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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 26, 2018)
PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, OCTOBER 26, 2018 Opinion Candidate sets record straight By MIKE DE BLASI I’m a candidate for the Keizer City Council. I want to correct one part of a recent Keizetimes editorial (We recom- mend Kohler, Oct. 12). It was written that Position #6 can- didates “have their differences on up- coming issues such as the third bridge (De Blasi is against it; he’d rather see tolls on the existing bridges).” I do not support the third bridge as it is proposed. However, the solutions are more com- plex than just tolls. Tolling works because a price on road use has been proven to reduce overall traffic by reducing discretionary trips—trips that are not necessary but taken be- cause they are free. They also balance the costs of a single pas- senger vehicle trip compared to other forms of transport. Tolling alone will not complete- ly solve the congestion problem. If it did, roads on the East Coast would be traffic free. Local government leaders need to develop a truly comprehensive development and transportation policy with the aim of reducing single pas- senger vehicle trips. Past decisions have created excessive free parking options in Salem and Keizer, which not only reduces tax revenue per acre, that in- centivizes vehicle use. Off-street park- ing minimums must be eliminated and maximums reduced. I also blame state government, which has provided large, free to low- cost off-street parking lots that under- mine programs they have to get state employees out of their cars. The result is heavy traffic into down- town Salem in the morn- ing and to Polk County in the evening. The legislature has passed many laws on the efficient use of land, but many cities in Marion and Polk Counties continue to overwhelmingly approve single family detached homes with lit- tle to no transit connections exacerbat- ing the traffic problem. They have also built streets (e.g., Wallace Road) de- signed solely to reward single passen- ger vehicle use, while at the same time approving commercial development along these streets that undermine the efficient movement of vehicles—the worst of both worlds. Marion and Polk Counties, and the cities within, need guest column Protect emergency services values; tax and spend, high density and busi- ness-killing policies. What Keizer does need is someone who has lived in Keizer long enough to know what Keizer is all about— pride, spirit and vol- unteerism is just the beginning. It also takes a commitment to Keizer’s mission: “Keep city costs and ser- vices to a minimum by providing city services to the community in a coordinated, efficient, and least cost fashion” by someone who knows how because he has lived and worked along side of us for decades. That candidate is Dan Kohler. Many of you have worked along side of Dan at the Big Toy or have benefited from his hours of com- mitment to teaching your kids scouting...now is the time to return the favor. We will all benefit from Dan be- ing on Keizer City Council. He will continue to provide a steady hand, sound common sense solu- tions to Keizer’s everyday problems and a listening ear for your new ideas. I am voting for Dan, you should too! Lore Christopher Keizer letters To the Editor: Keizer Fire District consistently rates as one of the most tax efficient departments in the state while pro- viding critical service response that our community has come to ex- pect. Voting yes on Keizer Fire Dis- trict’s Measure 24-432 will allow KFD to continue the same level of services for our community with- out increasing cost to our existing levy. The call volume has increased 45 percent in five years. This is a much needed yes vote. Hank & Sandy Tarter Keizer I support Elizabeth Smith To the Editor: I am supporting Elizabeth Smith for Keizer City Council Position #5. I have known Elizabeth for over 20 years and have found her to be a no-nonsense lady. She’ll bring a fresh perspective to the council and is not afraid to speak her mind. I am sure Elizabeth will work hard to serve Keizer as a city coun- cilor knowing that the time she gives will make a difference. Jim Taylor Keizer Kohler stands out for dedication to Keizer community To the Editor: It is easy today to throw up your hands and turn away from politics. Some of our leaders at the national level have given us every reason to do so. That is why candidates like Dan Kohler stand out. His dedication to his community and willingness to listen set him apart from the rest. He doesn’t walk into a room thinking he has all the answers. Dan walks in ready to listen. I like that. In this election, I urge you to vote Dan Kohler for Keizer City Council Position #6. He shares our priorities and embodies what it means to be a Keizerite. Please join me is supporting Kohler for Keizer. Jonathan Thompson Keizer Kohler means Keizer values Vote for Kohler To the Editor: I have known Dan Kohler for six years now. If the city of Keizer truly deserves a city council member, it is without a doubt Dan Kohler. Dan has a wonderful reputa- tion for his work, his service in the community, the neighborhood in which he lives. Dan is very infor- mative about the goings-on in his city, and is most supportive. Dan is the person that anyone can walk up to and talk, and Dan will give his undivided attention to that person. This is what the people of Keizer deserve, and this is what the city of Keizer needs. Dan is a leader, a listener, a doer, and will get the job done. The people of Keizer will appreciate a person like Dan Kohler for his hard work, dedica- tion and leadership to keep Keizer in the 21st century, and down the road into the future. As a home- owner, and the president of the Ce- dar Bluff Homeowners Association, I am very proud of Dan Kohler for all his hard work within the com- munity of Keizer over the many years. Dan deserves the chance to serve the people in Keizer the way they expect to be treated. There is no one else but Dan Kohler. Remember, to vote for Dan Kohler as our next city councilman. Gary Wagner Keizer To the Editor: Keizer does not need East Coast Share your opinion The Keizertimes Opinion page accepts all viewpoints. Submit a letter to the editor (up to 300 words), or a guest column (up to 550 words) by noon Tuesday. Email to: publisher@keizertimes.com 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 SUBSCRIPTIONS One year: $25 in Marion County, $33 outside Marion County, $45 outside Oregon ASSOCIATE EDITOR Derek Wiley news@keizertimes.com ADVERTISING Paula Moseley advertising@keizertimes.com PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY PRODUCTION MANAGER & GRAPHIC DESIGNER POSTMASTER Publication No: USPS 679-430 Send address changes to: Andrew Jackson graphics@keizertimes.com LEGAL NOTICES legals@keizertimes.com BUSINESS MANAGER Leah Stevens billing@keizertimes.com EDITOR & PUBLISHER Lyndon Zaitz publisher@keizertimes.com Keizertimes Circulation 142 Chemawa Road N. Keizer, OR 97303 Periodical postage paid at Salem, Oregon RECEPTION Lori Beyeler INTERN Lauren Murphy facebook.com/keizertimes twitter.com/keizertimes to approve development that incentiv- izes other transportation options. Finally, the region needs to create a truly connected transit system that will provide quick, timely and efficient bus routes connecting the cities in the mid-Willamette Valley. One hundred years ago, our cities were better con- nected by transit than they are today. This is the result of nearly 80 years of government subsidies for passenger car use as well as zoning that compels providing the parking space for these vehicles. It is your tax money that will be used to build the third bridge. Shouldn’t we demand that our officials utilize all other measures before we commit to spending hundreds of millions of dol- lars? Shouldn’t our politicians be ac- countable for their past decisions? And shouldn’t we be honest with ourselves and admit that sometimes we are own worst enemy by not considering how, in the whole, our everyday decisions are exacerbating the traffic problem? Thank you for the opportunity to correct the record. (Mike De Blasi lives in Keizer. He is a candidate for Keizer City Council.) Safety nets are threatened again Stymied again! This writer does not know whether to stifle a cry and laugh out loud or burst into tears and squelch a hearty guffaw! The dilemma has to do with one of the latest announce- ments from some of our illustrious “leaders” in Washington, D.C. If readers haven’t noticed, our nation has evolved to a place where, for whatever rea- son, and there appear many reasons to explain the phenomenon, there are about 2 million of our fellow citizens in a category identified as “homeless.” Some are sick and tired of the “rat race” but most, realistically speaking, have fallen into a state, in- cluding a great many American chil- dren, not having a roof over their heads and enough food to eat. Should we not try our hardest, as a nation of people who’ve established a reputation world-wide for being com- passionate and helpful to the down- trodden and those without means, to find ways to reverse this alarming di- rection of so many of our citizens? No, not by way of the nation’s capitol! The latest foray by those in charge at D.C. want to add significantly to the number of those without means by terminating the entitlement social programs—So- cial Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Literally millions of America’s se- nior citizens are totally dependent on monthly Social Security checks to keep a roof overhead and food on the table and millions of others, both seniors and younger, who lack the means to pay their medical costs, are far too often hounded out of their homes by bill collectors and foreclosures. Obvi- ously, and forecasting the most dire of consequences, the already alarming num- bers sleeping on any space they can find and scrounging for food in garbage cans, counting evermore at astronomically higher numbers. After instituting a $1.46 trillion tax cut and signing off on a $675 billion budget for the U.S. Department of De- fense, (both proven unneeded by the rich and the Pentagon) Senate Major- ity Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced last week that the only way to lower the record-high federal deficit is to cut the entitlement pro- grams. Any American wanting to look at the facts may wish to notice that our nation’s deficit has increased by 77 percent since McConnell became majority leader in 2015. Meanwhile, gene h. mcintyre McConnell says he’s “very disturbed” by the deficit numbers. The folks at the US Treasury De- partment have determined that the corporate and wealthy American “1 percenter” tax cuts have made the big- gest contribution to the deficit this year. Anyone interested can find out that tax receipts on corporate income in 2017 fell to $205 billion from $297 billion last year. Then, too, and also sig- nificant, a small percentage of what the Republicans in Congress promised as a tax cut of several thousands of dollars for every working American family has already been determined as Trump ad- ministration fake news. Republicans like McConnell, House Speaker Paul Ryan and others in lock step want all social help pro- grams to end because they think ev- ery American should be able to fend for themself without government help even though most Social Security re- cipients already paid for it through life-long withholdings. Their stand on ending the entitlement programs spells h-y-p-o-c-r-i-s-y as they have typical- ly been at the federal trough —feeding socialistically on taxpayer dollars—for the length of their careers and soon, too, under lavish retirement conditions. (Gene H. McIntyre shares his opin- ion frequently in the Keizertimes.) Body slams everywhere By DEBRA J. SAUNDERS Progressive activist Wilfred Michael Stark was arrested Tuesday for suspi- cion of battery against Kristin Davi- son, the campaign manager for Ne- vada’s GOP gubernatorial candidate, Adam Laxalt. Until he was fired after the inci- dent, Stark worked for American Bridge, a self-described “progressive research and communications organization committed to holding Republicans accountable for their words and actions,” His arrest, an earlier arrest at another campaign event, and other recent incidents involving the left made it appear this was open season on Repub- licans. Then, just when it seemed like the perfect time to write about Democrats’ embrace of in- timidation tactics, President Donald Trump stepped into the muck. At a Make America Great Again rally in Montana Thursday night, Trump joked about Rep. Greg Gian- forte, R-Mont., who body slammed Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs in 2017 because Jacobs asked the candidate a question about health care. “Never wrestle him,” Trump dead- panned before the enthusiastic crowd. Trump added, “Any guy who can do a body slam, he’s my guy.” On Fox News’ Outnumbered Friday, son Eric Trump defended his father. “Oh, stop. He wasn’t the guy who body-slammed anybody. He can have fun,” said Eric Trump, who added that his father won in 2016 precisely be- cause he is wonderfully “un-PC.” It was an important distinction, the son added, because former Attorney General Eric Holder “wasn’t laugh- ing” when Holder said that Democrats should kick Republicans. Trump, said his son, was smiling and jovial. Maybe, but there was nothing jovial about Gianforte’s treatment of Jacobs on May 24, 2017. Fox News reporter Alicia Acuna, producer Faith Mangan and photogra- pher Keith Railey witnessed the inci- dent and Acuna wrote about what she saw on the Fox News website. After Jacobs began asking the GOP candidate about health care, she wrote, “Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him. Faith, Keith and I watched in disbelief as Gianforte then began punching the reporter. As Gianforte moved on top of Jacobs, he began yelling something to the effect of, ‘I’m sick and tired of this!’” In a statement the campaign at first blamed “aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist.” Authorities charged Gianforte with misde- meanor assault. In June 2017, the now congress- man pleaded guilty. A judge sentenced Gianforte to 40 hours of community service, 20 hours of anger management and a $300 fine. In the courtroom, Gianforte apol- ogized to Jacobs, who accepted the apology. He also promised Jacobs an interview that never happened. Since the GOP Senate confirmed Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, alas, you can’t turn on cable news without seeing scenes of protest- ers yelling at GOP lawmakers in eleva- tors, following them through parking lots or disrupting the free speech rights debra j. saunders and space of those with whom they disagree. The vein that runs through these protests is a sense of entitlement. Hav- ing failed to pressure or persuade Re- publicans to vote like Democrats, the left has turned to tantrums, intimida- tion and rampant claims of victim- hood. In a recent viral video, a woman angry about Kavanaugh’s confirma- tion demanded that Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., “apologize to my children for ruining their lives.” Cassidy calmly told the youngsters he was sorry their parents were using them as tools and assured them that if someone wrongly accused them, they would be OK. “Shame on you,” one moth- er shouted as Cassidy walked away. Shame on her for telling her children Cassidy was robbing them of a bright future. Hysteria has driven activists to de- cide they don’t have to be civil any- more. When really, they’re just being thugs, like Gianforte. Laxalt campaign manager Davison has a clearer view. American Bridge, she told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, paid Stark “to get in people’s faces.” And that’s what he did. (Creators Syndicate) KEIZERTIMES.COM Web Poll Results Will you vote in November’s election? Yes – 96% No – 4% Vote in a new poll every Thursday! GO TO KEIZERTIMES.COM
