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SATURDAY EDITION
❘ MAY 7, 2016
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
RYAN CRONK , EDITOR
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
Opinion
LETTERS
YESTERDAY’S NEWS
Unanswered questions
The Siuslaw School District wants the resi-
dential property owners of Florence to
approve a $36.9 million bond issue for the
construction of a new school.
The bond will be for 25 years. If we assume
a favorable rate of 4 percent, then the school
will spend $36.9 million for the new school
and an estimated $21.5 million in bank inter-
est over the life of the bond; total expenditure:
$58.4 million.
I recommend we disapprove it for now.
What troubles me is the lack of information
provided to the taxpayers by the school board.
I have unanswered questions.
1. If my property’s assessed rate continues
to go up each year, as it has for the past six,
what happens to that additional money the
school board receives?
2. Is the school board required to apply all
new funds received as a result of this increase
to the bond issue?
3. Does the increase cease when the bond
issue is paid off or does it just continue for 25
years?
4. Is this increase in fact limited to 25
years?
5. Is the school board asserting their 100
percent confidence that there will be no cost
overruns?
6. Is the school board allowed to increase
the money spent on the school without voter
approval?
7. Is there a contractual document that binds
the school board’s actions regarding the use of
these new funds?
Florence is not a typical city, it is a retire-
ment community with a large number of peo-
ple on a fixed income. Not a year has gone by
since we moved here in 2009 that there has not
been an increase in fees or taxes by fire, res-
cue, schools, Florence city, Port of Siuslaw,
FURA or some other authority who is dipping
into my pocket.
I don’t like the fait accompli manner in
which this has been handled by the school
board.
Joseph Wise
Florence
Viking school bond
Florence does not need a $36 million Taj
Mahal. Seems the people who drew up plans
are only interested in making a fat profit for
themselves, not the interest of the local tax-
payers.
More than half the people who live here
are retired on fixed incomes. Some are in
good shape money wise, others like myself
are not. There are not a lot of high-paying
jobs in this town, which makes a lot of
renters who don’t pay taxes.
The school board does not make good
sense. They should have invited all the con-
tractors and working and retired builders to
try and figure out how to reinforce the
existing buildings with masonry and steel
panels for structural and seismic shear for
existing walls. The slabs don’t need
removal and the existing concrete sits on
solid soil. New construction would be on
fill and take years to settle.
Add new insulated glass, new paint, floor
cover where needed, solar panels for elec-
tricity savings and a new dining hall close to
the courtyard, which could be built on the
east side of the basketball gym, using an
existing wall that would save a lot of money.
It could have skylights to make it a cheerful
place to eat and meet and access the existing
bathrooms, cleaned up and painted.
I have paid property taxes for over 26
years here. I don’t get much for my tax dol-
lars from the county, mostly the road crew
who do a good job, fire department and
ambulance. I vote no on this overpriced
boondoggle by the school board.
John Hans
Florence
EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
MOMENTS IN TIME
The History Channel
On May 9, 1671, in London, Thomas
Blood, an Irish adventurer known as “Captain
Blood,” is captured trying to steal the Crown
Jewels from the Tower of London. King
Charles was so impressed that he made Blood a
member of his court with an annual pension.
On May 10, 1869, the presidents of the
Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads
meet in Utah and drive a ceremonial last spike
into a rail line, making transcontinental rail
travel possible for the first time.
Voting for new school
The most important group in the whole
school election is the kids. When I was in
school faced with a similar issue, “if the adults
did not care about my welfare and education,
why then should I care,” and many kids
agreed. It was very depressing to our spirit.
Ann Moseley
Florence
Thank you, educators
I want to commend our local teachers for
doing so much with their limited resources. Our
teachers, volunteers and coaches are so cre-
ative. Educating 400-plus kids in a facility that
was designed to house 275 is no easy task.
Kudos for having kids in the science labs
wait their turn to conduct experiments because
the lab stations can only handle half the number
of kids in the class. A special kudos to the
school board member who brought in portable
bunsen burners because the district cannot
cover the cost of repairing the gas tank.
Hats off to the physical education teachers
and coaches who are able to teach a group of 25
to 30 in a weightlifting class by having them lift
outdoors and in the rain because the weight
room can only hold 10 to 12 at a time safely.
I also want to express my gratitude to the vis-
iting teams who come to play basketball at
Siuslaw High School. Your willingness to dress
down in one of the classrooms because the
locker rooms cannot accommodate both teams
at the same time is much appreciated.
Let’s not forget thanking the students for
doing as well as they can with the technology
they have. They use a Wi-Fi system that is
unreliable because it is an old system and not
up to speed with the latest standards.
A big thanks goes out to the administrators
and the cafeteria staff for not letting the fact that
the high school was built without a cafeteria
stop them from feeding the kids. Your creativi-
ty in bringing in portable warmers with food
prepared at one of the other schools is com-
mendable. I want to thank those students who
are willing to eat on the floor or benches
because there is not enough table seating.
I understand your struggles. I have heard
some tell me that “$39 million is too much!”
Well then, I wonder what they think is enough.
I wish they understood construction costs and
that it’s not only bricks and mortar, but all that
must go in it as well as meet the seismic stan-
dards required. Some have said to me, “I do not
want to pay more taxes.” I agree. I do not want
to pay more taxes either. Then I remember that
we are only talking about a slight annual
increase for a couple years because of the short
overlap from paying off the bond for the other
buildings in the school district.
We can gripe about how poorly the building
was designed or about the limited resources.
However, griping does not educate our students
nor provide them with the resources to be com-
petitive in today’s employment market.
I wonder, if we as a community are telling
our students, teachers and administrators to
adapt to an ever-changing world, well then,
why can’t we as a community?
Bob Teter
Florence
Elect Judge Brissenden
Rick Brissenden, Florence Municipal Court
Judge for over 15 years, was appointed to offi-
cially replace the retiring Lane County Justice
of the Peace beginning March 1, 2016.
Judge Brissenden was able to fill the position
easily. Judge Brissenden will remain in that
position through December 2016, no matter
who is elected to the position.
Since Judge Brissenden will have been the
Lane County Justice of the Peace for almost a
year, why would we want to change him out for
someone who is not even a lawyer?
The state legislature almost outlawed citi-
zen-JPs this past year, as not qualified to ful-
fill the ever-more complicated Justice of the
Peace duties. The eastern Oregon counties
blocked the ban; it really is a hang over from
the Old West when any citizen could “admin-
ister” justice.
A compromise was made to require citizen-
JPs to complete 30 hours of schooling, most
likely in another state, at taxpayer expense.
This “education” is a far cry from the 15 years
of experience as a Lane County Judge that
Judge Brissenden already has.
I wouldn’t hire Judge Brissenden to wire my
house for electricity — I want a licensed elec-
trician. If I have an animal control violation, I
don’t want to run into my judge at the store
every day. Isn’t it a conflict of interest, if the
judge knows one or both of the parties in a
case? Is it a good idea to have a citizen-JP who
knows everyone in town?
Judge Brissenden has worked well with local
law enforcement for over 15 years; he has lis-
tened carefully to offenders, even writing per-
sonal letters to them. He is already familiar
with search warrant and charging procedures,
and won’t have to “check the book” in the mid-
dle of the night when those calls come in.
In conversation with Judge Brissenden, he
was excited about ideas for ways to extend
services to the Oakridge and east county folks
who have lost their local JP; for example,
bringing mediation services as an option for
small claims cases or landlord-tenant disputes
in Oakridge.
Lane County is the same size as the state of
Connecticut. Do the other candidates have
ideas for improving service to the rest of their
constituents outside Florence, and the proven
skill to implement them?
Please join me in voting for Judge Rick
Brissenden for Lane County Justice of the
Peace, the only logical choice.
Eugene Bukowski
Florence
On May 11, 1934, a massive storm sends
350 million tons of topsoil flying across the
parched Great Plains as far east as New York.
Even ships some 300 miles offshore saw dust
collect on their decks.
On May 15, 1942, legislation creating the
Women’s Army Corps becomes law, granting
women official military status. However, it
would not be until 1980 that 16,000 women
who had joined the early WACs would receive
veterans’ benefits.
On May 12, 1975, the American freighter
Mayaguez is captured by communist govern-
ment forces in Cambodia. In response,
President Gerald Ford ordered the bombing of
the Cambodian port where the gunboats had
come from. Forty-one Americans died, most of
them in an accidental explosion during the
attack.
On May 13, 1985, in Philadelphia, police
drop a small bomb on the roof of a row house
on Osage Avenue in an attempt to end a stand-
off with the radical cult group MOVE. The
explosion sparked a fire that killed 11 people
and burned down 61 homes.
On May 14, 1999, President Bill Clinton
apologizes directly to Chinese President Jiang
Zemin on the phone for the accidental NATO
bombing of the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia.
The Chinese president had refused to accept a
phone call from Clinton for four days.
(c) 2016 King Features Synd., Inc.
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Pres. Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments: 202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line 503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email:
Sen.ArnieRoblan@state.or.us
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753/FAX: 202-228-3997
541-465-6750
State Rep. Caddy McKeown
(Dist. 9)
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email:
rep.caddymckeown@state.or.us
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (4th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416/ 800-944-9603
541-269-2609/ 541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan (Dist. 5)
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
West Lane County Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email:
Jay.Bozievich@co.lane.or.us