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PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, NOVEMBER 27, 2020 Public Square Public Square weclomes all points of view. Published submissions do not necessarily refl ect the views of the Keizertimes. Submit a guest opinion, column or letter to the editor to publisher@keizertimes.com. The unintended consequences risks to make sure our kids are safe. By SHANEY STARR Our leaders and experts are do- When this pandemic started and we ing the best they can to navigate went through our fi rst shut down— this health crisis and to fl atten the CASA didn’t close, we didn’t stop. curve and keep COVID-19 from Our offi ce became a distribution taking more lives. But in the sim- and collection site for basic essen- plest of terms, our world has been tials for our foster families—diapers, clothes, wipes, baby food, turned upside down by we even had the elusive this pandemic. People toilet paper and sanitizer. are suffering from pro- When schools closed and longed isolation, fi nan- guest life went virtual, we didn’t. cial instability and food insecurity to name just column We knew someone need- ed to be having eyes on a few challenges. our kids. And our volun- Our children have teers stepped up in a big been robbed of key milestones of their youth. Our way. They donned their masks and homes have become our workspac- gloves, and came up with creative es and our parents are now expected ways to see our most vulnerable to be both teacher and employee at children in person, to make sure the same time. For most of us, our they were safe and thriving. And entire world has now become our sometimes we have had to fi ght to computer screen—everything is ensure our CASAs had access to having eyes on kid—but that’s what now virtual. For those of us who serve at-risk we do—we work tirelessly to ensure and vulnerable children, the past our children are safe and thriving. My ask of you, our communities, eight months—and who knows how much longe—have watched is simple. Have the brainstorming our worst nightmare unfold right conversations in your circle of in- before our very eyes and we feel fl uence about how to get #Eye- completely helpless. The data tells sOnKids and think outside of the us that our mandatory reports of box. Be vigilant. Volunteer with concern for child abuse and ne- organizations that have ways to see glect have decreased by 40% since kids in person (socially distanced the pandemic and subsequent shut- and masked of course). The options downs started because child care are endless: volunteering to be a providers and our schools were our CASA, volunteering to meet tangi- frontline reporters regarding child ble needs for our children in care and supporting our foster families abuse and neglect. Research tells us there is a di- through our Every Child initiative, rect correlation to child abuse and volunteering to sit with children neglect when there is housing in- after they have been removed from security, food insecurity and fi nan- home and while they wait for place- cial stress amongst the top toxic ment. Call me and I will personally stressors. All of those issues existed help connect you with the best way before the pandemic, but now have to help our kids. Most importantly, if you have been exacerbated with the ramifi - cations of dealing with COVID. We concerns about abuse and neglect now have isolation added into the of a child, please call the Oregon mix. Our kids are living in what can Child Abuse Hotline at 1-855-503- only described as a pressure cook- SAFE. Thank you and have a safe er of toxic stress. The perfect storm and blessed Holiday season. is coming—when our schools and (The mission of CASA is to pro- communities begin to fully reopen, vide every child in need with trained, we expect the number of children volunteer advocates to ensure they coming into foster care to surge. are safe, have a permanent home and But until then, the unthinkable the opportunity to thrive. For more is happening—abuse and neglect is information on how to get involved going unreported because we don’t in keeping our children safe, please have in person #EyesOnKids. call Shaney Starr at 503-967-6420.) Shaney Starr, MS, CFRM, is the I was recently asked what gets me up in the morning and what keeps executive director of CASA of Mar- me going—it’s our 150 plus CASAs ion County. that are quite frankly taking personal When the Sa- lem-Keizer school build- ings closed, the Keizer letters Kloset (a project of the foundation) closed with To the Editor: them. That closure did Over the past few not eliminate the need weeks I’ve been reading for Keizer children, and Matt Rawlings’ fi ne column The we continued to answer the call by Top 20 Volcanoes of All Time. My providing donations to our local family and I have enjoyed watching Keizer Community Food Bank and Volcanoes baseball every year since monies directly to the schools, and 1997. Many fi ne ballplayers have then we waited. passed through here. We waited for our school lead- It’s a shame that Major League ers and teachers to determine how Baseball is planning to do away with to move forward in the school year many minor league teams, including and what and how the Keizer Com- the Volcanoes. I hope that we can munity Foundation could do to bring another team to Keizer for support their efforts. our summertime entertainment— We have now heard from some perhaps one of the summer-league of our schools; they need our help. clubs made up of college players, Some local schools have request- on the order of the Portland Pickles ed food drop-offs. We can do that. and Corvallis Knights. What a way We are currently coordinating with to get back in the “swing” of things. school counselors to have food Ken Palke and other personal items available Keizer for them to deliver to students via home visits. We are providing new clothing, blankets, gloves, hats, jackets, and other articles of necessity, for distri- bution to families in need (as deter- To the Editor: On pages 7 and 8 of the Keizer- mined by school counselors). The Keizer Community Foun- times’ Holiday Guide was a list of organizations that may refl ect your dation was proud to contribute to values—where you might want to the second story pole carving in donate your dollars. The Keizer- front of the Keizer Civic Center. times did not list an important local This project had great community Keizer foundation that is seeking support and honored our long-time help right now: the Keizer Com- agricultural history. We have just been informed that munity Foundation. Fan enjoys Top 20 Volcanoes articles Guide missed key non-profi t orginzation Keizertimes Wheatland Publishing Corp. 142 Chemawa Road N. | Keizer, Oregon 97303 Phone: 503.390.1051 | email: kt@keizertimes.com www.keizertimes.com EDITOR & PUBLISHER Lyndon Zaitz publisher@keizertimes.com 2019-2021 President Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association POSTMASTER SUBSCRIPTIONS One year: $35 in Marion County, $43 outside Marion County, $55 outside Oregon Periodical postage paid at Salem, Oregon facebook.com/keizertimes Send address changes to: Keizertimes Circulation 142 Chemawa Road N. Keizer, OR 97303 PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY Publication No: USPS 679-430 twitter.com/keizertimes Defi ance is not leadership could see that mom and dad with By JOHN MORGAN Keizer’s mayor, Cathy Clark, ex- their big holiday celebration are vi- pressed at the Nov. 16 city council olating those orders. I wonder if the meeting that she is “extremely con- fear a few of those children may be cerned” and “deeply disturbed” (her experiencing comes from being words, not mine). She believes that worried about getting a potentially there are children out there living deadly disease or that grandma and in fear that instead of grandma and grandpa or mom and dad might be- grandpa showing up for Thanksgiv- come sick with COVID and die, just as so many already have. ing dinner, it will be the po- It would not make for lice coming to arrest mom a Merry Christmas. In and dad. other less than one year over I suppose it is possible a quarter of a million that some of these fearful voices Americans have died children envision a SWAT from the coronavirus. team breaking down the With infection rates, front door, with guns drawn, coming to cite, and even pos- hospitalizations and deaths from sibly to arrest those violating Gov- COVID exploding across the coun- ern Kate Brown’s most recent orders try, deaths from COVID will exceed which are designed to help slow by fi ve times the number of US the spread of COVID-19 in Ore- soldiers killed in the Vietnam War. gon. Orders that Mayor Clark sees I certainly hope that Mayor Clark as “borderline harassment.” The city is equally concerned about the fi rst manager’s assurance that this would responders, the nurses and doctors, not be happening seems to not have working to the point of physical and helped alleviate her state of being mental exhaustion, from not just try- ing to save the lives of those dying deeply disturbed. Anyone who has ever raised from COVID, but sadly also from children surely knows that they are trying to console those who cannot incredible observers of the world visit loved ones in the ICU who are around them. It is very possible that slowly suffocating to death. At that same council meeting, some have heard about the gover- nor’s new restrictions, and if they are state Rep. Bill Post felt the need to old enough to count higher than six, encourage people to ignore Gov- ernor Brown’s latest order and cel- ebrate in “freedom.” What type of freedom is there when one is in the ICU hooked up to a ventilator? What about the freedom of those working in a COVID ward at the hospital, liv- ing in constant fear of either ending up in a bed next to one of the pa- tients they are desperately trying to save, or of infecting a family member when they return home from work? It is extremely dangerous to dis- courage people from following Gov- ernor Brown’s new COVID-19 re- strictions, restrictions that have been proven worldwide to help. Anyone, and especially an elected offi cial with a public platform, who does so, in some confused conviction about constitutional rights, is directly re- sponsible for the continued spread of this deadly virus. Instead of helping us to all pull together in this fi nal stretch, with a vaccine on the hori- zon, which is what any good leader would instinctively do, they further spread division among us, and guar- antee that many more Americans will unnecessarily contract COVID, become severely ill and possibly die. That type of political leadership is not something to be thankful of, but rather should be stopped. (John Morgan lives in Keizer.) My testimony before city council [Delivered at Nov. 16 Keizer Ciy a moment. There are people present here tonight who represent families Council meeting] Madam Mayor, councilors and that have six or eight, or even 10 or 12 or more. To ask them to not get Keizer city staff,: First of all I want to address the together for the grand celebration ongoing issue of the “statement of that is Thanksgiving, is something I value.” I believe the statement of val- can’t believe I’m even hearing. It’s ues for our great city should be very not only unconstitutional, and un- heard of but in my estimation, it rep- clear, very concise and very simple. resents inequality and “All people shall be inequity at its most hei- treated with dignity and nous and isn’t that what respect.” Period. the statement of values All means all. If we must that’s been discussed resort to listing specif- here in council cham- ic people or groups, then bers is supposed to be “all” loses its meaning and all about? strength. I believe Keizer Add to that the is the most “welcoming plight of the work- to all” city in Oregon and ers. That hundreds, if I’m proud to be a Keizer not thousands, of hard resident. working, lower wage This then leads me to perhaps as ear- the topic that is the most from the people, ly as this Wednesday important tonight that we will lose their jobs is as citizens of Keizer and capitol so heartless and callous, the state of Oregon should By BILL POST I can hardly believe it. be discussing: The gover- What also stuns me, as nor’s latest orders. a representative in the No government leader Oregon Legislature, is in the history of the Unit- ed States has ever said “we’ll come to the Executive branch has “weapon- your house, your private home, cite ized” a state agency, Oregon Health and/or arrest you” for having a fam- Authority (OHA,) without input, or ily dinner. Just think about that for frankly anything from the Legislative branch. OHA has “police powers” that even supersede the real police! Our governor has turned Orego- nians against Oregonians. I do not want to put the city of Keizer into an awkward or uncom- fortable situation but I am asking the council to consider making Keizer a truly welcoming place for work- ers and employers. For businesses. For families. I am asking that we as a community just ignore this latest order. That Keizer be a shining ex- ample of hope for Oregon. I am asking my fellow Keizerites to be smart. Wear your mask when appropriate. Keep your distance when you can. Cover your mouth when coughing. Wash your hands—a lot. Do the things that we all know are safe and effective at stopping the spread of this virus. Just don’t let that common sense go out the win- dow by not having your family and friends over for dinner. Celebrate Thanksgiving as you see fi t and as the founders of this nation meant: in freedom. November 20, 2020 Keizertimes: Surviving new COVID restric- tions wisely supports a health/sci- ence-based approach for us in re- sponding to the COVID pandemic. The second editorial, We can still be thankful regardless of 2020 gets to the heart of what is most import- ant to us during the holidays: being thankful for what we have; family, friends and the wonderful place we live. We do not need to be together in person to know the love that we feel for each other. Zaitz mentions several alternatives. In sharp contrast to uniting as a community in a safe and emotion- ally connected way, Bill Post urged citizens to defy Governor Kate Brown’s freeze orders. His action smacks of political grandstanding at the expense of lives. Dividing citizens in political camps does not build a stronger community. It de- stroys trust in our institutions and each other. He speaks of “freedom,” but his selfi sh version is at the ex- pense of other people. Mayor Cathy Clark increased already high anxiety in the Keizer community by implying the state freeze puts families gathering for Thanksgiving at risk of arrest. I must have more faith in the judg- ment of the Keizer police than the mayor. Our Keizer police also have families and they have a good sense for what is important and how to enforce our laws. This holiday season will be dif- ferent, but it can be special. With the challenges our world faces, gen- erosity to families, organizations and small businesses in need are a mean- ingful way to reach out and show you care. Together, let us unite in positive actions in Keizer. Cathey Philbrick Keizer Keizer is able to add an addition- al sculpture to our collection along River Road. The sculpture is an eagle that will be installed on the northeast corner of the Chemawa/ River Road intersection in ear- ly 2021. The Keizer Community Foundation will contribute to this project by supplying the artist’s sti- pend. This crisis hasn’t stopped and neither have we. If you value your community, its children and its cul- ture, please consider helping us. Please visit our website, keizer- communityfoundation.com. Or, visit our Facebook page at face- book.com/keizercommunityfoun- dation. Audrey Butler Keizer (Audrey Butler is president of the Keizer Community Foundation). Council meeting left reader disappointed To the Editor: I am absolutely appalled and dis- appointed at what I witnessed at the November 16, 2020 City Council meeting. Our elected offi cials openly de- fying the governor’s request to “freeze” some activities for two weeks to try and get our soaring COVID numbers back down, done at the urging of the hospitals and medical community. Representative Bill Post and Mayor Cathy Clark (she has a mas- ters degree in science and should know better) are playing politics with their constituents health. Once again we witness party over people. How very sad. Carol Doerfl er Keizer Editorials struck the right points To the Editor: Kudos to Lyndon Zaitz for two editorial articles he wrote for the (Bill Post represents House Dis- trict 25. He can be reached at 503- 986- 1425 or via email at rep.bill- post@oregonlegislature.gov.) Share your opinion Submit a letter to the editor, or a guest column by noon Tuesday . Email to: publisher@keizertimes.com sudoku Enter digits from 1-9 into the blank spac- es. Every row must contain one of each digit. So must every column, as must every 3x3 square.
