Image provided by: Friends of the Sandy Public Library; Sandy, OR
About Sandy post. (Sandy, Oregon) 1938-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 6, 1987)
• . •k,- V 2 > ► ir *"V V * SANDY (O re ) POST Thur» AuguM 6 1987 ($♦< • * k ? t *’ t • I • A • I) The Sflndy Post Editoria! & Opinion Scott N ew ton, editor Korindo Hedlund. odvertising representative Tri-Met provides more than buses The rush by Sandy and Damascus to sever ties with Tri-Met is a bit unnerving. lead ers in the two communities say they want to move for ward with requests to withdraw from the Tri-Met service district now that the Legislature has made it possible to do so. Under a bill approved by the legislature and signed recent ly by Gov. Neil Goldschmidt, communities with populations under 10,000 can petition for withdrawal from the Tri-Met district if they are receiving limited or no direct service. Such a move would mean that businesses in those communities would not have to pay thousands of dollars annually in payroll taxes. On the surface, the legislation makes sense — communities that are receiving little Tri-Met service should not have to pay the same payroll taxes as communities, such as Gresham, that receive extensive service. But it would be wise for everyone concerned to look below the surface. The prospect of an ever-shrinking Tri-Met district raises some disturbing questions. It is true that Tri-Met takes more money away from Clackamas County than it returns in direct service. But it does provide the only mass transportation system in Clackamas County. If Sandy, Damascus and other communities sever ties with Tri-Met, it is unlikely that any other service will step in to fill the void. In some ways, a public transportation system is a social ser vice. It provides mobility to people who have no other means of transportation. Without Tri-Met, some people may be left with no transportation for working and shopping. In addition to basic transportation, Tri-Met provides other benefits to the entire metropolitan area. Because of Tri-Met, the air we breathe is cleaner. Since a smaller amount of pollu tion is rising from cars into the metropolitan area's air shed, federal and state environmental agencies have allowed more industry to locate in the Portland area. The Tri-Met system also relieves the burden on our street systems, which means less of our tax money is used to main tain old roads and build new ones. Those benefits know no boundaries ancf extend to areas wherv the sight of a Tri-Met bus may be rare. And, in ayias where bus service is spotty, residents still have access to 1 ri- Met park and rides. The most equitable way for Tri-Met to levy taxes would be for it to base its tax rate in a particular area on the amount of direct service delivered. Areas that receive little or no direct service would pay less but would still contribute something. Unfortunately, the Tri-Met board of directors does not have the authority to set a lower payroll tax rate in certain areas; it only has authority to define the service district’s boundaries. And, under the new law, if communities are removed from Tri-Met, the payroll tax rate in the remainder of the Tri-Met district will be increased to make up the lost revenue. Residents and community leaders in Sandy and Damascus are not likely to feel much sympathy for the rest of the Tri-Met district as they circulate petitions seeking removal from the district. But they should consider all of the factors involved — including the feasibility of setting up their own mass transit systems — before demanding to be excluded from Tri-Met. And the Tri-Met board, which will have the final say over whether some of the communities involved can withdraw from the district, should consider all of the benefits that mass transportation provides to the metropolitan area before it allows taxes to lx* increased for those left within its service area. Sandy Post letter poliey la-tters 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 w ill be published. le tte r 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 tile deadline for letters to the editor Ix-tters 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 »slit letters to conform to style guidelines or for length Ix-tters should be 300 words long. »vtMMd -.••«»» o' »ul»' A»»«'«' or b, ’*eOv’t<x* Fvb'-«b.nt Co onei A»»o<.«•.©*» 9 «4 U % Ub. M So««* B’OM -bo« R'O»» (>«••! os'aço po-d O»eg- - MB-SS4B SUBSCRIPTION RATES k* O«<h•«*•« Cew«*v po ' •9 00 110 00 |t«>wM«t » a O»«*** te 9*4 »o « i C' Ov*«*4e Ow»s do t'O'O« PO' *OO' Sondy Rot, Sondy O-Oflon 97055 w f 11.10 !••••» t— ' e* 4 • < Coo«* No 32 On June 21, a fund-raiser barbecue auction was held at the Ivy Bear to raise funds to restore "The World's largest Ivy Bear." Through the ef forts of many businesses and in dividuals, we were able to raise $1,200 for this project We would like to thank all those in volved for making our first fund raiser a tremendous success Kylie Milne "Friends to Restore the Bear'.' 55425 E. Kirkwood Drive Sandy, Proposed zoning prompts concerns In connection with the Conditional Use Amendment to the C-l (core areal Zoning Ordinance, which it now appears w ill soon be adopted by the Sandy City Council, I do very much appreciate your reporting of the last the council meetings and their deliberations of the proposal I find myself in the uncomfortable position of posing questions of con cern about the possible long-term negative impact the provisions of this amendment may have on the core area. This proposition (and I have heard words to this effect given by at least one other person associated with City Halit can, and probably will, have a profound effect on the Sandy downtown area for years to come. In former years, our city planners and officials very wisely, through the zoning process, provided for these very desireable in d u stria l and maufacturing activities These ac tivities, which are now sought to be legitimized in our downtown core area, were very wisely provided for as outright uses in our existing in dustrial park area zoning. 1 believe there are substantial numbers of questions and factual information which have not had the opportunity to be aired in the public hearings pro cess. Any property owner, group, business, ownership or person that holds any kind of a vested interest or otherwise, who is concerned as to the future of the downtown core area of Sandy enough to desire a greater clarification of the facts and condi- >14.00 >17 00 August 6 1987 tions surrounding this zoning amend ment. still has a last-minute opjiot tunity. The City Council, very much to its credit, has arranged for letters by concerned citizens to be directed to the City Manager, Mr Reber, at San dy City Hall 1 sincerely hope that others will see fit to join me by writing such a note or letter. Anyone doing so will be given the opportunity to speak to the members of the coun cil, if they so desire, prior to the final reading of this ordinance on Aug. 17. Write your letter or note to the city of Sandy by Aug 11, P.0 Box 116, Sandy, Ore., 97055. Concerned citizens interested in learning more about my personal concerns, are invited to telephone me at 668-4311 Dale Nicholls 40105 Davis Sandy Bluff Rond ticket unfnir I am one of the lucky people who got a ticket on Bluff Road It was 10 30 p in and very dark I was alone and coming from the festival, where I'd been working for over 10 hours at Mount Hood Hospice's noodle booth. As I'm driving Bluff Road, all of a J sudden, the police lights come o n j Nothing like scaring the wits out uf me I was honest with the officer I told, him I hail no idea a person could get ticket driving where there is a "toad closed" sign I told him I'd been uA ing the road all week And I asked' him. "Would 1 have blatantly used It knowing I could get a ticket?" (1 really thought road closed" signs were under the jurisdiction of tty state Highway Department! After being honest, I Ih o u g ^ may lx* he would just give me a warm / ing, as I said it sure wouldn't happen , again. Is there justce? I think this where your faith in the system^ breaks down I was not intentionally^ committing a driving offense, but ty wouldn’t listen I can’t afford the time or money to be heard in order to fight this Maybe if there is a large enough group of us we could unite to get this off our driv ing records. Dorothy Dinneefel 30939 S E. Pipeline Road 1 Gresham Hut so n ’s mess w ill be missed Room bears remnants of childhood The Nerf basketball hoop no longer hangs on the closet door in the entry way of our house That's how we know No. 2 Kid is gone — moved lock, stock and hoop to an apartment of his own We got used to seeing that little hoop with its sagging net hanging on the closet door It sometimes startled our guests on "elegant" evenings at home More startling was the poun ding of size 11 feet on the entry way tile as No. 2 Kid jumped and twisted, practicing tiny slam dunks The hoop isn't all he took with him, thank goodness. No. 2 Kid's room is nearly empty of the flotsam and jetsam that sloshed around in th e re d u rin g the tumultuous tides of his growing-up years We learned early that No. 2 Kid was not neat Tidiness is no virtue to a boy who routinely kept broken rub ber bands, two dead worms and a smashed bottlecap in his pockets i Oh, if I had a nickel for every reconstituted worm I've fished out of the washer.) Reverse psychology flopped " I f it When our house was burglarized a fingerprint man poked in every nook and cranny My gash," he gasped when he walked into No. 2 Kid's loom "This place has really been ransacked the time No 2 Kid hit college, he w.t- living in a three-foot-wide hole in tH«4 center of his room, constantly” beating back the stuff that threat- i ed to avalanche down the sides a fj! engulf him For the space of a full minute. Hub by and 1 looked at each other and wondered if honesty was the best policy Deciding we couldn't cloud a criminal investigation. I said quietly, " This room hasn't been touched. By anybody Ever " Moving to his apartment has bcuiui like relocating a sand dune But No £ Kid is making some headway He igli throwing some stuff away, taking i some with him, and dropping the rest on his way to the garbage can It's a trail down memory lane to follow ttw a line of broken protractors th.it he never learned to use, baseball cards with unchewed gum atta« tied IU cards always tasted better than IW gum i and the broken tip of a fishim pole with i what else’ ) a petrifiei worm on the end They must have had fun with that one back at the station you want to live that way. go ahead we said "As a matter of fact, I do," he said brightly, walking on his discarded pants and kicking his dirty socks under the bed So we taught him to cloae his door. Fast. So the stuff wouldn't ooze out He lived 20 years behind closed doors, concealing what we call the mass" from the world Only one stranger ever set eyes on 1 '» jT 'iH Ï K-IE.-J siH A t - t l A t n WA> (USPS 481 180» O f o '' Many helped with Ivy Bear B< »bents The Srindy Post MlMBtB I F or . g q mt w A ttn As he got older. No 2 Kid relegated the stuff of his youth to the tar cor ners of his room The rattles, the crib toys and the pants that snap up the legs piled up first He glued those things in w itli first-grade papers and old crayons and cemented the whole works with bast-ball socks, fishing poles and high school yearbooks. L a te r he added hubcaps and screwdrivers. An archeologist could have traced his entire childhood in any corner Bv ioM We're going to miss him I don know why This column is reprinted from 1984 No. 2 Kid now lives in his own housi in Rockwood, though his parent- think he lives in squalor. No. 2 Kid ■ old room is in worse shape than ever;
