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PAGE A6, KEIZERTIMES, MARCH 29, 2019 Opinion Proposed leave bill too onerous To the victor go the spoils, but sometimes the victors grab too much. The proposed paid fami- ly and medical leave bills is a dagger to the heart of business. House Bill 3140 man- dates employers pay up to 32 weeks of family and medical leave each year; employees would be eli- gible after only 90 days on the job. Providing medical and family leave is the sign of a society that cares about families and employees. Federal law allows for 12 weeks of family/medi- cal leave. It is unclear why the legisla- tive majority feels almost tripling that time on the state level is a good idea. Small businesses would pay for the leave and presumably pay for a tem- porary replacement. On top of the many other tax schemes being pro- posed, this legislative session could turn out to be the death knell for hundreds, if not thousands of small Oregon businesses. Things would be dif- ferent if most of the legis- lator’s regular jobs includ- ed meeting payroll. Then they would know that every mandated expense and tax is another chip off the bottom line. Small businesses across the state struggle enough each month to meet expenses; they don’t need the added burden of paying six months of leave for an employee. Employees who enthusiastically support the mandates of House Bill 3140 today will be less so if their em- ployers have to shut its doors. It is the duty and responsibility of legislators (especially in the majority) to think of negative consequences for business. Why would a small company want to expand if it knew much of its fi - nancial growth will be eaten by fees and taxes levied by a supermajority editorial and approved by a like-minded gov- ernor? The legislators should play fair when opponents come to speak be- fore committees considering the fam- ily and medical leave bills, or any bill that makes it diffi cult to operate a business. Let them speak. The spoils may go to the victor. However, this is not a military battle, it is democracy. Legislators are expect- ed to represent their constituents but they must be cognizant to the effect their legislation will have on other Oregon citizens. Oregon succeeds when we all succeed. Declaring winners and los- ers with such wrong-headed bills as making employers pay for six months of family/medical leave allows some to succeed while others are left in the dust. The legislature needs to stop and rethink how negatively their actions will hurt Oregon’s employers. — LAZ PFC Ryan Hill fi nished his job As you may be aware, working in Keizer. Ryan’s mother, Shawna, tes- the Capitol can be draining, to say the tifi ed in the House Committee on least. The days are full of contentious Veterans and Emergency Prepared- ness. She shared that legislation in committees, Ryan was known for his followed by meetings with compassionate heart. He constituents and lobbyists was always drawn to the to hear each side of an underdog and quick to issue, topped with fl oor defend them. Ryan was sessions and committee sharp and a quick learn- hearings. So, when I can er. He attended McNary be a part of something High School and then that brings everyone to- made the decision to go gether, even if it’s for a to the Oregon National brief moment, I relish the Youth Challenge opportunity. from the Guard Program, a boot camp- One of those opportu- style high school. He nities happened last week. capitol originally went to make House Concurrent Reso- By BILL POST up credits, so he could lution 13 honors Private graduate on time, but First Class Ryan J Hill. he ended up completing With the passage of this two and a half years in resolution, the Oregon Department of Transportation will in- fi ve months with an A-minus average. stall a Highway Memorial sign in an It was obvious that he excelled in this approved location with Ryan’s name environment. In July 2005 he left for Fort Ben- on it. The Highway Memorial Pro- gram is a means to honor our fallen ning, GA where he would attend soldiers and take a moment to honor boot camp and AIT and would go on to be assigned to the 1/26th Infantry their sacrifi ce. Ryan was from Keizer, and I’m Division (Big Red One) in Schwein- sure many of you remember him. furt, Germany. In July 2006 Shawna I remember seeing Ryan when he got the call from Ryan that they were worked at Albertson’s. Now, I often deploying to Iraq into a very bad area. go to the PFC Ryan Hill Park in He said to her, “Mom if I come home, God has more for me to do. If I don’t then I’ve fi nished my job.” On Friday January 19, a little af- ter 8 p.m., Shawna got the dreaded knock on the door. Shortly after mid- night in Baghdad, Ryan’s group was making their fi nal patrol of the night. An IED that was command wire det- onated by cowardly insurgents hiding in the shadows would steal this great young man. The unit would come under several hours of heavy fi re and Ryan would be the only Killed in Ac- tion for Charlie Company that night although Ryan was the fi rst among many killed on this deadly day. Ryan had fi nished his job. Freedom is not free, and this week all 60 House members joined togeth- er to honor Ryan’s sacrifi ce. You can read the resolution at olis.leg.state. or.us/liz/2019R1/Measures/Over- view/HCR13 As always, I am honored to serve you in the Oregon Legislature and hope to bring you good news soon about my bill to bring Sudafed prod- ucts back to “behind the counter” and my “Daylight Saving” bill. Both are ready to move to the House/Senate fl oor. (Bill Post represents House District 25. He can be reached at 503- 986- 1425 or via email at rep.billpost@ oregonlegislature.gov.) Time to rethink ‘Best’ honors A fi rmly held view here is that we must help our youth as much as each of us can. This view has its foundation in the fact that at no time in our history have the years of growing up and passing through the teens been more dif- fi cult and challenging than in today’s world. Specifi cally, teenagers go through something of a crisis where they must defi ne and distinguish themselves from other teenagers while simultaneously trying to acquire respect and attention from their fellow teens and the community at large. Rather often, these compar- isons result in deep-seated feelings of inferiority that are exacerbated by the onset of puberty and the social media monster. Teenagers go through their years where the high school they attend usually has a huge infl uence on what they do afterwards and, perhaps most important, how well or poorly they feel about themselves. A high school’s administrators, teachers, counsel- ors, coaches and others are there to help build self-esteem and acquire knowledge, shaping the citizens the teens will become. There is also the surrounding community with its im- pacts. One factor coming mainly from the community is that of media be- stowing athlete of the week, month, year and sport. In the fi rst place, most of these athletes play on a team with several other athletes. Without team members, except in sports where individual competition is the name of the game, the singled-out athlete can’t do it alone and is mightily assisted by fellow team members upon whom he or she depends for success. Then there’s the psychological im- pact having to do with young people given special attention along with re- wards like a trophy or photo and cel- ebration in local media. Meanwhile, other team members are ignored and left to feel inferior. Of course, there’s a lot going on in life where one person is judged superior to oth- ers; however, the “greatest athlete” is magnanimously-based on subjective judgements, biased by political con- siderations and even family wealth and community standing. Bottom line is that this kind of judgement call does not measure up to objectivity. Further, why must some sports writers, coaches and community big shots use a popularity contest to judge who’s the best at anything? If it’s valid, why not judge them as indi- viduals, going on record to make the judgement on who’s best and then take the “heat” for the disagreement (sometimes outrage) thereafter. Youth of high school age do not need another way of feeling bad about themselves when they know they’ve worked at practices and played at ball games just as hard as anyone who receives special attention. Save the applause for later in life when peo- ple acquire a measure of maturity and resignation for their skills and abilities and can accept that they’re not nec- essarily the best at anything but still feel good about attributes like posi- tive parenting and work place accom- plishments. Meanwhile, let’s rid our youth of negative stuff that results in downers and self-loathing vibes. Some might ask, what about the Valedictorian and Salutatorian rec- ognitions? Answer: they’re apolitical, earned and objective-based on aca- demic success. Further, high school students know why they are awarded while they serve to inspire underclass- men and upperclassmen to pay atten- tion in class and study to learn how to make the grade at life, getting a whole lot more out of their four years than a brain injury complements of the gridiron. Tongue in cheek Option 5—Slow streets are safe streets. Convert the center and left lanes into a bicy- cle/skateboard freeway and force all vehicular traffi c to share the sin- gle right lanes. Even without buses and the occasional farm machinery, this would great- ly reduce the speeds of all drivers. They would quickly conclude that it is faster to ride a bike (or walk) than to drive River Road. Thus, we would save lives and the Earth at the same time. Option 6—Overhead sidewalks. As all have undoubtedly noticed, both sides of River Road have innumer- able marijuana and coffee shops. We could economically connect the roofs of these businesses to form elevat- ed walkways. The former street level sidewalks would provide ample space for bicycle/skateboard lanes while we raise pedestrians, joggers, and others above street and driveway hazards. I know what you’re thinking, “How much will all the stairways and ele- vators cost to access the walkways?” The city should provide vouchers which can be redeemed at any of the city’s licensed pot shops. After one or two joints the pedestrian will be high enough to render elevators or stairs unnecessary. David Garvin Keizer gene h. mcintyre letters To the Editor: First, I would like to thank you for the March 22 article regarding River Road and the four options facing the Keizer Traffi c Safety, Bikeways and Pedestri- an Committee (title here). As a Keizer resident for 42 years, I would like to offer two more options: Keizertimes Wheatland Publishing Corp. • 142 Chemawa Road N. • Keizer, Oregon 97303 phone: 503.390.1051 • web: www.keizertimes.com • email: kt@keizertimes.com Lyndon A. Zaitz, Editor & Publisher SUBSCRIPTIONS One year: $25 in Marion County, $33 outside Marion County, $45 outside Oregon PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY Publication No: USPS 679-430 POSTMASTER Send address changes to: Keizertimes Circulation 142 Chemawa Road N. Keizer, OR 97303 Periodical postage paid at Salem, Oregon (Gene H. McIntyre shares his opin- ion regularly in the Keizertimes.) New website in works for Fire District BY MATT RAWLINGS Of the Keizertimes The Keizer Fire District held their monthly board meeting on Tuesday, March 19 to discuss general business, as well as their plans for a new website. In the early stages of the meeting, board member Betty Hart announced that Taylor Russell is now the new president of the Keizer Volunteer Firefi ghter Association. Board members Chet Patterson and Greg Ego, along with Informational Technology Specialist Joshua Ritter, have spent time over the last couple months looking at the KFD website and weighing options on how to go about what changes to make. Patterson acknowledged that the current website meets the general requirements for people that are handicapped. However, Patterson also wants that accessibility to be more prominent on the new website. According to Patterson, the most used source for news and information about KFD is their Facebook page, instead of their website. “We want to distinguish who is visiting our website, or how many people are visiting our website, versus what other information gets out and where do the folks who want information on the fi re district get it,” Patterson said. “It’s going to be an ongoing process internally.” Patterson proposed a couple of different options regarding the website. An elite, more dynamic website would cost $12,000 in the fi rst year. But a more updated website with professional photos and website training available to staff members and volunteers would be budgeted around $6,000 per year — the current website costs $550 to run per year. “I support spending some money to clean it up and get some new pictures, but not a total overhaul,” Ego said. “I don’t think the fi re district lives and dies by the website.” Board member Ron Christopher was also in support of the $6,000 option, but a fi nal decision was not reached. Later in the meeting, Chief Jeff Cowan addressed the fatal mobile home fi re that took the life of 62-year old Mate Mezei on March 3rd. The fi re also badly injured Mezei’s wife, Maria Mezei, as well as neighbor Dan Garcher, who was able to rescue Maria from the fi re. Garcher and Maria Mezei had to be sent to the burn unit at Emmanuel Hospital in Portland. Cowan took a trip to the hospital to personally thank Garcher for his heroism. Cowan also suggested to the board that Garcher should be presented with a life-saving award. In other business: • KFD received $141,500 in ambulance revenue in the month of February. • Chief Cowan will receive his evaluation from the board at the April meeting. PFLAG Celebration PFLAG Salem will celebrate the Transgender Day of Visibility with a special screening of a movie only available on the festival circuit. PFLAG Salem, in collaboration with Willamette University’s Gen- der Resource and Advocacy Cen- ter, will screen The Most Dangerous Year at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 31 in Ford Hall, Room 122, on the willamette University campus. The 2018 documentary high- lights the fi ght families endured for transgender civil rights in Wash- ington State. In 2016, a group of Washington State families with transgender kids joined the fi ght against the wave of discriminatory anti-transgender legislation sweep- ing through the nation and into their home state. With the help of a coalition of state lawmakers and civil rights activists, these families embarked on an uncharted jour- ney of fi ghting to protect and pre- serve their children’s human rights and freedoms in a present-day civil rights movement. The fi lm will be followed by a panel discussion and a Q&A ses- sion. PFLAG Salem is the local chap- ter of the national organization dedicated to supporting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender com- Poster courtesy Marymoor Productions munity. Find out when and where upcoming PFLAG meetings are being held at gaysalem.org. Salem PFLAG is also partnering with Pentacle Theatre for a one- night-only benefi t showing of Yel- low by Del Shores. Tickets to the show on Wednesday, April 17, are being sold at a discount at www. pentacletheatre.org. A portion of the proceeds will benefi t PFLAG Salem. obituaries Submit an obituary through our website at keizertimes.com or send an email to: editor@keizertimes.com Judith A. Whetzel October 10, 1944 – March 14, 2019 Judith A. Whetzel, 74, from Tucson, Arizona, passed away on March 14, 2019, at Grandma’s Angel Hospice home after a long battle with multiple myeloma. She was born on October 10, 1944, in Elkins, West Virginia. She was the daughter of the late Paul and Madalyn Peters. She was the second oldest of three siblings. On April 26, 1969, she married Harry S. Whetzel. Judy graduated from Elkins High School in 1962. After high school, she moved to Washington, D.C., where she was hired by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a clerk. After marrying Harry, who was enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, Judy lived a brief time at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. Later, Harry was reassigned to Elmendorf Air Force Base, Anchorage, Alaska. During this time, Judy worked as a civilian at Elmendorf in their Accounting Division. Several years later, she was hired by the Federal Aviation Administration in their Accounting Division before fi nishing her career as a Special Agent in FAA Security Division. Judy loved to serve people, both in her community, as well as through the various church and military groups. She also shared a never-ending love for her family, especially her three grandsons. In addition, Judy loved the outdoors, especially camping and fi shing in Alaska. Throughout her life she loved to travel. This was particular- ly true in her later years as she took her family on amazing vacations to Alaska, J. Whetzel Canada and Hawaii. She is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Rex and Ruth Peters of Bridgewater, Virginia; sister-in-law, Diane Peters of Elkins, West Virginia; son and daughter-in- law, David and Stephanie Whetzel of Salem, Oregon; and grandchildren, Brennan, Bryce and Brody Whetzel of Salem, Oregon. Judy died on the same day as her husband, Harry (March 14), exactly eight years later. A “Celebration of Life” service is scheduled for Saturday, May 4, 2019, at 11 a.m.. at Salem Alliance Church, 555 Gaines Street in Salem. In lieu of fl owers, the family has suggested that any donations be given to the Society of Military Widows, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, in Tucson, Arizona.
