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SANDY (O re ) POST Thur»
AuguM 6 1987 ($♦<
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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.
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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;