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
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