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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 2019)
4A | WEDNESDAY EDITION | FEBRUARY 6, 2019 Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 NED HICKSON , EDITOR | 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM Opinion The First Amendment C ongress shall make no law respect- ing an establishment 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 Govern- ment 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 2019 © Siuslaw News 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 Pub- lishers 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 Bartlet Ned Hickson Susan Gutierrez Cathy Dietz Ron Annis Jeremy Gentry Publisher, ext. 318 Editor, ext. 313 Marketing Director, ext. 326 Office Supervisor, ext. 312 Production Supervisor Press Manager DEADLINES: Wednesday Issue—General news, Monday noon; Budgets, four days prior to publica- tion; 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 subscrip- tion, $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 subscription, $65. Mail subscription includes E-Edition. Website and E-Edition: TheSiuslawNews.com Letters to the Editor policy LETTERS More appropriate place for trash Kudos to the Siuslaw 97J School District for putting trash cans up at the high school campus on Oak, both at the corner with 27th Street and at the edge of the path through the woods from the park- ing lot. Of course, the grounds look a lot better now that people have a more appropriate place to throw their trash. Thank you! —Ivy Medow Florence New city hall was under budget and overdue Certainly, someone like Loren Parker (“Why a Taj Mahal,” Feb. 2) who has lived here for 45 years has noticed the growth and need for expanded services in our com- munity. More than 750,000 visitors spending $136 million tourist dol- lars here annually is a strong indi- cator that Florence is definitely a destination. The recently remodeled city hall was previously completed in 1967. Since then population has increased nearly 400 percent. It stands to reason that the old facil- ity would need upgrades and ad- ditional space, while presenting a welcoming appearance. It is being completed $3 million under the original bid of $6 mil- lion. That isn’t something you see of- ten. Those who feel strongly about how dollars are spent should take the oppor- tunity to voice their opinion at city council meetings before the fi- nal decision is made. Every city council meeting allows for pub- lic comments. Those who wish to speak should sign up at least 15 minutes be- fore the meeting begins. Meetings are recorded to be viewed from the comfort of your own computer. You can sign up to receive email no- tification and the agen- da. The City of Florence monthly newsletter, to which you can also subscribe, contains information about cur- rent and upcoming items of im- portance. Remember the words of Benja- min Franklin: “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” — Jacquie Beveridge Florence Who’s watching the taxpayer henhouse? Loren Parker's Letter to the Ed- itor ("Why a Taj Mahal for City Hall?" Feb. 2) tells the story of the average taxpayer who questions the spending wisdom of our city council and city management, which appear to be one and the same. Like Loren, I am dismayed with the cost of the new Kingwood public works building for such a tiny municipality like Florence. Th e mayor’s State of the City ad- dress focused on these two proj- ects as well as city arts — really a private not public responsibility. Th e mayor also boasted about the municipality’s intervention con- cerning housing, which translates into government subsidizing so- called “aff ordable dwellings” in- stead of free enterprise being the determinant. Housing is the business of busi- ness, which is the business of cap- ital formation. Most of the may- or's congratulatory colloquy dealt with the growth of government, accompanied by the onlooking smiles of bureaucratic approba- tion. Th e question that citizens like Loren and myself have is: Who is guarding the taxpayer henhouse? In my view, we have seen no evi- dence of special restraint by any of our elected offi cials and certainly not the unelected staff whose spe- cial responsibility appears to be growing our local government. Where is the city councilor who will stand athwart history and say, “Stop?” At this juncture, who among us can discern between city management and elected of- fi cials? Th e Chamber of Commerce ex- ecutives who should be protecting the populace from onerous city spending is instead talking about ephemeral busy-work issues in lockstep with city spending de- sires. In order to expand capital for- mation for thriving business ex- pansion, the City of Florence, with Chamber lobbying, needs to annex surrounding areas so large business corporations have cer- tainty in working with localities. City and Chamber leaders must work tirelessly on changing the laws and regulations in Salem for a friendlier coastal entrepreneur- ial environment. Eighty-year-old Loren Park- er has the wisdom of a modern day James Madison inferring that those we elect must be increas- ingly infl uenced by the taxpaying citizenry rather than unelected, self-congratulatory city manage- ment. May the good Lord bless Flor- ence to become a mecca of thriv- ing capitalism and booming busi- ness — not a braggadocio of big government. —Joel Marks City of Florence Budget Committee The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the edi- tor 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 sub- ject to editing for length, grammar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaranteed and depends on space available and the volume of let- ters received. Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumen- tative, 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 pub- lished at the discretion 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 campaigns on behalf of (or by) candidates; 2) En- sure any information about a candidate is accu- rate, fair and not from second-hand knowledge or hearsay; and 3) Explain the reasons to support candidates based on personal experience and perspective rather than partisanship and cam- paign-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 newspaper, at the sole discretion of the publish- er, general manager and editor, reserves the right to reject any letter 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 @oregonlegislature.gov 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
