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
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(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.