PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, SEPTEMBER 30, 2016
KeizerOpinion
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Cow pasture decisions must
be made according to law
Land use matters are
city council made on the
tricky. When the City
Herber family’s desire
Council hears certain
to develop their land. I
types of land use applica-
would love to engage
tions, we sit as judges and
in discussion about this
have to weigh all facts
topic, as I’m sure many
provided to us against a
of my fellow council-
strict set of criteria and
ors would. However,
State statutes. The state
we can’t discuss the is-
requirements the city and
sue just yet. The vote
the council must follow
on Monday was to di-
are the result of decades
rect staff to bring back
of land use planning and
the matter in ordinance
litigation, preserving our
form so that we can for-
farm and forest lands and
mally vote on the pro-
planning the space for cit-
posed zone changes that
ies through the manage-
were requested of us.
Cathy Clark
ment of land inside our
All discussion has been
urban growth boundaries.
in the public setting of
Perhaps our most important job our council meetings to make sure
in these types of issues is to ensure everyone can read the same ma-
we work to be fair and impartial in terials we do and hear the same
our evaluation of land use proposals, discussion we hear. We need to be
striving to create an even playing sure that all discussion continues to
fi eld to weigh the proposal against take place only in open meetings.
all other development proposals So, until that vote has been taken,
within the city, and then to weigh the city council simply can’t discuss
those proposals against what is best the matter, not even among our-
for the entire city at present and selves, or receive any information
into the future. People who own that hasn’t already been submitted
property within the city have rights to the formal record. After the fi nal
to do what they want with their vote has been taken, however, I and
land within established guidelines the other councilors will be free to
that meet state land use goals and discuss with Keizer citizens why we
adopted city comprehensive plans, chose to vote the way each of us
zoning and development regula- did. I can only ask your patience for
tions.
a little while longer and I promise,
That means we continue to face we will be willing and available to
decisions on how our city will visit with you.
(Cathy Clark has been mayor of
change and plan how that will hap-
pen. I understand that many Keizer Keizer since January 2015.
residents don’t like the decision the
from the
mayor’s
desk
This veteran
will honor
anthem
the McNary Band in a
one-day rush to collect
two semi-trailers full of
cans and over $7,000
in monetary donations.
This year was an amaz-
ing show of support
from our community, we
surpassed the amount of
monetary donations we have re-
ceived in the past and again fi lled to
trailers. You helped us hold another
successful Band Day.
One student said “This is fun, do
we do this every weekend?”
The band students of McNary
High School begin in early August
getting music and drill ready for the
marching season. They consistently
work hard though the entire year to
build their musical skills and talents
and to support our fellow student
athletes at the football and basket-
ball games. They themselves com-
pete for the state band champion-
ship and at the individual state solo
and ensemble championships each
year. The funds we collect on Band
Day keep the tradition of musical
excellence achievable. With all the
expenses we face to keep the pro-
gram running your support on our
Band Day, and even the fi reworks
booth and Jazz Night fundraiser we
hold each year, is vital to our suc-
cess. So from our musical hearts to
your giving nature please accept our
thanks. Keizer is an “dream come
true” community to work in, musi-
cally serve and live.
Jennifer Bell, band instructor
McNary High School
letters
To the Editor:
First, thanks to Gene
McIntyre for his remarks
in last week’s Keizertimes
(Protests during national anthem, Sept.
23). I would like to add just one
item regarding the United States
Code having to do with rising,
removing your hat and standing
at attention for the playing of the
national anthem. Legislation passed
by Congress a few years ago modi-
fi ed the code to permit veterans to
present the hand salute for all ap-
propriate occasions. Note, it would
permit, not require the salute.
On a personal note, I have been
reluctant to salute for most occa-
sions because my time in the Air
Force was between confl icts. How-
ever, due to the recent activities
of a few, I have decided to begin
the practice when in public. And I
would urge other veterans to do the
same. I think it would show that we
outnumber the complainers.
Wayne A. Moreland
Keizer
Thank you
community
To the Editor:
McNary High School’s Band
Day was a huge success!
The band was out in full force
on Sept. 10 collecting refundable
cans, bottles and monetary dona-
tions. One hundred and fi fteen
band members, over 25 parent vol-
unteers, the entire band booster staff
and the amazing members of our
beloved Keizer community came
together to support the students of
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Salem, Oregon
Donald Trump clings to deception
By MICHAEL GERSON
There is a story from the history
of professional wrestling in which a
manager named Freddie Blassie comes
to the edge of the ring and, while the
referee is distracted, breaks a cane over
the head of the opposing wrestler. Af-
ter the match an interviewer asked
Blassie, “Where’s that cane of yours?”
He replied, “What cane? I didn’t have
no cane!”
During the last political year, life
has imitated professional wrestling.
Those expecting such antics from
Donald Trump during the fi rst presi-
dential debate were not disappointed.
When confronted with his claim that
global warming was a hoax perpe-
trated by the Chinese, Trump replied,
“I did not [say it].” He did. When
Trump’s claim that he could not re-
lease his tax returns because of an IRS
audit was exposed as false, he still in-
sisted on it. When charged with say-
ing that he could personally negotiate
down the national debt, he said this
was “wrong.” The charge was right.
When Trump’s transparently decep-
tive claim to be an early opponent of
the Iraq War was debunked, he dou-
bled down in a babbling defense citing
Sean Hannity as the ultimate arbiter.
It is not surprising that Trump in-
habits his own factual universe, in
which truth is determined by useful-
ness and lies become credible through
repetition. What made the fi rst presi-
dential debate extraordinary was not
the charges that Trump denied, but
the ones he confi rmed.
When Hillary Clinton claimed he
didn’t pay any federal income taxes,
Trump said: “That makes me smart.”
When Clinton accused Trump of de-
frauding a contractor out of money he
was owed, Trump responded: “Maybe
he didn’t do a
good job and
I was unsatis-
fi ed with his
work.” When
Clinton criti-
cized Trump
for casual mi-
sogyny and for
calling women “pigs,” Trump brought
up Rosie O’Donnell and said, “She
deserves it.” When Clinton recalled a
Justice Department lawsuit suit against
Trump for housing discrimination,
he dismissed it as “just one of those
things.”
When Clinton attacked Trump
for coddling the Russians, Trump at-
tempted to excuse them of hacking,
shifting the blame toward obese com-
puter geeks. When Clinton accused
Trump of betraying American allies,
Trump answered: “We defend Japan,
we defend Germany, we defend South
Korea, we defend Saudi Arabia, we
defend countries. They do not pay us.
But they should be paying us. ... We
cannot protect countries all over the
world, where they’re not paying us
what we need.” Rather than affi rm-
ing the importance of NATO, or re-
assuring our Pacifi c partners, Trump
reduced America’s global role to a
protection racket, run by a seedy ex-
ecutive who admits to cheating con-
tractors when he is “unsatisfi ed with
[their] work.”
During the debate, the points
scored against Trump were damaging.
But the points he ceded would dis-
qualify any normal politician, in any
normal presidential year.
Trump has made some political
gains over the last few weeks through
greater discipline—speeches from
teleprompters, carefully selected me-
other
views
dia interviews, no news conferences,
a Twitter account in the hands of oth-
ers. But the candidate has internalized
none of this. He might as well have
sung I Gotta Be Me as his opening
statement in the debate. It was Trump
unplugged, and often unhinged.
Past debate criticism has looked
for hints and signs to determine losers
—a candidate, say, looked impatiently
at his watch or sighed in an off-put-
ting way. Rhetorically, Trump drove a
high-speed train fi lled with fi reworks
into a nuclear power plant. He was
self-absorbed, prickly, defensive, in-
terrupting, baited by every charge yet
unprepared to refute them. During his
share of a 90-minute debate, he was
horribly out of his depth, incapable of
stringing together a coherent three-
sentence case. The postmodern qual-
ity of Trump’s appeal culminated in an
unbalanced rant claiming, “I also have
a much better temperament than she
has.” An assertion greeted by audience
laughter. And Trump concluded his
performance by praising himself for
his own grace and restraint, during an
evening that showed him to be nasty,
witless and deceptive. It should now
be clear to Republicans: Vanity is his
strategy.
Trump’s defenders will charge his
critics with elitism. The great public, it
is argued, gets Trump in a way that the
commenting class does not. But this
claim is now fully exposed. The ex-
pectation of rationality is not elitism.
Coherence is not elitism. Knowledge
is not elitism. Honoring character is
not elitism. And those who claim this
are debasing themselves, their party
and their country.
(Washington Post Writers Group)
Stop blaming PERS for money problems
A number of Oregonians chroni-
cally grouse about and wring their
hands over the cost of PERS as caus-
ing all the state’s fi scal problems. How-
ever, fairness and law reigned and the
Oregon Supreme Court shot down
the plan to cut PERS retirees’ ben-
efi ts due established and continued by
contractual obligations.
But when it has come to rais-
ing taxes on those most able to pay
by their business profi ts, the Oregon
legislature ducks and covers. Mean-
while, Oregon’s corporate minimum
tax is ridiculously low. It’s been stuck
at a pathetically low $10 since 1931.
This level was at one time even an
embarrassment to Oregon’s business
community.
In 2009, during the Great Reces-
sion that hammered the state’s fi -
nances, the Oregon corporate lobby
stepped up with a couple of tax pro-
posals. Led by Associated Business
Industries (AOI), a business coalition
proposed a fl at minimum tax on all
corporations—C-corporations and S-
corporations—with a plan that called
for a minimum tax of $300 a year, re-
gardless of a company’s profi ts.
Another group, Oregon Business
Association (OBA), recommended
charging S-corporations a fl at $250
regardless the level of sales or profi ts.
For C-corporations this group pro-
posed a sliding scale starting at $250
per year and capping at $25,000 based
on corporate in-state sales, not profi ts
or taxing gross receipts.
The legislature adopted OBA’s
idea, playing a bit with the details. For
S-corporations, the legislature set the
minimum tax at $150, obviously less
that what AOI and OBA sought. For
C-corporations, the legislature want-
ed a sliding scales minimum tax, start-
ing at $150 and going up to $100,000
for corporations with $100 million or
greater in Oregon sales.
The legislature’s plan was opposed
in the form of
Measure
67
to which AOI
gene h. was adamantly
while
mcintyre against
OBA
stayed
on the side-
lines.
Some
will
remem-
ber that Oregon voters overwhelm-
ingly approved Measure 67 in spite
of a massive campaign of misleading
information put out by the business
community.
The business community is at it
again with misinformation on which
they’re willing to spend gobs of mon-
ey on a 4-page, colorful, slick and
shiny piece, that arrived in Oregon
voter mailboxes on September 20: No
expense was spared.
Meanwhile, the under funding of
our schools goes on and on and the
state is unable to address the needs of
Oregonians and PERS retirees con-
tinue to be given the blame for all
things fi scally evil in the state of Or-
egon. Hence, that minimum tax issue
is out there for consideration again.
Measure 97 has the promise of trans-
forming Oregon’s schools, health and
senior services, boosting the business
climate and quality of life here.
Measure 97 would amend the min-
imum tax,
increasing it
strictly on
C-corpora-
tions with
Oregon sales
greater than
$25
mil-
lion a year
and
only
on the sales
above that
big business
level. And
this is an im-
portant and
relevant piece of information: No
small business will pay the updated
minimum tax.
As things stand, large corporations
like Bank of America, Comcast, and
Walmart, view the current capped
minimum tax as nothing but a small
bother. They know that Oregon
has the lowest business tax level in
the U.S. and, with CEO and execu-
tive pay in the stratosphere, they want
to keep things just the “tidy” money
way they are. Further, they care little
to nothing about what happens to the
people of Oregon as long as money
can be made off us.
If our state worked as an every-
vote-counts democracy then the
legislature would work for all of us.
Unfortunately for working folks,
those with the big bucks, the corpora-
tions and others who have excessive
means can buy our legislators. The
only way we common folks can help
ourselves is by getting together to vote
in favor of Measure 97 and do so by
not believing the false predictions that
a tax increase will be passed on to the
public in the form of higher prices.
How so? Because competition at the
counter still best sells goods and ser-
vices.
(Gene H. McIntyre’s column ap-
pears weekly in the Keizertimes.)