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About Sandy post. (Sandy, Oregon) 1938-current | View Entire Issue (June 11, 1987)
2 — SANDY (O r» ) POST Thur» Jun» 1, 1 9 6 7 (S»c I) The Sflndy Post Editorial & Opinion Scott N e w to n e d ito r K a rin d o H edlund. a d v e rtis in g re p re s e n ta tiv e Sandy High budget funds lean program One encouraging sign about the 1987-88 budget is the bottom line. The general fund budget is $6,000 less than a year ago. The high school w ill be operating in '87-88 on the second year of a two-year levy. Therefore funding is assured. It is interesting to note that the general fund is going down while transportation casts, insurance, water and sewage rates and the cost of textbooks continue to climb Another encouraging sign was the method the staff and budget committee followed in determining what the budget would look like. Each department head was required to prepare a budget at 85 percent of the average of the two previous years’ budgets. Most departments did not meet state curriculum re quirements at that level of funding. The departments then submitted proposals, first of all, for bringing their departments up to state standards. Additional programs were justified on a case-by-case basis. Out of 93 packages presented to the budget committee, only 65 were ap proved. Some of the things that were not funded were important, such as some building maintenance projects, reference books and a detention study hall. Some programs, of course, had only a minimal chance of ap proval. One was a proposal for a marching band. Though many people in the community would like to have a marching band, the chance ot finding money for such a new program was slim at best. But such debate is exactly what the budget hearing should be about. The budget process is not about paperclips and tex tbooks, but about the direction of programs. The bad news about the budget is that some programs were losers. In this case, performing arts and athletics and ac tivities were not funded beyond the 85 percent cutoff. The drama program has had excellent success. We have to be concerned about a 15 percent cutback. Ukewise, we believe athletics and activities are part of the learning process, and Sandy High School students need those activities. A concern of the administration is a contengency fund that is dangerously low. In 1986-87, a $30,000 contingency fund was wiped out by one unexpected bill for a special education pro gram. The district budgeted $155.000 this year, but contingency is expected to be the area where pay increases are taken out for classified staff members and teachers. Both groups are pi estntly negoUdUng cui,tracts i Peopk .nay urge the board of directors to play hardball when it comes to negotiating the salaries of teachers, but the other side is that Sandy High School must be competitive with other schools in the area or we w ill lose our good teachers. Another heartening sign is the elim ination of a misunderstood item known as “ unappropriated cash balace. The concept behind unappropriated cash balance is to have money to spend during the summer before tax revenues are collected in the fall. Despite the fact that there is nothing dishonest in an having an “ unappropriated cash balance,” the public sees it as a way to hide cash. The money from unappropriated cash balance — $lb3,uu went a long way toward balancing the budget. In the future, the district is simply going to have to try to end up with enough money in July to get through till November, or borrow money. The district also cut $60,000 in capital appropriations. This is another area of concern. The district cannot cut capital expen ditures forever. Superintendent Kent Heaton is trying to promote understan ding of the budget. It is, of course, to his advantage to develop credibility with the public. “ What we hope is that people believe us when we say, •Ouch,’ ’’ Heaton said. It is our opinion that the district is running a tight ship. I he 1987-88 year w ill be a lean one. The district may be able to stick with its no-growth budget for even another year And though there should be some concerns for the future, right now most taxpayers should take the district s hang tough” approach as a good sign. Ycsturyvar in Sandy 1917 fire causes SI 7,000 in losses A fire at Sandy late Saturday night was another of those affairs which cause great loss because of a lack of fire fighting equipment Concerning the fire the following has been sent to the Outlook The alarm was given shortly before 12 o ’ c lo c k on S aturday n ig h t It destroy ed the store of the Sandy Mer cantile company and damaged the bank and post office buildings, entail ing a loss of between $7. (XX) and fll.OOO The fire was started by an overheated stove in the hardware store of George A. Gluckner. spread rapidly through the building and in a few minutes adjoining structures were in flames. At 1 o'clock, however, the blaze was under control By the heroic efforts of a bucket brigade, organized by the women, the hotel was saved The town is without an organized fire company and has no water system Every man. woman and child was aroused by the fire and all assisted in fighting the flames Cartridges in the hardware store exploded when the fire reached them, giving much the effect of a machine-gun in action The telephone exchange was mov ed from the burning store building in to the street and other goods were saved by the efforts of volunteers, who took everything that could be moved into the street Among the women who joined in the fire fighting were Mrs P.T. Shelley, Miss Kate Junker. Miss Mary Junker. Mrs laiundree, Mrs A I. Deaton, Mrs M A Deaton, Mrs R E Esson, Miss Frances Meinig, Miss Gertrude Meinig. Miss Ruth Revenue. Mrs R E Bonnett. Mrs George Wolfe and Mrs. Jack Scalls Refreshments were served to the fire fighters by the Esson drug store All of the buildings were insured This story was taken from the April 3, 1117, edition of the Gresham Outlook. Letters to the editor Levy increase is too liiUli What’s going on9 The May 28 Sandy Post reported the Sandy Elementary D istrict levy w ill be on the tnail-in election that w ill be held June 30 Iaist week representatives of the Affordable Education Association contacted the elementary school requesting a copy of this year's iC A T i achievement test results Our request was declin ed because the test results ap peared to have errors and are being rerun, and won't be available until after June 30 ” It is quite* a coincidence tin* test results won’t be available until after the election Could it be the 86-87 test results show even less impressive ef forts and results than the previous year’s test scores9 We see two problems with the pro posed levy. F irst, the tax rate per $1,000 of assessed property value w ill increase from $7.80 to $10 30, an in crease of approximately 25 percent Who can afford a 25 percent tax in crease? Secondly , we take strong exception to the $35.000 per teacher cost E v e ry o n e p ra ise s the p riv a te kindergarten school for the fine job they do, and we agree, yet the private school teachers probably earn less than $12,000 per year Why do we need a $35. (XX) teacher to do a $12,000 job? One positive point about all this is the new safety net regulation passed last month This legislation prohibits school closures because levies fail in other words, if voters vote down levies, schools must use the same tax base as last year and keep the school doors open. Uoyd A. Cummins executive Secretary- Affordable Education Association Post ‘lied’ with statistics Congratulations must go out to the City Council for keeping the Sandy Senior Center funding at current levels. Except for the Sandy Moun tain Festival, there is very little in this town that offers a true sense of community The c o m m u n ity /s e n io r center serves Sandy well in this regard As a form er city of Sandy com munity services assistant director, I must say that the Sandy Post per formed a disservice by "ly in g with statistics" in reporting the salaries of the senior center director and recrea tion director Just three years ago, my salary with the city was a munificent $12,000 Sure, there was dental and medical coverage and a public employment retirem ent fund, but those “ fringe benefits" were hardly what you call salary My salary, Just like anyone's, should be calculated by what the take home monthly check reads and, in my case, it was $800 per month C u r r e n tly , the r e c r e a tio n director's salary has risen above the poverty level, but s till represents one of the lowest in the field. A sim ilar position in Clark County, Wash , pays $'28.000 a year - base salary. The Sandy recreation direc tor's salary of $17,000 is by no means exorbitant and is. frankly, barely average. The citizens of Sandy are getting a great bargain for this price. The same is true for the senior center director, who has been at her position fo r 10 years, received num erous aw ards fo r her ac complishments and has volunteered countless hours to serve all ages of our community. Mr. Ronald Stone, who wrote last week in The Post, is light-years off base in every aspect of his letter In terms of the senior trips alone, ask any senior what the director does during these trips Ask me, who was privileged to accompany 20 seniors on a train to Seattle to visit an histoncalChinese exhibit It was hardly a vacation. I c o o rd in a te d lu g g a g e , bus s c h e d u le s , m e a ls , i t in e r a r y , medicine needs, and made sure everyone was accounted for and en joyed themselves. Instead of my usual eight-hour work day, I worked 16 hours and was on call the other eight Neither Am trak or the inexpensive motel we stayed in charged a higher price to the group because of me Why doesn’t M r. Stone go on the next outing and he can be in charge of car rying everyone's luggage The community senior center is a tremendous asset to the people of Sandy. 1 hope this letter and the ac tion of the council put this issue to rest. B ill Knight-Weiler Sandy Sandy Post letter policy le tte rs to the editor should be typed, double-spaced and signed An address and telephone num ber should also be provided, although on ly the name of the letter w rite r and the city or area he is from w ill be published le tte r w riters may also wish to in clude a title or office held if it is ap propriate considering the subject m atter of the letter Few things worse than a stupid slogan tain notoriety for being a rainy place la*t's work with that. “ Rain State" is an idea So is "P a rtly Cloudy." Oregon, I hear, is looking for a Mr. Good Phrase for its license plates B e in g an Id a h o ( “ F a m o u s Potatoes") native, let me warn Oregon officials to take care Nothing is more embarrassing than a stupid state phrase Somehow, though. I don't believe Wet Hair State" w ill get nominated Nor, I'll bet, w ill "Slug State " I suppose, however, that a stupid state phrase sells oodles of license plate frames It sure did in my case Picture this Here I am, cruising down a wide smooth avenue in the saucy Buick just around dusk one night doing my daily leering In the far lane a sporty Datsun pulls up with two sm iling blondes The driver calls out "H ey, nice c a r!” “ Thanks." I yell back, sounding sophisticated “ But you know what9" she yells I shrug and shake my head “ Your license plates stink, man Who cares about spuds ' " she yells and speeds away. Dave Pinson Shunned and guilty as charged, I imm m ediatelv turn down a side street and look for an auto parts store. “ Famous Potatoes," huh9 You can have ’em. Oregon, though, is a special place and so must have a special phrase Let's explore the possibilities For instance. Oregon carries a cer Judy Garland once sang a song about a rainbow and if the state of Kansas isn't using "O ver The Rain bow" as a state phrase, it should be On the other hand, as Oregon receives lots of rain, maybe the Oregon license plates should read "U nder The Rainbow " I like that one A few years back Oregon was a rage because a state official told tourist-type folks they were welcome to visit but don't stay How would it look to have "Please le a v e " on the plates9 We'd have "O regon" on top and "Please le a v e ” on the bottom Nope, bad idea People would stop in just to see what it looks like and then stay Texas is celebrating its 15""i u niversary But do you think Texas folks could simply say 150th An n ive rsa ry"? Nope, those Texans wrote "Sesquicentennial" on their ’ícense plates I wonder about putting a word on a plate that nobody ca pronounce or understand. Oh, those Texans Oregon could take a hint from that idea How about “ 129 Years and Holding"? And each year you could pick up a little sticker to paste over the old year Naw, because you know if that happened, someone would forget and have 129 or 130 when it should be "131 Years and Holding " Oh well, I don't know Who's to say what would make a M r Good Phrase9 Maybe folks have more to worry about than what their stupid license plates have to say It could be that "O regon" clean and simple like that says it all Then again, maybe it doesn't I 'll bet. however, it comes awfully close 1
