Image provided by: Friends of the Sandy Public Library; Sandy, OR
About Sandy post. (Sandy, Oregon) 1938-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 10, 1985)
'£. . '»Ä. A *■- - »III W I— 2 - SANDY (O re.) POST Thur» Jon 10. 1985 (Sot 1) The Sandy Post Editorial & Opinion Optimists deserve special mention People in the area can be proud of the many projects suc cessfully completed by civic organizations in 1984. The Mt Hood Lions Club has plowed a lot of money back into the community since beginning its well-attended Friday night bingo games The Sandy Mountain Festival committee once again did a great job The Sandy Area Chamber of Commerce, under outgoing president Don Wilson, closed the year in the black with a modest increase in membership and some suc cessful fund raisers, including the Wine Fair and Feast. The Kiwanis Club of Sandy truly provides a community service with its Christmas Basket Drive. One organization that has been a force in the community in the past couple of years, however, deserves special mention. The Sandy Optimist Club had a banner year. The club’s motto is “ Friend of Youth,” and they sponsor such youth-oriented activities as oratorical competitions and Soap Box Derby races, as well as helping finance special pro jects. . , , Under the direction of Dr. Mark Mullins, the service club raised enough money for a $1,000 performing arts scholarship, which will awarded in the spring. The club also pays the franchise fee for the Sandy Soap Box Derby Association. The Derby Association has worked hard to gain the confidence of the community. A recent donation of land at the corner of Orient Drive and Kelso Road may result in a park for youngsters in the neighborhood, and a permanent track would almost certainly lead to a growing interest in Der by racing. Derby racing involves entire families, and it is a sport that does not require athletic ability, but rather building and designing skills — along with a lot of work. The concept of a permanent track should be supported not only for its potential contribution to livability in Sandy, but also because the com munity would probably reap economic benefits as well. The fund raisers the Optimist Club supports also show class. The haunted house is good fun in a time when parents worry that “ trick or treating" may unfortunately be a thing of the past. The Christmas tree lot promotes a local product while at the same time assuring customers the money will stay in the com munity. Unfortunately we cannot list all the people who have con tributed to the ongoing successes of the many civic organiza tions in the area. To the Optimist Club members and others we can only say this. Keep up the good work. Letters Campaign chairman expresses gratitude On behalf of United Way of the Columbia Willamette, I would like to express gratitude to Sandy Post readers for your outstanding support ot the recently concluded United Way Campaign This is the first tim e since 1979 that our local United Way has topped its fund raising goal In spite of a still sluggish economy, our community-wide effort enabled United Way to surpass its $16 3 m illion goal by over $3,tHX) Your one donation w ill go to sup port nearly 100 different volunteer agencies right here in our local four county area And. you can be uplifted in knowing that your money w ill help thousands of people during 1985 The numbers are significant, but the spirit that moves so many to do so much is even more important Thank you for helping those in need realize their hopes and dreams of the future Robert H Short Volunteer Campaign Chairman Local pastor says thanks for the support As pastor of the Sandy Seventh day Adventist Church I want to thank the citizens of the community for their wholehearted support of our Com m unity Service Appeal This is the 76th year Adventists have come to their friends and neighbors and we haven't been disap pointed They gave $1.020 85 for this sear's appeal Our church members gave an additional $1.576 35 making a total of $2,597 20 1 want to remind our area friends that our Community Services Center at 17151 SE University Avenue is open Tuesdays from 10 a m to 2 p m We are always reading to provide emergency aid to those in need Ray L Erwin pastor Seventh-day Adventist Church Thanks, fire department We would like to thank Chief Bob Rathke, and the Sandy fire depart ment. for their quick response time and professionalism They were se cond to none when we had a small fire in our daughter s bedroom, caus ed by an electrical blanket Most of the Sandy fire department is volunteer, and you just don't see that kind of teamwork and dedication anymore We would also like to add that our smoke alarms gave us the chance to call the fire department before there was a great deal of damage It is a good feeling to be on the out side looking in, knowing that your fam ily is safe So if you don't have smoke alarms, get them And if you do have smoke alarms, make sure that they work Make your home fire safe, so your fam ily can be as lucky as ours Jay.D Yeager and fam ily Policy on letters U tte rs to the editor should be typed, double spaced and signed An address and telephone number should also be provided, although on ly the name of the letter w rite r and the city or area be is from w ill be published U tte r writers may also wish to in clude a title or office held if it is ap propriate considering the subject m atter of the le tte r, The news deadline of noon, Tues day is also the deadline for letters to the editor Letters should be accurate, free of libelous remarks and in good taste This newspaper attempts to publish all letters it receives locally We reserve the right to edit letters to conform to style guidelines or for length A preferred maximum length is 3<M) words W DQ Chris Hole, generoi monoger Scott Newton editor < TR£E<3> Í J C H O U Í k R S H 1P Ç 3 W M /E I KJ C o m m o M ?1 Salem Scene Legislature’s tax reform options listed rents of real property, agricultural and m a n u fa c tu rin g in g re d ie n ts, medical services and utilities. It would have raised $800 m illion annually and net proceeds were dedicated to property tax relief for all property owners. It also proposed repeal of an 8 percent income tax sur tax by eliminating the current 30 per cent property tax relief program. by JACK ZIMMERMAN Associated Oregon Industries Restructuring the state's revenue system appears to be the prime agen da item facing the 63rd Oregon Legislative Assembly as it prepares to convene Jan 14 in Salem In the process, lawmakers w ill at tempt to stabilize funding for public schools, provide meaningful proper ty tax relief, channel more money to h ig h er education and im prove Oregon's lackluster economy. And the key to most of the forego ing involves passage and referral to voters of some kind of sales tax pro posal. If that sounds fam iliar, it should Those tasks are almost identical to those that faced the 62nd Assembly when in convened Jan. 10, 1983. But two years have made a big d if ference And this is not the same Assembly that sat in the Capital City for the se cond longest session in history, col lapsed without getting the job done and then reconvened in special ses sion only to have its revenue referral junked by the Supreme Court There was precious little support in either House or Senate for a sales tax when that Legislature convened. And support was tentative at best when that body finally enacted its pro posal The 63rd A ssem bly includes members who even dared to cam paign for re-election by advocating adoption of a sales tax And they were re-elected. Two years ago Gov. Vic Atiyeh was an avowed sales tax opponent. Legislative leadership didn’t want a sales tax. The influential Oregon Education Association was a reluc tant player As this legislature prepares to con vene, its m ajority leaders already are committed to referral of a sales tax The Governor has announced his own plan for a sales tax And OEA has launched a sales tax initiative campaign. The biggest question among Salem-watchers now seems to involv ed what kind of a package eventually w ill be offered to voters. At least four alternatives are on the proverbial table F irs t, of course, is the 62nd A sse m b ly's package — m inus perhaps the unconstitutional provi sion requiring sanction by local governments in order to achieve ballot status That plan in essence called for a 4 percent tax on sales on tangible per sonal property and most services. It exempted food, drugs, sale, lease or It provided no in-lieu property tax reduction It compensated retailers for collecting the tax. And it lim ited spending by both state and local governments. Although it failed to be tested by voters, opinion surveys indicated in adequate public support for passage p rim a rily because of the Oroposal to tax services. Subsequently, a business coalition — Taxpayers for a Better Economy — initiated another plan that failed to achieve ballot status. It was a 5 per cent proposal taxing only sales of tangible personal property. It con tained the same basic exemptions, and would have raised $715 m illion annually and dedicated 80 percent of revenue to property tax relief and 20 percent to reducing income taxes. It also required in-lieu property tax reduction, compensated retailers and contained a stringent spending lim itation on state and local govern ments The OEA proposal is almost iden tical to the TBE plan as fa r as rate, e xe m p tio n s and d e d ic a tio n of revenue is concerned It does not pro vide in-lieu property tax reduction, however, and contains a property tax lim itation applying only to elemen tary and secondary schools. Gov Atiyeh's plan calls for a 5 per cent maximum rate levied against sales of tangible personal property and some services It exempts food, drugs, home utilities and sale or lease of real property It would raise $750 m illion annually and be channel ed entirely to public education — kindergarten through higher educa tion It does not deal with in-lieu pro p e rty taxes, does com pensate retailers, does not lim it spending but calls for a lim itation on property taxes for schools. At the outset, it appears there is considerable consensus among all plans — namely that a sales tax is desired to restructure the revenue system The rate of tax also appears to zero in at the 5 percent level. Even most exemptions are on com mon ground And the property tax relief aim is the same for all {jlans. But numerous snags remain. The last Legislature's plan taxing most services appears unlikely to gain favor this session TBE's s tr ingent spending lim itations are not favored by OEA or the Governor And TBE supporters likely w ill seek some sort of spending lim it before en dorsing any plan So while this Legislature's agenda is clearly defined, crafting details w ill not be a simple matter And whatever the outcome, voters w ill conduct the ultimate litm us test. Personally Speaking Don’t worry; polyester will be back The older I get, the more I realize how smart my Grandma was eating got to him and he grew out of them have to iron when polyester was in fashion. Once when I was a little snotty- nosed kid with sagging socks and skinned knees I remember pining for the good old days when ladies wore long dresses 1 Though I doubt that they wore long dresses to cover the scabs on their knees. 1 Anyway. I remember Grandma saying that long dresses would probably come back in style sometime So last month Rodger went shopp mg In the middle of an elegant mens' wear store in a voice designed to ca rry from the tee to a par three hole, he threw up his arms and said. "Where is all the polyester'’ " I remember my first polyester dress It was olive green lo f course) and cost $7 a yard Big bucks in those days, friends What I remember best about my dress, was that I retired m y ironing board, hung up my iron and sailed blissfully through two wrinkle-free decades I figured I ’d never iron again Progress, you know I remember snickering at that and thinking how foolish Grandma was We were young and modern and dedicated to progress How could we turn back the clock to long dresses? And then, hack in the 1960s when Grandma was s till alive to see it, long dresses came back And I wore one, by gum And grandma had the grace not to snicker Grandma obviously knew more about the comings and goings of fashion than I did If she were with us »haron w ih it today, shed know how to answer a question Rodger asked recently Rodger retired 10 years ago and, what with spending most of his time fishing and playing golf, has had lit tie need for any nice duds His old sport coats from his working days served him very well — right up until the time that all that good living and It shames me to admit that so meone I know could exist in such a fa sh io n vacuum R odger was possibly the last man on the planet to learn that polyester had gone the way of the passenger pigeon And then, to compound his felony. Rodger went on to complain that he hates Harris tweed, is distressed by distressed denim and thinks silk is snooty Finally, in a voice loud enough to make it to a par five hole, he told the world, "I LIK E D POLYESTER " I was thinking about Rodger the other night when I was ironing What I was thinking that I didn't used to But wrinkles, and irons and ironing boards, are back The search for natural fibers is on They w ill tell you in the stores that it is all right to wear wrinkled clothes, but you notice one thing — they don't sell them that way They sell them ironed That's why, when I'm ironing, you might hear me say very quietly and under my breath, “ I liked polyester, too.” Rodger and I can take heart. If Grandma's right, it w ill be back
