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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 3, 2018)
4A | SATURDAY EDITION | NOVEMBER 3, 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) 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; Display classified ads, Friday 5 p.m. Saturday Issue—General news, Thursday noon; Budgets, two days prior to publication; Regular classified ads, Thursday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Thursday noon; Display classified ads, Wednesday 5 p.m. Soundings, Tuesday 5 p.m. NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In Lane County — 1-year subscription, $76; 6-month in-county, $52; 10-week subscription, $23; Out of Lane County — 1-year subscription,$99; 6-month out-of-county, $65; 10-week subscription, $29; Out of State — 1-year subscription, $125; E-Edition Online Only (Anywhere) — 1-year sub- scription, $65. Mail subscription includes E-Edition. Website and E-Edition: TheSiuslawNews.com Letters to the Editor policy Some fi nal thoughts on the school bond When I first returned to Florence and began covering sports for the Siuslaw News in 1998, it was a surreal expe- rience to walk the same halls and past the same blue lockers I left behind as a Siuslaw High School graduate in 1984. Though it may be true that you can never go home again, the experience of walk- ing through those same met- al doors, past the library and courtyard, and into the gymna- sium was about as close as I can imagine to doing just that. Over the course of the last 21 years, I've also watched each of our four children walk those same halls and cram their books into many of the same lockers I once did. Aside from new murals and some cosmetic upgrades, little has changed there in the 38 years since I tossed my gradu- ation cap into the air. But the truth is, things have changed. Outside of the time capsule that is Siuslaw High School, an educational and technological infrastructure within a global- ized world has been developing at an exponential rate — and the current infrastructure at our high school is like trying to use a rotary phone in a digital network. In all honesty, I have been on the fence about the school bond measure. I understand the con- cerns community members have over the enormous price The .90 cents that is current- ly being paid on the 20-year middle school bond, which will expire this June — will not re- duce $2.72 down to $1.82. With the .90 cents property tax payers have already been paying, the new bond will “only” be felt as a net increase of $1.82 over what property own- ers have already been paying. That puts the actual cost at $2.72 per $1,000 of assessed value, or just under $550 per year for a $200,000 home. From the Editor’s Desk Ned Hickson tag of this project. In my mind, property own- ers regularly have to shoulder an unfair burden of cost for these types of projects — which is the subject for a future edi- torial. That being said, I’d like to clarify a few things. To begin with, the final cost of the bond will be $2.72 per $1,000 of assessed value. Period. There seems to be some con fusion on that, and a misun- derstanding between the net increase and actual cost. That is still a lot of money. That being said, bonds will be issued as needed for con- struction. Considering the first year to year-and-a-half will be dedicated primarily to plan- ning, that means taxpayers should see little change until 2020. Here are some things to con- sider. Given our current push for additional housing devel- opment, it stands to reason that more property owners will be able to share the tax burden — meaning smaller bond pay- ments for individual property owners. Also, the bond measure in- cludes a 10 percent contingen- cy in addition to the inflation costs already anticipated with- in the bond. Because of that, there’s a good chance the con- tingency won’t be needed — and property owners will see that 10 percent cut from their tax burden. I certainly understand why some would choose to vote aganst this additional tax pay- ment, regardless of the factors I’ve mentioned; more money is more money. However, the core issues our aging school facilities face ar- en't going to get better. In the meantime, as our community grows, so will the number of students graduating from Siu- slaw High School with an ed- ucation based on limitations rather than options. When you add in factors such as structural concerns re- garding seismic activity, and a lack of safety measures in the event of an active shooter sit- uation, the notion of “going home again” seems less import- ant than the idea of creating a home that is safe and produc- tive one for future generations of our students. LETTERS Isn’t Florence better than this? It’s unfortunate that the discussion sur- rounding Councilors Joshua Greene and Susy Lacer has been blown out of pro- portion in the community. I’ve known Joshua Greene for many years and have worked with Susy Lacer. They have both contributed enormous time and energy to serving the Florence community and care deeply about its growth. The hostil- ity toward them is unwarranted. I believe their interest in communicat- ing with a candidate who has been un- willing to enlighten the public about why she is running or how she envisions her role in the future of the city was motivat- ed by caution and concern for the City of Florence and for the electoral process. If, as suggested, there are outside in- fluences at play, this muddies the waters of what could be a good faith process. And more, the wanton attempts to pick apart the public service of Maureen Miltenberger, a woman who is native to Florence and has dedicated much of her life to working for the benefit of the communities she has served, is also dis- turbing. Is Florence better than this, or are we going to be swept up in the divisiveness currently affecting the nation? —Joanna Henderson Florence With all the technology going on to- day, is this the only option we have for funding schools? —Camille Nesbitt Florence Can’t have people taxed out of their homes I have heard people talking about con- fronting strangers in traffi c about trash being thrown out of the car and off the motorcycle. Yet it occurs to me, as I pass the high school almost daily along Oak Street and also along 27th Street, that we have work to do with our own community mem- bers on the concept of not littering. Food wrappers, cups, bags, clothing, school supplies and even the occasional syringe can be found with alarming reg- ularity along this route. How can we foster community pride in them, so they will use trash containers at the school or in their homes, as most of us do? —Ivy Medow Florence Aft er perusing my current property tax bill, I noticed that over half has already been allocated to education (schools). I decided to do the math on the proposed increase to $2.72 per $1,000 of assessed value and was aghast at an astounding $1,000-per-year increase. For those of us living on fi xed incomes, this is no small, paltry amount in my view. Going from .90 cents per $1,000 of assessed value to $2.72 per $1,000 of as- sessed value is simply outrageous — and all of this for over 30 years. Oregon has now been rated sixth as the most taxed state in the union. No wonder people get taxed out of their homes. Work to do on concept of not littering in our town 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
