4A |
SATURDAY EDITION
| SEPTEMBER 8, 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)
‘First Step’ program will off er better future for families
(Editor’s Note: The First Step Pilot Pro-
gram is seeking approval of a temporary
Conditional Use Permit to allow three
camp trailers on Presbyterian Church
property (3996 Hwy 101), just south of the
church's sanctuary. The proposal is for a
one-year transitional housing pilot proj-
ect, after which the permit would expire.
A Florence Planning Commission meeting
will be held Tuesday, Sept. 11, beginning
at 5:30 p.m., at the Florence Events Cen-
ter.)
I
am writing in support of First Step.
This group has been meeting for
some time to create transitional
housing for Florence residents. I am
impressed with the level of collabora-
tion represented by the First Step Board,
which includes civic groups, faith com-
munities and other individuals concerned
with the shortage of affordable housing in
Florence.
Their experience is broad-based, with
members informed about non-profit or-
ganizations, community resources, zon-
ing regulations and more.
As a lifelong educator and child ad-
vocate, as well as a member of the Siu-
slaw School District Board of Directors
and president of the Siuslaw Education
Foundation, my particular concern is
focused on the impact unstable housing
has on students. In a practical sense, stu-
dents who do not have a stable home are
challenged to have a place to study; to
keep belongings organized; to have clean
clothes; to have regular meals; and to
have adequate sleep.
Each of these conditions often results
in poor school attendance too. In terms of
psychological impact, these students find
themselves unprepared for learning in a
Guest Viewpoint
By Suzanne Mann-Heintz
President of Siuslaw Education Foundation
school situation. Some become humiliat-
ed or embarrassed by their circumstanc-
es and unable to respond to assignments
in typical ways (“Draw a picture of your
neighborhood,” “Search your backyard
for signs of fall,” “Write a descriptive story
about your bedroom,” etc).
Some, unfortunately, experience teas-
ing or peer avoidance. These undermine
confidence, self-esteem and motivation.
I don’t want to assign that burden to any
child.
Research indicates that students who
live in poverty are less likely to graduate
from high school, less likely to pursue
higher education or post high school
training programs, less likely to maintain
long-term relationships and are more
likely to engage in problematic behaviors
like crime, substance abuse and domestic
violence. All of these conditions and be-
haviors maintain generational poverty.
The mission of the Siuslaw School
District is “motivating and preparing all
students to reach their greatest potential.”
School staff, administrators and school
board members want this for our stu-
dents just as, I’m sure, many in our
community do.
Allowing First Step to develop its
project is, indeed, a first step in that di-
rection.
Students are not the only beneficia-
ries of First Step’s endeavors. Florence
needs to be a city that is attractive to busi-
nesses and professionals. The more we
can provide a “leg-up” to those who need
it, the better it is for the health of Florence
overall.
I am confident that First Step has the
knowledge and skills to carry out its proj-
ect goals. I believe that their site selection
and operational guidelines are well struc-
tured and doable. I believe that over time,
this project will reduce the number of
homeless families and empower them to
break the bonds of generational poverty.
Finally, I believe that this project will
provide yet another thread for the strong
fabric of community that makes Florence
such a wonderful place to live.
LETTERS
Homeless trailer
park will lower
property value
I live on Spruce Street
and I was just informed
that a trailer park for the
homeless (First Step Pilot
Program) is being proposed
to go in behind where I live.
Apparently, this is be-
ing proposed in coopera-
tion with the Presbyterian
Church, which owns the
property where the trailer
park would be located.
In addition to lowering
my property value, what
about the environmental
damage? I know many bear and other
wildlife live there.
They say this will be through a tem-
porary conditional use permit, but we all
know what that means.
Please go to the Florence City Plan-
ning Commission meeting Tuesday,
Sept. 11, beginning at 5:30 p.m., at the
Florence Events Center.
—Louise Barney
Florence
(Editor’s Note: The First Step Pilot
Program recently applied for approval of
a temporary Conditional Use Permit to
allow three camp trailers on Presbyterian
Church property (3996 Hwy 101), just
south of the church's sanctuary. The pro-
posal is for a one-year transitional hous-
ing pilot project, after which the permit
would expire.)
Dehumanizing others who
are ‘not like us’
I saw recently on Facebook a video
of a man rescuing six puppies deposit-
ed along a desert road somewhere in a
Western state. How entirely cruel the
owner of those puppies had to have been!
Ah, but the puppies were not human
beings; their owner surely would not
have abandoned six children.
In that same vein, President Trump
and his administration deliberately sep-
arated some 500 children from their asy-
lum-seeking parents seeking entrance
into our country at the southern border.
His motive? It appears to be to send a
message: Come here with your children;
you lose them.
How can he and his supporters mini-
mize this horrendously cruel act? Heed
David Eckhardt’s words in his Sept. 1 let-
ter. “… it’s on the parents for committing
a crime by coming to the U.S. illegally.
[Forget the fact that seeking asylum is
not a violation of U.S. law.] They knew
what they were doing, just as people who
commit crimes here and get sent to jail;
they, too, get separated from their kids.
Unless we do something worse by put-
ting the kids in jail with their parents.”
I am dismayed to suspect that there
is a segment of our population that sees
Latinos — and anyone else who isn’t
“like us” as criminals and rapists, gang
members, drug dealers and murderers.
Thank you to our president, Fox News,
Newt Gingrich and the rest of the polit-
ical agitators on the airwaves who have
not one scintilla of conscience, reducing
“the others” to sub-human status.
That mindset seeks to make it palat-
able to the general population to sepa-
rate vulnerable children from their des-
perate parents in the same way as leaving
unwanted puppies to die of thirst and
over-exposure.
—Harold Titus
Florence
Glad for Lucio
meet-and-greet
I recently had the opportunity to meet
Florence City Councilor candidate Ger-
aldine Lucio at a Bay Street meet-and-
greet.
I asked Ms. Lucio several questions on
issues that affect us all and found her an-
swers to be direct, thoughtful and hon-
est.
As a local business owner, Ms. Lucio
is vitally interested in the betterment
and growth of our community and local
economy.
I will vote for Lucio at the November
election and urge others to do the same.
—Ron Duzy
Florence
Take a knee
There’s a Twitter movement afoot to
“Boycott the NFL on Nov. 12 — Veteran’s
Day” to protest players “taking a knee.”
This one-day protest apparently is a
counter-protest to another on Twitter
protesting the NFL over its new policy
that imposes fines on play-
ers who protest during the
national anthem. Calls to
protest and counter-protest
about players protesting
gets a bit confusing.
But, focusing on “taking
a knee” may help sort it out.
NFL players have the
right as Americans to
peacefully protest police vi-
olence and systemic racism,
real or perceived. In exer-
cising that right by “taking
a knee,” NFL players have
successfully used a symbol
to start a national conversa-
tion — impossible to ignore
— about anti-black racism
and white nativism.
Starting with the Boston Tea Party,
protests have been a part of the political
landscape in America, (valued enough
to be protected by the Bill of Rights). In
living memory, many protests have been
prompted by racial injustice. Rosa Parks
on the bus in Montgomery, Martin Lu-
ther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech in
Washington, John Lewis on Bloody Sun-
day in Selma — each became a symbol
dramatizing the unfairness of discrimi-
nation.
As a marketing genius, President
Trump has recognized that by conflating
disrespect for the flag, the military and
the country by ungrateful, millionaire
(black) players, he could turn the “tak-
ing a knee” symbol into a quintessential
appeal to his base. His implicit message
echoes in the language of the Boycott the
NFL on Nov. 12 protest: “You who have
insulted our flag, our country, our sol-
diers, our police officers and our veter-
ans. You are living the American dream,
yet you disparage our great country.”
You versus our. Other versus us. Out-
sider versus American. Or, as President
Trump said more directly on Fox and
Friends to American citizens protest-
ing by taking a knee, “You have to stand
proudly for the national anthem or you
shouldn’t be playing. You shouldn’t be
there. Maybe you shouldn’t be in the
country.”
Boycott the NFL on Veterans Day or
everyday if you like. It’s your right as an
American. But understand what you are
protesting and in doing so try not, in
John McCain’s last words, to confuse pa-
triotism with tribal rivalries.
Whether to pray for guidance or to
gain perspective, I suggest that President
Trump — and the rest of us — would do
well to “take a knee.”
— Arnold Buchman
Florence/Scottsdale, Az.
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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