Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 23, 2019)
4A | SATURDAY EDITION | NOVEMBER 23, 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 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 Bartlet Ned Hickson Susan Gutierrez Cathy Dietz Ron Annis Publisher, ext. 318 Editor, ext. 313 Multimedia Sales Director, ext. 326 Office Supervisor, ext. 312 Production Supervisor DEADLINES: Wednesday Issue—General news, Monday noon; Budgets, four days prior to publication; Regular classified ads, Monday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Monday noon; Dis- play classified ads, Friday 5 p.m. Saturday Issue—General news, Thursday noon; Budgets, two days prior to pub- lication; 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, $79; 6-month in-county, $56; 10-week subscription, $25; Out of Lane County — 1-year subscription, $102; 6-month out- of-county, $69; 10-week subscription, $35; Out of State — 1-year subscription, $134; 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 Commissioners should support citizen-initiated measures (Editor’s Note: Viewpoint sub- missions on this and other topics are always welcome as part of our goal to encourage community discussion and exchange of perspectives.) ple in favor of big business. For two years, both organizations worked diligently to gather 15,000 signatures (30,000 total) to duly qualify each initiative for the ballot so that residents of Lane County can exercise their power to make law. And despite citizens insisting that these issues should be voted upon, neither initiative has yet to appear on the ballot. Why? Because big timber inter- ests have sued for their claimed rights to increase profits — at the Citizens turn to the initiative sys- tem when their elected officials re- fuse to act on issues important to them. Americans are empowered through direct democracy — the citizen initiative system — to change law when they feel it no longer pro- tects their rights and interests. We aren’t the first people to face unresponsive elected officials captured by the bid- By Michelle Holman ding of big business. The cit- Volunteer educator, organizer for izen initiative process itself Community Rights Lane County comes from a time when the people were being ignored by government in favor of big business. expense of the rights of the Orego- That’s why, in 1902, Oregonians ad- nians, not to mention the health of opted the initiative process as a tool the environment. At this very mo- of direct democracy, in what has be- ment, the two citizen-led initiatives come known nationally as the “Ore- are languishing in the Oregon State gon System.” Court of Appeals instead of being Oregonians recognized that they rightfully debated by the people of needed a pathway for making law, a Lane County. process that should operate for citi- So, while the big timber-incited zens as it does for elected officials. legal battles have been playing out, For example, in 2015, concerned FAHA and OCOR turned back to citizens from Lane County launched the Lane County Commissioners Freedom from Aerial Herbicide Al- and asked them to act on behalf of liance (FAHA). They crafted a cit- the people. izen initiative, the “Lane County Numerous community members Freedom from Aerial Spraying of attended many meetings urging the Herbicides Bill of Rights,” to ban the commissioners, who serve as the timber industry’s practice of spray- county’s public health stewards, to ing toxic chemicals on logged lands. protect the public health. Why? Because government has At those meetings, testimonies been ignoring citizens in favor of from citizens about serious ill-ef- big business. FAHA’s sister organi- fects on their families’ health fell zation, Our Community Our Rights short in getting commissioners to (OCOR), wrote the attending initia- act in the public interest. When tive, the “Right of Local Community residents made explicit asks of the Self-government,” which legally au- commissioners to ban the sprays, thorizes residents the right to write commissioners refused. and pass laws that protect their When concerned citizens asked health, safety and welfare, such as commissioners to refer the spray the spray ban law. ban and self-government initiatives Again, this was done because gov- to the ballot — a power they hold — ernment has been ignoring the peo- commissioners refused that option Guest Viewpoint as well, citing a fear of punishment by state preemption law as a bigger concern than undermining the peo- ple’s democratic right to vote. Going even further to help com- missioners assist county residents, FAHA and OCOR reworked the ini- tiatives to address preemption con- cerns, adding a clause stating that the portions of the laws pertaining to the claim of preemption would sustain a “hold” until state preemp- tion is lifted. Still no action from commission- ers. Over these past two years, the community has been re- peatedly put off by its elected county officials. When push comes to shove, Lane County Commissioners appear to lack the courage to stand with the people who elected them, choosing to hide behind unjust law that serves corpo- rate interests. As an added insult to the work of those from over 100 years ago who fought for the right of the people to directly make law through the ini- tiative process, the courts have also subverted democracy by ruling in favor of corporate interests over the people’s right to the ballot box. We are not asking commissioners to support the initiatives. We are de- manding that the democratic prin- ciples that protect the peoples’ right to the Oregon System be upheld. Once the measures reach the bal- lot box, anyone is entitled to vote their values/conscience. Regardless of what happens with these two initiatives, Lane County citizens will continue working to overturn the laws that reward cor- porate greed over the needs of the environment and all inhabitants. We have a moral responsibility to protect the places in which we live, especially when our elected officials will not. 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. Email 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