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