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