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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (May 12, 2018)
SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, MAY 12, 2018 | 5A Opinion The First Amendment C ongress shall make no law respecting an es- tablishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Gov- ernment for a redress of grievances. LETTERS Current Commissioner’s actions have been costlm Commissioner Jay Bozievich claims to pride himself on fiscal discipline. In my experience, every Republican likes to claim they are fiscally conservative; but his record shows what I feel are some very costly decisions for Lane County. From the start, he was the main driv- er behind an arguably unnecessary and expensive voter redistricting, which also included the unnecessary purchase of expensive voting software that appeared to line a friend’s pocket. He also supported an unnecessary and politicized lawsuit against other commissioners that eventually resulted in Lane County settling with a former Commissioner for $89,000. He also said the decision to privatize County Jail Medical Services was to save money. In- stead, it cost Lane County $400,000 in a wrongful death suit. He has supported joining in a lawsuit with other conservative counties against the state to block a minimum wage in- crase. Those decisions cost Lane County. Jay Bozievich supported joining in a lawsuit with other counties against the BLM forest plan, costing the county an- other $84,000. Couple this with a lawsuit to reduce the size of the Cascade-Siskiy- ou Monument, and you get actions that are costly and not what I believe the ma- jority of Lane County residents want. —Louie Vidmar Florence Being destromed from inside, not outside In response to Stefanie Spradling’s letter “No Evidence of Wrongdoing To Conservatives” (May 9), I must wonder where she has been for the past decade. From statements like “... it’s not sur- prising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them ...” to “... you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables.” Such alienating comments are fodder for non-thinking virtue, signalling pro- gressives who are hell bent on changing e pluribus unum into ex uno multi. In the words of Abraham Lincoln: “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our free- doms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” — Ian Eales Florence Let there be (a) light I’d like to add my 2 cents to the King- wood and Ninth streets roundabout dis- cussion. In my opinion, a much higher prior- ity for our ever-busier destination town should be the installation of a traffic signal at the south end of Fred Meyer. It would give the multitude of people headed north from Freddy’s or turning left from Munsel Lake Road the abili- ty to pull out onto 101 without it being a death-defying experience most every time. Not only that, but traffic blasting through that stretch of road at far over- the speed limit would have the wonder- ful opportunity to slow down and feel good about possibly saving a life — in- cluding their own. Just seems that .02 cents adds up to a whole lot more sense. —Allie LeCaux Florence Music matters in school and in life The FloTones have been performing since 2002 and will be doing two per- formances of “Music Matters” later in May. The title comes from an acknow- ledgement that each of the singers traces back a love of singing to exposure to music while in school. The deempha- sizing of arts in the educational system concerns us and we decided to help the music programs in our local schools by doing “Music Matters” as a fundraiser for the Siuslaw Schools music programs. Our grandson David Hamilton, who has a degree in Instrumental Music Edu- cation from Lawrence University and was a band teacher for five years in the Midwest before leaving teaching, offered us his perspective on the problems facing school music programs today. Here is his email: “I got into teaching because I believe that the youth are the future and I want- ed to be someone who could help facili- tate that. Even though I am not teaching anymore, I have nothing but respect for teachers as I understand what they are going through. It is no secret that edu- cation has been underfunded, and some of the first financial cuts that happen are the arts. “Sadly, it’s because the people making these decisions view music/arts partici- pation as an ‘elective’ or ‘extra-curricular activity.’ “This is not the only reason that I have not continued with teaching, but it is a contributing factor. It feels like a los- ing battle and many teachers have lost hope. Even collegiate students have been changing out of education in pursuit of other careers due to these struggles. “I believe that the community support for the arts is the most important thing. If the school community supports arts participation, then the decision makers have no option but to follow suit. Some of the best music programs in the coun- try are so successful because they have such a great support system in the par- ents, school and community.” Music matters to the FloTones and, as David put it, successful school music programs depend on the parents, the school and the community. We hope the community agrees and will help support the Siuslaw schools music programs by attending this fundraiser and as many school music events as possible. —Ken and Lori Janowski Florence Bikers are welcome here In response to “Get Ready For the Rumble” (May 9), the letter writer ref- ered to “the rest of us” who aren’t motor- cycle riders. Who gave you the right to speak for “the rest of us” without a “biker mentality?” There are police, judges, rich, poor, business owners and many others who either ride or enjoy motorcycles. Those bikers also host toy drives and donate a lot. They have been coming here for doz- ens of years during Rhody Days and were welcomed long before you moved here. Our local, state and county police do an outstanding job. Opinions are wel- come but shouldn’t belittle people. —Larry Rudder Florence Need Commissioner who can strike a balance The people of Western Lane County are in an extraordinary moment in time to restore balance, equity and fairness to our lives and those around us. We have the opportunity to cast our ballots for Nora Kent to become our Western Lane County Commissioner. Contrary to what you may have heard, she wants to keep all of the 3,000 jobs, gleaned through the timber industry. She also supports the 30,000 jobs (yes, that is 100 times larger) gleaned from the as- sociated agricultural products of which there are many: fruits, vegetables, juices, wines, flowers, seeds, spices, medicinal herbs, flours, jams and jellies, restau- rants, organic produce, small farms, es- sential oils — all of which produce living wage jobs and touch all of our lives in some way or another. Why can’t we strike a balance for jobs, affordable housing, keeping families together, tackling the homeless and drug problems that plague our country and county? Kent is a community spark who motivates people to come together and solve problems. Truly, what on earth could be wrong with any of this? For those reasons I will be voting for Nora Kent. —Kimberly Ann Fleenor Florence New Watershed director a good fit In the May 5 edition of the Siuslaw News, Jared Anderson wrote a very in- sightful and informative article “Swim- ming Up Steam,” about the new Siuslaw Watershed Council’s Executive Director, Eli Tome. He seems to be a perfect fit to attempt to restore our river as a fishery. Now a quote from Mr. Tome’s that the river is a place for salmon to “spawn, rear and live” might be a bit confusing. Yes, salmon do come from a river and then go to sea to become adult fish. Spawning occurs when the adult fish, male and female, go up river to deposit their eggs and sperm in a redd and then die. The newly hatched fish are called par and as they grow they become fry, which like the Coho, may spend a year in the river requiring the habitat and food as mentioned to survive. Then, when they are about six or eight inches long, they are called smolt, at which point they take their journey to the sea to spend a number of years. Now, much discussion has been made about salmon and which is the best. Coho, Chinook or Sockeye. We have even had a ludicrous marketing promo- tion by Copper River Salmon (Sockeye), saying due to the river they are the best of the best salmon. If you read me correctly, the Copper River Sockeye leave the river when they are babies and only come back for a short time to spawn and die. How could the pristine waters change them in a week to two? When you can catch one on the Siuslaw they will be the best because they only have to travel a few miles and will still have sea lice on them. —Win Jolley Florence One or the other As you read this, there are thousands of migrants pressed against the southern border, hands stretched out northward through a steel fence. At the same time in California there are 110,000 Americans sitting on the streets and living in tents — homeless. North of those souls are 14,000 home- less here in Oregon. And just above us in Washington State are 21,000 homeless. I think you can see where I'm going with this. California already has 2.3 million illegal residents, Oregon 130,000 and Washington State 250,000. Imagine, If the United States just enforced its im- migration laws how many low income homes would become available in these three states. 100,000? 500,000? And imagine with that surplus of housing, how much rents would drop. You see, you can’t solve homelessness, the housing shortage and make housing more affordable — and at the same time, not enforce the law and have an open border. You have to make a choice; one or the other. —Jeff Ashmead Florence
