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About Sandy post. (Sandy, Oregon) 1938-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 1982)
Vol 72 No 42 SANDY. OREGON THURSDAY OCTOBER 21, 1982 ■a ( I SPS 481-1801 Officials mull over Measure 3’s possibilities by DAN Dll.I.OS " I feel very strongly that for the Rathke said the local fire district ing are a reduction in public service It sounds simple, the fire chief amount of money being spent for stands to face a 37 percent drop from alarms, first-aid calls that are "non- sa id , but the d is tr ic t has a Local city, fire and school officials library services, it’s unique in offer its current budget "Taking that life threatening" and waiting until are preparing to make do with less “ sophisticated” mutua aid system ing a service in which somebody can, much out has to effect everything we there is a confirmed injury or pin-in with adjacent fire districts. "D ispat While voters wait for the opportuni on their honor, walk in the door and do," he said at a vehicle accident before dispat ching is a f5U-time job,” he said fla t ty Nov 2 to reduce their property take out $300 to $400 worth of Rathke projects the district w ill ching assistance taxes through Ballot Measure 3, local ly m a te ria ls sim p ly as a public lose up to two of its five paid Dipatching. 8 10 percent of the officials are scrambling to be ready service," Newlands said. The overall impact on the local fire firefig hte rs He is m ulling the district s total budget, could undergo for the shortfalls the 1.5 percent Even with 100 percent of its 1979-80 possibilities of what services w ill be changes that, Rathke said, would district could be lessened by the limitation w ill bring foresight of the district board revenue available as an "essential mean "basically going to a second "A lot of people aren't aware of service,” Sandv Fire Chief Bob available if Measure 3 is successful "Our position has always been to Among the changes he is consider- best type system." what it w ill do." said city librarian plan for the future and maintain a Sue Newlands I t ’s fair to vote yes, but it's going to have repercussions” Ballot Measure 3, a proposed con stitutional amendment that would place lim its on property taxes and restrict the authority of state and local governments to increase non property taxes, has officials worried But they are studying alternatives to b? ready for the repercussions A statewide poll released earlier this week indicates an overwhelming support for the ballot measure " I know there is a general gloom among all libraries." Newlands said ‘‘If we get 85 percent of what we got in 1979 from the city, it would hardly pay the utilities and staff. It ’s going to be bleak ' The 1.5 percent annual property tax increase could be overriden if higher taxes were necessary to pro vide any taxing district 85 percent of its 1979-80 total revenues A district providing "essential services," such as Sandy Eire District, would be guaranteed 100 percent of its 1979-80 revenues "Our impact would be much worse than some because we have so many out-of-city users." Newlands said. The county library levy bases a ma jor portion of its reimbursements on Photo bv Dan Dillon out-of-city use Currently 75-80 per Sandv firefighters battle a blaze that swept through the home of the Melrose responded to the alarm with seven pieces of apparatus to battle the fire which cent of Sandy Public L ib ra ry ’s Singletons, 41093 SE Wildcat Mountain Road, when wiring sparked Sunday had engulfed the home by the time the first truck was on the scene. patrons come from outside the city. afternoon. Loss was est'mated at $65,000. Twenty-four Sandv firefighters Lund blasts SUHS reading test results Sandy E le m e n ta ry D is tr ic t Superintendent Clark Lund has blasted accuracy and handling of a Sandy High School freshman test that suggests some feeder schools have reading program deficiencies “ What was the high school's overall composite score on the students tested-’ " he asked, noting only highlights were lifted for atten tion Average test scores fluctuate through the grades of any school, Lund reminded The high school's test of 282 freshmen rated grade level reading skills, with a breakdown comparison of freshman readers based on where they’d attended grade school locally F o rm e r Sandy E le m e n ta ry students recently scored reading skills in vocabulary at a 9.3 grade average level and reading com prehension at a 7.9 grade ievel. Some area feeder schools saw their former students score lower in the high school's Gates MacGinite Reading Test, while others saw their former students score higher. Former Bull Run students scored at an 11th grade reading level on the average. Former Cottrell students were rated at a 9.2 grade level in reading comprehension and a 9 9 grade level in vocabulary. Former Boring School students, however, were rated at a 6.7 grade level in reading comprehension and 9 0 grade level in vocabulary on the average Former Welches School students, however, were rated only at a 7.9 grade level in reading comprehen sion and 9.3 grade level in vocabulary on the average Sandy Elementary Schools Supl Lund criticized the test as in conclusive and misleading “ A testing analyst must keep in mind that when testing small sub groups of a whole,” he said, "resulting scores are subject to wide fluctuations (high or low) based on the performance of a very few within that small sub-group ” He asked what purpose the high school management group might have in “ singling out" any given feeder district, other than pointing fingers of discredit "Is this scenario an administrative statement of justification in the high school’s attempt to educate at the secondary level?" he asked Lund said Sandy Elem entary District seventh graders who are now Peters said his school didn’t mean to Sandy High freshmen earlier scored use the freshmen test results t at a year and a half above their grade evaluate the feeder schools level in reading comprehension in the "W e adm inistered the Gates- same Gates MacGinite test. MacGi.iitie Reading Test (Level E, On the California Achievement Form 1) Sept 8, so we might have a Test the same test group scored even better awareness of the general com higher, while in the seventh grade. petency level of our students in the When this same test group took the area of reading," Peters said California Achievement Test in the He said test results proved “ ex eighth grade, they scored two full tremely helpful" in placing students years ahead of their more recent test in appropriate English classes and at Sandy High counseling them “ This incomplete and inconclusive “ It was not our intent to utilize the report," Lund said of the high results as a means of making school's Gates MacGinite findings, judgments on the feeder school pro "has done a great disservice to many grams,” he said. "On the contrary, it who are directly involved I can see is our desire to evaluate our own pro no benefit in our ‘umbrella district' gram in reading vocabulary and setting fires at thresholds of its comprehension by re-testing those feeder districts." same 282 students in next September Sandy High School Supt. Jack to see if gains have been made .” Rep. Smith claims Federal freeze would pump up state economy »•ft phntn Kep Denny .Smith told the Sandy Area Chamber of Commerce Tuesday than an across-the-board freeze would boost Oregon's economy. US Rep Denny Smith, cam paigning here Tuesday for a new Fifth District House seat, told the Sandy Chamber of Commerce an across-the-board freeze in federal spending could balance the budget and improve Oregon's economy. "That's the best thing I can do to help Oregon's economy," said the Second District Republican who's jumping districts to oppose State Senator Ruth McFarland in a new district Smith, a newspaper executive, said a balanced national budget is entirely within grasp in a year and a half The former m ilitary pilot often criticized by his opponent for m ilitary spending votes said the C-5 cargo plane should not have been purchased, nor should the M-l tank Smith said the space program, while paying its way in its own merits, holds new value for the na tion in defense He affirmed his support of the president's Geneva peace meeting proposal to begin a bi-lateral nuclear arms freeze and reduction, "particularly for the European theatre.” Smith's Sandy visit, lighted by flood lamps from an entourage of press, focused on economic efforts, however "We've got to get the federal government out of the borrowing market and bring the mortgage in terest rate down to about 10 per cent,” he said. He advocated annua! audits of the Federal Reserve Board, but not shift in control to Congress " I ’m not sure we can trust the Congress any more than the Federal Reserve Board," he said He side-stepped a question from Sandy's city planner on whether E conom ic D evelopm ent A d ministration should continue to receive solid funding “ I can’t remember how I voted on EDA," he replied. " I can't give you a straight answer. " I think government sometimes should stay out of these areas." he said of economic development ef forts, "because we get into pork barreling We in the Northwest here have a growing economy.” He repeated his attack on Social Security System coats and called for fine tuning, noting the System is losing $19,000 per minute in its trust funds Entitlements, many for social programs, leaves 80 percent of the federal budget "uncontrollable by definition," Smith said of his budget-balance freeze hopes "That's why 1 think the freeze is something we have to do. without cutting anyone's program We should be able to do that with the political situation the way it is," he said, adding the defense fund should share in the freeze “ Wa're not short of revenues," he said of the national budget "O ur professional politicians over the years have tried to con vince us that we can't balance the national budget That's not true We can do it, and it would be easy. That’s with a freeze." Ceiling on the national debt has been raised from $19 5 billion two years ago to recent authorization with the present $750 billion budget to as high as $1 trillion, 200 billion To cover loses, the federal government most recently agreed to borrow another $100 billion in new money, "just to keep the operation running." Rep Smith said. He said spending growth has been cut and government regula tions decreased during the current administration, "but not nearly enough " Smith said there's still too much paperwork in government, too much tax and too many business regulations He said Americans are consum ing oil more conservatively these days to reduce n a tio n a l dependence on OPEC oil, but ad vised that gap should broaden even more " I don’t mean to sound anti-oil," Smith said, "because they deserve a profit " He said oil companies need more incentive to explore new fields and d iv e rs ify in to o th e r energy resources good, effective volunteer program," Rathke said. "But. we get a heckuva lot out of our volunteers The ques tion is how much longer we can ask it." At 85 percent of its 1979-80 total revenue, the Sandy Elementary District stands to lose approximately $290,000 While that is admittedly a "ballpark figure,” Superintendent Clark Lund is certain the impact w ill be felt. "Any way you look at it there w ill be a significant rollback on what we re able to do," he said The district which normally has prepared a budget calendar by now has postponed that move pending the outcome of the Nov. 2 election. It is studying a joint transportation pro gram with other Sandy High School feeder schools to save money and Lund sees the day when other school functions could be consolidated among the area elementary school districts to avoid duplication of ser vices “ The bottom line,” he said, "is the children, as we serve them, are going to be impacted” That could be in the form of higher classloads or cuts in instructional programs. Despite the dire predictions. Lund feels that eventually the situation w ill be resolved at all levels around the state In the interim, however, he foresees "a tremendous amount of chaos.” Council split over handling 3’s problems by DAN DILLON The Sandy City Council is split over handling the possibility of Ballot Measure 3's passage. On the one hand, the city should be prepared, but on the other, it argues, accepting its passage is a "defeatist attitude." Councilor Jim Duff said Monday night the city should be ready to im plement a plan of action immediately after the election. Mayor Ruth Loundree feels there w ill be time after the election to sit down and resolve problems created by sh ortfa lls. Councilor Deane Wesselink concurs, saying after the election w ill be the time to "take the bull by the horns." “ I feel we should have preliminary plans so that if (Ballot Measure 3) does go through, we can implement them immediately," Duff explained If it goes through, we’ve got pro blems I do say we can't sit back and take a hands-off posture." The council was responding to a memorandum prepared by former city manager Roger Jordan that outlined effects Ballot Measure 3 would have on the local government if passed. Rather than make budget cutting suggestions. Jordan left those steps up to the council In the memo, he indicated Sandy would lose nearly half its property tax monies if the measure is approv ed. “ If this should pass," Loundree said, "council is going to have to sit down and work out its own individual problems I personally am not going to say yes or no to the way people should vote After the election you have 30 days to sit up and burn the midnight oil getting next year's budget ready." Wesselink isn't convinced people are aware of the measure's ram ifica tions, but is w illing to accept whatever result comes “ 1 don't think, people realize what they're getting into," he said "But, if that's what people mandate us, I see no alternative but to take the bull by the horns and wrestle it "Reductions don't necessarily mean you're out of business,” Wesselink said. "I'm here to figure out a way to make it go.” Index SECTION I Editorial. Opinion Senior Center News Keeping Posted Obituaries Menus Sports, Recreation 2 3 4 5 7 11-12 SECTION II Classified Ads TV Revue Football Program Inside Tab Inside Tab Inside Tab
