PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, JANUARY 29, 2016
KeizerOpinion
Four stars of volunteerism
The closest thing
Keizer has to an Os-
cars-style evening is the
annual First Citizen and
Awards Banquet staged
by the Keizer Chamber
of Commerce.
Recepients of the
2015 awards were an-
nounced Saturday night and the
committee that made the choices
got it just right.
Mark Caillier was named Keizer’s
First Citizen to roaring applause and
approval by the audience, comprised
of Keizer’s volunteer, business, com-
munity and civic leaders.
Presenter Lore Christopher (last
year’s First Citizen) read off a list of
Caillier’s many accomplishments—
his most recent project was as con-
struction coordinator for the Big
Toy at Keizer Rapids Park in June.
That is just one of the things that
make Caillier a true fi rst citizen of
Keizer.
If he had been honored for his
work on the Big Toy, that would have
been enough but Caillier has had a
hand in many parts of the city, from
his service on various city commit-
tees, service on the city council and
his volunteer work on the Keizer
Community Library and Keizer Art
Association’s computer needs.
As Christopher said, Caillier is
man who loves his community and
is hard pressed to say no when asked
for his advice, experience or muscle.
The average resident may be un-
aware of Caillier’s contribution to
every facet of the city, but they con-
tinue to benefi t from his unselfi sh
volunteerism and advocacy over the
years and will into the future.
The names of First Citizens win-
ners from the 1960s to today is a list
of the city’s most devoted residents
who never asked “what’s in it for
me?” They rolled up their sleeves
and asked “how can I help?” Cail-
lier is one of the most accomplished
honorees ever.
The Chamber of Commerce also
bestowed honors on three others
Saturday night.
Scott White, owner of Big Town
Hero, was named Mechant of the
Year for his good work for
the Chamber and within
the community. He is a sup-
porter of athletic programs
in Keizer, especially at Mc-
Nary High School. He has
donated store space, his time
and food for teams, Cham-
ber events and fund raising
efforts by non-profi ts such as Wake
the World, an organization that pro-
vides the thrill of water sports to
kids. His positive attitude and smile
have graced community and Cham-
ber events for years.
Last year’s recepient, Joe Egli, pre-
sented White with the award. In his
speech White recognized the sup-
port and help from his family, most
of whom have a hand in operating
Big Town Hero.
The Service to Education Award
was granted to John Honey, former
McNary High School principal and
current principal of the Career and
Technical Education Center in Sa-
lem, a public-private venure that
adds a technical-vocational element
to the education of Salem-Keizer
high school juniors and seniors.
Honey was instrumental, along
with Mountain West Career Techni-
cal Institute and its president Chuck
Lee, in developing the school that
will prepare students for high-wage,
high-skilled careers. Krina and
Chuck Lee, the 2014 winners, pre-
sented the award to Honey.
Bob Zielinski opened the awards
by annoucing he was presenting
the President’s Award to Danielle
Bethell. Bethell, president of the
McNary Athletic Boosters Club,
led the effort to install artifi cial turf
at McNary High School’s Flesher
Field.
Danielle led projects to add ame-
nities to the Keizer Little League
fi elds. She was also a team leader for
the Big Toy project.
Keizer’s night of awards and rec-
ognition got it right again by hon-
oring Caillier, White, Honey and
Bethell. They are an inspiration to
those who love their community
and work to keep it one of the de-
sirable addresses in Oregon.
—LAZ
KEIZERTIMES.COM
editorial
Money makes politics crazy
By DON VOWELL
I got a word of the day desk cal-
endar for Christmas and today’s word
is kakistocracy. It is a combination of
the Greek kakistos, superlative of
kakos, which means “bad,” and the
English suffi x “-cracy” meaning form
of government. Kakistocracy liter-
ally means government by the worst
people. Many of the calendar’s words
are so obscure I forgot them. I won’t
forget kakistocracy. It explains the
emergence of Donald Trump.
The government we have now is
dysfunctional enough to make some
think that Donald Trump is a viable
option. Congress is so paralyzed by
ideology, endless fund-raising, and
servitude to large donors that it is
no longer able to create legislation.
Many of us are glad they can’t. We
crave change so much that “out-
side” candidates gain support simply
by promising change—no need to
bother with messy details.
Electing a wild man outsider can-
didate will not fi x things. It is Con-
gress that makes law and Congress
that needs fi xing. The slate of candi-
dates currently running for president
is an example of the same problem
crippling Congress. Congress goes
about their business seeming to have
no regard for the average American
citizen. Now we are asked to choose
among presidential candidates that
average citizens had no voice in se-
lecting.
Donald Trump is the most honest
example. He boasts that his qualifi -
cations for being president are be-
ing rich, consistently leading the
polls, and saying offensive stuff with
impunity. Period. Hillary Clinton is
a candidate because of name famil-
iarity and inevitability. Ted Cruz is a
candidate because his ego would ac-
cept no less. There is no explanation
for Ben Carson’s candidacy, and thus
it is languishing. Marco Rubio be-
lieves that America’s greatest danger
is a doddering, drooling Fidel Cas-
tro—also he
gains points
for
being
young and at-
tractive to the
young.
Jeb
Bush wants
your vote be-
cause he is not as crazy as the rest
of them. Bernie Sanders would like
government to work for the people
again. That sounds crazy.
We grew up believing that Amer-
ica is the best place in the world be-
cause we all get to take part in gov-
ernment. We all get to vote. It is hard
to know how we got to this place—
trying to determine which candidate
might completely change course
without running the ship of state up
on the rocks.
My pet theory has not changed
in the face of all this. These candi-
dates are chosen and propped up by
people with money. We are fed in-
formation about them from media
sources owned by people with mon-
ey. Any legislation in the last decade
benefi cial to average Americans was
tacked on to bills benefi tting the very
wealthy.
The relentless march of America’s
wealth into the camp of the richest
few is a result of legislation rather
than billionaires working harder and
smarter. Think of a Wall Street sharp-
er that buys a pharmaceutical com-
pany then, in the space of a day, raises
the price of a 62-year-old medica-
tion from $13.50 to $750. Are we to
admire his cleverness, his hard work?
Do we aspire to be like him? Are we
worried that the Citizens United de-
cision smoothes the way for people
of a similar business ethic to buy and
sell legislators and candidates with no
fi nancial restriction?
You get what you pay for. What
has been paid for is kakistocracy. It
doesn’t work and we should return it.
a box
of
soap
(Don Vowell gets on his soapbox
regularly in the Keizertimes.)
Keizertimes
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Salem, Oregon
Buddy, can you spare $15 an hour?
By DEBRA J. SAUNDERS
Two years ago, Thumbtack—a
startup that connects consumers
with local contractors—conducted
a survey to see what they thought of
proposals to raise the federal mini-
mum wage from $7.25 to $10.10, as
per President Obama’s bid “to give
America a raise.” The survey found
that a plurality of the small business-
es that used Thumbtack thought a
wage hike would be good for the
economy. Most thought that a min-
imum-wage increase would have no
effect on their hiring or fi ring deci-
sions. But what happens if Washing-
ton passes Democratic presidential
hopeful Bernie Sanders’ proposal to
more than double the federal mini-
mum wage to $15 per hour—or
Californians pass a ballot measure
to raise the state minimum wage to
$15 from $10?
One piece of news this past
weekend suggests a big minimum-
wage hike could cost low-skilled
workers their jobs.
Wal-Mart closed its Oakland
store amid speculation that the city’s
$12.55 minimum wage played a
role. Oakland City Councilman
Larry Reid told The Chronicle the
city’s wage law was a factor in the
closure. It’s hard to think other-
wise when Oakland was one of 269
stores slated to be shuttered across
the country,
while in near-
by San Lean-
dro, where the
$10 state wage
fl oor prevails,
two stores will
remain open
for business.
The Washington Post reported last
week that Wal-Mart was withdraw-
ing plans to build two superstores in
the nation’s capital. A city council-
man told the Post that behind closed
doors Wal-Mart blamed D.C.’s min-
imum wage rules (currently $11.50
per hour, but the wage could rise to
$15 if voters pass a ballot measure).
Thumbtack Chief Economist
Jon Lieber fi nds it amazing how
the $10.10 plan blossomed into a
$15 fl oor, which may make sense
in high-cost urban areas, but would
put a hard squeeze on employers
in places like Laramie, Wyoming.
The vast majority of the small busi-
nesses surveyed by Thumbtack al-
ready pay well above the minimum
wage, which is not surprising as
many provide professional services.
There is one group, however, that
the survey found was most likely
to be hardest hit—employers who
paid more than $7.25 but less than
$10.10. Wal-Mart falls into that cat-
egory.
In April, the retail giant raised its
nationwide minimum wage to $9.
In October, Wal-Mart announced
that the increase in labor costs cut
into its profi t margin. This month
came store closures. Lieber expects
to see retailers install more automat-
ed checkout machines as the cost of
labor rises.
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf en-
dorsed Oakland’s minimum wage,
which 82 percent of voters sup-
ported. I got no comment from
Schaaf, but her offi ce noted that
Oakland’s unemployment fell from
6.1 percent in February 2015, be-
fore the wage hike went into effect
in March, to 5.3 percent in Septem-
ber. The Wal-Mart closure, however,
means 400 fewer jobs and the loss of
revenue from one of the city’s top
25 sales-tax producers.
In 2014, former GOP guberna-
torial candidate and Silicon Valley
entrepreneur Ron Unz worked the
conservative case for a higher mini-
mum wage. (Short version: Make
work pay more than welfare.) When
we talked Tuesday, I asked Unz
about Oakland. He told me, “I could
see Oakland having possibly made a
mistake trying to match San Fran-
cisco.” Note to Sanders and state
unions: Beware what you promise;
it could kill entry-level jobs.
Any American with a child who
wants that child to grow into a re-
sponsible, law-abiding adult knows
that if the parent gives in to every
demand of the child the consequence
will be a monster. One does not need
a college degree in psychology to
fi gure out the result from a person
raised with no boundaries or behav-
ioral limits.
Yet, we see something similar to
the indulged child being played out at
the Malheur National Wildlife Ref-
uge in Harney County. Somehow
the “geniuses” among our FBI leaders
believe that if those invaders who have
broken the law by taking over and
wrecking the refuge will just come
to their senses and simply head back
home when they tire of their antics.
What that adds up to is that from the
Bundy incident dealing with federal
property in Nevada last year—where
there were no consequences—and
what looks like an over-patient, in-
dulging FBI “parent” again this time
in Oregon, these “spoiled” adults can
go about the U.S. countryside and
do as they wish with nothing other
than an FBI and other state and fed-
eral agencies saying, “You’re bad boys
(and girls) and shouldn’t do things
like that.”
Maybe the mind
set of these people
is that they can do
whatever, wherever,
with federal land
as long as it’s in the
middle of nowhere
with vague direction-
al intents that have to
do mainly with what
they call their inter-
pretation of the U.S.
Constitution and the
will of God. It’s not
certain they know
what they want can
come to pass, and we
don’t either, but it has
been made fairly clear
by them that ranch-
ers, miners, and oth-
ers who’ve not been
raised to respect pub-
lic property, or value
land that’s given over
to protecting threat-
ened wildlife,
can nowadays
do with the land
as they please.
Like
any
spoiled brat they
expect
other
Americans to
send
provi-
sions to satisfy their human comforts.
They’ve sent out a list of particulars
they want sympathetic people to send
them, a list that, when counted, adds
up to several dozen items, including
shampoo, throw rugs, foot warmers,
French vanilla coffee creamers and
X-rated materials. Oh, yeah, these
people are real warriors while they
want their cake and eat it too, just
like the tantrum-throwing children
we see here and there who’ve never
had any discipline and expect the
world to revolve around their needs
and wants.
How much are they willing to
sacrifi ce for their fuzzy-headed ob-
jectives? Not much it seems as they
want free “gravy” but want it on
their terms and without cost. If they
were anything other than law-break-
ing brats, not persons who want to
be patriots, with intent to protect
America, there are all these wars that
so many of our “leaders” have caused
all over the world. So, they can aban-
don the refuge and go to the near-
est army recruiting offi ce and sign
up. Then, since they are so eager to
use their weapons and take “ground”
back (that was never theirs in the fi rst
place) they can ship out to the Mid-
dle East to fi ght ISSI and al-Qaeda,
outfi ts that are really dedicated to de-
stroying America and burying our
Constitution.
Since it appears that our presumed
protectors, the FBI and other federal
and state law enforcement agencies,
will not confront these bandits with
overwhelming numbers, that would
discourage any kind of OK Corral
shoot out, maybe these agencies can
buy enough Xanax to pacify these
nut cases into climbing back into
their gun-racked pickups and head
home. If there’s enough courage
among those who could deliver seda-
tives to make a statement, tell them
that if this happens anywhere inside
the U.S. again, force will be used to
act on their removal.
other
views
(Creators Syndicate)
Stop coddling Malheur Refuge militia
gene h.
mcintyre
(Gene H. McIntyre’s column ap-
pears weekly in the Keizertimes.)