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
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Published every Wednesday and Saturday at 148 Maple St. in Florence, Lane County, Oregon.
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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
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Pro d u c t i o n Su p e r v i s o r
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Cathy Dietz
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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
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Emal letters to:
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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