PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, JUNE 19, 2015
KeizerOpinion
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Future big Keizer projects
The community build project is
completed, a little later than hoped
for, but the new big playground at
Keizer Rapids Park will offi cially be
open to the public on Saturday, June
20.
All the volunteers who helped
with the construction and those who
donated money and materials can
look upon their work and pat them-
selves on the back.
That’s one major project down,
one to go: the turf fi eld at Mc-
Nary High School. Construction
is expected to begin in earnest this
month. It should be completed in
time for the McNary Athletic Boost-
er Club’s Blue Day event in August.
Once the turf fi eld is in, the com-
munity can lean back, exhale and
enjoy its new amenities. And think
about the next community project.
Think is the operative term.
Keizer leaders need to think about
how large community projects come
to be, how to fi nance them and wha-
how to operate and maintain them
once completed.
One person can make a difference.
The big playground came about
solely from the vision of a single
west Keizer man, Will Stitt, who had
seen similar big playgrounds in other
towns. The Parks and Recreation
Advisory Board fell right in line and
fast-tracked the project. It was never
in doubt that the playground would
be at Keizer Rapids Park. Relying on
the experience of a New York con-
sultant, a location within the park
was chosen. Until it wasn’t. One
voice rang out that it would be bet-
ter to place it near Chemawa Road,
to be more visible. That led to a delay
of more than a year while the even-
tual site was brought into the Urban
Growth Boundary and the Keizer
city limits. Once again, that was fast-
tracked.
When the consultants went to
Keizer schools to to fi nd out what
kids thought the playground should
have, they walked away with hun-
dreds of ideas that were translated
into rough plans and drawings that
were presented at a standing-room
only crowd that same day. The com-
munity was excited, but the kids
were ecstatic. They were shortly dis-
appointed by the whole relocation
issue that caused a delay of more than
a year.
The community was to be re-
cruited to volunteer to fi ll thou-
sands of hours of shifts to help cut,
screw, wrench, haul, rake and more.
One-hundred fi fty volunteers were
expected for each shift of the build.
About half the expected number re-
ported for duty, but those that did
worked hard and passionately.
Any big project must have a clear
need and a clear vision of its use,
where it will be sited and how it
will fi t into its surroundings. A proj-
ect—espeically if it is community
based—should have its fi nancing in
place before a shovel of dirt is turned
over. The project’s maintenance and
operation (as applicable) needs have
to be planned.
Future community projects will
face two hurdles: manpower and
money. Today’s busy family lives
means there are fewer volunteers
to cull from the citizens. There are
scheduled activities for the kids,
caretaking of family members, job
duties—any number of reasons that
would prevent someone to devote
precious free time to a community
project.
As the playground and the turf
fi eld projects have shown, it is not
easy to amass the cash that is required
after volunteer labor and in-kind
donations are factored in. Each year
brings more projects, organizations
and causes that seek fi nancial sup-
port. There is only so much money
available in the community. That is
why it is so important to have saavy
people who know how to look be-
yond our borders for donations from
corporations and foundations. There
are thousands of foundations that do-
nate money; corporate America have
departments devoted to community
giving.
Before the next project is initi-
ated let us together decide if there is
a need and a want from the people,
assure it is fully funded. That will
most likely include hiring people to
do most of the work. Volunteerism is
part of the city’s motto but the nature
of the city has changed and our plans
must refl ect that.
—LAZ
Impeachment in
Oregon
tical test before
he could express
his opinion in
public? I doubt
it.
There seems
to be a great
deal of glee in the new background
check requirements for Oregon res-
idents. Especially domestic violence
being a disqualifying factor. I guess
the reasoning is that someone who
assaults a member of their family
can’t be trusted to own a fi rearm.
With that in mind, let me point out
that, according to a recent book au-
thored by retired White House ser-
vice staff, when Hillary found out
that husband Bill had been involved
in yet another affair, she threw an
object at him that struck him with
enough force to require sutures in
his forehead. Most reaction to this
revelation was that he probably de-
served it, and he probably did. But
if the people involved were Bill and
Hillary Clinton, and the police had
been called, they would have been
required to have arrested Hillary
for—domestic violence. The fact
that Ms. Clinton got away with it
doesn’t change the mindset of the
act. Had she not gotten away with
it, she would be prohibited from
owning a fi rearm in Oregon. Is this
who you want to have her fi nger
on the nuclear trigger and be the
Commander in Chief of the world’s
most powerful military force? Just a
thought.
Wayne A. Moreland
Keizer
To the Editor:
The Oregon Legislature is the
only one in the country lacking im-
peachment power over state execu-
tives. House Joint Resolution 31 is
designed to correct that defi ciency,
and is long overdue.
This bill was voted out of the
house and is now in the senate, in
Senator Rosenbaum’s Rules Com-
mittee.
Please contact your senators and
have them support this bill, and
contact Senator Rosenbaum to en-
courage her to have a hearing on
this proposal.
Our previous governor’s be-
havior, and the tragedies related
to Cover Oregon and the Oregon
Health Department underscore the
need for this legislation.
Erin B. Thurber
Salem
Rights versus
privileges
To the Editor:
It appears that Mr. Don Vowell
(Why is a gun different than a car?, June
12), doesn’t know the difference be-
tween a right and a privilege, so let
me explain slowly for him. A right
is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitu-
tion, while a privilege comes from
government. That’s why the state
can regulate qualifi cations for driv-
ing a motor vehicle. Looking at the
1st Amendment, would Mr. Vowell
be for requiring a written and prac-
letters
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The therapy of helping a community
By CRAIG MURPHY
Apparently I wasn’t the only one
who noticed her.
While at the Big Toy build site
multiple times in the past week or
so, I began to see some familiar faces.
I’m not just talking familiar in
terms of people like city councilors
or department heads I see on a regu-
lar basis.
I’m talking familiar in terms of
people who seemed to be there ev-
ery time I stopped by.
As mentioned elsewhere in this
issue, volunteers started building the
new play structure at Keizer Rapids
Park last Wednesday, June 10. The
goal was to be done by 5 p.m. last
Sunday, but that didn’t happen. As
this is being written, fi nal steps are
being done in anticipation of the
structure being open this weekend.
During my frequent visits, I of-
ten noticed a lady walking around,
making sure volunteers had water.
Mayor Cathy Clark and others made
mention of her as well during Mon-
day’s Keizer City Council meeting.
That lady
was 68-year-
old
Patsy
Smith.
“I want to
call out Patsy
Smith, who
came
with
her daughter
and granddaughter,” the mayor said.
“She made sure every person was
hydrated and had sunblock. If some-
one wanted Gatorade, she made
sure that person had Gatorade. She
wanted to make sure no one out
there got sick because of dehydra-
tion. People like that made the event
so amazing.”
Indeed.
On Sunday afternoon I talked
with Smith.
“I’ve been out here eight hours a
day,” she said. “There’s not too much
I can do. I had my spine worked on
last month. I’m supposed to be do-
ing some walking each day, but I’ve
been wishy-washy with my therapy.
This has helped with that.”
checkered
fl ag
In other words, Smith was intent
on helping with the build like her
daughter and granddaughter did.
When she became limited in her
options, she became a key person
all the other volunteers depended
on. After all, the weather was pretty
hot and water was in high demand.
Smith delivered.
Smith’s family will be using the
Big Toy. She has four great-grand-
children who will enjoy it for years
to come.
“This has been wonderful,”
Smith said. “This is awesome. Bless
their hearts. Everyone is just so glad
to be here. This is going to be heav-
ily used. It’s so awesome.”
The work put in by countless
volunteers was impressive, whether
it was for one shift or the entire
build. All who participated are to be
commended – from project coor-
dinator Mark Caillier to those who
did the heavy lifting to those who
carried the water.
(Craig Murphy is the news editor
of the Keizertimes.)
2015 campaign has truly started
By MICHAEL GERSON
Stealthily demonstrating one of
Jeb Bush’s more controversial pol-
icy views—the need for Common
Core history standards—an “anon-
ymous ally” is quoted in The New
York Times as saying that “the culture
of the Bush operation will now be
a Pickett’s Charge engagement with
his main opponents.”
Republican politicians have gen-
erally preferred Teddy Roosevelt’s
San Juan Hill model of political en-
gagement—a guaranteed outcome
with maximum press coverage. But
it will be interesting to see Bush
strategist Mike Murphy roll out
his Gallipoli-inspired social media
campaign.
Meaningless historical errors by
unnamed sources aside, the start-
ing gun of the 2016 campaign has
been fi red, and three Republicans
are clearly in the fi rst tier of plausi-
bility —Jeb Bush, Scott Walker and
Marco Rubio. The conventional
wisdom about these candidates is
interesting for being mostly wrong.
Jeb’s role: The Establishment
Moderate. Reporters who have
covered Bush for decades fi nd this
risible. If his record as governor
shows anything, it is a visceral dis-
trust of government bureaucracy,
expressed through the aggressive
privatization of public functions
and the elimination of thousands of
state government jobs. Bush cut tax-
es and championed gun rights and
school vouchers. He was, in his own
self-assessment, “probably the most
pro-life governor in modern times.”
Members of team Bush see op-
portunity in this gap between im-
pression and reality. Familiarity, they
think, will reduce contempt among
conservatives. Bush is banking
on memory. Bush’s advisers think
that Walker, who has sometimes
trimmed
to
win in a pro-
gressive state,
is banking on
forgetfulness.
It is not
quite that sim-
ple. The best
ideological description of Bush
comes via National Review’s Rich
Lowry, who calls him a “pre-Obama
conservative.” Bush was essentially
out of politics during the trau-
matic, formative period of modern
conservatism—the election and re-
election of a faculty-lounge liberal
who set out to transform America.
Bush didn’t fi ght in these ideologi-
cal trenches and doesn’t share the
scars from conservatism’s real Pick-
ett’s Charge (Ted Cruz’s govern-
ment shutdown).
What a few fi nd disqualifying
might be refreshing to the broader
electorate. When George W. Bush
ran and won in 2000, he distanced
himself, not only from Clinton era,
but from the scorched-earth GOP
of Newt Gingrich, Tom DeLay and
crew. “After all of the shouting and
all of the scandal,” George W. Bush
said in his Philadelphia conven-
tion speech. “After all of the bitter-
ness and broken faith, we can be-
gin again.” The younger Bush has a
chance to distance himself from the
whole mess in Washington during
the Obama era, not just the Demo-
cratic portion of it.
The role ascribed to Walker by
conventional wisdom is quite differ-
ent: The Top Tier’s Tea Party Favor-
ite. In fi ghts against public-sector
unions, he has earned a serious rep-
utation. Grover Norquist recounts:
“when you meet him, it’s like seeing
somebody who sits on a throne on
the skulls of his enemies.”
This is what passes as a compli-
other
views
ment in some conservative circles.
But this impression disguises a
boldly moderate maneuver. Of all
the Republican candidates, Walker
has been most forthright in his in-
tention to downplay cultural issues
in favor of economic ones. When
pressed on gay marriage last year,
he said, “When I talk about things,
I talk about the economic and fi scal
crisis in our state and in our coun-
try. That’s what people want to reso-
nate about.” And again: “I don’t talk
about [gay marriage] at all. I don’t
talk about anything but fi scal and
economic issues in the state.” On
the abortion issue, he has said, “I
don’t obsess with it.”
It is true that the GOP will need
a changed tone and approach when
it comes to social issues. And the
portion of the tea party that leans
libertarian will have no objection to
Walker’s instinct for silence.
But this comes closest to the ar-
gument made by Gov. Mitch Dan-
iels during the last presidential cycle
that Republicans should accept a
“truce” on social issues while em-
phasizing economic ones. Religious
conservatives—who have consid-
erable overlap with the tea party
and disproportionate infl uence in
Iowa—were not pleased then, and
may not be now.
None of this myth-busting does
much to clarify the Republican
race. When candidates refuse to play
their assigned roles, it adds uncer-
tainty and interest. My only con-
clusion: This contest is unlikely to
move along expected ideological
grooves.
Which brings us to the conven-
tional wisdom about Rubio: The
Riser With Limitless Potential. That
is, well, pretty much accurate.
(Washington
Group)
Post
Writers
Why Bernie Sanders deserves a look
Refreshing is what it is when a
member of Congress who seeks the
presidency lets us know what’s on his
mind rather than echoing what’s on
the mind of a billionaire who under-
writes his campaign. Senator Bernie
Sanders (I-Vt.) is that refreshing can-
didate who will run for the highest
political offi ce in the U.S. where he
says he’ll lead a “political revolution”
for working families and against mon-
ey in politics.
Furthermore, Sanders has said that
he is the only candidate who’s pre-
pared to take on the billionaires. He
seeks residency in the White House
where he can lead millions of Ameri-
cans who are ready now to stand up to
say “Enough is enough!” to the super-
wealthy, elections-manipulating Citi-
zens United crowd.
Although a life-long Independent,
he will run as a Democrat so it is
easier for him to get on the primary
ballot in all 50 states. He’s not in-
clined to criticize Hillary Clinton, he
says, as he considers her someone he
likes and respects but sees as a “seri-
ous problem”—the millions of dollars
fl owing into the Clinton Foundation,
presumed by many to secure favors
through Clinton connections.
Sanders could also challenge Hill-
ary due to her support for the war
with Iraq and her unwillingness to
deny support to the Trans-Pacifi c
Partnership trade agreement which
he staunchly opposes due to antici-
pated American job losses and salary
reductions due to the notoriously low
wages in partnership nations, just like
the consequences of NAFTA. Then,
too,
Sanders
wants to take
action on the
political class of
which Hillary is
a long-standing
member, with
a lot of support
from Wall Street, and thereby enact a
“real political shakeup in this country.”
Of course, how he’d persuade a GOP
Congress to go along remains a big
question.
He has raised a few million dol-
lars since announcing his campaign
in April, and has done so without a
super PAC at the rate of average con-
tribution amounting to $45. He sees
himself as a socialist which won’t
help him in a country where social-
ism is widely considered threateningly
un-American, even though we have
many a farmer, banker, manufacturer
and others who receive help big-time
from the U.S. government.
Sanders has won, under the In-
dependent designation, elections for
mayor of Burlington, Vermont, the
U.S. House and the senate while es-
pousing his views. When asked about
socialism he likes to cite the examples
of Denmark, Norway and Sweden as
nations where everyone has health
care, a post-secondary education is
free and warring is anathema.
If there is such a thing as a presiden-
tial look, Sanders has little chance of
passing that litmus test as he is stoop-
shouldered, usually wears a head of
tussled hair and presents a Brooklyn-
accent, which we know out west is a
foreign place. Nevertheless, when he’s
gene h.
mcintyre
heard to speak on his convictions, the
listener quickly realizes this guy is no
fl ake and, though in his early 70s, not
one by whom age or energy has ap-
parently slowed.
Should he succeed at securing the
Democratic nod, he will face in de-
bate the GOP nominee who could be
one of the many among that party’s
neo-con or Tea Party look-alikes,
dedicated contenders who are known
for their determination to eradicate all
things wrought under the administra-
tions of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
and Lyndon Baines Johnson. A debate
by him with one of these Koch broth-
ers’ disciples and other billionaires
with abundant cash would be worthy
of every American’s time and attention
as progressive gains like social security,
Medicare, civil rights laws and ne-
gotiated treaties are promised termi-
nation by each neo-con contender,
should any one of them be charge of
the nation’s fate.
Someone like Bernie Sanders, with
his progressive views right out of Scan-
dinavia, where the Danish-Norwe-
gian-Swedish dream is generally made
possible, may sound good to many
an American nowadays who fi nds
fewer and fewer opportunities to em-
brace the American dream. Sanders,
however, would only be electable in a
very different U.S.: One where a ma-
jority cared for and did something
about the welfare of all Americans and
in a nation where the rich didn’t have
an absolute stranglehold on the mem-
bers of Congress who no longer serve
as representatives of the people.
(Gene H. McIntyre’s column ap-
pears weekly in the Keizertimes.)