4A |
SATURDAY EDITION
| AUGUST 25, 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 Government 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)
Recognizing SVFR issues is part of solution, not problem
(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 am writing this letter to communicate
some important points I feel were missed
in the Aug. 18 Siuslw News article (“Chief
Director Langborg Declares In-
tention to Resign”) regarding the
Aug. 15 meeting of Siuslaw Valley
Fire and Rescue Board.
As the Board President of the
Fire District and a community
member, it is very important to
me that the fire district con-tinues to pro-
vide the level of quality and responsive
service it is known for.
Part of maintaining this high level of
service is ensuring the financial solvency
of the district. My concern with the infor-
mation presented in the article is that it
created an impression that the fire district
board has been unaware of its financial
management situation, and that nothing
has — or is being done — to address it.
Nothing could be further from the
truth. Approximately one year ago, the
district became aware of these issues and
began taking immediate action to identi-
fy and correct the problems. At the time,
the greatest area of concern was to de-
termine whether any illegal activity had
taken place.
To ensure this, the district hired two
separate CPAs with governmental audit-
ing and accounting experience to review
the district’s financial records. After a
thorough analysis, both professionals ex-
pressed the opinion that there was no ev-
idence that any illegal activity had taken
place.
Next, the board began the search pro-
cess to fill an open position within the
Guest Viewpoint
By Ron Green
SVFR Board President
district and obtain consulting services to
identify all past accounting errors. This
led to the creation of an action plan to
correct the errors and ensure they were
not repeated.
As a result, the district hired an office
manager who it believes is qualified and
capable of learning the complexities of
this job and help the district move for-
ward in a positive financial direction.
The district also began using the con-
sulting services of Kathy Taylor, CPA,
who has an extensive background in
governmental financial management, to
work with the district’s new office manag-
er and help her correct and reorganize the
district’s financial records and systems to
ensure proper accounting practices are
taking place.
Which brings me to my point; the fire
district is, and has been, aware of these
challenges for some time. The informa-
tion in the letter from Kathy Taylor was
merely a summarization of the problems
that have been uncovered and are being
addressed.
This letter is the result of the proactive
stance the district is taking to move for-
ward.
Its new office manager was
hired at a very difficult time and
has done a great job in the face of
some very challenging circum-
stances. I wish the article had also
stated that the letter from Kathy
Taylor conveyed that our office
manager is very capable and will do a
great job once all the accounting matters
have been cleaned up.
As a SVFR Board Member and the
Board President, transparency is import-
ant to me and I have communicated this
to the SVFR Staff. This letter is the result
of the transparency we are committed to
deliver to our tax payers.
Have mistakes been made? Yes.
But our district has been aggressively
working to fix these issues and this infor-
mation should be viewed as part of the
solution and not as a sign of failure or in-
competence.
—Respectfully, Ron Green
President, Siuslaw Valley Fire & Rescue
Board of Directors
LETTERS
Overlooking the good
President Trump has done
I guess if your Letter to the Editor
isn’t getting enough readership you
move up the page to Guest Viewpoint
as Arnold Buchman did recently.
In his article (“Lessons Learned
From the Dutch Flood Wall,” Aug.
15), he states scientist blame humans
for the increase of carbon dioxide for
causing climate change, which they
previously called global warming.
There are, however, many oth-
er scientists who refute the idea of
global warming. For that matter, the
volcano in the Philippine Islands a
few years ago raged for almost year,
spewing more toxic material into the
air than we humans could possible
do in many years.
Of course, he ended his tale of woe
viewpoint by saying he pins his hopes
on a happy ending to the sad tale,
asking if the leadership (meaning I
take it President Trump) will make
the hard, necessary political decision
and so far it has not happened.
It is just another case of the left not
looking at all the good accomplish-
ments that have happened in the
United States since president Trump
and his administration took office,
but keep dragging up old items sim-
ply because the gal they banked on
winning the White House flopped.
—Tony Cavarno
Florence
Corporate privilege
canceling out will of people
Plain and simple, today’s environ-
mental laws are incapable of protect-
ing our environment. Why? Because
corporate entities (legally “persons”)
enjoy constitutional protections
that supersede nature’s rights and
the rights of citizens to protect the
environment, along with their own
health, safety and well-being.
The Community Rights move-
ment continues to gain steam glob-
ally because long-overdue changes
that must curtail corporate greed
are essential. If we believe that we
hold some responsibility for leaving
our kids, grandkids and their kids a
healthier planet Earth than the one
we inhabit currently, then we must
re-double our efforts.
While we witness a cavalier U.S.
government rollback former (weak)
protections — not only for our en-
vironment but for workers, immi-
grants, etc. — we are confronting an
entrenched system of laws that are
unresponsive to the notion of “de-
mocracy.”
A true democracy only exists if
“We the People” have decision-mak-
ing powers.
And we don’t, due to corporate
privilege.
How bad does it have to get?
Action is the antidote to despair.
—Michelle Holman
Deadwood
Thanks to Emily Uhrig, Ph.D
monthly column
Thank you for including the mon
thly “Natural Perspective” column
by Emily Uhrig, Ph.D in the Siuslaw
News’ monthly Community Voices
section.
I always look forward to reading
her column.
—Button Watkins
Florence
USPS# 497-660
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Ned H ickson
Erik Chalhoub
Publisher, ex t. 318
Editor, ex t. 313
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echalhoub@register-pajaronian.com
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O ffice Super visor, ex t. 312
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
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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