4 A
❘
SATURDAY EDITION
❘ MAY 6, 2017
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
Opinion
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
The First Amendment
C
ongress shall make no law respecting an estab-
lishment of religion or prohibiting the free exer-
cise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of
the press, or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a
redress of grievances.
LETTERS
I GNORE CAMPAIGN ADS ,
LISTEN TO CANDIDATES
Florence area voters who didn’t hear the
KCST Our Town Candidates Forum Wednesday
(May 3) or the rebroadcast Thursday should
watch the video online at www.Siuslaw
News.com.
During the second and third hours, host Bob
Sneddon skillfully questioned candidates in the
most controversial races — for ambulance dis-
trict, fire/rescue, and port commission boards
— and revealed substantive dramas not men-
tioned in campaign ads or endorsements.
Board decisions to dismiss the current fire
chief without cause, then re-hire him before
combining fire and ambulance administrations,
have created factions in both operations.
Reducing administrative redundancy has
apparently saved money, but candidates dispute
how much; Position 2 candidate Marvin Tipler
questioned how a $300,000 annual savings will
push the fire/rescue budget from black to red by
2020.
It’s complicated and contentious.
Port commission candidates advocate either
to expand traditional port development, such as
boat building and dry dock facilities, or to intro-
duce diversified business enterprises and possi-
ble sell-off of properties to put the port on solid
financial feet.
During discussions of those two different
visions, David Swinney dropped what I consid-
ered to be a bombshell by saying the Port
Commission signed over control of port proper-
ty to its manager.
These intrigues reveal underlying issues that
need to be addressed. For example, how can a
port commission function if it surrenders its
checks and balances on administrative power?
I suggest voters ignore campaign ads and
L ETTERS TO THE
E DITOR P OLICY
The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to
the editor as part of a community discus-
sion of issues on the local, state and
national level.
Emailed
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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, argumentative and anony-
mous letters or poetry, or letters from out-
side our readership area will not be pub-
lished.
P OLITICAL /E LECTION L ETTERS :
Election-related letters must address
pertinent or timely issues of interest to our
readers at-large.
Letters must 1) Not be a part of letter-
writing campaigns on behalf of (or by)
candidates; 2) Ensure any information
about a candidate is accurate, fair and not
from second-hand knowledge or hearsay;
and 3) explain the reasons to support can-
didates based on personal experience and
perspective rather than partisanship and
campaign-style rhetoric.
Candidates themselves may not use the
letters to the editor column to outline their
views and platforms or to ask for votes;
this constitutes paid political advertising.
A s with all letters and advertising con-
tent, the newspaper, at the sole discretion
of the publisher, general manager and edi-
tor, reserves the right to reject any letter
that doesn’t follow the above criteria.
Send letters to:
nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com
USPS# 497-660
endorsements, watch the video coverage and
listen to what candidates actually say — then
decide how to vote. Except for one race, decid-
ing won’t be easy for me.
All candidates bring valuable experience and
perspectives with them. No matter who wins, it
wouldn’t hurt for more of us to attend board
meetings and speak up when things don’t make
sense.
—Rollin Olson
Florence
H OW CAN THE EDITOR
ASSURE TRANSPARENCY ?
Given the very contentious nature of the
issues involved in the impending election for
positions on the Fire Board and the public inter-
est in having an independent and unbiased press
report on those matters, I must question the pro-
priety of the editor of the Siuslaw News running
for this — or any other — elective office in
Florence.
While I would not suggest that Mr. Hickson
would use his position to directly influence the
election, I have to wonder how, if elected, he
will be able to, without bias, report on and edit
other’s reports concerning the controversial
issues with which he will be directly involved?
A quick bit of research led me to the website
of The Society of Professional Journalists. What
follows is the first paragraph on that page:
“The SPJ Ethics Committee gets a significant
number of questions about whether journalists
should engage in political activity. The simplest
answer is “No.” Don’t do it. Don’t get involved.
Don’t contribute money, don’t work in a cam-
paign, don’t lobby, and especially, don’t run for
office yourself.”
It seems to me this is sound advice.
—Jimmie Zinn
Florence
(Note: In the April 22 issue of Siuslaw News,
Publisher John Bartlett and I stated, in an edito-
rial to the community, the steps that have been
taken to assure transparency and continued
unbiased coverage of SVFR and WLAD during
S MEAR TACTICS DON ’ T PLAY WELL
IN F LORENCE
I was shocked to receive a piece of mass-
mailed, negative advertising regarding Port of
Siuslaw candidate Bill Fleenor here in our small
and generally friendly town.
The mailing contained no traceable informa-
tion about who sent it; when I tried googling the
return address “Coastal Committee for Ethics
and Integrity,” literally nothing came up.
Same thing when I tried to discover who
obtained the bulk mail permit used, or who
owned the P.O. Box in Eugene that the mailing
allegedly came from. I do believe that it cost a
pretty penny to mail out this slick piece of mail.
I am not writing to comment on Mr. Fleenor’s
qualifications for public office. If someone has
legitimate concerns, let that person tell us his or
her name, and publicly state those objections.
The use of smear tactics doesn’t play well in
Florence. And the creepy mailing is making me
re-think my vote — but not in the way “The
Coastal Committee for Ethics and Integrity”
intended.
—Judy Plumery
Florence
R E - ELECT S UZANNE M ANN -H EINTZ
I have spent 51 years in public education. I
have been a teacher, administrator and board
member.
During my career, it has been my good for-
tune to work with many people who have devot-
ed their lives to helping and teaching children.
Suzanne Mann-Heintz ranks at the top of that
group.
After 35 years as a classroom teacher, she
retired but continues to volunteer her time and
energy to benefit children. In addition to serving
on the Siuslaw School Board of Directors, she
was an integral part of establishing the Siuslaw
Education Foundation that provides much need-
ed grants to schools and teachers.
She is also active with the Florence Free
Lunch Program, Senior Health Insurance
Benefits, KXCR, Florence Area Community
Coalition, ASPIRE program, and the Child
Abuse Prevention Project.
I am confident she will continue to represent
“An open mind, a listening ear, a collaborative
spirit and a caring heart” for all of the Florence
community.
I will vote to re-elect Suzanne Mann-Heintz
to the Siuslaw School Board.
—Bill McDougle
Siuslaw School District Board Member
Florence
W HO HAS CONFLICTS ?
I find it hard to belief that the Siuslaw News
would print Jay Nefcy’s letter, “Port is an
Embarrassment” (April 26), which was con-
tained inaccuracies about the current Port of
Siuslaw Board of Commissioners and, I believe,
was written just to discredit political opponents.
What Mr. Nefcy left out of his opinion piece
is that he, along with Port Commission candi-
dates Bill Fleenor and Shayne Burnem, are cor-
porate partners in Pacific Landings, LLC.
I believe that conflict of interest was the rea-
son that Mr. Fleenor previously chose to step
down from the Port of Siuslaw Commission,
but only after he and then-Port Manager Bob
Forsythe lobbied for the state to change what
businesses can be allowed on Port properties.
To me, it looks like the conflict still exists.
—Michelle Culwell
Florence
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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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John Bartlett
Jenna Bartlett
Ned Hickson
Susan Gutierrez
Cathy Dietz
Ron Annis
Jeremy Gentry
this election, and will continue if Ned Hickson
is elected to the board.
I’d also like to point out that Hickson has
never reported on SVFR or WLAD, and each
story covering those beats is now being
reviewed by our features editor and an inde-
pendent editor from a separate newspaper.
In the end, regardless of who is elected, our
primary objective is, and will continue to be,
maintaining our journalistic integrity.
— Jenna Bartlett
General Manager)
Pres. Donald Trump
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
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753/FAX: 202-228-3997
541-465-6750
www.merkley.senate.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. Rep. Peter DeFazio (4th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416
541-269-2609/ 541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
State Sen. Arnie Roblan (Dist. 5)
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email:
Sen.ArnieRoblan@state.or.us
State Rep. Caddy McKeown
(Dist. 9)
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email:
rep.caddymckeown@state.or.us
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