4A |
WEDNESDAY EDITION
| MAY 16, 2018
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
Opinion
| 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
C
The First Amendment
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.
“I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” —Thomas Jefferson (1800)
Building inspections need to remain in local hands
(Editor’s Note: Viewpoint submis-
sions on this and other topics are always
welcome as part of our goal to encourage
community discussion and exchange of
perspectives.)
I
may not have all the facts, but from
what I see, I think the Oregon Building
Codes Division may be run-
ning amuck. I recently moved to
Dunes City and have volunteered
to serve on the Budget Commit-
tee. A recent ruling by the Codes
Division is likely going to increase
our City budget by about at least $135,000 a
year — and likely much more.
If Dunes City does not comply, residents
will have to turn over the building Codes
process to the county, state, or set up part-
nerships with other small cities.
These new requirements were drafted
without public input by Mark Long of the
Oregon Building Codes Division.
Mark Long is the current administrator
for the Oregon Building Codes Division.
The same person who sued the state for $1
million — and won — several years back,
when he was interim director for the Ore-
gon Department of Energy.
Long is an empire builder who is driv-
ing up costs for small city building depart-
ments. It is my understanding that since
he became administrator for the Oregon
Building Codes Division, it has grown from
about 20 people to more than 200.
A recent opinion requested by his depart-
ment from the Department of Justice (DOJ)
has essentially outlawed small cities from
outsourcing building inspections from pri-
vate companies (a practice that has existed
Guest Viewpoint
By Rory Hammond
Dunes City resident
for decades).
Oregon BCD is requiring city inspectors
to be government employees. Some suggest
this is to help fund the PERS shortfall. Oth-
ers suggest this is a union issue.
Among the concerns over this decision
are loss of local control and extending the
time to build, thus increasing costs and de-
creasing affordability.
Building code enforcement is to be paid
by user fees that do not exceed the cost of
the process. This sounds like a very good
rule ... except the Building Codes Division
sets the rates. So small cities will not be able
to raise enforcement fees to pay for the in-
creased cost of PERs-funded employees.
The last legislative session was supposed
to address this issue, but nothing hap-
pened. After the legislative session ended,
the BCD issued new rules that I believe are
over-reaching and Draconian.
Our governor could step in and stop the
implementation of the rules until the legis-
lature can fix the problem, but apparently
she won’t.
Meanwhile, Dunes City has been give
until July 1 to comply.
As I mentioned, I do not speak
from authority. My background is in
IT Operations. I have been involved
in many projects that built ware-
houses for logistic companies and
with the installation of automated comput-
er inventory management systems.
As a private citizen, I have been involved
with the permiting process for building.
When I was young, I pre-wired homes,
apartments and offices for the phone com-
pany. Over the years I have seen fist hand
many building inspectors and even had to
go through the process of appealing deci-
sions. In my experience, local-level control
is the easiest way to deal with issues.
Some processes are enhanced and
streamlined with Centralized Control. But
local building issues are best dealt with by a
decentralized process.
This move really sounds like bureaucrat-
ic bullying by the Oregon Building Codes
Division.
LETTERS
Ignorance isn’t patriotism
As a liberal, I look with dismay at the
kind of appeal the self-proclaimed “Patriot
Place” is making to the Florence commu-
nity.
I have no problem with the far right hav-
ing a place of its own, though it is a pre-
tense to say its views — represented by the
president of the U.S. in his dozens of angry
tweets every day — are somehow being
diminished by liberals. My concern is that
Patriot Place seeks to appropriate patrio-
tism on the wholly un-American notion
that only those on the far right are “true”
patriots.
A group that supposedly welcomes “all
things American” evidently does not. Let’s
be clear: We’re all Americans, we all love
our country and we’re all patriots.
Please consider this: When a group in
society insists that its political view is the
only acceptable one, and that all others are
evil, false or even treasonous, that society
is on its way to self-destruction.
It appears some people at Patriot Place
are drawn to absurd conspiracy theo-
ries — baseless nonsense presented as
unchallengeable fact. Recently, one of its
volunteers told a friend who visited that
Congressman DeFazio “belongs to the
Illuminati,” that Jews as a group “either
follow Christ or Satan” and that “Zionists
control the banks.”
Ignorant stuff to be sure, but also hate
speech — which should have no place in
Florence or anywhere else.
Siuslaw News editor Ned Hickson re-
plied in a comment on Facebook that the
lengthy article “Patriot Place Opens with
Candidate Forum” (May 2) on Patriot
Place merely intended to inform readers of
what it is “about.”
Well, it doesn't appear to be about patri-
otism at all. In fact, what that place really
seems to be about is how to undermine
traditional American values of tolerance,
community and goodwill.
—Dr. Mel Gurtov
Professor Emeritus of Political Science,
Portland State University
Deadwood
Far Left is debasing
good Americans
It never ceases to amaze me how we
always need “one more thing” to achieve
nirvana. Previously we’ve banned school
prayer, any display of Christian symbols on
public buildings, permitted disrespecting
and burning the flag, and all but banned
school discipline.
We’ve encouraged entitlement, uncon-
trolled immigration, masculine toxifica-
tion, family destruction through divorce,
out-of-wedlock births, abortion on de-
mand, ever-decreasing morality and ever
increasing violence in entertainment —
none of which leftists seem to maintain
have any effect.
According to statistics I've seen, shoot-
ers are over represented by fatherless boys.
First- and second-generation immigrants
have committed more than 40 percent of
all mass [4+ victims] shootings since 2000,
far above their percentage of the popula-
tion.
Solving those two problems would do
far more than banning the AR-15. More
people were beaten to death with no weap-
on than were killed with a rifle in 2017, yet
marchers would be happy banning “just”
the AR-15.
From a fatality perspective, it makes al-
most no sense. In Canada, which has some
of the strictest firearm regulations, some
cities are seeing triple digit percentage in-
creases in firearm violence.
Banning does not work.
People are losing their perspective. The
hatred toward and vilification of the NRA
has an unsettling parallel to Jews in 1930s
Germany. If one visits German Great War
cemeteries, Jews are well represented.
There was no evidence that Jews were
anything but loyal German citizens. The
corrupt media parroted a madman’s rav-
ings, even though they knew better.
The same is happening in America to-
day. NRA members are among the most
loyal, law abiding citizens in America. We
love this country and its history in spite of
its flaws. The left’s debasing of solid and
good Americans, and great Americans
who lived a quarter-millennia ago, all the
while ignoring the very real corruptions of
our revolving door political class borders
on the pathological.
— Ian Eales
Florence
USPS# 497-660
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Je n n a B a r t l e t t
Ned H ickson
Erik Chalhoub
Pu b l i s h e r, e x t . 3 1 8
Editor, ex t. 313
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O f f i ce Su p e r v i s o r, e x t . 3 1 2
Pro d u c t i o n Su p e r v i s o r
Pre s s M a n a ge r
Su s a n G u t i e r re z
Cat hy Di e t z
Ron Annis
Je re my G e n t r y
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Emal letters to:
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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
Oregon 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
(4th 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