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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 2019)
MARCH 1, 2019, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A5 Opinion Choose River Road options wisely The options a consulting fi rm pre- sented at a recent open house for a re- vitalized River Road will not please everyone, especially commuters. One of the options unveiled at the Feb. 12 open house at Keier Civic Center called for removing the cen- ter turn lane and installing bike lanes on the east and west sides of River Road. The other three options all put bi- cyclists in the driver’s seat with bike lanes taking precedence over motor vehicles. There are some in the pub- lic who are not fans of bicycle lanes, who feel their life is complicated by sharing the road with non-polluting transit choices. Aside from major cities there is not a history of mass transit in the secondary cities on the west coast. Westerners value their independence and trading their private vehicles for public transportation is a tough sell. Yet the undeniable fact is that people have to move about. Bicycle lanes are not a “build it and they will come” situation. There are many bicyclists in Keizer but a small percentage actually use them to get to commute to work. For those who have jobs in the Salem central area, commuting on two wheels makes lots of sense, but you can’t order people to ride especially in inclement weather. Commuting by bicycle is not an issue for those who are physically fi t, but it would be a challenge for those who are not in prime condition. With all that, is the best option for a revitaliztion of River Road a matter of narrowing lane widths and add- ing bike lanes? The city has to plan for the growth that is expected over the next 15 years and that includes a smart and workable transportation system, something for which Mayor Cathy Clark has a long-held passion. A revitalization of River Road is more than making the city’s main thoroughfare move more smooth- ly. Drivers use River Road to get to work in Salem or elsewhere in Keiz- er. They use it to get from one end of the city to the other; some trips within Keizer are fairly short—run- ning to the grocer, dropping kids off at school. The reality of River Road is that it is used by the public, in part, to get to a retail destination. You cannot hamper that use because it will tamp down its overall raison d’etre: eco- nomic development. Business con- tributes to the city’s tax base and we want to see more of that, not less. An increase in bike lanes should be accompanied by more bicycle main- tenance stations along River Road, more bike racks and an incentive to get more people on bikes for fun or commuting. Before its next meeting on revi- talization options the city should en- sure that members of the Traffi c Safe- ty-Bikeways-Pedestrian Committee (many of whom are bicyclists) are there to add their valuable input. —LAZ Will the real Post please stand up? Rep. Bill Post built his name local- ly as an entertaining, sometimes bom- bastic talk radio host who delighted in aggravating the left and affi rming the right’s beliefs. These skills put him in a position to run for the Oregon Leg- islature, but it was in many ways his less prominent qualities that allowed him to be taken seriously as a poten- tial lawmaker. Like many entertainers, his demeanor off the air was quite dif- ferent—thoughtful, open-minded and willing to acknowledge hard truths even if they contrasted with party or- thodoxy. This ability to channel his inner class president helped allow Oregon’s at-least-superfi cially-genteel political establishment to overlook Post’s occa- sional clownish tendencies. As Keizer’s representative, he has had mixed suc- cess balancing these competing per- sonalities. Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to be learning on the job, and may be backsliding, as his recent ac- tions caused House Speaker Tina Kotek to remove him from the House Judiciary Committee as punishment. (Kotek also removed Rep. Mitch Greenlick, a fellow Democrat, from a powerful committee chair perch for his own less-than-civil comments.) It is primarily Post’s social media presence that has caused him unwel- come headlines. There was his mock- ing of sexual assault victims, doxxing petition organizers, and more recent- ly referring to a fellow lawmaker as “cray cray.” By comparison, the tweet that broke the camel’s back—a call for gun rights activists to show up at a rally encouraging tighter gun laws —wasn’t so bad, but was the latest in a pattern Post seems unable or unwill- ing to break. Post may be earning retweets and atta-boys, but he’s not doing Keizer or District 25 any favors. Republican infl uence is at its nadir in Oregon due to the Democratic supermajority, but individual relationships still matter, as does the ability to be taken seriously. His credibility when advocating for his district is diminishing even as his seniority rises. Like a young pitching prospect with a mean fastball, Post got to the big leagues of state politics with quick wit and a veteran broadcaster’s keen understanding of his audience. It’s past time to diversify his skill set. Unless his aspirations end at being a minori- ty-party backbencher, we would all be well served if Post channeled his inner 1 Corinthians 13 and put away childish things—which in a modern edition might translate as “delete your account.” And if all we ask of our elected leaders is entertainment, what right do we have to demand actual solu- tions for what ails us? Debate over ISIS bride By DEBRA J. SAUNDERS In 2014, Hoda Muthana, then 20 years old, left Alabama to become an ISIS bride in Syria. When she left the United States, she posted her passport on her Twitter account and implied she was about to burn it. Now Muthana wants to re- turn to the U.S. with her 18-month-old son, but President Donald Trump doesn’t want to let her back in the country. Here’s the TV news take on her case as laid out by the Today show’s Craig Melvin: “This is the Al- abama woman who left four years ago to join ISIS. She has a son. She said that she wants to come home now; she was radicalized, she made a big mistake.” “Alabama mother begs to return to the US,” reads an online ABC News headline. Considering that Muthana left Alabama four years ago to renounce the United States and join ISIS, “Alabama mother” is not the way most people would de- scribe her. Problem: Muthana doesn’t seem really sorry. In an exclusive inter- view with ABC News, Muthana was asked what she thought would be proper punishment for joining ISIS. She replied: “Maybe therapy lessons. Maybe a process that will insure us that we’ll never do this again.” Muthana also described herself as “just a normal human being who’s been manipulated once and hope- fully never again.” The “Manson girls”—young women who trolled and killed for cult leader and mass murderer Charles Manson in 1969—come to mind. But at least the creepy young women who fell for Manson didn’t know what they were getting into when they joined his so-called fam- ily. Muthana was radicalized over the internet. Months before she fl ew to Istanbul on the road to Raqqa, Syr- ia, ISIS posted a gruesome video of one of its masked thugs beheading journalist James Foley. ISIS forces had be- headed Syrian troops, humanitarian workers, civilians and western hostages. A normal per- son does not see videos of people being behead- ed and want to marry the executioner. But Muthana did. She married three ISIS fi ghters as her contribution to the caliphate. Muthana also had a Twitter ac- count on which she urged others to drive trucks to kill people at Amer- ican parades. And she urged her fol- lowers to look up President Barack Obama’s schedule so they could “take down that treacherous tyrant.” Muthana now is being used as another example of what is wrong with Trump. After all, The president, tweeted, “I have instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and he fully agrees, not to allow Hoda Muthana back into the Country!” As Pompeo told Melvin, the U.S. does not believe Muthana is a U.S. citizen, as her father served as a Yemeni diplomat for the United States shortly before her birth. The government asserts that the fact that Muthana had a U.S. passport did not establish her bona fi des as a citizen. Muthana’s family is suing to prompt Washington to get her out of a Syrian refugee camp and back into the United States. “This shows us to be a nation of laws,” attorney Charles Swift argued other voices on CNN Friday. Swift also said that Muthana “understands that she’s go- ing to be prosecuted.” I’m not so sure she does understand, given her assertion that jail time is less likely to help her when she really needs help to recover from the trauma she experienced. Muthana family attorney Has- san Shibly told the Daily Mail that Trump would use the case to un- dermine birthright citizenship in a way that affects “mostly Latino Americans.” There is one little problem with that argument. According to Swift’s petition to establish Muthana’s citi- zenship, as well as that of her son, the U.S. government sent a letter to her in care of her parents’ address on Jan. 15, 2016 informing Muthana she was not a citizen. January 2016— that’s before Trump was elected. It was the Obama administration that determined Muthana was not a citizen.According to Swift’s brief, the United Nations did not notify the U.S. government about the fa- ther’s diplomatic status until months after the daughter was born. And if there is one thing President Obama was not known for, it was working to end birthright citizenship. Swift may well be right on the citizenship issue at hand. And if he is, may Muthana be greeted with a quick embrace from a legal system ready to let her take responsibility —real responsibility—for joining a terrorist organization. Or maybe the courts will rule that Muthana is not an American, and if that happens, for once, it won’t be because of Trump. (Creators Syndicate) Four weeks in, major bills getting play 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: $35 in Marion County, $43 outside Marion County, $55 outside Oregon ASSOCIATE EDITOR Matt Rawlings news@keizertimes.com COMMUNITY REPORTER PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY Hunter Bomar reporter@keizertimes.com Publication No: USPS 679-430 ADVERTISING POSTMASTER Paula Moseley advertising@keizertimes.com Send address changes to: PRODUCTION MANAGER & GRAPHIC DESIGNER Andrew Jackson graphics@keizertimes.com LEGAL NOTICES EDITOR & PUBLISHER Lyndon Zaitz publisher@keizertimes.com Keizertimes Circulation 142 Chemawa Road N. Keizer, OR 97303 Periodical postage paid at Salem, Oregon legals@keizertimes.com BUSINESS MANAGER Leah Stevens billing@keizertimes.com RECEPTION Lori Beyeler INTERN Lauren Murphy facebook.com/keizertimes twitter.com/keizertimes As the fourth week of session unanimously through both chambers comes to a close, cap and trade and as many of us agree that no cause evic- rent control have proven to be the tions are unfair. The most contentious part of the bill relates to rent control, most controversial issues as of yet. which has proven not to The cap and trade bill work. In fact, in the only (LC 894) was original- places where rent control ly 98 pages and has now has been used, large met- been turned into HB ropolitan cities, it has been 2020, being 55 pages long. signifi cantly scaled back The Joint Committee on from the original concept. Carbon Reduction has Land lord constituents been meeting to work have reached out to me on HB 2020 and to hear and shared their opposi- from interested parties. tion to SB 608, but they The committee is com- prised of 14 senators and from the also recognize this bill will allow them to raise rent to representatives with eight capitol 7 percent per year, which Democrats and six Re- is typically unheard of to publicans. Much like the By BILL POST raise rent that high. transportation package These two bills have from 2017, the commit- been at the height of dis- tee will be taking this bill around the state to have hearings and cussion, but what I believe should be listen to local input. Senate Bill 608 is the rent control bill. This bill was pushed very quick- ly through the Senate chamber and had a pub- lic hearing in the House Committee on Human Services and Housing on Feb. 18 and passed both houses. From what I have observed in watching much of the testimony, the big- gest concern was the no cause eviction portion, which I would guess 90 percent of the testimony approved of that portion of the bill. I believe if SB 608 just addressed no cause evictions, this would be a bi-partisan bill and potentially pass our fi rst priority is passing funding for education before anything else. It was great to see educators and stu- dents at the Capitol on Presidents Day, with an estimated of 4,000 in atten- dance. Their message was to fully fund schools, and I agree. In order to do this, we need to pass the K-12 bud- get. School districts need the certainty of knowing what their budget will be and that’s why this issue should be our very fi rst priority every session. Let’s not wait until the end of session, we need to invest now. As always, please feel free to reach out to my offi ce with and questions or concerns. Your comments and in- put are greatly appreciated. (Bill Post represents House District 25. He can be reached at 503- 986- 1425 or via email at rep. bil- post@ oregonlegislature.gov.)
