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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 2015)
PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, OCTOBER 2, 2015 KeizerOpinion KEIZERTIMES.COM KNOW thanks community To the Editor: Keizer Network of Women wants to extend a grateful thanks to all who attended our Diva! Ladies’ Night, making it one of our best yet. We ap- preciate all the businesses and mem- bers of the community who made donations for prizes and gift bas- kets—we couldn’t do it without you. We will work diligently to support those less fortunate and we will do it because of you. Thank you. Audrey Butler Keizer Network of Women Voting no on the payroll tax To the Editor: I am opposed to ballot measure 24-388 (employer payroll tax) for the following reasons: (1) This is yet another transfer of wealth from one group (business owners) to another (transit riders) based on a perceived need. Redistri- bution of wealth is anti-capitalist, and takes away from a society’s ability to grow. (2) As I have witnessed fi rst-hand with ObamaCare, this tax will have a very real impact on business. Em- ployers will make a choice: a.) re- duce hours and/or scale back wage increases to employees in order to reduce their tax burden, or b.) pass along the increased costs to consum- ers. (3) We already support transit with our property taxes. It seems wrong to take money from two pockets of the same income earner. (4) According to their website, Cherriots ridership is declining. Should we all pay more because few- er people use the system? Join me in voting no on M24-388. Brandon Smith Keizer Unfair employer tax To the Editor: My career in construction began in 1990 when I fi nished schooling for my trade. Fourteen years ago, with my tool belt and a credit card with a $5,000 limit I started my busi- ness. Over the years, through hard work, relentless tenacity and a desire to see my community a better place to live, I have built a company that has the ability to give to local chari- ties. This of course is in addition to the salaries and benefi ts paid to my employees. All the time ensuring that the hand that feeds us, our customers receive the service and end product we promise. On time, in budget and to their liking; I understand without customers there is no business, no employees, and no way to give back to the community I call home. The value of a customer base falls fl at on the board of directors of the Salem Keiz- er Transit Dis- trict. In their arrogant wisdom they have de- cided to levy an employer payroll tax on the hands that provide jobs and the revenue for government services in this town. As a business owner I pay a portion of the over $10 million the transit district receives in prop- erty taxes. Now they want business owners to pay an additional $5 mil- lion in taxes. If this measure passes my business will pay more than $3,000 the fi rst year in taxes, and this amount could double without a single popular vote being cast. Add this to the new sick leave act and potential higher mini- mum wage; it curtails adding equip- ment, staff or charitable giving. These are the very things that make our community stronger and vibrant. Not only will the transit board have the ability to double this tax in the next 10 years without a popular vote, as a resident outside of the ur- ban growth boundary I will be unable to vote against this employer payroll tax. There are about 200,000 eligible voters in this election. They will de- termine if approximately 5,600 small business owners and 19,700 self-em- ployed people will pay an additional $5 million in taxes. This is simply unfair. Our local economy is showing signs of growth. However, business in the wake of the 2008 fi nancial crisis fundamentally changed. Access to capital, market uncertainty and growing government regulations has slowed growth and expansion. One more tax will limit our business even more, slow hiring, raise costs and cer- tainly limit if not delete charitable giving from the budget. I ask you to vote no on this unfair employer pay- roll tax. Rich Duncan Salem letters Payroll tax To the Editor: I have been giving the proposed transit district payroll tax a lot of thought. I feel it would be nice to have bus service on Saturdays and Sundays and between 9 and 11 p.m. all week long. I am not sure the equitable way to pay for it is a payroll tax. It is always easy to let someone else pay for services that we think we would like to have. Just because a business has a payroll does not mean it has a large profi t. Some businesses may be on the margin and many do not need another tax. If our citizens think we should have the additional service then I believe everyone ought to pay for it. We should do what is fair. Bill Quinn Keizer Keizertimes Wheatland Publishing Corp. • 142 Chemawa Road N. • Keizer, Oregon 97303 phone: 503.390.1051 • web: www.keizertimes.com • email: kt@keizertimes.com NEWS EDITOR Craig Murphy editor@keizertimes.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Eric A. Howald news@keizertimes.com ADVERTISING SUBSCRIPTIONS One year: $25 in Marion County, $33 outside Marion County, $45 outside Oregon PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY Publication No: USPS 679-430 Paula Moseley advertising@keizertimes.com POSTMASTER Send address changes to: PRODUCTION MANAGER Andrew Jackson Keizertimes Circulation graphics@keizertimes.com 142 Chemawa Road N. LEGAL NOTICES Keizer, OR 97303 legals@keizertimes.com EDITOR & PUBLISHER Lyndon Zaitz publisher@keizertimes.com BUSINESS MANAGER Laurie Painter billing@keizertimes.com RECEPTION Periodical postage paid at Salem, Oregon Lori Beyeler facebook.com/keizertimes twitter.com/keizertimes Concerned about transparency I am writing to you from my offi ce at the state capitol, where all the legislators are gathered for a few days of committee hearings. Usually once a quarter we all come back to the capitol and prep for the next legislative session. We have in- formation hearings in our respec- tive committees and work on the legislation we plan on introducing in the upcoming session. If you remember, I serve on the Rural Communities, Land Use and Water committee and the Judiciary committee. This week we are sched- uled to hear reports on the drought conditions around the state, eco- nomic trends in rural Oregon and hear a report on the work group on unmanned aircraft systems. I am very concerned with a growing problem in our govern- ment, both state and federal, and that would be a lack of transparen- cy. I want to give two illustrations. I had no idea that Oregon is in agreement with the Federal Clean Air Act: Waters of the United States Rule, enacted in August of this year. I was even more surprised that our Attorney General under guidance from the capitol By BILL POST from the Governor’s offi ce com- mitted Oregon to this act. We need to look into this from a legislative point of view, because we the legis- lature are the voice for the citizens of Oregon and we need to know what decisions are being made that will impact all Oregonians. (By the way, between 12 and 22 other states are suing the federal government in opposition to this act.) My second example comes in the form of a hearing that actu- ally didn’t happen. Recently 19 legislators requested a hearing to look into the actions an organi- zation that receives state funds. In bipartisan fashion, the chairman of the committee agreed to the hear- ing and it was scheduled for Sept. 29 When the news broke regard- ing this hearing, the Speaker of the House immediately cancelled it. I can’t begin to tell you how disap- pointed I am. The hearing would provide an opportunity for Orego- nians to hear where their tax dollars are being spent. We as citizens have that right and it is incredibly disap- pointing that we were denied the legislative process and ultimately that this organization will not be held accountable. I have very much enjoyed get- ting to meet many of you over the past few months of the interim. I’ve been at civic events, town halls, and spoken to many groups, because I think it is very important for every legislator to hear from the voters in their district. It can be easy for pub- lic offi cials to get into a little bubble and have agency staff and lobbyists telling them how things have always been done. Our government was intended to function with heavy involvement from the people – I want to make sure that your voice is heard in our state government. (Bill Post represents House District 25. He can be reached at 503-986- 1425 or via email at rep.billpost@ state.or.us.) Trump support vs. education Is a free education in an American public school worth what you pay for it? It’s not really free because taxpay- ers fund it but there is no tuition for attending a public school in the U.S., usually kindergarten through grade 12. But whether it’s worth it to tax- payers and the time American youth spend there, it has become a question more commonly asked. What causes one to ponder its worth is the millions of its graduates, who plainly display behaviors that seriously question whether they got anything out of it that has enlightened them, enhanced their intelligence or addressed their naivete. The matter has come to the fore over those Ameri- cans now declaring that they believe the promises of one presidential can- didate, Donald Trump. There may be difference of opinion on what a high school graduate should know and, although the U.S. may have the largest dropout percentage in the world where a country offers its citi- zens, and even illegal immigrants, 12 years of free schooling, there must be some degree of general agreement on what knowledge and savvy should have been acquired. My position on this subject argues that a person pos- sessing 12 years of schooling should at the very least know fact from fi ction, how to problem solve using facts, how to reach valid conclusions and how to recognize and use the basic tools of logic. They should also have matriculated through enough class work and home study to enable them to read, write and cipher at their grade level. Enter The Donald, candidate for president of the most powerful and productive nation in the world who says he can do the following: reverse the fl ow of American jobs overseas and provide every American who can, and wants, to work with a job; he can round up and deport 11 million un- documented people liv- ing illegally in the United States; build a 2,000-mile long wall that’s virtually im- penetrable and keep all for- eigners out save those who’ve applied and been granted permission to enter; get Mexico to pay for this wall whose size and design would compete with that famous wall in China; ne- gotiate deals with other nations that will be of one-sided benefi t to the United States; clean up and bring to an end criminal gangs in the U.S. and, meanwhile, make America great in every way again. Further, among all the other great accomplishments he promises to deliver, he’ll destroy ISIS by putting thousands of American troops on the ground in the Middle East and taking possession of every oil well in that part of the world. He’s got the support and encour- agement of literally millions of voters as about 30 percent of voting Repub- licans want him to be their national leader as well as the many others out- side of GOP affi liation. And that’s in view of what he’s promising these people who may have led themselves to believe they’re educated or educat- ed enough. That’s in spite of the fact that The Donald promises to deliver gene h. mcintyre even one of the highly improbables he says he can make happen, may read- ily be categorized in the ‘when pigs fl y’ department. Some among those who’ve re- sponded by writing letters to the editor say there’s a close resemblance of The Donald to Nazi Germany’s Adolph Hitler. I’d take issue with that assessment of The Donald in that as far back as when Hitler penned Mein Kampf he expressed a hatred of com- munists and Jewish people and was contemplating ways to rid Germany of them. To my knowledge of The Donald has not made threats of ter- mination against any group of people. He wants to assure that certain persons in the country illegally are sent back to their place of origin; yet,while he has singled out Hispanics among those legally here and wants to permanently expel the criminal element in their number, he would permit back those with bona fi de application made and approved. We cannot stand back and assess this candidate as someone who sim- ply likes to blow his horn loudly but should be, to save face as a nation of persons with suffi cient educational bearings from at least 12 years of schooling, viewed without wearing rose-colored glasses. (Gene H. McIntyre’s column ap- pears weekly in the Keizertimes.)