PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, SEPTEMBER 21, 2018
KeizerOpinion
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Forget UGB when planning
There are those who plan based
on their wishes, then there are those
who plan based on present condi-
tions.
The city’s River Road Revital-
ization project is just in the talking
stages, yet the topic gets tied up with
an expansion of our Urban Growth
Boundary (UGB) on the
north border of Keizer.
There are folks who
are salivating over the
possible opening of hun-
dreds of acres north of
the city for new resi-
dential and commercial
development. Building
on land that is ripe for
development will certainly be a
boon for landowners and develop-
ers alike. All who are serious about
taking advantage of an expanded
UGB have to know that it will not
happen, if at all, until sometime far
in the future. There are many hur-
dles, political and fi nanical, to jump
before Keizer will see hundreds of
acres to develop.
Discussions on the revitalization
of River Road and Cherry Avenue
need to be held without reference
to a UGB expansion. Plan as if that
will never be an option. Would the
context of the discussion change?
If you have no extra land to
develop then you have to consider
changing zoning codes within the
current city borders to achieve the
mix that is vital to attracting new
business and categories, such as light
industrial.
A reality of our times is that retail
is changing quite rapidly. The way
people shop is evolving every year.
More consumers shop online, brick
and mortar store shoppers look for
the values big box retailers offer.
The retail sector on River Road
and Cherry Avenue is but a small
iteration of what it once was—that’s
how progress and technology work.
To revitalize River Road—which
is a state highway—our leaders, gov-
ernmental, civic and business, may
have to look to offi ce parks, non-
polluting light industrial and medi-
cal as categories best suited for our
main commercial street.
If retail is the holy grail of Keizer
development, it cannot
be planned for in a vacu-
um. It is important at this
stage of discussions to ask
what would need to be in
place for desired retailers
to locate to River Road.
Once we know what the
end-users want we will
be in a better position
to design a revitalized River Road.
That worn-out saw, “if you build it,
they will come” is not very viable
these days.
Let’s develop incentives for busi-
ness to set down stakes in our com-
munity. The city council should
look at every rule or regulation that
affects new commercial develop-
ment—reduce or waive fees that
will attract a company that adds a
minimum number of new jobs. For
example, if your business adds 25
new jobs within Keizer, your system
development charges (for new con-
struction) will be cut by 50 percent.
It is important to get new em-
ployers inside our city to offer jobs
for some of the thousands of Keizer
residents who leave town each day
to work elsewhere. That would ben-
efi t all concerned: residents would
have a chance to work where they
live, the city gets a new tax payer.
Add in rezoning to promote
mixed use in our downtown corri-
dor and the city will have many new
housing units to meet the needs of
the city now, not in some far off fu-
ture that is uncertain.
—LAZ
Council should
vote for
inclusion
against hate crimes
that marginalize mem-
bers of our community.
The Keizertimes edito-
rial board is correct that
Keizer’s city council
should prioritize writ-
ing a similar unequivo-
cal position supporting inclusivity.
Cathey Philbrick
Keizer
our
opinion
letters
To the Editor:
Kudos to the Keizer-
times for taking the cou-
rageous stand regarding hate crimes
and prejudice in Keizer. The well-
written series of articles under the
headline, A Simmering State of Hate
was highly informative. I commend
Cyndi Swaney and group for re-
questing the city council to adopt
an inclusivity resolution, a state-
ment declaring the city is a safe and
inclusive space for everyone.
I taught at McNary High School
when the fi rst English as a second
language (ESL) class started. Initially
there were confrontations between
some of the Anglo students and the
new Hispanic students in the halls
and after school. The school began
a series of interventions not only to
end the student confl ict, but also to
support our new students and make
it a proud school policy. Similarly,
when gender related issues arose a
staff member sponsored “The Gay
Straight Alliance,” a weekly meet-
ing for students and staff to work
for inclusivity of LBGTQ students.
It defi nitely takes positive institu-
tional action to move inclusivity
forward.
The teachers union, the Salem-
Keizer School District and the city
of Salem have taken clear stands
Where is the
outrage?
To the Editor:
We all now know a hate-bias in-
cident has occurred in Keizer (His-
panic man assaulted waiting for son,
Keizertimes, Aug. 31, 2018). This
behavior should not be tolerated.
Voices should be raised saying “Not
in my backyard!”
I would like to apologize to the
victim and tell him I would be hap-
py if he were my neighbor.
It is time for us to support no on
Measure 105 and demand an inclu-
sivity resolution from our elected
city offi cials.
Carol Doerfl er
Keizer
Share your opinion
Email a Letter to the Editor or submit
a guest column to the Keizertimes.
Deadline is noon Tuesday.
Email to: publisher@keizertimes.com
You don’t have to be a bigot
to be a racist anymore
By DEBRA J. SAUNDERS
What is a racist? There was a time
when the answer to that question was
pretty clear-cut. A racist was someone
who joined a group like the Ku Klux
Klan, spewed racial slurs, or supported
segregation. A racist was someone
who thought that people
of other races were inher-
ently inferior.
In the last decade or so,
that’s changed. In a time of
expanding defi nitions, you
don’t have to be a bigot to
be a racist anymore. You
just have to have the wrong
politics to be branded a racist, or race-
baiter or race warrior. Or you can just
be associated with someone who has
the wrong politics.
The Southern Poverty Law Cen-
ter has listed David Horowitz, 79, a
former 1960s radical turned conser-
vative, as an extremist and “driving
force” in the “anti-black” movement.
Last week, The Washington Post ran
a front-page story that reported that
Ron DeSantis, the GOP candidate for
governor in Florida, “spoke at racial-
ly-charged events”—that is, he spoke
at four conferences put on by the Da-
vid Horowitz Freedom Center.
What makes Horowitz anti-black?
He is “a vocal opponent of repara-
tions for slavery,” the Southern Pov-
erty Law Center wrote.
He also makes provocative state-
ments. Like this one: “Unfortunate-
ly, as a nation we have become so
trapped in the melodrama of black
victimization and white oppression
that we are in danger of losing all
sense of proportion. If blacks are op-
pressed in America, why isn’t there a
black exodus?”
Horowitz’s tone can be insensitive.
I think he’s dead wrong to dismiss
black grievances as melodramatic and
I believe he overstates white griev-
ances. He has written things that make
me cringe, but I’ve known him for
years and he is no white supremacist.
In fact, Horowitz was collaborating
with the Black Panthers on a learn-
ing center in 1974, when a colleague
was murdered; he blamed the group
for her death and began to move away
from the left.
Once the SPLC la-
beled Horowitz as an ex-
tremist, he was supposed
to become so radioactive
that others would associ-
ate with him at their own
peril. As DeSantis learned.
According to The Washing-
ton Post, you see, DeSantis
not only spoke at Horowitz events, he
also “recently was accused of using ra-
cially tinged language.”
After he won the GOP primary,
DeSantis called his African-American
Democratic opponent, Tallahassee
Mayor Andrew Gillum “articulate.”
The Republican also told Fox News
that the last thing Floridians need is
“to monkey this up by trying to em-
brace a socialist agenda.”
“Monkey,” critics argued, is a racist
dog whistle.
“Articulate” is racist because it can
be condescending—as Sen. Joe Biden
learned in 2007 after he praised col-
league Barack Obama as the “fi rst
mainstream African-American who is
articulate and bright and clean and a
nice-looking guy.” Biden apologized.
Obama later picked Biden to be his
running mate in 2008.
DeSantis said his “monkey” remark
had nothing to do with race. Without
proof, one would expect DeSantis to
enjoy the benefi t of the doubt. Instead
he got a front-page story that implied
he’s a race-baiter because he spoke at
conservative confabs.
Mark Krikorian is executive di-
rector of the Center for Immigration
Studies, a pro-enforcement group
branded a “hate group” by the SPLC.
He sees the SPLC as a left-wing po-
litical organization now dedicated to
other
voices
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(Creator Syndicate)
Nominee could vote to overturn set law
Practicing any religion from
among all those offered throughout
the world has not only been our
way of life since the founding of the
United States of America but is also
protected by the First Amendment
in the U.S. Constitution. It estab-
lished every citizen’s right to prac-
tice his or her religion or practice
no religion whatsoever.
The country’s found-
ers were of different re-
ligious backgrounds and
thereby believed that
the best way to protect
religious liberty was
to keep religion out of
government. They ac-
complished it by guar-
anteeing a separation
of church and state. They believed
freedom of religion would prevent
religious confl icts that had torn
other nations apart and destroyed
civilized societies.
The First Amendment prohib-
its government from encouraging,
promoting and establishing religion
in any way. That’s why the U.S. has
no offi cial religion. It also means
that the government may not give
fi nancial support to any religion.
Then, too, the Free Exercise Clause
of the First Amendment gives every
citizen the right to worship as he
and she chooses.
Nevertheless, that which the U.S.
Constitution and Bill of Rights es-
tablished as the nation’s foundation
has not stopped those Americans
who have sought to impose their
religious beliefs and practices upon
other citizens. The most common
effort being those Americans who
labored periodically throughout our
nation’s history to have the Chris-
tian faith adopted as America’s ex-
clusive national religion.
Among us are those
Americans
who’ve
chosen to embrace re-
ligiously conservative
views, having their ori-
gin mainly in the Ten
Commandments. They
have thereby vigorously
railed against philander-
ing, lying, self-promotion, the fl out-
ing of laws, favoring rich over poor,
using fear and falsehoods against
others, and worshipping money.
Yet they have voted to place such a
person with these behaviors in the
White House. As more and more
information on this person has been
revealed, they continue their sup-
port in spite of overwhelming evi-
dence and now seek through him
to place a deciding vote in the Su-
preme Court reversing the 1973
Roe v. Wade decision, allowing
American women to choose.
Based on everything we know
about Supreme Court nominee
gene
h.
mcintyre
Keizertimes
marginalizing ideas that used to be
mainstream.
Politicians such as former Presi-
dent Bill Clinton, Sen. Dianne Fein-
stein, D-Calif., and the late Rep. Bar-
bara Jordan, D-Texas, used to support
enforcing immigration laws. Today,
Krikorian said, their positions would
be “branded as hate speech” by the
SPLC.
The SPLC also charged Horow-
itz with hating Muslims because of
his harsh criticism of radical Islamic
terrorism and Palestinian groups op-
posed to Israel.
As a proof, the SPLC includes this
statement, which really is a political
argument: “The difference between
Islamic fanatics, or Jew haters, and
Hitler is that Hitler hid the Final So-
lution, and the Iranians and Hezbol-
lah shout it from the rooftops. And
the whole Muslim world accepts it.”
And here’s how you know the
SPLC’s labeling is highly partisan. In
2016, Richard Cohen, the group’s
president, wrote a piece titled, “Black
Lives Matter is not a hate group.”
“There’s no doubt that some
protesters who claim the mantle of
Black Lives Matter have said offen-
sive things, like the chant, ‘pigs in a
blanket, fry ‘em like bacon’ that was
heard at one rally,” Cohen wrote. “But
before we condemn the entire move-
ment for the words of a few, we should
ask ourselves whether we would also
condemn the entire Republican Party
for the racist words of its presumptive
nominee—or for the racist rhetoric
of many other politicians in the party
over the course of years.”
No, the SPLC would never con-
demn the entire GOP as racist be-
cause of Donald Trump. Better to
cook the frog slowly. Start by isolating
David Horowitz. Then let the r-word
hang over anyone who associates with
him. And then see where that goes.
Brett Kavanaugh from his speeches
and essays, they prove his conserva-
tive religious views even though—
in sharp contrast to his alleged mor-
als—he is accused by a woman from
his past of sexual assault. He does
not shy away from rule by religion
in government while it is consid-
ered highly predictable that he will
work not only to end the rights of
women to choose but stands to op-
pose and end a great many progres-
sive measures that came into exis-
tence during the 1900s in an effort
to improve American lives and bring
the promised freedoms in America’s
founding ideals to all.
In matters of citizen conse-
quence he’s known by his record
as a lawyer and federal judge as one
who seeks, for example, to limit and
reduce government social programs,
exampled by Social Security, Medi-
care and national health care. He’s
also made it clear that he’s against
immigration reform, criminal jus-
tice overhaul, equitable taxation, fe-
male equality, and, among a list too
lengthy to report here, that he’s in
favor of protecting the U.S. Presi-
dent from any and all investigations,
subpoenas and indictments . . . no
matter the offense or act of lawless-
ness.
(Gene H. McIntyre shares his opin-
ion frequently in the Keizertimes.)