PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, OCTOBER 16, 2015
KeizerOpinion
KEIZERTIMES.COM
A yes vote for transit is a yes
for economic development
Anyone paying atten-
tion to local issues might
assume there is no one in
favor of the transit payroll
tax proposed by Salem-
Keizer Transit to fund ex-
tended service hours. The
proponents have staged
a poor campaign—out-
manned and out-spent by the oppo-
sition. The quality of the campaign,
however, should not determine how
one should vote.
We favor a yes vote on the bal-
lot measure 24-388. It is good for
economic development and it is
good for the thousands of people
who must or want to rely on public
transportation.
Some opponents have taken a
the-sky-will-fall stance on the ballot
measure. If the 0.21 percent tax on
employer’s payroll passes opponents
warn that contributions to hundreds
of area non-profi ts will dry up; small
business will cut jobs.
A business owner who does
not ride a Cherriots bus might ask
themselves why they should support
and pay a tax that does not benefi t
them.
Approval of the payroll tax will
add about $5 million per year to
the transit district, which will allow
restoration of weekend service, later
evening service and holiday service.
Those three alone are not insigifi -
cant—employees and customers will
be able to get where they need to
go seven days a week. Evening and
weekend service will allow those
without reliable private transporta-
tion to get where they need to go
when they need to go.
Every retailer should be happy
to expand their customer base. In-
creased bus service means more
people can shop at more times in
the evening and weekends.
Economic development is the
modern mantra of politicians and
business at every level. A reputa-
ble and reliable public transporta-
tion system is key to that—moving
people around easily is the hallmark
of a contemporary city. Recruit-
ing businesses to Keizer and Salem
that will create new jobs will be a
bit easier with a system
that gets employees to
work. A public transit sys-
tem demonstrates to busi-
nesses considering a move
or expansion in the area
that Keizer and Salem are
as modern and conscien-
tious as any other metro-
politan area.
Living in America—like free-
dom—is not free. Our social com-
pact dictates that we watch out for
each other. Every adult pays taxes;
they may not agree what their taxes
pay for, but that is the trade off in a
democracy—taxes pay for the things
we rely on everyday.
The payroll tax is a better funding
mechanism than a levy which means
a renewed debate on the merits of
public transit every fi ve years. That
is exhausting and expensive. If the
district wants to increase the pay-
roll tax it is required to hold public
hearings before a vote of the board
of directors, the district cannot raise
the payroll tax indiscriminately.
Proponents of the payroll tax
have done a poor job in addressing
the area’s single largest employer: the
state of Oregon. The state of Oregon
contributes about $5.5 million a year
to the transit district and has done so
for more than 30 years. Our largest
employer has played their part.
The payroll tax is part of the dis-
trict’s Move Forward campaign. If
voters approve the tax bus service
will be increased next year. But the
district should not be happy to let it
end there. The district should work
with large employers, public and
private, to make the Cherriots ex-
perience (inside the bus and at bus
stops) as pleasant as possible. Low gas
prices is not an incentive for people
to get out of the single-occupant
cars and hop on a bus.
Getting daily city commuters out
of their cars and onto public transpo-
ration is good for the environment,
good to decrease traffi c congestion
and builds economic development.
We support the payroll tax mea-
sure 24-388. It’s good for the whole
community.
—LAZ
editorial
Say yes to fi re equipment
Voters in the Keizer Rural Fire
Protection District should vote to ap-
prove ballot measure 24-389.
If approved Keizer Fire District
homeowners would pay 14 cents per
$1,000 valuation to purchase needed
equipment. In reality the levy would
replace a levy that was used to con-
struct the Chemawa Road fi re station;
after two decades the fi re house levy
was down to 15 cents.
Revenue from this year’s bond
levy will allow Keizer Fire District to
purchase and upgrade equipment that
is key to their mission—including a
much-needed ambulance.
With more than 4,000 emergency
calls annually the district and its con-
stituents are best served with equip-
ment that operates as it should. Sever-
al times this year ambulances have had
maintenance issues that forced them
to be towed. Not a good outcome for
a public safety organization.
The board of directors have been
good stewards of the fi re district’s
money and supplies. But when equip-
Support for Keizer
Fire
To the Editor:
As a business owner here in Keizer
I am writing in support of the Keiz-
er Fire District bond measure. It is
important to me and the health of
my businesses that the Keizer Fire
District is able to respond quickly
and effectively if and when I need
their services. I know how impor-
tant good, reliable equipment is to
my businesses and I know the Keizer
Fire District cannot do their jobs ef-
fectively to keep us all safe with un-
reliable and out-dated equipment.
I’m urging all voters to vote yes on
this important bond measure.
Wayne A Thackery
Lorens Sanitation
WHEAT, LLC
ment is down more than it is operable,
it is past time to improve the situation.
The fi re district responses to medi-
cal emergencies and fi res within six
minutes more than 90 percent of the
time. It is crucial to the wellbeing of
the community to assure those re-
sponse times stay under six minutes—
lives depend on it.
Fire and medical vehicles are not
cheap. A new ambulance (which is
built to KFD specifi cations) can cost
up to $250,000. The current ambu-
lances are not built to take the pun-
ishing regiments that are asked of it by
the district. Fire trucks, with all their
complexities, are much more.
With a total 20-year outlay of more
than $6 million there is little margin
for error in purchasing and upgrading
equipment. We are satisfi ed that the
district and its chief, Jeff Cowan, have
the public’s best interest at heart re-
garding this levy. Vote yes on 24-389.
—LAZ
The
letters legacy of
Art Burr
To the Editor:
I fi rst met
Art Burr when I was on staff at this
newspaper. He had just taken over as
interim director of the Keizer Com-
munity Library, and he was unsatis-
fi ed with both its status and its cover-
age in the Keizertimes.
I pointed to the numbers: How
many times had we reported on up-
coming library events, or on efforts
to sustain, build up or even publicly
fund the library? When he wouldn’t
back down, I said he was being un-
reasonable. Knowing Art, he likely
took that as a compliment.
The truth is that not having a li-
Keizertimes
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Salem, Oregon
Views of those who protect us
The distance in miles between
Salem and Roseburg is about 120
miles, about two hours by car. After
the shooting rampage at Umpqua
Community College two weeks ago,
the unsettling facts of that horrible
event have caused some wondering
here about similarities should some-
thing like it take place at Chemeketa
Community College or any other
school or college in the area.
Would we locals fi nd out that the
Marion County sheriff does not fa-
vor gun controls? That he, like his
counterpart in Douglas County,
feels so strongly against any limita-
tions that he, too, has written a let-
ter to the Vice President announcing
that he will not enforce any laws on
gun controls? Did he, as did Doug-
las County’s Sheriff John Hanlin,
establish a Facebook page where
he argued that the Sandy Hook
shooting rampage that took 26 lives
in Newtown, Conn., 20 of them
school children, was staged using ac-
tors so that the federal government
could gain the advantage in the gun
controls debate?
Would the full measure of facts
be withheld so that an appar-
ent grandstanding opportunity to
express personal views could be
achieved? Where leadership was
called for, Hanlin chose to go per-
sonal. If there’s a call for the public
to provide information on the killer,
as Hanlin requested, how is that pos-
sible if the name of the killer is with-
held? Further, what else will Han-
lin withhold because whatever it is
confl icts with his views? Guidance
from those granted the public’s trust
is undercut when secrecy trumps
guidance.
Media publications in our area
have not, to my knowledge, been
contacted by the Marion County
sheriff to in-
form us that
he does not
stand
with
Sheriff Hanlin.
People
liv-
ing in Marion
County know
nothing about
what our sheriff stands for or against
in law enforcement except a list of
generally acceptable objectives on
his Internet page. It would be most
helpful that we know where our guy
would be found should we have an
event like the one at UCC.
Then there is the killer’s parent,
a single mother who has left a re-
cord of her views on guns for the
whole world to know that nobody
should mess with her and not ex-
pect a bullet in return. She allowed
her troubled son to have guns and
acknowledged on the Internet that
he struggled with autism but says
she had no idea he was potentially
a killer who’d go to a public place
and open fi re. She said of herself,
also, that “I keep two full mags in my
Glock case. And the ARS & AKS all
have lodaded mags. No one will be
‘dropping’ by my house uninvited
without acknowledgment.” She also
complained about gun-control ef-
forts in “lame states.”
More on the killer’s mother is that
she should be held to some degree
of accountability for having raised
a monster who lived in her apart-
ment with her and left that morn-
ing with several guns and multiple
rounds of ammunition? It’s just pos-
sible that if more parents of those
who carry out acts of slaughter were
held accountable, perpetrators like
Chris Harper-Mercer might think
twice before acting; if they do not, it
would be known far and wide what
happens to parents who do nothing
to stop their children’s evil deeds and
even apparently prepare them to act
on them.
Meanwhile, one needs not won-
der where most Oregon sheriffs stand
as the Oregon State Sheriff ’s Asso-
ciation web page announces support
for Sheriff John Hanlin. Taking this
further, are all Oregon’s sheriffs like
Hanlin—that is, selective in the laws
they enforce? It’s believed that many
an Oregonian would feel safer and
more secure if the sheriffs outside
of Douglas County announced that
they stand separate and opposed to
views like Hanlin’s but their web site
says they do not stand apart. What
a person living in Oregon concludes
is that county sheriff departments
will not initiate proactive measures
“to protect and serve” but will only
serve after the fact or in reactive
mode: Hence, what good are adver-
tised good intentions when people
are laying in pools of blood?
A footnote on gun controls: It’s
not possible here to explain why so
many people throughout Oregon
and the U.S. are opposed to some,
even reasonable controls that would
make a deliberate, ongoing effort
to keep fi rearms out of the hands
of those persons who may have a
clean record but who are known to
make threatening comments, includ-
ing those with homicidal overtones.
The big bugaboo on the part of gun
owners is their fear, as repeatedly ex-
acerbated by the leadership of the
NRA that simply wants more guns
sold, that the government will come
for their guns. I’d like them to iden-
tify one person who has had their
guns confi scated by any government
entity.
brary in a city of 35,000-plus is un-
reasonable, and Art was determined
to meet that need.
Many, many volunteers gave
thousands of hours and generous fi -
nancial contributions long before Art
got involved, and will continue to do
so now that he’s gone.
But thousands of books, accom-
panied by Internet-connected public
computers—all of it available seven
days a week and at virtually no cost
to taxpayers? That simply would not
have happened without Art.
He accomplished more after re-
tirement and left a greater legacy
than most of us will compile in a life-
time. It is a goal for all of us to aspire
to—reason be damned.
Jason Cox
Salem
the
Portland
metro area pay
for their award-
winning transit
systems. That’s
why it is hard
for me to understand why our lo-
cal business and community leaders
seem so opposed to the plan. I know
these people, serve on committees
with them and we work on commu-
nity projects together. Many are my
friends. I’m convinced that if local
businesses in Eugene and Portland
have somehow managed to succeed
and thrive for decades with a payroll
tax three times higher, our local busi-
nesses – who are even more capable
– can withstand this modest proposal
to help make our community better.
The misinformation campaign
put forth by opponents of the mea-
sure has been disappointing. For in-
stance, the State of Oregon, the area’s
largest employer, is exempt from the
tax. But what opponents convenient-
ly forget to mention is that the State
already pays an “in lieu of ’ fee of $5.2
million annually or 0.6 percent of
payroll and has been paying it since
1980. It’s really Salem Hospital, the
area’s second largest employer, that’s
not paying its fair share. Salem Hos-
pital as a non-profi t pays no property
taxes. So while you and I help pay for
Cherriots through our property tax
bill, without this modest payroll tax,
Salem Hospital pays nothing. That’s
unfair.
I started my professional career as
a transportation planner and worked
at Lane Transit District while attend-
ing graduate school at the UO. In
1995, I moved to the area to become
Salem’s bicycle/pedestrian plan-
ner and to manage the Mid-Valley
rideshare program. My wife Pat and
I continue to use transit. That expe-
rience has demonstrated to me the
difference a good transit system can
make in a community. But it also re-
vealed that to be effective and more
utilized, people need to be able to
depend on it. Folks need to be able
to get to work or play or shopping
and know they can get home again
at the end of the day, evening or on
weekends. The restored/expanded
service this measure provides brings
that dependability.
Vote yes on Measure 24-388.
Chuck Fisher
Keizer
Opposition to
payroll tax
To the Editor:
As a small business with a relative-
ly small payroll of six team members,
my “investment” into the commu-
nity with another tax would admit-
tedly be relatively small at this point.
However, it still has to come from
somewhere. It means I have to grow
revenue, cut expenses, or take home
less money—all to pay another tax
that “may” increase ridership.
As a small business that started as
the Great Recession hit, we had to
scrape, claw, sacrifi ce and work our
tails off to even survive. We have al-
ready “invested” a ton to get to the
point where we have now been able
to create new jobs and are able to
give back to the community, and
we’re incredibly thrilled to be able
to do so. We love adding people to
our team and growing our ability to
serve more customers. A new pay-
roll tax, along with other ways that
small businesses are constantly being
squeezed, would be one more dis-
incentive to grow our business, add
more jobs, and be able to give more
to the non-profi ts that we support.
We all want a vibrant community.
I have lived and worked in Salem for
most of my life. But it is already a
tough place to do business in many
ways. And just because you own a
business, doesn’t mean you are rak-
ing in the dough or have a bunch
of extra cash sitting around. This tax
targets businesses in a way that adopts
that mentality and it gets tiring.
That’s why I’ll be voting no.
Tim Fahndrich
Salem
Yes on payroll tax
To the Editor:
I will be voting to restore and ex-
pand Cherriots service in our com-
munity, and I hope you’ll join me.
The modest tax, 0.21 percent of
payroll is less than 1/3 of what em-
ployers in Eugene/Springfi eld and
gene h.
mcintyre
letters
(Gene H. McIntyre’s column ap-
pears weekly in the Keizertimes.)
No to payroll tax
To the Editor:
As the owner of a new small busi-
ness, there are even more expenses
and pressures to get the business off
and running smoothly and to the
point where it is profi table. The
more taxes and fees that are placed
on the back of small start-ups the
more likely they are to be forced to
close down before they have the op-
portunity to grow and give more to
the community around them. We
have witnessed this time and again in
our downtown core.
I know the importance of hav-
ing a variety of ways for people to
frequent my business. Bicycle lanes,
parking spaces, sidewalks and public
transit. We need all of these work-
ing in concert and funded in a man-
ner that does not target one sector
of the community. I am a business
owner and pay property taxes that
fund transit, now I am being asked
to pay another tax for transit. How
is that fair?
As the former CEO of United
Way of the Mid-Willamette Valley I
understand the socio-economic dy-
namics of this community; and as a
private business owner I understand
the socio-economic dynamics of
the business community. I want the
best for the whole community. This
employer payroll tax is not the fair
way to fund expanded services. The
whole community needs to explore
other funding options.
Please vote No on Measure 24-
388.
Gayle Caldarazzo-Doty
Salem
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