2
SANDY (O r» ) POST Thur*
Moy 21, 1 W (S*c
')
The Sandy Post
Bri itorial & Opini
Scott Newton, editor
Karinda Hedlund, advertising representative
Reinstate senior
portion of funding
Five budget committee meetings, a senior citizen protest in
front of City Hall and a nearly two hour City Council meeting
have been held to air all the the pros and cons for senior citizen
and recreation programs. Now it is time for a compromise.
The Sandy City Council will discuss the issue at its regular
meeting June 1.
,
„ .
Senior citizens, advocates for recreation
J*™
others have been engaged in a guessing game.
to figure
out which vote might swing the balance on the City Council.
The dilemma has no easy answers. A compromise offered
by Mayor Deane Wesselink at the last budget committee
meeting — a compromise that was at least good enough o
garner a 94 majority vote — has resulted in a great deal of
animosity toward the City Council from senior citizens.
Projections about what would be left of the programs with
the compromise budget has generated more controversy
In our opinion, however, there are some things that a e
black and white, not gray. They are:
• Some City Council and budget committee members think
too much money is being paid out in salaries. Specifically,
they do not think the director of community services should
make $35,964 and the assistant director, $21 ,/69. Both of those
figures include fringe benefits.
• When the budget committee voted on the compromise,
members did not realize the extent of damage that would be
done to programs for senior citizens.
. The 2-cent per-gallon gasoline tax will not be approved by
voters. Therefore, if we want streets repaired, the city needs
to find money in the general fund. Contrary to some testimony
at the City Council meeting Monday, there is plenty of work to
do on the streets of Sandy.
. The Sandy Senior Center is doing good work. Many of the
outreach programs include identifying low-income senior
citizens and helping them stay in their homes. These are
human services that absolutely should not be eliminated.
Everyone agrees on that point.
In the way of a new compromise, we would recommend to
members of the Sandy City Council that they eliminate the
$17,794 recreation program, dedicating ^ e money to street
repair. In addition, the City Council should put the $38,941 back
into the Sandy Senior Center program.
One suggestion that has not received a great deal of discus
sion is a recommendation by the budget committee that an
area-wide recreation levy be placed on the ballot. Such a
recreation taxing district would allow residents outside the ci
ty of Sandy to help pay for programs in which they participate.
' A recreation district doesn’t have much chance of gaining
voter approval; its chances are probably equal to that of the
gas tax. Taxpayers are telling school officials theydon t want
to pay for outside, extra-curricular activities. The budget
committee is sending a similar message to the City Council.
We can argue about the value of recreational programs, but
the sad fact is the public doesn’t want to pay for them. People
who don’t believe that should consider the Sandy Aquatic
Center, which has always been a financial burden for the San
dy Elementay School District.
We believe eliminating the recreation programs, but keep
ing senior center activities, will come close to meeting the in
tent of the budget committee’s work and at the same time
restore valuable human services.
Where was
Post’s support?
The May 15th issue of The Post
lacked something an editorial stand
on the cuts in social services propos
ed by the city’s budget committee
It was sorely needed before a
critical vote by the council Monday
The Post has taken a courageous
stance on issues affecting our town, if
not the larger area Twice it
editorialized on behalf of the sheriff s
levy.
This makes me wonder why
neither a word for or against the cuts
was written on page two Was the
editor undecided, or what’’
Also, The Post would have done a
service to question the mayor abou*
just which roads were in such dire
need of repair and to print more
figures from the budget
Since the count il vote was Monday,
this is clearly a case of too little, too
late.” But this is also a vote for more
coverage next time.
Christine Bierman-Christiansen
Sandy
Grandma enjoyed
a good funeral
Then* was nothing my Grandma
enjoyed more than a good funeral
My paternal grandmother just lov
ed sad occasions A funeral was more
fun than a wedding in her book. It
gave her a chance to look morose and
shake her head over the woes of this
world and then, after the ashes-to-
ashes and dust-to-dust part, to sit
down to a hearty potluck dinner with
her friends and neighbors and visit
Grandma never chatted or talked
or gossiped She visited Mostly she
liked to visit about who died and who
was about to die and what killed them
and whether she had it or not
Naturally. her favorite holiday was
Decoration Day She liked it better
than Christmas,
We « all it Memorial Day now We
changed its name and changed its
date We gave it a patriotic flavor by
emphasizing it as a «lay to honor our
war deail These days our kids most
ly think of it as the first three-day
holiday of summer
But to Grandma, it was the day
when we honored all the dead and she
never missed making a pilgrimage to
the cemetery On Decoration Day
you decorated We trimmed the
grass around our family graves and
whisk-broomed their headstones and
placed bright flowers against the
cold, gray stone
We would load up at home, stripp
ing the garden of every available
flower We rounded up the cheap
wicker baskets that held the flowers
They tipped over in the wind but they
were a lot prettier than those in
verted metal dunce caps they sell
these days.
We kids did the toting, grass clip
pers and flowers wrapped in wet
newspapers and Mason jars of water.
Sometimes a rake and a broom
Grandma would direct the work
We trimmed and swept and arranged
and clipped, and we goofed off by
tracing the carved letters in the
stones with our fingers
With the flowers all in place we
Sharon
Nesbtt
would walk around and compare our
efforts with those of the other grave
decorators, admiring the ms and the
peonies and the flags whipping in the
wind.
Even though they weren't buried
there we heard about Uncle Harce
and Aunt Ella and Uncle Grover and
all our long-gone kin When Grand
ma's back was turned, we kids would
punch each other and giggle about
Uncle Grover who drooled and had a
speech defect and called himself
“ Gwover.”
We always laughed about Grand
ma’s funeral fixation But it seems to
me that it taught us some of the
lessons of death as well as life We
learned early that in the ordinary
course of events people we knew liv
ed and died and needed to be
remembered.
I ’m too far away to tend my family
cemetery this Decoration Day And
even if 1 did, I probably wouldn't ad
m it it because my friends might
laugh and think of me macabre But
when I see a cemetery full of flowers,
all I see is proof that people are loved
and remembered
I hope someone puts a flower on
Grandma's grave and runs a finger
along the engraved letters of her
name
Local people
contribute
The success of the entire conven
tion was due to the dedication and
commitment of Kimberly Nelson, the
convention chairwoman, and Rober
ta Kennedy, the co n ve n tio n
treasurer
I .am Staab
Immediate past state president
OFBPW
Boring
(ins tux push
is blackmail
A couple of years backs, I went
with the seniors to salem to watch the
legislature in session A represen
tative who shall remain nameless
talked to us about procedure
"B ills originate in the various com
mittees to be drafted." he told us,
"and then go down to the floor to be
voted on.”
Someone asked him if the head of
one committee sometimes votes for a
bill in exchange for a vote on another
bill
" I'm afraid it does happen," he ad
mitted
"Doesn't this smack of political
bla ckm a il- I asked The ball got lob
bed into another court
Now when a city official says, If
you vote for a 2-cent per-gallon gas
tax, we ll restore the 50 percent fun
ding we re planning to take away
from the senior center,” does this
smell of political blackmail, too'1
It is with a deep sense of pride that
I extend this message of appreciation
and gratitude to the following people
Mayor Deane Wesselink welcomed
close to 200 women at the Monarch
Motor Hotel on Saturday , May 16, to
the 66th Annual State Convention of
It seems to me the city uses rumor
the Oregon Eederation of Business
to get people fearful and running like
and Professional Women
lemmings Rumor a few months bai k
Representing the city of Sandy, the
had OPEC cutting production and
closest incorporated city east of
gas lines at the pump and prices go
M u ltn o m a h
C ounty,
M ayor
ing up.
W esselink expounded on the
A few years back there was the
resources of the area, the economic
rumor of a Space Needle restaurant
impact that women in the work fori e
going in east of Sandy. Then there
have on a community, and the impor
was the rumor of Sandy becoming a
tance of maintaining the economic
Bavarian-type village.
stability in the area
About two months back there was a
Boy Scout Troop 662, Columbia
rumor of the city buying the old
Pacific Council, presented the colors
Thriftway building, or building a new
and led the Pledge of Allegiance
City Hall or building a new senior
This opening ceremony by the Sandy
center on lxingensand Road It went
Scout Troop expressed the loyalty
and commitment that we share as from riches to rags in just two mon
citizens of the United States and sup ths The lemmings ran again.
porters of the free enterprise system
Now it was no rumor when a Sandy
My deepest gratitude goes to the
City Councilor told me the city
local organization, Sandy BPW. for
employees had taken a pay raise in
its endorsement and support of me
January
during my term as president of the
Don't let a "yes" vote for a gas tax
Oregon Federation for the 1986-87 be politically blackmailed out of you
year.
Dorothie Bernard
I could not have achieved this posi
Sandy
tion without their encouragement
Senior Center
helped newcomer
Where to
write
I came to Sandy last August from
New York, a complete stranger ex
cept for my son, who lives just out
side Sandy.
Soon after I arrived, I joined the
Sandy Senior Center There I found
friendship and assistance in finding
out the things a newcomer needs to
know
The most important of all was fin
ding the little apartment on Hood
Street, which I love dearly.
Eating meals alone becomes a
lonely and tiresome procedure, but to
eat m the company of friends is most
pleasant Food takes on a different
aspect when eaten in genial com
pany. I refer to the noon lunches.
You people at City Hall think twice
before cutting the allotment to the
Sandy Senior Center There is no way
to stop the aging process
Anna M Eherhard
Sandy
State
R e p re s e n ta tiv e
Bob
Shiprack. D-Dist. 23. 22610 Forest
Park Rd., Beavercreek, Ore., 97004
631-3817. Or: State Capitol, Room
H288,
Salem ,
O re .,
97310.
1-800-332-2313.
State Senator Bob Kintigh. D-Dist
14 , 38865 E Cedar Flat Road. Spr
ingfield, 97478 746-1842 Or: State
Capitol, Room S310. Salem. Ore.,
97310 1-800-327-7389.
Sen. Mark Hatfield, R-Oregon, 711
Hart Building, Washington. D C ,
20510 . 202-224-3753. Portland office
phone 221-3386.
Sen. Hob Packwood. R-Oregon. '259
Russell Building, Washington, D C..
20510 202-224-5244 Portland office
phone 221-3370
Rep. Denny Smith. R-5th Dist . 1213
l-ongworth Building, Washington,
I) C 20515 202-225-5711. Salem office
phone «toll freei 1-800-452-7889
( )r£anization
snysthunks
The Sandy Area Block Home
Association would like to express ap
preciation to the following agencies
and businesses Your contribution of
time, expertise and/or merchandise
helped us present a first-rate Crime
Prevention/Personal Safety Fair
Our thanks to:
The Sandy police department,
Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office,
Sandy Fire District, East Clackamas
County EMS Association, Mount
Hood Fire Prevention Association,
Mount Hood Medical Center alcohol
and drug treatment services, Sandy
VFW Post 4273 and Auxiliary , Block
Home committee members, Alpine
Ambulance Service, Consumer Pro
ducts Safety Commission, Bowman s
Thriftway, Sandy Sentry, Sandy
Safeway, Radio Shack, Sprouse
Reitz, McDonald's Restaurant, Dou
ble D I-ocksmithing, Sandy IxK-k and
Safe. Hi School Pharmacy, The
Flower Garden. The Shirt Shop. San
dy Union High School, the Sandy
Post, the Sandy Profile and The
Oregonian
Thanks you, again!
Chris Lewallen
director
Suzi Blaisdell
co-director
Sandy Block Home Asso
Legislative access in Oregon
1-800-327-7389. One may call this
number and ask to be connected to
any state legislator's office
Oregon legislative status number
1-800-332-2313. One may call this
number to learn the status of bills
pending in the Oregon legislature
Sandy Post
letter policy
letters 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 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 subject
matter of the letter
The news deadline of noon Tuesday
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 receive it receives from
area residents.
We reserve the right to edit letters
to conform to style guidelines or for
length la’tters should be 300 words
long
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