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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 12, 2018)
4A | WEDNESDAY EDITION NED HICKSON , EDITOR | SEPTEMBER 12, 2018 Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 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) USPS# 497-660 Copyright 2018 © Siuslaw News Published every Wednesday and Saturday at 148 Maple St. in Florence, Lane County, Oregon. A member of the National Newspaper Association and Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. Periodicals postage paid at Florence, Ore. Postmaster, send address changes to: Siuslaw News, P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR 97439; phone 541-997-3441; fax 541-997-7979. All press releases may be sent to PressReleases@TheSiuslawNews.com. Jenna Bar tlett Ned H ickson Erik Chalhoub Publisher, ex t. 318 Editor, ex t. 313 Co n s u l t i n g E d i to r 8 3 1 -7 6 1 -7 3 5 3 echalhoub@register-pajaronian.com M ar k e t i n g Di re c to r, e x t . 3 2 6 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 Cathy Dietz Ron Annis Je re my G e n t r y DEADLINES: Wednesday Issue—General news, Monday noon; Budgets, four days prior to publication; Regular classified ads, Monday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Monday noon; Boxed and display classified ads, Friday 5 p.m. Saturday Issue—General news, Thursday noon; Budgets, two days prior to publication; Regular classifiedad,sThursday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Thursday noon; Boxed and display classified ads, Wednes- day 5 p.m. Soundings, Tuesday 5 p.m. NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In Lane County — 1-year subscription, $76; 6-month in-county, $52; 10-weeks subscription, $23; Out of Lane County — 1-year subscription,$99; 6-month out-of-county, $65; 10-weeks subscrip- tion, $29; Out of State — 1-year subscription, $125; E-Edition Online Only (Anywhere) — 1-year subscription, $71. Mail subscription includes E-Edition. Website and E-Edition: TheSiuslawNews.com Letters to the Editor policy LETTERS While Rome burns Robert Samuelson, writing in the Washington Post last Mon- day morning, made a serious point on a subject that is being completely ignored amid the juvenile prattle permeating our current political discourse. His point centers on how we, as a nation, consistently opt for the immediate payoff rather than for any future security. He nails it. We do not want to hear bad news, and any politician who suggests anything less than a rosy outlook is soon looking for other employment. Thus, in a case where dire warnings may be warranted, our leaders believe they have no choice but to either ignore or distort the reality. And you know what? Both sides have become expert at this. Take for example the reality that, if we do not come to our senses about the federal deficit, we are very likely to encounter — sooner or later — an economic situation that will make the “great recession” seem as very good times. The deficit is going to hit $1 trillion (a thousand billion or a million million, however you want to count it) and we are going merrily along with both the Democrats and the Repub- licans pretending everything is just dandy; “Deficits aren’t that big a deal, debt actually helps the economy in some ways.” Yeah, right! As Samuelson pointed out, to close this deficit by raising taxes would require a 30 percent increase across the board. Or, we would have to decrease federal spending by 25 percent. This is real; it is not going away. We either grow up, put aside some of our sillier grievances, significantly cut spending and substantially raise taxes — or we are going down. Find me a politician that will address this issue directly, hon- estly, from an informed position, and I will vote for that person. I don’t care what party she or he might be from. —Jimmie Zinn Florence Change is an inevitable and necessary part of growth (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.) Considering the past few articles re- garding Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue (SVFR) and Western Lane Ambulance District (WLAD), I feel the need to pro- vide some reinforced clarification on a few of the topics reported. First, SVFR has a balanced budget and is not short of money. Additionally, we will not need to borrow $500,000. What was stated during board meet- ings is that, because SVFR is waiting to receive the reimbursement of grant and wildland fire response money owed to us, we might need to use a line of credit until that money arrives. July through November is the leanest time of the year for us because we receive no tax revenue until mid-November. We rely on what is left in the bank from the previous year until tax money arrives. We accounted for this in our budget, but some of the money we were relying on is money that will be reimbursed. Un- fortunately, we have very little control on when we receive reimbursements, despite our best efforts. During the Aug. 30 special joint meet- ing of the two boards, the office manager reported that after continued work, SV- FR’s end of year financial status appears to be much stronger than earlier predict- ed. If the fire district does need to utilize a line of credit, it will be no more than $300,000 dollars and will be a temporary measure until reimbursements arrive. We experienced a similar situation last year when the Lane County worker strike Guest Viewpoint By Jim Langborg Chief Director of SVFR/WLAD extended the time before we began to re- ceive tax revenue. The other area I want to clarify is that there is no uncertainty regarding the con- tinuation of the IGA between the two dis- tricts because of the financial status of the fire district or by me accepting another position. As stated above, the fire district has no money issues. The fact that I have accept- ed another position will not affect the IGA because both districts have a strong team in place and clear set of goals identi- fied in their strategic plans. Additionally, both districts have a strong group on their boards of directors who provide excellent oversight and care deeply about service to our community. As with every position in both districts, the job of the Chief/Director is import- ant, but work will not stop because it is temporarily vacant or filled with an inter- im person. The formation of the IGA Commit- tee was intended to strengthen the IGA by ensuring both districts have an equal voice when making decisions that affect both organizations. This is not to say that either of the dis- tricts have been unfairly represented, be- cause they haven’t. Fortunately, the two boards have worked very well together over the past two-and-half years and the creation of the IGA Committee is the next logical step in working together. The IGA Committee Charter outlines the responsibilities of the committee and clarifies its purpose. The committee has been meeting and working on the char- ter for two months. Both the charter and its work have been discussed at several board meetings. Finally, I want to ensure that in no way do I or other members of the administra- tive team believe that people who served in financial management positions for ei- ther district in the past did not do good work. With the help of a consultant, we have learned that the financial manage- ment tools and techniques used in the past do not meet the needs of today. Our struggle has been realizing this. As a result, we have updated our tools and are using techniques that meet our current needs. People who have served in these positions worked very hard and provided valuable service to our commu- nity. In fact, we would not be where we are today had it not been for the work and dedication of those people. Like any growing organization, we must occasionally change some of the things we do. The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the editor as part of a community discussion of issues on the local, state and national level. Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten or typed letters must be signed. All letters need to include full name, address and phone number; only name and city will be printed. Letters should be limited to about 300 words. Letters are subject to editing for length, gram- mar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaran- teed and depends on space available and the volume of letters received. Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumentative, sarcastic or contain accusations that are unsourced or documented will not be published. Letters containing poetry or from outside the Siuslaw News readership area will only be published at the dis- cretion of the editor. Political/Election Letters: Election-related letters must address pertinent or timely issues of interest to our readers at-large. Letters must 1) Not be a part of letter-writing cam- paigns on behalf of (or by) candidates; 2) Ensure any information about a candidate is accurate, fair and not from second-hand knowledge or hearsay; and 3) ex- plain the reasons to support candidates based on per- sonal experience and perspective rather than partisan- ship and campaign-style rhetoric. Candidates themselves may not use the letters to the editor column to outline their views and platforms or to ask for votes; this constitutes paid political advertising. As with all letters and advertising content, the news- paper, at the sole discretion of the publisher, general manager and editor, reserves the right to reject any let- ter that doesn’t follow the above criteria. Emal letters to: nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com 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