SIUSLAW NEWS | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2018 | 9A
CANDIDATES from page 1A
Oregon House of Repre-
sentatives in Salem, including
serving on the Agriculture and
Natural Resource Committee,
the Economic Development
and Trade Committee and as
Chair of the Joint Commission
on Transportation.
McKeown then opened the
meeting to questions from the
crowd. While some of the que-
ries questioned decisions made
by the current administration,
most revolved around the fund-
ing levels for education and the
possible need for a state-wide
sales tax.
McKeown cited some of the
state’s history surrounding ear-
lier attempts at passing a sales
tax and asked for a show of
hands of those in attendance
who would support a sales tax.
Though she seemed somewhat
surprised when most of the
hands in the room were raised,
McKeown appeared resigned to
the difficulties of passing a state
sales tax.
“We’ve had a sales tax on the
ballot at least nine times, may-
be more, and it has always gone
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down in flames by huge num-
bers,” McKeown said. “This
showing of hands gives me
some hope that maybe we can
move in that direction in the
future.”
DeFazio, who has been the
representative for Oregon Con-
gressional District 4 since 1987,
followed McKeown’s presenta-
tion.
While the congressman was
direct in his criticism of Presi-
dent Trump and the adminis-
tration’s policies, changes and
cuts during its first two years in
office, DeFazio was primarily
focused on the work within his
district.
“The greatest accomplish-
ment of this partisan Republi-
can Congress is the passage of
the massive tax cut bill. Seven-
ty-three percent of the benefits
flow to corporations … and six
percent of Americans have got-
ten a raise or a bonus due to the
tax cut,” DeFazio said. “The six
largest banks in America, al-
ready profitable, will get a $20
billion tax break this year. This
means we will borrow $20 bil-
lion and add it to the national
debt and give to the six largest
banks in the country.”
DeFazio then pointed to the
ongoing needs of towns along
the Oregon coast, mentioning
continued efforts to provide
the funding needed to maintain
and improve the conditions of
Oregon’s small ports and, in
particular, the Siuslaw Estuary.
“Small ports are the lifeblood
of many small communities
on the Oregon coast, and the
Corps (Army Corps of Engi-
neers) has a budget that is not
adequate,” DeFazio said. “They
have huge needs on the Colum-
bia, and elsewhere, and they
tend to ignore the small ports
… But I was able to get 10 per-
cent set aside to dredge small
ports and we are still benefit-
ting from that.”
The question of cutting fund-
ing for social programs like
Medicare and Social Security
was raised and DeFazio again
turned to the problems created
by recent tax cuts. He reiterat-
ed his belief that the cuts are a
major problem that will become
more serious over time.
“We are projected to have
a trillion-dollar deficits next
year. A couple of hundred mil-
lion of that is due to the tax bill,
and that is a real concern. You
can’t borrow a trillion dollars
a year in peace time and make
it work,” DeFazio said. “This
means the debt will equal all of
our other economic activity …
and Speaker of the House Paul
Ryan has said this will undoubt-
edly lead to cuts in social Secu-
rity and Medicare.”
One question from the au-
dience moved away from eco-
nomics when someone who
identified himself as a local
veteran asked DeFazio about
the death of longtime sena-
tor and former prison of war
(POW) John McCain, wanting
to know the Congressman’s
response to the way McCain’s
passing had been handled by
the president.
“John and I served togeth-
er while he was on the senate
side for many years. Mostly
we worked together on Coast
Guard issues, as we shared ju-
risdiction there and also things
that related to commercial avi-
ation,” DeFazio explained. “He
was a patriot that served his
country both in uniform and
in the senate for many years, he
suffered horribly as a POW in
Vietnam and, while we had our
political differences, I think we
had a mutual respect for each
other. I honor his life and pass-
ing.”
When asked if he had an
opinion on the manner in
which President Trump han-
dled the death of McCain, De-
Fazio paused for a moment,
obviously choosing his words
carefully before answering,
“The president showed himself
to be very small.”
Both DeFazio and McKeown
will be on the ballot on the
Nov. 7 General Election.
also looking to support local
schools, this time with a Safe
The City of Florence is Routes to School Infrastruc-
ture Competitive Grant Pro-
gram. At a meeting on Aug. 20,
Florence City Council directed
staff to submit a letter of intent
about participating in the FY
2019-20 grant cycle.
This project looks to com-
plete sidewalks on 26th and
27th streets between Highway
101 and Oak Street to help stu-
dents walk or bike to school,
as well as potentially adding a
Rectangular Rapid Flash Bea-
con near the schools on High-
way 101.
If the letter of intent is ap-
proved, the city will submit a
formal grant proposal in Oc-
tober.
Also in October, the Siuslaw
School Board plans to host fa-
cilities open houses to encour-
age community members to
come in and see for themselves
the state of the buildings.
“A lot of the folks I know
who are chamber members
went to school at Siuslaw 15,
20, 30 years ago, and they
don’t know the current condi-
tions,” Pierson said. “Over the
years, the district has cobbled
together classroom spaces in
places never intended as class-
rooms. There is inadequate
ventilation, there is no exterior
lighting and there are a lot of
interesting things to see.”
Erickson also encouraged
people to talk to current and
recently graduated Siuslaw
students to get their opinion
about the facilities.
“It is very interesting to see
how they take it,” she said.
“They are very bright, they
understand and they will ful-
ly tell you of the issues with
the school. They don’t have
any reason to hold back, since
they are the ones who use the
school on a daily basis. It is a
big eye opener to hear what
they say.”
People who wish to know
more should visit the Siuslaw
School District website, attend
or request a presentation at a
community meeting or take
the survey at www.survey-
monkey.com/r/bap2.
“We just want to get the in-
formation out there,” Erickson
said. “We won’t tell people how
they should or should not vote.
It’s their decision. We know it’s
a large chunk of money, but we
want the facts out there.”
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