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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 2020)
4A | SATURDAY EDITION | AUGUST 1, 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 Copyright 2020 © 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 Bartlett 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 Siuslaw News Office: 148 Maple St./PO Box 10 Florence, OR 87439 LETTERS Help us keep our businesses open I am confused by the adminis- tration’s belief that if we open our schools and businesses without doing adequate testing and contact tracing — and without insisting that people protect each other by wearing a mask — that somehow our economy will thrive and we will all be back on the glory train of economic stability. As it happens, the opposite seems to be the case; we seem to be having our lessons in cause and effect. Our coastal town has had a re- birth in the last 40 years. It has be- come a destination for many visi- tors. We welcome them and try to provide a reasonably good getaway from cities and personal stress- es. And their contribution to our economy helps us to maintain Old Town and our community in a way that is pleasing, welcoming and re- laxing. Up to now, we’ve been able to avoid COVID-19 contamination and keep many of our businesses open. But current misunderstand- ings about the seriousness of the pandemic have brought people here who, for one reason or an- other, are either unwilling to wear a mask or believe that we have no virus cases and don’t see the need. Now the influx of people getting away from quarantine and lock- down have brought the virus to us, and businesses have had to tempo- rarily close their doors in recent weeks to try to regroup. If cases continue to rise in areas like ours, the chances of having an- other lockdown increase, threaten- ing our businesses, our health and our ability to maintain our com- munity as a viable destination. We hope that people coming here to Old Town and other parts of Florence will be more thoughtful. And if you live here, help us out — economically as well as physically — by wearing a mask and observ- ing physical distancing, whether you are inside or outside (Crowds of people on our small sidewalks without masks can also make pass- ing residents ill. We would rather not cross the street to avoid you). Help us keep our businesses open and our residents (the medi- an age here is about 65) healthy so we can continue to accommodate you as a respite from the heat and the anxiety of confinement. —Joann Henderson Florence Portland is not example of ‘peaceful protesting’ While I respect the right of Don- na Mlinek to share her views in the Suislaw News (“Respecting Consti- tution, Bible Are Not Exclusive,” July 29), I must respectfully dis- agree. Webster defines “Peaceful” as “not quarrelsome; free from dis- turbance; calm; of or in a time of peace.” Not one of these is the case in Portland. BLM and the An- ti-Trump forces have taken over portions of the city, burned build- ings, destroyed businesses, injured folks, looted, vandalized and left parts of the city in ruins. Jerry Nadler refers to the rioting in Portland as “a myth.” Ms. Mlinek refers to the peace- ful “moms, dads and vets” who are being gassed, but what wasn’t mentioned was the gangs wield- ing baseball bats, explosives, lasers, Molotov cocktails and guns, or how many police officers have been in- jured. We have the right to peaceful protesting, but when lives, busi- nesses and homes are at risk, that’s going too far. This destruction, this carnage, this total disregard for others has gone on far too long. —Trish Rhodes Florence What type of Mayor do we want? In 2018, Sandra Roumagoux, the Mayor of Newport and on behalf of the Newport City Council, signed off on a “A Proclamation Recogniz- ing Climate Change Awareness.” The journey to this proclama- tion began by two organizations, 350 Oregon Central Coast and Citizens’ Climate Lobby Newport, when they requested that the Unit- ed Nations Human Rights on Cli- mate Change be accepted by the Newport City Council. Mayor Roumagoux responded with the Climate Change Procla- mation. The proclamation began with a declaration that “climate change, created by atmospheric warming caused by greenhouse gases, has reached a critical level” and that “science has shown that climate change is a result of human activ- ity.” She ended the proclamation by urging “residents and visitors to address this very serious and pro- found crisis facing our globe.” Mayor Roumagoux did this on behalf of the Newport City Council as well as herself. At the last Florence City Coun- cil meeting on July 20, Council Vice-President Ron Preisler, who ackowledges the threat of climate change and responded to his con- stituents’ call for action, presented a modified version of the Newport proclamation for discussion and a vote. Unlike Newport, Councilor Pre- isler had to bypass Florence May- or Joe Henry, who effectively shut down any meaningful discussion of the merits of the proclamation and it was defeated by a 3-2 vote. What type of mayor do we want for Florence? One like Mayor Rou- magoux who will listen to her con- stituents, or one like Joe Henry who doesn’t? —Michael Allen Florence Proposed 126 new homes will come at a cost I live in the small community called Sea Watch Estates across the street from the new proposed high-density development of 126 new houses. Besides all the other potential issues with this development, I’ll focus on one: groundwater. This area has a well known issue with groundwater because of a clay layer about 40 ft down. Water isn’t absorbed here but instead travels horizontally through the 40-feet of loose sand under our homes at Sea Watch and goes out to the Siuslaw River via our slope on the river’s edge. Anyone knows plants use wa- ter. Imagine how much nine acres needs? The City’s plan is to remove all the vegetation and infiltrate all water from the development into the ground. This will create about 2-plus million cubic feet of addi- tional water annually that will be travelling horizontally through that 40 feet of loose sand under our homes. In 1998, a Sandpines develop- ment put a much smaller amount of water in that area which, as a result of the extra pressure on our slope, caused a “blowout.” The sub- sequent erosion nearly took out a house. The City had to correct this issue. The homeowner had expensive repairs. In researching information to try to get the City to consider this issue, I found that the groundwater issue — the geol- ogy causing it and the damage it’s done in the past — is in their own records. Yet, it appears there is zero con- sideration of this known issue in any of the City’s plans. If the project moves forward as is, settling and slope failure (pos- sibly causing home loss) is a sure thing. We are a small HOA, mostly retired and on a fixed income. The City approved our Sea Watch Es- tates development as a viable place for one to build a home and live. What concerns me most is find- ing out that the City had all this in- formation and apparently excluded it as a factor in planning, knowing that the groundwater issue has caused us damage in the past, and certainly will again. Perhaps Sea Watch (25 homes) can’t complete against the tax rev- enue of 126 new homes? They may call this progress. My hope is that the City may read this and redesign a drainage system that won’t destroy our community. I would hope that any development the City does, would work to pro- tect the homes of people already living here. —Steve Williams Florence Office Hours: Monday to Thursday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday: 8 a.m. to noon Letters to the Editor policy 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 in- clude 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, grammar and clarity. Publica- tion of any letter is not guaranteed and depends on space available and the volume of letters received. Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumen- tative, sarcastic or contain accusations that are un- sourced or documented will not be published. Letters containing poetry or from outside the Siu- slaw News readership area will only be published 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 accurate, fair and not from second-hand knowledge or hear- say; and 3) Explain the reasons to support candi- dates based on personal experience and perspective rather than partisanship and campaign-style rhet- oric. Candidates themselves may not use the letters to the editor column to outline their views and plat- forms or to ask for votes; this constitutes paid politi- cal advertising. As with all letters and advertising content, the newspaper, at the sole discretion of the publisher, general manager and editor, reserves the right to re- ject 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
