SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2018 | 5A
Opinion
“I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” —Thomas Jefferson (1800)
donations coming to Republicans
running in some of Oregon's state-
wide and even national races.
We have to ask ourselves: Who
stands to benefit from this outside
interference in our elections?
Certainly not Oregonians.
—Vicki Dunaway
Florence
What exactly is an
‘Independent’ vote?
Sometime during the past week we
received a flyer prepared from Art
Robinson’s election committee, deliv-
ered by the USPS. Not being a sup-
porter of Robinson in the past, I sat
down to read his accusation that Pe-
ter DeFazio’s lawyers (Meek and Wil-
liams) have co-opted Oregon citizens
who are registered “Independent” (as
am I).
I thought “what an accusation?”
Our ballot arrived this past week-
end, also per USPS. Lo and behold,
the Independents are rolled into De-
Fazio’s vote.
As an Independent, I am disturbed
by this and plan to take my time
thinking about where to place my
vote.
Whatever happened to “cogito
ergo sum?”
—Elenor Sullivan
Florence
Be realistic about
school needs
A question of ethics
I have read the lengthy and infor-
mative article in The Siuslaw News
headed “Chaos in the community”
(Oct. 24)
I found it ironic and coinciden-
tal that both Councilor Lacer and
Councilor Greene, who are each sit-
ting councilors, found it convenient
at virtually the same time to advise
candidate Geraldine Lucio that may-
be the City Councilor position was
“not for her."
Ms. Lucio was hardly known by
councilors Lacer and Greene, accord-
ing to them, yet they found it was es-
sential that they advise her to with-
draw. To me, this sounds like partisan
politics and bullying. What happened
to helping someone younger and less
experienced become more efficient
in any endeavor when we have the
opportunity?
Additionally, voters have the right
to cast a vote before the choice is ed-
ited for them.
My suggestion is to put this before
the State of Oregon's Ethics Commit-
tee and have them determine wheth-
er either Councilor Lacer's email or
Councilor Green's “heart to heart”
with candidate Lucio violated Ore-
gon’s Anti Bullying Law.
—Pamela Richardson
Florence
How to achieve balance
on city council
I am told that Florence has always
been liberal leaning. I looked up
some party affiliations and it is true
that Ron Preisler, Joshua Greene and
Maureen Miltenberger (current can-
didate) are all registered Democrats,
and Joe Henry and Woody Wood-
bury (current candidate) are regis-
tered Republicans.
Only Geraldine Lucio is registered
as a non-affiliated voter. I have ob-
served her as truly non-partisan in
actions and words as have so many
of her friends and customers in Flor-
ence.
Only in the past year or so have
polarizing topics been mentioned or
proposed to the Florence City Coun-
cil such as: Designate Florence as a
Sanctuary City; a hate-free zone; a
gun-free zone; support of the May-
ors’ climate agreement; etc.
Let’s not fool ourselves that in these
days there aren’t people on both sides
pushing radical agendas.
So, the perfect balance would be
Joe and Woody on the right, Ron and
Joshua on the left and Geraldine in
the middle.
I trust them all to vote for what is
in the best interests of Florence.
—Sherry Harvey
Florence
I know Florence is better
than this
I’m writing in support of Maureen
Miltenberger who is running for a
seat on the Florence City Council.
She has the experience to work in this
position from day one and previous-
ly served on a city council in Canby,
Ore.
She has been serving as Chairper-
son on the City of Florence Environ-
mental Management and Advisory
Committee (EMAC) and the Siuslaw
Climate Alliance. She also organized
the 2018 Earth Day Celebration in
Old Town.
She is a volunteer tutor in Adult
Basic Education at Lane Communi-
ty College in Florence. She has not
been campaigning in a partisan way
and will not. The city council posi-
tions are non-partisan for a reason
— so that people will do the work of
the city they live in and work for the
good of all citizens.
Maureen has made every effort to
be available for town halls so peo-
ple could meet her. Most have been
cancelled because the other two
candidates could not, or would not,
participate. One town hall was at the
Florence Elks, where she could not
participate because she was asked to
pay to enter; she had already spent
the limit for her campaign ($750) and
could not legally spend any more.
Come on people, we are better
than this.
Florence is better than this.
—Nancy Rickard
Florence
Disapprove of intimdation
tactics in election
We are in support of Geraldine
Lucio for City Council. As stated by
many, we are shocked and dismayed
on how this non-partisan election
has become political. In addition, we
disapprove of the apparent intimida-
tion tactics used by current council
members encouraging her to drop
out of the race.
I’ve never heard of one’s politics
being a consideration in their elec-
tion for city council. I think before
people believe what they read about
Geraldine, they should meet and talk
with her directly.
It is shameful for her to be expe-
riencing this sort of hositility when
she should be applauded for caring to
make a difference in her community.
She is a young, intelligent and suc-
cessful business woman with a pos-
itive vision for our future. She is a
good listener and able to calmly con-
sider all sides before formulating her
decisions.
We will be voting for her for the
city council and allowing her to live
up to the job for which she is capable.
—Leo and Christine Duwell
Florence
Very disappointing
The idea that two of the three can-
didates for Florence City Councilor
chose not to participate in City Club’s
Open Forum is very disappointing.
Neither Woody Woodbury nor Ger-
aldine Lucio apparently thought it
was important for the voting public
to hear their views on any number of
issues facing our city.
As voting citizens, are we not enti-
tled to as much information as pos-
sible directly from the candidates
themselves? The Open Forum is an
example of direct democracy, some-
thing perfectly suited to our small
coastal community. I certainly appre-
ciated the opportunity to hear what
candidate Maureen Miltenberger be-
lieves she can bring to our city coun-
cil, but without the appearance of the
other two candidates it will be very
incomplete information when I fill
out my ballot.
There are a plethora of road signs
telling Florence voters whom they
should vote for, but they provide
nothing to help the voter who wants
information and do much to lure the
uninformed with advertisements that
are meant to make one believe that
more signage equals a more qualified
candidate for city council.
The Siuslaw News has done its part
as a neutral conduit for information
about the candidates and election.
But their reporting is not a substi-
tute for the chance to hear from the
candidates themselves and have them
answer questions from the commu-
nity.
Again, what a disappointment.
—Judith Preisler
Florence
Loose with the truth
I am a retired state worker and re-
cent Florence transplant. I have been
following the current city council
election and am concerned about
some of the claims made by Maureen
Miltenberger.
People applying as candidates for
city council sign a form, which states
in part, “Supplying false information
on this form may result in convic-
tion of a felony with a fine of up to
$125,000 and/or prison for up to 5
years.” (ORS 260.715).
The application also states that,
“All information provided by me on
this form is true to the best of my
knowledge.”
Yet on two occasions, Ms. Milten-
berger signed this affidavit knowing
there were at least two willful misrep-
resentations in her application.
She stated on her application that
she served from 1991-1994 on the
Canby City Council. Based on a Se-
attle Times article (Dec. 15, 1993),
Ms. Miltenberger was recalled by the
voters for failing to represent the in-
terests of her constituents.
Ms. Miltenberger failed to disclose
her recall on two separate applica-
tions for candidacy. I learned about
the recall from her recent interview
on Coast Radio and did some inquiry
after that.
Ms. Miltenberger also stated on
two separate applications that part
of her occupational background was
as a social worker. During the radio
interview, she stated that someone
from the state told her it was ok to
use the title “social worker” since she
supervised social workers.
Surely she is well aware of the state
law regarding this title: According to
the department of social work for the
state of Oregon, Ms. Miltenberger has
never been licensed as a social work-
er in Oregon. The title “Social Work-
er” is protected under Oregon Rules
and Statutes (ORS 675.520). In or-
der to represent yourself as a “Social
Worker,” you must be licensed, certi-
fied or registered with the Board as
an LCSW, CSWA, LMSW or RBSW.
The application is available for all
to see on the city website. Can the
city of Florence really afford to elect
someone who has shown she will not
represent the interests of her constit-
uents and has a history of misrepre-
sentation and outright falsehood?
—Ruby Norris
Florence
Who stands to benefit?
Thanks to the Siuslaw News for its
informative article, “‘Chaos’ in the
Community” (Oct. 24).
It seems to have been fairly writ-
ten, and I look forward to reading
the second part. I hope in the next
segment that Siuslaw News will keep
its promise to address, in-depth, the
story behind the external funding
coming in for Geraldine Lucio’s cam-
paign, as mentioned in the article:
“Lucio has a strong conservative
base, is financially backed by Repub-
lican donors and, as the Siuslaw News
has found, is receiving help from a
conservative campaign manager and
treasurer — both of whom live and
operate outside the Siuslaw region. ”
The article also states that Lucio
has a press agent.
Really? Doesn’t that seem a bit odd
for a first-time candidate in a small-
town election?
There are several assertions in the
article that the two council members
who spoke to Lucio did so because
they were partisans, and there is also
the implication that Maureen Milten-
berger is running as a partisan candi-
date because she works with the local
Democrats.
Yet there is no reference to Lucio's
association with Patriot Place, which
appears to be a rather hyperpartisan
group that I’ve heard (and perhaps
can be verified or dispelled) is also
funded — at least in part — by do-
nations from outside our community.
All of this is very troubling, espe-
cially in light of known huge outside
I would like to address the school
bond issue 20-291 that appears on
the November ballot. We are being
asked to fund construction and im-
provements to the school facilities in
Florence in excess of over $100 mil-
lion.
I do not believe this request is re-
alistic.
I agree that we need to support
proper facilities, safety and sound
curriculum for all children. Howev-
er, the complete redevelopment of
the school properties is unnecessary.
The school district needs to plan
in terms of realistic needs rather
than such extensive rebuilding at
the expense of our community in
exorbitant property taxes. Many of
our families with children are low in-
come. How will they stretch to pay
more in taxes to support the suggest-
ed needs in this bond issue?
How will senior citizens support
an inordinate increase in property
taxes?
Then there are other needs for
public funds like the fire district, li-
brary, ambulance, police, road repair,
etc.
If we incur the tax increase for
schools, how will the rest of our
community needs be met when they
arise? I am a retired school teacher. I
know from past experience there are
school district expenditures that can
be curtailed.
Let’s be realistic about what needs
to be done and what may be nice to
have. Educating children goes way
beyond having state-of-the-art facil-
ities.
What happens in classrooms
makes the difference in the long run.
I am going to vote wisely.
—Ada Fowler
Florence
Over age 65 and supporting
school bond measure
I, like many other seniors, have
moved to Florence from out of the
area. My own children are grown and
live elsewhere. However, I still see the
importance of supporting our local
school district.
In fact, I am a member of the
Florence Community PTA because
I want to be part of making positive
changes in our schools.
The PTA is endorsing the Siuslaw
School Bond Measure 20-291. All of
our schools need to be upgraded to
make them seismically safe. With re-
gards to building a new high school,
it will actually cost $3 million less to
put a new high school than to remod-
el the current building.
There will also be a large savings
in utility costs with energy-efficient
systems. Larger classrooms and en-
hanced technology will support the
21st-century instruction and career
education our students need to suc-
ceed in jobs and college.
Why do I think supporting schools
is important? I know that educat-
ing children helps us all. Supporting
schools is a sound investment in the
future of our community. A vibrant
school system attracts new business-
es, as well as professionals.
The doctors we so badly need here
certainly want good educational op-
portunities for their children.
Make a choice to make a difference.
Please support the schools and vote
“Yes” for the Siuslaw School bond. It
will benefit all of us.
—Nora Kent
Florence