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FEBRUARY 2, 2018, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A5 KeizerOpinion KEIZERTIMES.COM ‘We’ can become the ‘They’ Thousands of cities and towns across the nation elect a mayor and a city council. Most have a city manag- er-city council form of government such as we have here in Keizer. City manager Chris Eppley over- sees the directors of the city’s depart- ments: administration, community development, public works, fi nance and more. The operation of the city gets done with these departments and their leaders. What these depart- ments manage is generally at the direction of the city council, which sets policy in all areas of the city. That makes the city council important when it comes to current issues and espe- cially the future of Keizer. In recent years, Keizer city council elections have been more like coro- nations as too many council races have had one candidate. In contrast, during the fi rst two decades of city- dom, races for mayor and city coun- cil seats attracted multiple entrants. One could argue that life today is much more complicated compared with the early 1980s; activities and commitments take up so much of our time that many feel they have no time to devote to a two- or four- year political job. Voting in elections, especially on the local level, is as in- volved as most people get. But there are other ways to have a say in how one’s hometown is operated: run for public offi ce as a city council candi- date. With this path anyone can be- come a ‘They.’ Being a ‘they’ doesn’t have to be negative or nefarious, becoming a ‘they’ means that a ‘me’ will have a place at the table where decisions about the city are made. The job of city councilor is reward- ing. Whether one believes Keizer should stay quaint and mid-sized, or that Keizer’s growth should be main- tained in a benefi cial way, there is room for those views on council. In most instances the people who are elected to the city council are those who come from the grassroots. Keizer is a city of neighborhoods and that is where are government leaders come from. What does it take to run and be elected to the city council? It takes the belief that one would be a good addition to the council, that their background and experience would bring a unique perspective to that body’s deliberations. And to win? It takes votes, pure and simple. That means asking people for their vote either through door-to-door can- vassing, advertising or both. Every potential city councilor is part of a group—a service club, a sports organization, a school, etc. This is the base—the people most likely to support a candi- dacy of ‘one of ours.’ Some may think that running for public offi ce costs lots of money, funds that have to be raised. To run in a local election is fairly inexpensive. The hard costs include placing information in the Voter’s Pamphlet. Softer costs can in- clude yard signs and advertising, but those are not required. Some campaigns need only one issue to be successful. In the early 1970s there was an unknown woman running for California secretary of state. Her issue? Getting rid of pay toilets in public places such as air- ports. It was an issue that resonated with voters and she went on to serve 20 years in that offi ce. All because of one issue. Closer to home, some past Keizer city councilors owe their election to a single issue, such as sidewalks. There are issues that can be used as a campaign platform; some people have been elected to council with a promise to keep an eye on the city’s budget. With Keizer’s future in the bal- ance, the next city council will grap- ple with some big issues. Some of those issues will be resolved in a way that will anger some residents and please others. That is how democracy works, sometimes you win, some- times you lose. But you don’t win if you don’t play. Morphing from a ‘Me’ to a ‘They’ is good thing when it means you help your community. —LAZ our opinion Don Vowell to be missed Boxes of Soap. His thoughts and col- umns will be missed. My condolences to his family and friends. Bob Mitchell Keizer letters To the Editor: I am sorry to have read of the passing of Don Vow- ell. Over many years I have ‘consumed’ many of his Correction In the Page 5 editorial, No More Soap, the date of Don Vowell was incor- rect. He passed away on January 15, 2018. We regret the error. Squeezing both sides in the Middle East By DEBRA J. SAUNDERS President Donald Trump wants to negotiate a “deal of the century” between Israelis and Palestinians like a high-rolling real-estate don. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week, Trump defended his de- cisions to recognize Je- rusalem as Israel’s capital, to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusa- lem and to withhold $65 million of $125 million to the U.N. Relief and Wel- fare Agency that provides care for Palestinians. Trump told reporters at a meeting with Israeli Prime Minis- ter Benjamin Netanyahu that “the money is on the table.” The U.S., he said, gives “hundreds of millions of dollars” to the Palestinians, and “that money is on the table. Because why should we do that, as a country, if they’re doing nothing for us?” Former Secretary of State John Kerry, meanwhile, wants to negoti- ate like the British colonel played by Alec Guinness in Bridge on the River Kwai. The Israeli outlet Maariv report- ed Thursday that Kerry met with Hussein Agha, an ally of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in Lon- don. Kerry reportedly asked Agha to tell Abbas to “stay strong,” “play for time,” and not yield to Trump’s demands. He came across as more interested in protecting his rank than ending decades of strife, which was supposed to be his mission. It seems Kerry is so committed to a two-state solution to the Israe- li-Palestinian dispute that he prefers no deal to a deal with Trump. Maariv also reported that Kerry, the Democrats’ losing presidential nominee in 2004, told Agha that Trump could be out of offi ce in a year and that he was considering running for the White House in 2020. It is rare to have a discussion with experts about Trump’s actions without hearing the def- inition of insanity —do- ing the same thing over and over again and ex- pecting a different result. Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman, president of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, cited the defi nition of insanity and mused, “I’m not saying it won’t work for sure,” although “I might have looked for a more thoughtful change that allows each side a total amount of dignity.” “At the end of the day, the Pal- estinians are going to have to make the decision, whether they want everything or whether they want part” of everything, he said. Hartman warns that it often is a mistake to consider Palestinians simple bargainers at a table—when they see their pride at stake. When Vice President Mike Pence visited Jerusalem this week, he repeated the administration’s new talking point—that the admin- istration supports a two-state solu- tion “if both sides agree.” When Trump hosted Abbas at the White House in May, the presi- dent opened the door to an un- other opinions imagined deal. But there has been no movement, and between the Dec. 6 Jerusalem announcement, the withholding of funds and his questioning of a two-state solution, he essentially is signaling that Pal- estinian leaders better walk through the door now, while there still are concessions to be had. “Palestinians are not very thrilled by this new formula,” Ghaith al- Omari of the Washington Institute of Near East Policy observed. “Palestinians are now saying that because of all of this pres- sure, the U.S. can no longer serve as a mediator,”al-Omari added. “Whether this is just posturing re- mains to be seen, as many Palestin- ian leaders understand that a peace process cannot proceed without the U.S. playing a leading role.” As for the withholding of funds to U.N. relief, Colum Lynch wrote in Foreign Policy, “There is concern that the move against the Palestin- ians could backfi re, feeding greater extremism in the region.” For Trump, this is all about get- ting a deal, and he showed himself ready to squeeze concessions from Israel as well. As Trump told Ne- tanyahu in Davos, “You won one point”—on the embassy—“and you’ll give up some points later on in the negotiation, if it ever takes place.” “Obama and Kerry, were they able to make the deal?” Hartman asked, rhetorically. The answer was no, because they lost the Israeli side. And Trump can’t win a deal with- out the Palestinians. (Creators Syndicate) Bundys open era of legal law breaking By GENE H. McINTYRE I have read widely, as many an Oregonian have, about the long, ar- duous and dedicated work of several Americans that came before us and got our national monuments, refug- es and parks established, it was with alarm that the events at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge unfold- ed two years ago. De- scribed as an armed, self- described militia group, protesting the sentenc- ing of father-son ranch- ers in Burns, Oregon, for burning federal land, they seized control of the east- ern Oregon refuge for 41 days. That group of outlaws substantially wrecked the buildings and equipment there and, besides protesting over the incar- ceration of father-son for criminal actions, clearly wanted to take our Refuge away from decades-long protection by the federal govern- ment as a sanctuary for bird and beast in order to declare the Ref- uge for personal use and personal profi t from all manner of personal and private development. Some of these people were already under law-breaking status by the federal government for tax evasion in the state of Nevada where, for all intents and purposes, they used federal land there as though their private prop- erty. Bundy family members and fol- lowers were brought to federal court in Oregon but had the charges against them dismissed as have had the federal charges against the fa- ther, Cliven Bundy, dismissed in Ne- vada. These outcomes predict more trouble for all of us who want the federal lands set aside as sanctuar- ies for Americans to visit and view and essentially have now given Bun- dy look-alikes to believe they can do as they please with public proper- ty while the average American who cares should be on notice that the next round with these law-breakers is about to get underway, and pre- dictably, with Trump Ad- ministration help. One of Oregon’s newspapers, The Daily As- torian, through its editori- al board, has commented that “Most Americans have little sympathy for Bundy, his family and supporters. He might like to think himself a folk hero, but his hide- bound refusal to abide by longstand- ing cattle-grazing rules placed inno- cent lives in danger, degraded public lands around his ranch and made a mockery of the law.” However, the reader may have noticed, as did I, that government attorney ineptness failed to obey the rules of evidence in the Oregon and Nevada prosecu- tion efforts. The judge in the Nevada case, the honorable Gloria Navarro, de- cided the holding back of evidence useful to the defense bungled their case and thereby ended it. Hence, the government prosecutors, stumbling around like cowboys in from a cattle drive for a night on the town, dem- onstrated an inability to herd things to convictions. Replacements, trained and experienced to get the job done, as a new set of federal of prosecutors, should be appointed to re-try, with success, these lawless types. Unfortunate for those of us who guest column Keizertimes Wheatland Publishing Corp. 142 Chemawa Road N. • Keizer, Oregon 97303 Phone: 503.390.1051 • www.keizertimes.com MANAGING EDITOR Eric A. Howald editor@keizertimes.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR SUBSCRIPTIONS Derek Wiley news@keizertimes.com ADVERTISING Paula Moseley advertising@keizertimes.com PRODUCTION MANAGER & GRAPHIC DESIGNER EDITOR & PUBLISHER Lyndon Zaitz publisher@keizertimes.com One year: $25 in Marion County, $33 outside Marion County, $45 outside Oregon PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY Publication No: USPS 679-430 Andrew Jackson graphics@keizertimes.com POSTMASTER Send address changes to: LEGAL NOTICES legals@keizertimes.com Keizertimes Circulation BUSINESS MANAGER 142 Chemawa Road N. Laurie Painter Keizer, OR 97303 billing@keizertimes.com RECEPTION Lori Beyeler INTERN Periodical postage paid at Salem, Oregon Random Pendragon facebook.com/keizertimes twitter.com/keizertimes do not want a repeat of the Mal- heur take-over and the subverting of rangeland actions by the Bundy ranch in Nevada, President Trump and his Secretaries of Energy Rick Perry, and Interior, Ryan Zinke, Environmental Protection Agency directory Scott Pruitt, who seek to convert public lands to private purchase and use, those of us who want monuments, refuges and parks protected will not be in any likely way see a saving of federal lands be- fore January, 2021. Those of us who want the land that belongs to all Americans for posterity must fi ght for public lands protection because those among us who will exploit for profi t are pals of Trump and have his ear. Another chapter in this saga is currently underway by the family of the law-breaking occupier who died in a shootout with federal and state law enforcement offi cers. Mean- while, preliminary costs to American taxpayers for FBI and state police, the wreckage by occupiers, the loss of work by fi sh and wildlife employ- ees, the damage to businesses, et ce- tra in the area now adds up by avail- able fi gures to something around $6,000,000. The family suing seeks $5,000,000. Wouldn’t that be some- thing if our fellow Americans award the amount wanted, thereby essen- tially forcing us to condone and fi - nancially reward criminal behavior. (Gene H. McIntyre lives in Keizer.) Share your opinion Email a letter to the editor (300 words) by noon Tuesday. Email to: publisher@keizertimes.com