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SATURDAY EDITION
❘ SEPTEMBER 10, 2016
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
RYAN CRONK , EDITOR
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
Opinion
YESTERDAY’S NEWS
MOMENTS IN TIME
The History Channel
• On Sept. 18, 1793, George Washington
lays the cornerstone to the United States
Capitol. The building would take nearly a cen-
tury to complete, as architects came and went,
the British set fire to it, and it was called into
use during the Civil War.
• On Sept. 16, 1908, Buick Motor Company
head William Durant spends $2,000 to incorpo-
rate General Motors. Durant made his fortune
building horse-drawn carriages, and in fact he
hated cars — he thought they were noisy,
smelly and dangerous.
• On Sept. 14, 1927, dancer Isadora Duncan
is strangled in France when the enormous silk
scarf she is wearing gets tangled in the rear
hubcaps of her open car. The scarf wound
around the axle, tightening around Duncan’s
neck and dragging her from the car. She died
instantly.
Voters to decide city tax on marijuana
he Florence City Council
has approved placing a pro-
posed tax on the sale of
recreational marijuana and related
items on the Nov. 8, 2016, ballot.
The measure will give voters the
opportunity to approve or disapprove a pro-
posed city tax on the sale of recreational mari-
juana and related items in the City of
Florence.
Recreational marijuana was legalized by
Measure 91, passed by the voters in
November 2014, so this ballot measure is not
about legalizing sales of marijuana in the city.
Recreational marijuana sales have been
allowed in the city since October 2015 but are
T
only, and no tax will be imposed
on medical marijuana.
If the measure is adopted by
voters, the city would impose a 3
percent city tax on top of the
already existing 17 percent state
tax, making the total tax 20 percent
within Florence city limits.
Revenue collected from the tax
would be available for the city to
use for any purpose, including pub-
GUEST VIEWPOINT
B Y J OE H ENRY
Florence Mayor
limited to certain areas of the
city.
If adopted by the voters, this
measure will allow the City
Council to set the amount of
the city tax not to exceed the amount
allowed by state law, which is currently
capped at 3 percent of the retail price of the
marijuana item.
The tax would be on recreational items
lic safety.
The Florence City Council has reached con-
sensus that this is an appropriate measure
given the uncertainty of how the marijuana
industry will affect the City of Florence.
LETTERS
Generous Florence
We recently hosted our annual
Community Coat and Hoodie
Giveaway. It was a success, partly
due to the generosity of local resi-
dents’ donations of new or slightly
used items.
They were needed and appreci-
ated by us, as well as the many
folks that stopped by to “shop.”
The remaining items were donated
to Siuslaw Outreach Services.
We’re excited as we begin to
stock up for next year’s giveaway.
Thanks again to all who blessed us
as we, hopefully, blessed others.
See you next year!
Janet Lewis
Florence Foursquare Church
A sabotaged
economy
We have been hearing a lot
recently about politicians lying.
One lie dwarfs all.
“It’s Obama’s economy,” we
hear Republican flaks repeat. “He’s
botched it. We will create jobs,
grow the economy!”
They count on our lack of atten-
tion to or memory of important
political/economic events of the
past decade.
How many of you actually recall
the major 2008 GOP-induced eco-
nomic meltdown and, afterward,
how the GOP obstructed the
President and the Democratic
House and Senate’s attempts to
stimulate the economy?
In the first two years of Obama’s
presidency, Mitch McConnell
repeatedly used the Senate rule that
a minimum of 60 votes were
required to defeat the filibuster of
any bill brought to the Senate floor
for a vote.
During most of those two years
the Senate consisted of 58
Democrats, 40 Republicans and
two independents. Several of those
58 Democratic senators voted con-
sistently with the Republicans. To
reach the 60 vote threshold,
Democrats had to gain the support
of the two independents (one of
them Democrat turncoat Joe
Lieberman) and at least two or
three “moderate” Republicans.
The Affordable Care Act
(“Obama Care”), the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(the “stimulus package”) and the
Wall Street Reform Act (which
included the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau) managed to slip
through after Democrats made bill-
weakening concessions.
Virtually everything else passed
by the Democratic Party-controlled
House was successfully filibus-
tered. By the end of 2014, the GOP
Senate had used the filibuster rule
over 500 times.
Here are a few of the bills — all
of which would have benefited
working class Americans — that
McConnell’s minions stopped:
infrastructure building; equal pay
for women; an increased minimum
wage; stoppage of corporate tax
breaks for moving jobs and pro-
duction facilities out of the coun-
try; a rehiring of 400,000 teachers,
firefighters, paramedics and police
officers; student loan reform; an
extension of unemployment bene-
fits for the long-term unemployed;
legislation to help working people
join labor unions; the requirement
that millionaires pay a comparable
tax rate to middle-class Americans
and the repeal of Big Oil tax subsi-
dies.
When the Republicans won con-
trol of the House in 2010, President
Obama’s hopes for improving the
lot of ordinary Americans were
dashed.
Everything the GOP-controlled
House thereafter passed was
designed either to profit large cor-
porations and the super wealthy or
weaken the support system for des-
titute Americans. Additionally,
GOP House and Senate leaders
sought to acquire what they wanted
by shutting down once and later
threatening to shut down the opera-
tions of the government.
For seven and a half years the
Republican Party has sabotaged the
national economy all the while pre-
suming that it could win national
elections by pinning the blame for
stunted recovery on Congressional
Democrats and our President.
Liars.
Harold Titus
Florence
Councilor vows city
transparency
On Saturday, Sept. 3, Florence
City Councilor Joshua Greene con-
ducted an informational session at
the Florentine Center. He elaborat-
ed on future plans being considered
by the city and the arts council to
improve and develop the Old Town
portion of the city of Florence.
To have the citizens aware and
involved is a goal that all politi-
cians should have. Thank you, Mr.
Greene.
Rod Stowe
Florence
• On Sept. 17, 1965, four adventurous
Englishmen arrive at the Frankfurt Motor Show
in Germany after crossing the English Channel
by Amphicar, an amphibious passenger car
powered by a 43-horsepower Triumph Herald
engine. Despite choppy waters and a flooded
engine, the two vehicles made the crossing in
about seven hours.
• On Sept. 15, 1978, boxer Muhammad Ali
(born Cassius Marcellus Clay) defeats Leon
Spinks to regain the world heavyweight boxing
title. Ali had first won the title in 1964 at age
22, defeating Sonny Liston.
• On Sept. 12, 1993, the rebuilt Lacey V.
Murrow Bridge over Lake Washington opens in
Seattle. The old bridge was almost 2 miles long
and floated on more than 20 hollow concrete
pontoons. During repairs in 1990, the bridge
broke apart and sank.
• On Sept. 13, 2004, TV talk-show host
Oprah Winfrey gives a brand-new Pontiac G-6
sedan, worth $28,500, to all 276 members of
her studio audience. However, the winners
were left with a large bill: up to $6,000 in fed-
eral and state income taxes.
(c) 2016 King Features Synd., Inc.
L ETTERS TO THE
E DITOR P OLICY
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Letters are subject to editing for length,
grammar and clarity. Publication of any letter
is not guaranteed and depends on space
available and the volume of letters received.
Libelous and anonymous letters as well
as poetry will not be published.
All submissions become the property of
Siuslaw News and will not be returned.
Write to:
Editor@TheSiuslawNews.com
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WHERE TO WRITE
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Postmaster, send address changes to: Siuslaw News, P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR 97439; phone 541-997-3441; fax
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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