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SANDY (O f» ) POST Thuf*
April 30 1987 (S»<
'•
The Sandy Post
Editorial & Qpim
Scott N ew ton, editor
Kim berly Nelson, advertising representative
House should OK
bill allowing
off-track betting
The Oregon House of Representatives should act quickly to
adopt legislation that would allow off-track gambling on horse
and greyhound racing at up to 10 betting parlors throughout
the state.
Such wagering currently is allowed at the Multnomah Ken
nel Club in East Multnomah County, at Portland Meadows in
north Portland and for a lim ited time at a horse track in Salem
during the Oregon State F air.
Off-track betting legislation passed the Senate last week by
a 18 to 12 vote in spite of objections from some senators who
complained that the bill would promote compulsive gambling
and cause an increase in crime, divorce and other problems.
The bill now w ill be considered by the House of Represen
tatives and, if approved, must be signed by Gov. Neil
Goldschmidt.
The protests offered by several senators are based on myth.
And myths are not the basis of good public policy.
legislators opposed to allowing off-track wagering to occ>ur
in state licensed and monitored restaurant/lounges should
remember that the state of Oregon already is involved in
gambling in a very big way. The state is the sole proprietor of
the Oregon Lottery and spends thousands of dollars on a daily
if not hourly - basis to encourage more and more wager
ing. The lottery has even become hot news. Each night, com
mercial television stations report the results of the daily
four" contest as if they were breaking a news story.
Off-track betting provides opportunity for residents of other
areas of the state to have easier access to wagering already
allowed Oregonians who live in close proximity to MKC,
Portland Meadows or the state fair. Off-track betting also
represents an opportunity for the state to earn more revenue.
Before a bettor is paid off for a correct wager, the state gets its
share. It is estimated the state earns from $5 million to $<’>
m illion from the existing level of wagering at MKC, Portland
Meadows and the state fair. And off-track betting also would
serve as a form of economic development. If betting parlors
are created in communities such as Beaverton, Eugene or
Salem, new jobs w ill follow. And that s not bad.
It is quite likely that some of the legislators who are opposed
to off-track betting are opposed to gambling of any kind. Their
opposition may be religious. Such objections are based on per
sonal m orality that must be respected. Others, we fear, have
offered their opposition without first becoming fam iliar with
the issue.
Some, we are confident, have never attended a horse or
greyhound race. These legislators lack of fam iliarity with the
facilities, and their standards for cleanliness and profes
sionalism. and the state’s role in monitoring wagering, likely
contributes greatly to their opposition.
It is time for Oregon's participation in wagering for
greyhounds anil horses to be consistent with its participation
in the Oregon lo tte ry .
Off-track betting parlors should be allowed.
Letters to the editor
Builders ( 'lub
su y sth u n k you
The members of the Builders ( lub
of Boring Upper Grade School would
like to take this opportunity to ex
press our gratitude to the following
people, organizations and businesses
who contributed in various wavs to
this year's very successful Boring
Faster Egg Hunt
T h e y in c lu d e : B i l l B o r in g ,
Bow m an's T h riftw a y in G resham ,
the Dragon Deli R estaurant. M cCall
Country Store, B oring B a rb e r Shop,
V anport M anu fa ctu rin g . Gresham
E a rly R is e rs " K iw a n is Club, Coun
try Video, Clackam as County Bank-
B oring branch, the H a ir M ill, the
Garden Center and the B oring F ire
D is tric t
Randy I. Gould
B uilders Club advisor
P< >liey in le tte r s
letters to the editor should be
typed, double-spaced and signed An
address and telephone num ber
should also lie provided, although on
ly the name of the letter writer and
the city or area he is from will be
published
Letter writers may also wish to in
clude a title or office held if it is ap
propriate considering the subjet I
m atter of the letter
The news deadline of noon Tuesday
is also the deadline fo r le tte rs to the
ed ito r
le tte r s should be accurate, free of
libelous re m a rk s and in good taste
This newspaper attem pts to publish
a ll letters it receive it receives fro m
area residents
We reserve the rig h t to edit letters
to conform to style guidelines or for
length Letters should be (MX) words
Repeat ‘Gome visit, don’t stay’message
A fellow I know named Bowen
B la ir J r wrote a le tte r to the editor
Saturday that set me to th in kin g
T h a t's how I ended up in a purple
posy patch pondering the fu tu re of
Oregon
Blam e it on B la ir He wrote about
how tire d he was of the cliche that
Oregon's economic ills can be traced
to the late Gov. Tom M cC all's
re m a r k , "C o m e v is it , b u t fo r
heaven's sake, don't s ta y .”
B la ir pointed out th a t he and pro
bably m any others came to Oregon 10
years ago precisely because of the
governor's re m a rk " I t indicated,
quite accurately, that Oregon was a
ve ry special place,” B la ir w rote in
his le tte r to The Oregonian
He went on to point out that
to u ris m is now Oregon's second-
largest industry A s im ila r re m a rk
m ade
to d a y
by
G ov.
N e il
G oldschm idt, he said, would do more
to brin g tourists here than welcome
signs at the border or a $1 m illio n
a d vertising budget
Now some people m ay wish that
B la ir hadn't defied the governor and
come to Oregon a decade ago As ex
ecutive d ire c to r of F riends of the Col
um bia K iv e r Gorge, he has been
m aking plenty of m ischief B la ir is
by JACK Z IM M E R M A N
Associated Oregon Industries
Beneath the House wing of the
Capitol B uilding in Salem is a tiny
room fro m w hich tw o e ffic ie n t
women provide a telephonic link bet
ween the le g is la tu re and the rest of
Oregon
I t ’s the voice of eith e r Janie Dover
or Sheila Rutledge you hear when
you d ia l 1-800-332-2313, the 64th
Assem bly's to ll-fre e num ber which
provides the public w ith the latest in
fo rm a tio n on the status of individual
pieces of legislation m aking their
way through the process
A one-time fire and police dispat
cher fro m S ilverton, Dover is in the
m idst of her th ird session answering
questions about the legislature No
stra n g e r to the process herself,
Rutledge re tire d just a year ago after
15 years as a telephone operator for
the state
Together, they fo rm a team that is
fie ld in g betwen (MX) and 400 calls daily
fro m folks fro m a ll over Dregon who
are curious fo r a v a rie ty of reasons
about w hat's going on in the Capitol
They also respond to callers who
s h o u ld h a v e d i r e c t l y
d ia le d
W Y
S ta te
R e p r e s e n ta t iv e
Bob
S hiprack, D -D ist 23. 22610 Forest
P ark Rd., Beavercreek, O re . 97004
631-3817. Or State C apitol, Room
H 288.
S a le m .
O re .
97310
1400-332-2313.
State Senator Bob k in tig h . D -D ist
14. 38863 E Cedar F la , Road. S pr
in g fie ld . 97478 746-1842
Sen M a rk H a tfie ld , R-Oregon. 711
H a rt B u ild in g . W ashington. D C .
'20510 202-224-3753 P o rtla n d office
phone 221-3386
Sen Bob Packwood, K-Oregon. 259
Russell B u ild in g . W ashington. D C ,
20510 202-224-5244
phone 221-3370
A kÉ
T h i
W h e re to w rite
<
the fe llo w who cam ped out in
W ashington and haunted Congress
u n til it passed the Columbia R ive r
Gorge N ational Scenic A ct There are
people in C orbett liv in g under the
new rules of the scenic area who wish
he’d stayed away.
But B la ir is rig h t Oregon is a
special place.
I s till rem em ber listening to a
Washington. D C . cab d riv e r back in
the M cCall years le a rn in g we were
fro m Oregon, he said w is tfu lly . "I
heard w hat your governor said
Oregon m ust be w onderful I'd like to
see it som eday.”
W illa m e tte R ive r
Somewhere along the way e n viro n
m ent has become a bad w ord When
the recession hi4. the tim b e r industry
went bad and some of us took pay
cuts o r lost our jobs We scratched
out the w o rd e n v iro n m e n t and
substituted economy.
In these days of Oregon Comeback,
when we compete fo r electronics
plants like m erry-go-round rid e rs
reaching fo r the brass rin g , you don't
hear m uch ta lk of environm ent Peo
ple say the carnas plants w ill have to
take care of them selves u n til we b r
ing back payrolls. That we have to
compete w ith Los Angeles and the
San F rancisco Bay area That we w ill
w o rry about the environm ent when
we get back on our economic feet
But I w o rry that when that happens
the carnas w ill be crushed beneath
those feet.
Maybe B la ir is rig h t Maybe in
stead of being part of the crowd
cla m o rin g at the doors of in d u stria l
tycoons, we should stand back a little
and say, "H e y , we re a special place
and we re looking fo r a few good in
dustries to help us keep it that way
O th e rw is e , com e v is it , but fo r
heaven’s sake don’t s ta y ."
Telephone link keeps operators busy
B< ibcuts
long
Sharon Nesbtt
Reverse psychology. F orbidden
fr u it P laying hard to get
But it on
ly w orks if there re a lly is a treasure
beneath the coyness We believed we
had a treasure du rin g the M cC all
years We protected it by passing bot
tle b ills and land-use planning acts
and cleaning our rive rs
S aturday m orning a fte r reading
B la ir's le tte r I went to West Linn to a
hidden place off W alnut Street There
the carnas bloom in a secret meadow
It is n 't re a lly secret. The N ature Con
servancy has owned the Camassia
N a tu ra l Area fo r 25 years, but it is a
w ild place so perfect th a t each p e r
son who sees it believes he is the firs t
A meadow. Big rocks a ll fu rry w ith
lichen A riv e r of purple carnas lilie s
flow ing among the rocks in color so
v iv id it makes your eyes ache
Splashes of pink flow ers fo r contrast
And brassy swatches of yellow
Scotch broom to add an edge to the
soft pastel prettiness
•I sat in the m iddle of it th inking
how special Oregon is and noticed
th a t you could see fro m that w ild ,
perfect place the plum es of steam
fro m the paper n a il at Oregon C ity I
rem em bered how that m ill, and
m any others, cleaned up th e ir acts so
s a lm o n w o u ld r e t u r n to th e
O f V r\( < K
Y ou
T 4 M Ñ 6
1-800-327-7389. the num ber people can
ca ll if they want to ta lk d ire ctly w ith
th e ir L e g isla to r on a call-back basis
Both num bers are p a rt of an exten
sive le g is la tiv e In fo rm a tio n Service
designed to expand public p a rtic ip a
tion in the biennial exercise that
repeals, amends and creates laws by
w hich we are governed
The b ill-sta tu s serv ice provided by
Dover and Rutledge also enables
citizens to o rd e r copies of in d ivid u a l
b ills under consideration Those re
q u e s ts a re fo r w a r d e d to th e
L e g is la tiv e D is trib u tio n C e n te r,
where w orkers m a il single copies
free to those requesting them
A ll are p a rt of an in fo rm a tio n ser
vice that has evolved since the late
1950s and has included rules ca llin g
fo r public hearings on a ll measures,
expanded hearing room fa c ilitie s in
the Capitol and a dditional space for
reporters covering proceedings for
the state's newspapers, radio and
television stations
The phone service began in 1973
and has been a fix tu re in its present
state since 1977 Queries to operators
that year numbered approxim ately
50.1XX) and as m any as 597 on a single
day In 1979 total calls dipped to
about 30.000 w ith 467 recorded on the
busiest day. The record-long seven
m onth session in 1981 provoked 38.404
calls and a peak of 341 on a single
day In '83 the num ber dropped again
to 33,318, but jum ped to 516 on the
b usiest da y
The 1985 session,
shortest since 1977, saw total calls
rise to 34,193 and the busiest day
i June 141 logged 491 ca lls just a week
before fin a l adjournm ent
A lthough D over suspected the [»ace
of th is session had slackened a little
fro m the pace of the '85 session,
records show 20,961 ca lls a fte r 14
weeks this year, com pared w ith
17,605 at about the same tim e two
years ago
T hat phenomenon lik e ly is a t
trib u te d to D o ve r’s experience that
she q u ickly adm its build each session
she's on the job T h a t’s not the only
experience w ith the legislative pro
cess but fa m ilia rity w ith the fa c ilitie s
and equipm ent at hand, also
Both Rutledge and D over can ac
cess com puter screens that provide
them alm ost instantly w ith the status
of any of the nearly 2,700 d iffe re n t
measures cu rre n tly being considered
by law m akers They also have copies
of printed booklets that describe
measures by subject m a tte r — a big
help if callers are not aw are of the
specific num ber assigned to each
b ill, resolution and m e m o ria l in
troduced each session.
A new tool this year - a telecom
m unications device fo r the deaf
i TDD i
enables the tw o operators
to converse" via p rin to u ts w ith the
hearing im p a ire d And a b ill is under
consideration this session to make
m ore of the devices a va ila b le to deaf
people.
Dover reports special excitem ent
th is session occurred when a news
team fro m public television's chan
nel 10 did a feature on the service
they provide. Aside fro m th a t, the job
is re la tiv e ly routine
enlivened
m ostly by callers d ire ctin g th e ir
d isp le a su re about one issue or
another to the innocent providers of
in fo rm a tio n
Both D over and Rutledge display
uncommon patience w ith callers and
e ith e r a m eliorate the upset by ex
plaining away any m isconceptions or
re fe rrin g ca lle rs to the le g is la tu re 's
c a ll back service so they can d eliver
th e ir messages where it w ill do the
most good
by Admn Kruft
P é UJSÉ
RONI
■•i - * le Tft<ß -
e r e
p r s -> ú 7
cAMAriAN SA.crJt
than
P ortland office
Rep. Denny S m ith, R-5th D ist., 1213
L o n g w o rth B u ild in g , W ashington,
D C.. 20515. 202-225-5711 Salem office
phone i to ll fre e i 800-452-7889.
L e g is la tiv e access in Oregon
1-800-327-7389. One m ay c a ll this
num ber and ask to be connected to
any state le g is la to r's office
Oregon le g is la tiv e status num ber
1-800-332-2313. One m ay c a ll this
num ber to le a rn the status of b ills
pending in the Oregon le g is la tu re
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