4 A
❘
WEDNESDAY EDITION
❘ FEBRUARY 24, 2018
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
Opinion
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
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assemble, and to petition the Government for a
redress of grievances.
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Copyright 2017 © Siuslaw News
Published every Wednesday and Saturday at 148 Maple St. in Florence, Lane County, Oregon. A member of the
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Is it time for a new voting system?
Democracy has always
been a work in progress, and
Oregon has long been a pio-
neer in that progress, from
the initiative and referendum
a century ago to the mail-in
ballots and “motor voter”
registration of today.
Lane County voters now
have a chance to pioneer a
new phase of democratic
reform by bringing the STAR
(Score Then Automatic
Runoff) system of voting to
Lane County.
With STAR voting, a voter
can score any of the candi-
dates for an office on a scale
from zero to five, with zero
meaning “no support” and
five meaning “full support.”
This gives voters the
chance to express their views
more clearly and eliminates
the need to make a choice
between candidates a voter
likes equally, or between a
candidate a voter prefers and
a candidate that simply has a
better chance of winning
because of party affiliation or
support.
The ballots are then count-
ed in a unique, two-step
process.
The first count determines
which
two
candidates
received the highest overall
scores from voters; the sec-
ond count is the “Automatic
Runoff” between these two
finalists, with each candidate
receiving a vote from each
voter who scored them high-
er.
election get no other choice.
This comes despite the fact
that the voters who partici-
pate in the general election
vastly outnumber those who
participate in the primary.
If no candidate gets a
majority in the primary, the
“top two” candidates with
the most votes go on to the
GUEST VIEWPOINT
B Y A LAN Z UNDEL AND M ARK F ROHNMAYER
STAR V OTING I NITIATIVE
The candidate who gets
the most votes in the runoff
wins.
So why replace our current
election method?
Lane County elections
currently use the “top two”
system of a primary election
in the spring that narrows the
field to two candidates — or
many times only a single
candidate — for the general
election in the fall.
If one of the candidates
gets a majority in the pri-
mary, that candidate wins
and the voters in the general
general election, even though
each received only a minori-
ty of voter support.
This two-election process
(primary and then general)
makes for a long campaign
season, which wearies both
voters and candidates. It also
gives the advantage to the
best-funded candidates
because long campaigns cost
more money.
STAR Voting would
replace the two-election
process with one election in
November. It eliminates the
problems and extra costs
associated with holding a pri-
mary for these nonpartisan
offices, reducing the amount
of fundraising necessary.
It also gives every voter a
say in both steps of the
process and produces win-
ners with broad overall sup-
port from voters rather than
just financial resources.
It is fair to all candidates
and gives voters the ability to
have their say on any candi-
date they have an opinion on.
For those frustrated by
today’s politics, this is a
chance to change the
process.
A petition has already
been filed to bring STAR
Voting to elections for Lane
County offices.
To learn more, visit www.
starlane.us.
Alan Zundel and Mark
Frohnmayer are the chief peti-
tioners for the STAR Voting initi-
tative for Lane County. Zundel is
a former political scientist and
Frohnmayer is a local entrepre-
neur. Both have been active in
election reform efforts for sever-
al years.
LETTERS
‘F ORTRESS ’ COULD BECOME
SHOOTING GALLERY
In response to Becky Goehring’s
Letter to the Editor “Safety is Important
Part of Education” (Feb. 17), any shoot-
ing is tragic.
But I feel the letter writer is using
them to gin up support to build what
amounts to a prison.
The defensive measures suggested all
have serious liabilities that may mani-
fest themselves in unintended conse-
quences.
A lockout system is not foolproof. A
shooter, knowing that such a system
exists, could make the control his first
target. Once engaged, the shooter could
roam at-will with little to fear. By the
time responders get the doors open, I
shudder to think what mayhem will
have occurred.
When seconds count, the police are
only minutes away.
In the recent shooting, the FBI was
notified a year prior but chose not to
investigate. Social media did nothing
about the shooter’s disturbing posts.
Police had visited the Cruz home
more than 30 times, but nothing was
done. The supreme court has ruled the
police have no obligation to protect us.
Sun Tzu wrote in “The Art of War”
that “... attack is the secret of defense;
defense is the planning of an attack.”
It is as true today as when written
2,500 years ago.
In the recent shooting, the shooter
was not a martyr. He escaped with the
students.
Instead of attempting to make our
schools fortresses in “gun free zones”
wherein a security system failure could
turn that “fortress” into a shooting
gallery, it makes sense to have trained
and capable armed staff to deter these
lunatics inside.
—Ian Eales
Florence
T HANKS FOR THE SUPPORT
The Friends of Florence Van Fans
wants to thank everyone that con-
tributed to the success of its Feb. 21
game day and luncheon fundraising
event.
The Elks Club of Florence was very
generous in allowing us to hold this
event there this year. Many people
donated gifts for our raffle table. The
food was delicious and a good time was
had by all.
As most of the community knows,
the Van Fans is a support group of the
Friends of Florence which operates the
bus that takes cancer patients to the
Willamette Valley five days a week, 52
weeks per year.
The community of Florence is always
very generous in its support, and we
want to thank everyone involved.
—Sharon Grove
Events Coordinator
Friends of Florence
Van Fans
O UT OF THE MOUTHS
OF BABES
Kudos to Becky Goehring for her
Letter to the Editor published Feb. 17
(“Safety Is Important Part of
Education”).
I heard a politician on television say
we need guns in the classrooms. Most
people couldn’t shoot a person. Most of
the gun accidents in the home are
caused by a gun that someone bought to
protect their home.
To kill something, even an animal,
you have to be rasied in an environment
such as a farm, where chickens or other
farm animals are killed for food.
I was raised on a farm and learned to
shoot a gun at a young age. I have hunt-
ed game most of my life. I taught my
children gun safety. Even when kids
take a gun safety class, it doesn’t mean
they are safe hunters.
One day, I was hunting with a friend
and his son, who had passed his Hunter
Safety Class. I asked the son what cal-
iber his gun was and he said it was a 30-
30, then jacked a shell out and handed it
to me.
I told him he just put a shell in the
barrel, and he insisted he didn’t and had
only closed the lever.
I took the gun from him, aimed it at a
stump and pulled the trigger, firing the
gun.
Taking a class doesn’t make a person
savvy enough to handle a gun safely.
There are other ways to protect class-
rooms. Three Siuslaw High School stu-
dents suggested fire extinguishers,
stronger classroom doors and automatic
lockdown systems for exterior doors.
Also, mace and tasers could be help-
ful.
—Virgile Bechtold
Florence
L ETTERS
TO THE
P OLICY
E DITOR
The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the editor
as part of a community discussion of issues on the
local, state and national level.
Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten or
typed letters must be signed. All letters need to
include full name, address and phone number; only
name and city will be printed. Letters should be
limited to about 300 words. 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 anonymous letters
or poetry, or letters from outside our readership
area will only be published at the discretion of the
editor.
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 accu-
rate, fair and not from second-hand knowledge or
hearsay; and 3) explain the reasons to support
candidates based on personal experience and per-
spective rather than partisanship and campaign-
style rhetoric.
Candidates themselves may not use the letters to
the editor column to outline their views and plat-
forms or to ask for votes; this constitutes paid polit-
ical advertising.
As with all letters and advertising content, the
newspaper, at the sole discretion of the publisher,
general manager and editor, reserves the right to
reject any letter that doesn’t follow the above crite-
ria.
Send letters to:
nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com
WHERE TO WRITE
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
Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, Ore. 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
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
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio
( 4 th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416
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
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@
oregonlegislature.gov
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