekers here.
A comprehensive list of civic
groups and the kinds of social ser
vice work they prefer as group
projects could be posted at the Ac
tion Center.
And, of course, the Center
a lw ays could u tiliz e m ore
volunteers—as groups or in
d iv id u a ls , along w ith food,
clothing and even cash donations
I t ’s a very cost-effective pro
gram, and no service group in
town could do better than to fuel
the Center’s efforts. It could mean
the difference between a fam ily
not eating right or going without
shoes, a coat or gas to get to work
Sometimes a couple gallons of
gas and a decent set of clothes
make all the difference between
sitting home hopelessly and get
ting out to improve one’s situa
tion. And Sandy Action Center has
staked a lot of citizens to an
emergency can of gas to get them
going again.
P e rh a p s
S andy’s
new
volunteers and Sandy’s veteran
samantans can get together to
discuss a combined assault on
social problems posed by govern
ment welfare cutbacks.
S&lem scene:
Unemployment checks help
by JACK Z IM M E R M A N
Associated Oregon Industries
Everyone known Oregon's economy is in
bad shape, but it could be worse, perhaps
$400 million worse
That $400 million is the amount that will
be paid this year to jobless Oregonians by
the state’s Unemployment Compensation
Insurance System
It's a significant shot in the arm not on
ly for workers who are unemployed, but
for many other Oregonians as well In fact,
those jobless paychecks actually help
other workers keep their jobs Together
they make a sizeable impact on an
economy that reels from the causes of
joblessness
Unemployment compensation got its
start in this country when Congress passed
the Social Security Act in 1935 It man
dated that each state must organize and
administer an unemployment compensa
tion program The system has been In
place in Oregon since adoption of the pro
gram by the 1937 legislature
Unemployment compensation insurance
is a totally employer paid protection plan,
designed to tide over workers who become
unem ployed through circum stances
beyond their control It was conceived to
help such workers sustain themselves and
their families temporarily until they ob
tamed other employment or their previous
jobs were restored The concept was
established in early industrialized Europe
much e a rlie r
The program wasn't
adopted in this country until business
failures and massive layoffs during I be
Great Depression
The economy never is stagnant It has its
ups and downs Employers recognize the
importance sustaining the workforce dur
ing down periods The reasons go beyond
humanitananlsm Jobless [»ay goes a long
way toward keeping skilled workers
available for reemployment when the
economy again turns upward
We are witnessing such an occurrence in
Oregon t c ‘ay Migration here virtually
has ceased Some workers are seeking
Jobs e:, » w here
W eekly checks to
thousand* of unemployed, however, are
helping prevent anything approaching
mass exodus and a serious erosion of the
workforce
Benefit checks currently range from $41
to $156 weekly, depending on wages
previously paid the unemployed The
regular pay period is usually as long as M
weeks When unemployment hits a certain
percentage of the workforce and lasts for
an extended period moat covered w o rkers
become eligible for still another 11 weekly
checks Irunng the special session of the
laxglabture this year, lawmakers approv
ad still another 1$ weeks for those who
qualify
Legislative Report from the Slate Capital
E XC L U S IV E to O regon» Weekly Newspa
pers fro m Associated O regon In d ustrie s
In the past year, as many as 93,«14
checks were issued in a single week Total
check* in 19« 1 were 2,925.074, representing
$306,444,404 paid out last year Average
chec k size was $105 45
That may not seem like much It ’s con
siderably below the minimum wage
Unemployment benefits are not taxable
for most persons and that extend* the
benefit value considerably Authorities
estimate jobless pay is spent first to keep
food on the table, pay utility bills and
whatever is left goes toward rent or mor
tgage payments
With an estimated $44X) million due to be
paid in 1962. one twgins to understand
more fully the program's impact on the
present economy
By way of comparison. $401) million is
considerably larger that the total payrolls
of the three largest forest products pro
ducers combined It's greater than the
combined payrolls of the four largest
utilities and five times greater than the
total payroll of Oregon's biggest retail
chain
It is interesting also to note the amount
paid out this year will greatly exceed the
estimated $221 3 million employers are
taxed to support the program This is
because ( iregon employers have been will
ing to pay taxes higher than normally
needed to cover average coats and build up
a sizeable reserve (When the current
economic recession began, the fund had
$300 million In reserves to protect its
solvency It will remain solvent even if
current conditions prevail well into 1965
Not all states act this responsibly Some
17 states have not accepted such pro
cedures and are heavily in debt after bor
rowing from the federal government to
pay their jobless benefits Congress now
has decreed those states are going to have
to raise unemployment insurance rates
significantly in order to pay those debts
So while some states have maintained
artificially low cost status for unemploy
ment insurance, they now are destined to
become high costs states compared with
Oregon The situation should he of
assistance Io those hoping to lure
businesses and industries to our state and
Ihu* ease our unemployment problem by
creating new jobs for the jobless
The Rest gratefully ark new ledge« essays and written opinions from readers to ap
pear on this page separate from the unbiased news reports on other pages of thia
newspaper Yoor «»pinion« generally w ill be printed a« teller» to Ike editor while
nnrs generally w ill appear as edMorlals Occasionally. we are able to print guest
edMnrtnla We attem pt in print nil signed letters of goad taste, legible farm and
reasonable length Our deadline b noon an Tuesdays
Cost-sensitive school voters ‘blew it’
Reduce budget
Since the Sandy Elemen
tary School budget has
gone down in defeat, I feel
free to share with you some
of my concerns related to
the manner in which the
budget was conceived As a
member of the budget com
mittee who voted against
submitting this large of a
budget, I feel qualified to
discuss the subject
At the outset of the
budget c o m m itte pro
ceedings, I pointed out to
the committee that the ac
tual tax bill the property
owners were required to
pay has increased at a rate
far exceeding inflation dur
ing the past eight years In
good economic time* this
can he justified In (he cur
rent crisis, it cannot
Several of us suggested
that cuts be made to reduce
the budget to a level that
taxpayers could afford In
other words, let's get hack
to basics
These suggestion* were
not agreeable to the vast
m ajority of the budget
com m ittee
The school
board members especially
were opposed to significant
cuts. In the end. the five
school txwird members and
two freeholders voted for
the large budget Three of
our group, all freeholders,
voted against it
Our task was made more
difficult by absence of op
portents to a large budget in
the adudience Teacher
representatives, as well as
representatives of other
school employees, sup
ported the higner budget.
Mv opinion <: me prevail
ing attitude was that no
matter what budget was
submitted, it would lose
Let's save our cuts for
later I find this type of at
titude to he unfair to the
public who has to pay for
the expensive elections
Since the budget only lost
by a little more than 100
votes, it is conceivable tht
it could have passed, had
gifted lady who has the
wisdom to be both a child's
advrvate, as well as ad
v o c a te of f in a n c ia lly
troubled taxpayers of this
district
W hen
c o n s tru c tio n
workers, mill workers and
loggers are out of work and
those retired on pensions
are having difficulty keep
ing their homes, chanes
have to be made Every
teacher and administrator
is concerned with children
Letters to the editor
the committee done a good
job of paring it down
What I find interesting is
that two of the three per
sons on the committee who
wanted a leaner budget
were rejected by voters of
Sandy in their bid for elec
tion to the school tx>ard
What is more interesting is
th a t
opponents
who
defeated them were on the
budget committee and sup
ported the larger budget
The Sandy Elementary
Schooldistnct is the largest
business in the Sandy area
Its multi million budget far
exceeds any other opera
tion in Sandy Yet there is.
to my knowledge, no one on
the school board with
business Itackground One
of the defeated candidates
is a man with years of ex
penence in the business
world, who could have
brought valuable business
talents to the board The
other candidate was a
I am sure no one would run
for the board without this
same concern What we
need is someone who has
concern for residents of the
district, as well We need a
new philosophy of austerity
th a t w ill em p h a s is ize
basics in public schools
Sandy voters had a
chance to bring about this
type of change The Sandy
voters blew that chance
Harold Hayward
Sandy
Shed prejudice
I imagine you'll get a lot
of mail, pro and con, con
ceming your article about
the "bag lady ” I suppose
some people will say you
shouldn't have published it,
for one or another reason.
Personally, I think it is
an example of the sort of
th in g
s m a llt o w n
n e w s p a p e rs do best
Y o u've tra n s fo rm e d a
human being from simply
being "the bag lady" into
being Ovella Weimer—a
person with a history, a set
of beliefs and a little bit of
the weirdness that makes
us all different from each
other
I appreciate the fact that
you chose not to censor the
article to turn her into
either a saint or a crackpot
By portraying her as a
humn being, you help us all
to shed our prejudices and
miscconceptions
Pete Sheppard
Sandy
Death inhumane
On Nov 3 it was decided
by vote of the people to stop
the
d eco m p re ss io n
chamber and change to
sodium pentobartitol in
putting county animals to
sleep.
On March 11 Clackamas
County com m issioners
voted to continue using the
decompression chamber,
in spite of the vote of the
people
C o m m is s io n e r
Stan
Skoko voted to continue the
decompression chamber
Fortunately, he now is ask
ing for a two-week exten
sion to reconsider his
original decision
Let us all hope he intends
to consider the decision
made by the people to ban
th e
d eco m p re ss io n
c h a m b e r and ch an g e
method of euthanizing
animals to sodium pen
tobartitol Then Measure
52, passed Nov. 3 by the
wide margin of 1915 to 796.
finally will come into ef
fect
Comm issioner Robert
Schumacher voted to stay
with the decompression
chamber, because he isn't
convinced it’s cruel It ap
pears he's either unwilling
or unable to accept this sad
fact His personal feelings
are irrelevant The people
decided to change by pass
ing Measure 52.
O nly
C o m m is s io n e r
R a lp h
G ro e n e r
acknowledged the people’s
decision by voting to
change to sodium pen
tobartitol The reason he
voted to make the change
was the excuse county
commissioners had used
for four months a fte r
Measure 52 was ruled in
v a lid by an a tto rn e y
general's opinion. The opi
nion
s ta te d
th a t
a
veterinarian is not re
q u ire d to a d m in is te r
sodium pentobarbital It
added that a veterinarian
is not required on the
premises
Commissioner Groener
addressed this issue, say
ing the cost would not be
prohibitive, since it would
not be necessary to hire a
veterinarian
Groener's decision to
change to sodium pen
tobarbitol is only one of the
two votes needed to give
animals a humane death
We are counting on Com
missioner Skoko for the
other one, since he is recon
sidenng his original vote
Donna Sebastian
Oregon City
Personally speaking
Danger hides in quiet, little kitchen
There is a danger burning
through America
It can be found in nearly every
home and unless used properly, it
can maim
Your children have probably
tried to use it Your neighbors
may use it regularly
This
menace, with the ability to alter
the w ay people th in k of
them selves and you. could
threaten our very stability
I'm talking about the kitchen
Every time I enter mine, the
musical theme from Dragnet’
pounds through my head I half
expect Jack Webb to step out
from behind a stack of dirty
dishes and grimly charge me
w ith
im p e rs o n a tin g
a
housekeeper or cooking with in
tent to kill
I find the easiest way to make
my kitchen more presentable is
simply to shut its door so I can't
see it from the living room
On my list of household chores,
the one I check off most frequent
ly m "Close the Kitchen Door ’’
The second most popular is
"Resolve to Wash the Dishes ”
But that's not why I'm bothered
by the kitchen
There are more ghastly things
that come from that room than
the aromas of over ripe can
taloupe and science experiments
by DAN DILLON
in the lettuce bin
The kitchen has a stove and. in
the wrong hands, that can be
hazardous.
Frozen pizzas I'm adept at
Boiling spaghetti in the electric
frying pan isn't too great a pro^
blem either except that I have
to keep adding water when its
shallow depth threatens to boil
dry
It's the things that can happen
with a stove and the intestinal
havoc I can wreak with one that
frightens me
But that isn't why I'm bothered
by kitchens either
Of all the rooms in the house.
I'm convinced that it's in the kit
chen that we learn the most about
ourselves and that's frightening
Never mind that I have my
telephone in the kitchen and have
taken my share of up against the
wall phone calls
The real lessons are in the rest
of the room
Those dishes over on the
counter, hiding Jack Webb, and
those unreturned sacks of emp
tie s
over
th e re
by
the
refrigerator, hiding his partner
Harry Morgan, have told me I'm
a procrastinator That doesn t
really bother me
I can deal with it tomorrow
The way I throw frozen pizzas
into the oven at the drop of a
growling stomach or boil my
spaghetti water in an electric fry
ing pan. because it's faster than a
two-quart kettle, have hinted that
I might be growing more impa
tient
But I don’t have time to worry
about that now I have to finish
this column
Maybe the impatience that
prevents me from laboring over a
bunch of fresh ingredients until it
becomes haute cuisine signals
some heretofore unseen w ill
ingness ta settle for second best
Naw. that can't be I buy the ex
pensive frozen turkey pies and
preheat the oven the allotted
time I don't scrimp on sardines
either I eat them one to a
cracker, just like I was taught
And the kitchen is a place of
le a rn in g , not o nly ab o ut
ourselves, but about others
I was chased out of my own kit
chen in the middle of preparing a
romantic, little dinner by a
friend, whod developed surpris
ingly hard fists, for offering
helpful hints on what kind of
salad goes with oysters. Never
mind that I ’d never eaten oysters
in my life I still think bean dip
and cottage cheese is a taste
treat
She eventually let me back in
the kitchen and I learned how to
tear lettuce and throw it around
in a bowl with a bunch of other
ruffage and not have it look like
something the cat brought in
That was nice.
Which is another thing I've
learned in my kitchen If you take
the time to do it right, you’ll enjoy
it more
Even if it is sardines and
crackers instead of haute cuisine