4A |
WEDNESDAY EDITION
| JULY 29, 2020
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
LETTERS
Kids’ Corner not just for
older ‘kids’ too
Many thanks to the weekly
Kids’ Corner page in the Siuslaw
News. I always enjoy “This Day
in History” and the many varied
puzzles are great for my elderly
brain.
My neurologist recommends
that I exercise my brain fre-
quently with new activities, and
Kids’ Corner has a grand vari-
ety of word challenges, such as
Hocus Focus and Kids’ Maze as
visual puzzles, and also the fun
riddles.
After reading them, I send the
pages to three of my young rela-
tives accross the country.
Thanks also to Oregon Pacific
Bank, First Community Credit
Union and the Siuslaw Public
Library for sponsoring the Kids’
Corner.
—Ann Lathrop
Florence
Respecting Constitution,
Bible is not exclusive
In response to Keith Kraft ’s
defi nition of “far right” in his
July 22 Letter to the Editor
(“What ‘Far-Right’ Means To
Me”).
Mr. Kraft fails to understand
that others can also respect both
the Constitution and the Bible
but may have diff erent interpre-
tations of them.
I believe that kneeling re-
spectfully during the national
anthem honors that anthem; the
fl ag and those who have fought
and died for it is an exercise in
both the Constitutional right to
freedom of expression and the
Christian obligation to call out
and address the ways in which
we have failed, as a nation, to
live up to the ideals of both
Christ and the founding fathers.
I believe peaceful protestors
— like the moms, dads and vet-
erans in Portland — who are
being gassed should be allowed
to exercise their Constitution-
al rights to freedom of speech
and assembly as well as their
Christian right to stand for the
oppressed — without being as-
saulted by American troops in
combat gear.
Mr. Kraft ’s suggestion that
BLM is led by Marxists refl ects
a misconstrual of what it means
to be trained in Marxist theory.
Marxist theory raises ques-
tions like: “Why was the average
CEO salary 30 times higher than
the average worker’s salary in
the 1970s, but today it is nearly
300 times higher?” It also con-
siders the causes and potential
solutions to those grossly unfair
and inequitable conditions.
It is our Constitutional right
and Christian obligation to raise
and address issues of systemic
inequality in our country.
While I agree most police are
dedicated to protect and serve,
because of the great power and
responsibility they are given, it
is appropriate to apply a higher
level of scrutiny and hold them
to a higher standard of behavior
in order to prevent the abuse
of that power and the abroga-
tion of citizens’ Constitutional
rights.
And Christian compassion for
those less fortunate than us calls
for funding community services
to assist with problems like
mental illness, homelessness
and drug addiction — issues a
police force is ill-equipped yet
oft en called upon to deal with.
It is true that a nation cannot
exist without borders; it also
cannot exist without immi-
grants. Conservative Justice An-
tonin Scalia ruled that refugees
and immigrants have a Consti-
tutional right to due process,
and we have a Christian duty
to treat them humanely. When
I listen to Black people and at-
tempt to view the world from
their perspective (something
I think Christian teaching in
compassion compels us to do),
it is clear that my white skin has
aff orded me advantages.
I’m sorry that Mr. Kraft can-
not fi nd it in his heart to do the
same.
—Donna Mlinek
Florence
Non-partisanship is a
two-way street
“Amazing, simply amaz-
ing” as my departed Aunt Vera
would say if she were still here
on this side of the grass, in re-
gards to Joshua Greene’s Guest
Viewpoint in the July 15 edition
of the Siuslaw News (“Politics
Should Have No Place In Our
Local Government”).
He used up 28-1/2 inches of
column print to complain of,
and I quote, “far-right ideals
governing by proxy — which
does not represent all of our
constituents.”
He blasted three members of
our local government as align-
ing themselves with our “far-
right community, outspoken
pro-Trump supporters.”
I would remind Mr. Greene
that his left -leaning also does
not represent all of our constit-
uents.
Th roughout his Guest View-
point, he ranted about non-par-
tisanship. So I assume those
who don’t have liberal left -lean-
ing thoughts or who conform to
his way of thinking are display-
ing partisanship?
To my way of thinking, his
entire Guest Viewpoint displays
nothing but the lack of non-par-
tisanship, which he so readily
displayed.
“Simply amazing” as Aunt
Vera would say, “simply amaz-
ing.”
— Tony Cavarno
Florence
Let’s do something
cooperative and
constructive
In my opinion, our city coun-
cil is being stubborn in its deni-
al to allow even a formal discus-
sion of the possible need for an
offi cial stance on the local im-
pacts of climate change.
I hate to think that those op-
posed are ones who don’t believe
the scientifi c proof, or that the
science is a hoax. We live in an
area which may become greatly
aff ected by climate change in
the not-too-distant future.
Th is is a fact.
Certain stages of that un-
avoidable change should be dis-
cussed and prepared for on be-
half of the people who pay local
taxes. Th ere needs to be com-
munity education to help pre-
pare ourselves and learn ways to
reduce our own contribution to
the problem.
Th e council should reconsider
the recent proclamation request
put forth by Councilor Ron Pre-
isler.
Every town must do its part to
preserve tomorrow for their de-
scendants. Our youth are look-
ing at their futures right now;
giving them reassurance that
we appreciate their voices and
needs in our community is of
utmost importance.
Let’s do something coopera-
tive and constructive: I ask that
Florence City Council mem-
bers, including our Mayor, re-
consider and allow the discus-
sion with all egos aside.
—Wende Jarman
Florence
Climate proclamation about people, not partisanship
(Editor’s Note: Viewpoint submis-
sions on various topics of local con-
cern or impact are always welcome
as part of our goal to encourage com-
munity discussion and exchange of
perspectives.)
Th e passage of a proclamation
addressing Climate Change was
never about me, despite Mayor Joe
Henry’s assertion that it was during
the July 20 Florence City Council
meeting. It was a group eff ort rep-
resenting hundreds of Florence cit-
izens, including those who draft ed
the proclamation, along with the cli-
mate activists who signed petitions
in favor of it.
In the past, the Mayor has been
given several opportunities to pres-
ent and proclaim it but, instead,
chose to attempt to unilaterally edit
the proclamation at the last council
meeting.
Nowhere in the City Charter or
Council rules is the Mayor autho-
rized to do that. Why would we
accept the edits of someone who is
clearly a climate change denier?
So, our group changed the word-
ing and asked the City Council —
not the Mayor — to recognize the
proclamation instead.
Guest Viewpoint
By Ron Preisler
Florence City Councilor
Florence has a committee, the En-
vironmental Management Advisory
Committee (EMAC), which would
certainly be able to work on the is-
sues raised in the Proclamation if
not for the mayor telling them they
could not because it was deemed too
political.
On the major issues we are facing
today, including COVID-19, our
economic situation here in Flor-
ence (high unemployment, business
closures, city staffi ng at a high both
in numbers and cost), along with
broader issues dealing with racial
inequality and injustice, as well as
climate change, the mayor has cho-
sen to remain silent.
Th at is not leadership, it is duck-
ing the issues that must be addressed
if we are truly a “Premier Coastal
Community.”
In the fi rst four years of my six
years as the Vice President of the
City Council, we accomplished a
great deal. We then experienced a
signifi cant change in the attitude of
the Council as the balance of power
shift ed to the Mayor once the latest
council members were seated and
almost unfailingly acquiesced to his
way of thinking and voting.
As a result, our city has sadly be-
come like many others: Very divid-
ed.
Our city is better than that.
Florence residents deserve leader-
ship that cares about the well-being
of all its people.
Copyright 2020 © Siuslaw News
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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
@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