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About The Hood River news. (Hood River, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (May 2, 2015)
A4 V IEWPOINT Hood River News, Saturday, May 2, 2015 JOE PETSHOW Publisher/President, Eagle Newspapers, Inc. CHELSEA MARR General Manager JODY THOMPSON Advertising Manager DICK NAFSINGER Publisher, Emeritus (1933-2011) TOM LANCTOT Past President, Eagle Newspapers, Inc. KIRBY NEUMANN-REA Editor TONY METHVIN Columbia Gorge Press Manager DAVID MARVIN Production Manager Subscription $42 per year in Hood River trade area. $68 outside trade area. NATIONAL NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION Printed on OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION recycled paper. Official Newspaper, City of Hood River and Hood River County Published Every Wednesday & Saturday by Hood River News, P.O. Box 390, Hood River, Oregon 97031 • (541) 386-1234 • FAX 386-6796 Member of the Associated Press PERS rides in O ur readers write State should deal with it before the next Session T he State of Oregon might look at Friday’s worri- some news on PERS as an opportunity. The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a key part of the Legislature’s 2013 overhaul of the Pub- lic Employees Retirement System is unconstitu- tional. The court overruled the Legislature’s plan to re- duce cost of living adjustments on retirement benefits earned before the state altered the public pension system. This could amount to a potential increase of about $800 million in benefits that public agencies would have to pay out in 2017-19. Oregon School Boards Association said in a statement Friday that, “Unless the state Legislature takes action, those projected rate increases would continue to add sig- nificant costs to schools and other government agencies well past 2019, the fiscal office projects.” Jim Green, deputy executive director of the Oregon School Boards Association, said he is hopeful that legisla- tors will act swiftly to mitigate the financial blow schools are facing for 2017 and beyond. “Figures of this magnitude have a direct effect on the quality of education Oregon schools can offer,” Green said. “Unless we can find a solution — and soon — our schools will face the very real prospect of teacher layoffs and cut- ting school days.” It seems clear that schools and other public services will be looking at significant budget impacts starting in 2017. How you look at PERS comes down to what is a stronger argument: ■ “Oregon cannot afford to shortchange its students. Our state economy depends on a thriving education sys- tem,” Green said. ■ PERS pensions are for public servants, “the people who educate our children, care for elderly and keep us safe,” said the public employees’ attorney, Greg Hartman, according to an Oregonian newspaper report. However, the question remains: since when is guaran- teed money for anything still a universal assumption? There was more expected in the bargain by all state agen- cies whose missions are to teach, care and protect, before our states’ 10-year (and counting) run of budget cut years. The expansion of PERS is a looming presence that pub- lic agencies have kept at bay but dreaded to see return, over the past 5-6 years. Now it appears that PERS is back, like the gang that got headed off at the pass in 2013 but found its way into town in 2015. This is no simple matter, and legislators are breathing a sigh of relief that the court ruling won’t affect the 2015-17 biennial budget it just approved. But the PERS fight is not that far off, and the State should find a way to forge a fix well before the 2016 session. The governor should convene a blue ribbon commis- sion to come up with a strategy to at least reduce the dras- tic cutbacks facing schools and other services. Deal with it before the next session, so the conversation on strategy is in place before the necessary numbers dis- cussion that will ultimately drive the entire issue. Not in Oregon The proposed Nestlé bottling plant in Cascade Locks is not aligned with the progressive envi- ronmental ideals that the state of Oregon embodies. While being sen- sitive to the economic frustrations of the town and the need to in- crease tax revenue for the small community, Oregon needs to help such communities develop meth- ods of doing so in ways that are truly sustainable and progressive for future generations of Oregon citizens. For Oregon to “sell its soul” to a corporation such as Nestlé, who has no vested interest in our values around environmen- tal stewardship, is a maneuver that Oregon will come to regret should this pass. Taking water out of our ecosystem to put in a plastic bottle and sell for a profit is not among the progressive Oregon ideas that I referred to earlier, especially at a time when we see a reduced snow- pack on our nearest volcano and our southern neighboring state is dealing with fallout from signifi- cant drought conditions and are living with water restrictions. Mc- Cloud, Calif., did the right thing by keeping Nestlé out, with the only problem being that Nestlé thought Oregon would be more willing to oblige. Governor Brown’s leadership on this matter is critical especially at a time when the Oregon Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife is appar- ently attempting to clear the path for Nestlé to sequester water from our ecosystem. I mistakenly as- sumed that our own state agency (ODFW) would act as a protector of this most important natural re- source and would not be in the business of making back room deals to hand off our resources to a profiteering corporation based on another continent. Instead of being the governor that helps secure the first bottling plant of its kind in the Pacific Northwest with all of its accompa- nying ills, be the governor that sus- tains Oregon’s natural resource fu- ture by telling Nestlé that giving away our water for corporate prof- it is not congruent with Oregon’s progressive stewardship. Nathan Smith Hood River Pass Trade act Duckwall Fruit was established in 1919, and has been a leading ex- porter of fresh pears to customers across the world. In fact, we estab- lished our first overseas business partnership in the 1920s with a small importer based in Stock- holm, Sweden. Today, we continue to export our pears to Sweden and many countries throughout the world. When we sell our fruit, we can proudly state it was grown in the Hood River Valley of Oregon. For our business to continue to grow and thrive, we need to contin- ue selling our agriculture products overseas. That means we need new trade deals that open up markets to W HERE TO WRITE President — Barack Obama, White House, 1600 Pennsylva- nia Ave., Washington D.C., 20500 E-mail: president@whitehouse.gov U.S. Senators — Jeff Merkley, SDB-40B, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington D.C., 20510. Phone: 202-224-3753; E-mail: oregon@merkley.senate.gov; Ron Wyden, 717 Hart Office Build- ing, Washington D.C., 20510. Phone: 202-224-5244. Web address: www.senate.gov/member/or/wyden/general/ 2nd Congressional District Representative — Greg Walden, 14 N. Central Ave., Suite 112, Medford, OR 97504. Phone: 541-776-4646; E-mail: www.walden.house.gov/contactgreg Chelsea Marr General Manager CMarr@hoodrivernews.com Founded in 1905 419 State Street Hood River, OR 97031 P.O. Box 390 Phone: (541) 386-1234 Operations: Joe Petshow Publisher President, Eagle Newspapers JPetshow@hoodrivernews.com Chris Stenberg Bookkeeper CStenberg@hoodrivernews.com Front Office/ Classified Advertising: Kelly Gallagher Eagle Classified Director KGallagher@eaglenewspapers.com Stacey Methvin Classifieds/Receptionist HRNClass@hoodrivernews.com SMethvin@hoodrivernews.com Circulation: Esther K. Smith Circulation Manager (541) 386-1234 Ext. 205 ESmith@hoodrivernews.com News: Kirby Neumann-Rea Editor HRNews@hoodrivernews.com Ben Mitchell News/Features BenMitchell@hoodrivernews.com Oregon businesses. I applaud Sena- tor Wyden for the work he has done to date supporting Trade Promo- tion. Duckwall Fruit has been trad- ing with countries for almost one hundred years. We want to contin- ue selling our great produce for an- other one hundred, and that is why we need Congress to pass Trade Promotion Authority. Fred Duckwall President, Duckwall Fruit Hood River For Fenner I am writing to ask you to vote for Guy Fenner for Columbia Gorge Community College (CGCC) Board of Education. Most of you are aware that the fi- nances of our community college are a disaster. The Board has been unresponsive to the questions, input, and grievances from staff and faculty and students. Their “solution” to the financial situa- tion is to cut student services and class offerings, and to raise tuition. How can they be trusted to navi- gate the future of our community college education when they have been irresponsible with the past? Guy is promising to be thought- ful and responsive to communica- tion from the individuals most af- fected by the current financial en- vironment at the school. He is com- mitted to Hood River and to the provision of an excellent commu- nity college for our students. This college is an amazing resource for Hood River! He is ready to provide new leadership and ideas. It is time to support him and others like him. Sudeep Burman Hood River Special thanks Our son, Brian McClure, died on April 9 while biking on the Dog River Trail. He was a resident of Hood River and Parkdale for many years and loved the area. We want to thank the Hood River police de- partment, especially Deputy Mark Smith, for the efforts they made to secure his possessions and his car and to guide us through the diffi- cult process of recovering it. Also we are grateful to the Parkdale vol- unteer fire department in their ef- forts. We were shown nothing but kindness and compassion from everyone we dealt with. You have a wonderful town and we will never forget how well we were treated. Delbert and Marie McClure Bellevue, Wash. ‘David and Goliath’ In order for the Republican pres- idential candidate to actually win the 2016 election … he or she must stress and overemphasize a new “David and Goliath” approach. In this day and age, the Republican nominee has to not only go up For North, Behrmann Please note: Next week, when you receive your mail in ballot, ‘’scroll’’ down to: Hood River Coun- ty Transportation District ... Note ... Vote for three. I endorse two candidates for Co- lumbia Area Transit Board of Di- rector’s positions: Theresa North, whose name will appear on the bal- lot, and Otto Behrmann, whose name won’t appear and must be en- tered as a write-in candidate. Therefore, below Theresa’s name, write in the name Otto Behrmann on the blank line, then fill in the circle. (Otto also applied for the Board position that we chose Theresa to fulfill. He still desires to become a board member.) Otto Behrmann’s “Life Profile’’: Retired; lived in Oregon for 47 years (8 in Hood River); holds a de- gree in Mechanical Engineering; living in New York City taught Otto the value of ‘’public transporta- tion.’’ Work/volunteer services in- clude: Worked with Reedsport City Council on their water system, then as their coordinator with ODOT to lay out a bicycle path through their town; SMART volun- teer in Albany and Hood River; Vol- unteer for FISH. Please join with me supporting Otto and Theresa for the CAT Board of Directors positions. Alan Winans Hood River Vinyl here in the Gorge Hooray for you — so glad you ap- preciate vinyl LPs — so glad you love music. Here we are in an area that en- courages community and support- ing local businesses, and all you could come up with for a local source for vinyl LPs is a couple of thrift shops in Hood River and a photo of a record store in Eugene, no less. When right here in the Gorge we have an amazing source for vinyl and CDs — Yesterday and Today Records in The Dalles for 25 years — but oops, it’s not Hood River, is it. You need to get out in your com- munity, news editor. Karen Becker Smith Lyle, Wash. Trisha Walker News/Features TWalker@hoodrivernews.com Liana Stegall Advertising Sales LStegall@hoodrivernews.com LisaAnn Kawachi News/Features LKawachi@hoodrivernews.com Kirsten Lane Advertising Sales KLane@hoodrivernews.com Patrick Mulvihill News/Features PMulvihill@hoodrivernews.com Ailene Hibbard Archivist Advertising: Jim Drake Entertainment JDrake@hoodrivernews.com against the Democrat candidate, but also the large as a barge main- stream media, who were impres- sively instrumental in reserving an Oval Office positon in 2008 and 2012. I believe this “David and Go- liath” approach repeatedly and forcefully expressed might actually awaken the low information vot- ers, who get most of their knowl- edge from the likes of Jon Stewart, David Letterman and other late night celebrities. Bill Davis Hood River Jody Thompson Advertising Manager JThompson@hoodrivernews.com Production: 419 State Street Hood River, OR 97031 P.O. Box 390 Phone: (541) 386-1234 David Marvin Production Manager DMarvin@hoodrivernews.com Tony Methvin Plant Manager (541) 386-1234 TMethvin@columbiagorgepress.com Jim Drake Production JDrake@hoodrivernews.com Sarah Methvin Sales/Customer Service SDMethvin@columbiagorgepress.com Lisa Becharas Commercial Printing LBecharas@columbiagorgepress.com
