Image provided by: Friends of the Sandy Public Library; Sandy, OR
About Sandy post. (Sandy, Oregon) 1938-current | View Entire Issue (June 23, 1983)
2 5ANDY (O ía ) POST Thvr» Juna 23 19*3 (Sac I) The Sdntly Post Von Braschler, Publithor Carolina Duff OWica Monojjar Editorial & Opinion Employee tax wise decision Taxing county businesses $10 per employee for seed money to operate a much needed county economic development commis sion makes good sense. We strongly urge support for this measure June 28 at the polls. This head tax could generate some half a million dollars to stimulate business development in sluggish Clackamas County, and a good third of that money would come home to nest in g ra n ts to lo c a l c itie s and chambers of commerce that pro mote. Aggressive cities like Sandy, Estacada and Molalla that have unified local economic develop ment efforts surely could benefit I am county grant money thus genera ted ^as could chamber and booster groups on the mountain. The money would be used local ly throughout the county for ad m inistrative revenue to allow developers room to move in stimulating local tourism and in dustry, plus help local businesses secure federal growth money in cluding new 503 SBA loans. We think that’s a bit irresponsi ble and short-sighted. This $10 head ta x to e m p lo y e rs demonstrates a great grassrqpts exam ple of business helping business directly. That beats other government funding with big govenment’s spiraling costs ofadministration. Dollars that county business persons “ ante up” here will stay in Clackamas County to stimulate a better business clim ate for a ll—most immediately business persons. (V B ) H p rita u n 5 ^ in n rP The T h o city n i t v has h a c fac fa n - Heritage Square. ed th a t n ig h tm a r e of remonstrances and court defeats over assessment levels squarely and shouldered the burden of shared expense. Heritage Square is behind us as a city, something all taxpayers can rejoice about. Now we can all move ahead as a shopping district and as a city. But first we need to approve a budget to operate the city during the next year. I t ’s just a simple $411,637 tax levy the city asks to operate without salary increases for basic full services to the community. In fact, level of services may be down a bit this coming year, even with passage of this budget. I t ’s that lean. T h a t’s something taxpayers should like. There’s nothing up their sleeves at city hall. Like MacDonald, they do it all for you. (V B ) Guest editorial; Mayor urges levy support by K I TH L O L N D R K E . M ayar. Handy Tuesday, June 28, is election day in the city of Sandy On July 1, the city w ill begin a new fiscal year, and the results of the election w ill determine if we w ill have the funding to continue working toward the goals and objectives set by the City Coun cil and toward the kind of city which I feel most city residents and property owners want to have For me. this is a particularly important election I have been a residenl of .Sandy for 40 years and have been involved in city government for the past 25 years We have a full-service city here in Sandy, service« which we must pay for We have a very livable city ft Is safe It Is beautiful It is a good place for people to live, work and raise a fam ily During thia last year we reached a compromise settlement on the municipal parking lot. a settlement that already has begun the process of restoring our local downtown as a full service shopp ing area A recent major effort has been a program to attract clean industry, that would provide batter employment oppor (unities within the city By emphasizing our surresaea, I don't mean to say that the city doean't have problem« However. I do feel that we can face the problems as they come up and reaolve them In our last election M ay 17. the voting i M 2 - yea" vote« and » 1 no Thia m a total of 428 votes caat. and M la not vary good voter participation fa r a cMy af 1.MB people The budget presented te the voters Tuesday is the same levy, the dollar kr i the City SANDY, OREGON, THURSDAY. JUNE 23. 1983 Generally each county business would be asked to “ ante up" $10 per employee to develop this bet te r m a r k e tp la c e . H o w e v e r, there’s a $25 minimum for tiny shops and a graduated scale whereby big employers would pay as low as $1 per worker, as in the case of 1,000-employee plants. A few business leaders, notably officials of the Clackamas County Chamber and North Clackamas Chamber, have criticized this plan as just another tax to burden businessmen. Heritage Square dead city issue I I t t ’s some S andv ’s sad sad to to think think some Sandy voters actually would vote down the city’s lean operating levy Tuesday, simply because they think hidden charges remain from Heritage Square settlement. With reduced assessment fun ding from property owners at Heritage Square, the city was forced to pay some $98,000 of the $165,000 parking lot project, it ’s true. However, much of that money was paid out by the city over the years the local im provem ent district flap drifted in court. As the bills for construction came due, the city paid them. Last year, the city looked in the crystal ball and budgeted money in its contingency fund to pay the remaining $45,000 So the c ity ’s share of the parking lot expense has been paid, and no new funding w ill be required to cover the short fall in L ID assessments. So there are no hidden charges to buy the city out of a jam at Don Dillon, editor Scoft Newton, Sport» [ditor j „ O ' O ' » «J t th editor. M L z 'V O '» 'S 'C // • Welches, city levy debated Support Welches Next Tuesday the voters in the Welches School District w ill be offered an operating levy for the 1983-84 school year for the second time There are dollars in the budget, planned in the spr ing and reflected in the levy amount that probably will not lie needed because of a decline in student enrollm ent especially in the lower grades The same was true last year to a lesser degree, and the dollars were not spent but were carried over to the 1983-84 budget as part of th e b e g in n in g cash balance By the tim e this is read, I w il l be th e fo rm e r superintendent of Welches with no official respon sihihties to the district or the board of directors I would lise to say in my unofficial capacity that your board and adm inistra tion have in the past spent your dollars conservative ly, balancing programs for children against patron tax d o lla r s The sa m e philosophy continues You charged the direc tors with a responsibility when you elected them You have the right, respon sibility and opportunity to monitor their actions by a t tending board meetings if you wish. Support your d is trict, board and staff by voting "yes" Tuesday for Welches programs for students Kenneth C Blackburn Rhododendron Reject levy I see where the Welches School D istrict w ill try again this month to pass another school levy When are elected officials going to realize that when the public defeats a measure, they h ave given th e ir a n s w e r -“ No,” It is too bad that statutes don't re quire elected officials to finance subsequent ballot measures out of their per sonal f inds, rather than waste taxpayers' money In the Hoodland corridor, our taxes and unemploy ment figures are too high to w arrant support for any additional burden The ploy used lower millage ra te s - is true, but you don't complete the statement by advising peo pie their assessments are higher each year Loggers, woodcutters, retired and the unemployed are not as ignorant as our public of ficials make them appears Their “ no” votes along with those of the fortunate who a re w o rk in g w ill d efeat your ‘ re q u e s t“ again Is our position clear enough for the school board now? Also, solicit the opinions of those residents within the H o o d la n d Sew er District that will probably be receivin g ad d itio nal assessments this fall due to the short-sightedness of other elected officials Dennis Cox Brightwood Umpires needed Where, of where, have our umpires gone’’ That seems to be the big question this year for our boys' baseball and girls' softball At one game no umpires bother to show up Next tim e it is d elayed 45 minutes for umpires show ing up late Or calling at 10 p m to say they are unable to make a 9 a m game the next day When we are for tunate to get one to show up. they don’t have the pro per equipment and have to rely on help from spec tators I feel with the money we parents pay for putting our children in these sports that we could count on bet ter umpires An umpire can make or break a game Connie Rathjen Sandy Support city Our chamber of com merce is concerned that voter apathy m ay foce drastic changes in the level of our city services. A re cent estimate by the Sandy Post ap p ro xim a ted the voter turnout at the M ay 17 election at 33 percent of all registered voters Don't we c<t:e about our voting privilege’’ Don’t we want to have control of our local government’’ We can pro tect and promote our in terests only by voting and participating G e t o u t a n d v o te , citizens M ake a note on your calendar that next Tuesday, June 28, is an im portant day You get to vote Registered voters need only this reminder. For these of you who are not r e g is te r e d , you can register up to 7:55 p m at the Sandy L ib ra ry , just prior to casting your vote downstairs in the Council Chambers. Who needs to register’ You do, if you fit one of these categories (1) You have n e v e r re g is te re d b efo re; (2 ) You have recently reached age 18; (3) Your name has been change; or (4) You recent ly have moved to Sandy Everyone eligible can and should vote next Tuesday. The Sandy A re a Cham ber of Com m erce takes the position that the city budget committee has performed its responsibili ty well in containing spen ding The salaries of the staff have been frozen, and unnecessary expenditures have been eliminated Any further reductions in the budget require a curtailing of city services, which will a ffe c t a ll of us. The chamber strongly supports the new budget, because it is e c o n o m ic a l and necessary for the livability of Sandy. There is our plug for the city. Yet, the most impor tant point is that you get to voice your opinion on the c ity budget and other issues Tuesday You can have an impact on local government You m ake your beliefs known through your vote Arnie Poutala, President, Sandy Chamber of Com merce Senator’s rep o r t: Guard state’s long-term care head by H TEVE HTARKOYICH State senator. M ai. 14 ty, which are not apparent The nature of city government does involve the enforce of city ordinances but as I stated these ordinances have been carefully reviewed and have been adopted in order to promote the general welfare and to make Sandy a desirous place to live We all should rem em ber that the police also provide protection to our property and ta all of us. including children Police pro tection m a major segment of our budget Police protection coots nearly 2288,888 to M h o u rs -d a y . 3 8 8 -d a y a y e a r I haps you also w ill the other valuable sendees that are partially provided for by the the library, eur tiv ttla s . la c r e a tia a sad s tre e t Our las twee of 214.M1 u ia a reatot af rotor approval to the year 1818, to that budget to fact, to During the early weeks of this l e g is la t iv e se ss io n , s e n io r citizens around the state were shocked to learn ot the firing by Governor Atiyeb of Long term Care Ombuadsman Jean Smith Believing as I do. that Jean Smith had been an effective ad vocate for the rights of nursugj home residents Oregon's senior citizen community suspected that Governor Atiyeb s action was politically m o tiv a te d -th a t ia. Jean Smith was fired for doing her jab "too well “ Two bills that deal with the long-term care ombudsman have been introduced this session SB 1 M . proposed by G overno r Atiyeb. would move the position of long term care ombudsman out of the governor's office and into the State Health Ptom to« Developm ent Agency Senior citizen ogamzationa reacted with troduced by Senator McCoy and other legislators at the request of several senior citizens organize lions I.'poet over the firing of Jean Smith, these groups felt that the beat way to insure that the long term care ombudsman re mained strong and effective was to put it directly under the control of the Legislature At present. nder the af I i t allow Idirect legisltive ' of administrative Thus, in oder for SO 292 to be a companion joint reaolu- to amend the constitution m ust be p assed by th e Legislature and then adopted by a vote of the people at the next election Senate Joint Resolution 18. designed to accomplish this, was passed by the .Senate on a 17-13 vote, but then defeated in the House by 40-20 Plans currently are underway to amend SB 292, moving the om budsman position from the gover n ors office to the office of the secretary of state M y main concern in consider ing these various options is to assure that the position of long term care ombudsman has the clout to do what it was set up to do protect the nursing home residents of this state Another bill that concerns senior citizens is SB 731. which would increase the maximum penalty for certain crim es com mitted against victims of 85 years of age or older Suppoters of this b ill a rg u e —and c o rre c tly . I b e lie v e —th at C a e ffe cts of assault and se m l abuse on elderly people a re especially serious because of their age. Also, living conditions often them more vulnerable to harm This bill has passed the Senate. 28-7, and is now before the House Judiciary Committee HR 2979 is another bill seniors are keeping track of. It would add a “ check-off" box onto Oregon's income tax return, which allow taxpayers to contribute 21, 25 or 210 of their tax refund to a special fund for local senior citizens' programs This bill cur re n tly is before the House Revenue and School Finance Committee Finally. HB 2931 deals with helping seniors make decisions about long term care options It would require the state to develop plans that insure access to infor motion, counseling and screening for persons potentially in need of long-term ca re M any older Oregonians aren't aware of the institutional and other a lte r natives available to them In terms of long-term care, relying heavily upon information sup plied by a small number of pro viders This bill attempts to make available information about all possible options and counseling to help each individual decide which option beat suits his or hi HB 2931 passed the House June 2 by a 58-1 vote and currently is in the Senate Human Services and Aging Committee If you have any questions about issues about senior citizens or any other issue, please contact my office by calling toll free 1-800-482 7213, E xt 2207, or dial Ing direct 3708807 W rits Senator Steve SUrkovich. Room S-218, Slate Capitol, Salem, O R 27318
