4A |
SATURDAY EDITION
| FEBRUARY 20, 2021
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
| 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
Opinion
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ongress shall make no law respect-
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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)
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LETTERS
We are all part of the
solution to homelessness
Statements in past letters, us-
ing the language of “transients,
“these people,” “catering to this
minority,” are very sad to me.
What happened to the human
heart that anyone would con-
sider “these people” as separate
from you and I?
I am one of the lucky ones. I
am not living in a tent city or
under a tarp. That gives me the
opportunity to lend a hand to
another who has not been so
lucky. If you have been blessed
with food, shelter, heat, safety
and wealth, why not help the
situation rather than ask the
Mayor to please get “these tran-
sients” out of our sight?
Not all under a tarp want to
be there. There are families, sin-
gle moms with kids, as well as
children out there alone, veter-
ans and people needing medical
help and none of the systems
in place are working due to the
pandemic.
Why would our country treat
our veterans this way? Why
would some religious folks turn
their faces away from those in
need? What happened to help-
ing those who are hungry, cold,
unclothed, unsheltered?
Then there is the issue of why
the warming center opens only
when temperatures drop below
32 degrees. Have you ever had
to live outside in these torrential
downpours and storms we have
here regularly?
No one can stay warm and
dry under those conditions.
We are talking about human
beings, our fellow men and
women, who need socks and
underwear but have no way of
affording them.
What is wrong with this pic-
ture?
Not one of us has the right to
look down on another who is
less fortunate. We are all God’s
children.
We and the City of Florence
are not in alignment with core
principles of love for one an-
other, caring for each other and
lending a helping hand.
Hey, maybe we the people of
Florence could help by renting a
dumpster for people and a port-
a-potty. Maybe if the lucky ones
who have money would start
investing in humanity, we really
could fix this mess?
This world needs all of us;
stop turning your face away.
—Lynne Ann Kogut
Florence
Recycling more than
about the deposit refund
First, I want to share my sym-
pathy with any loss of recycle
reimbursement funds and the
extra effort it sometimes takes
to find locations to recycle.
Life just doesn’t always treat
us fair. I’ve been real lucky since
I’ve always viewed recycling as a
small price I could pay for help-
ing the planet not be so over-
loaded by the garbage we create,
expecting it to absorbed with-
out causing any damage.
I do hope people look at a
multitude of policy positions
when making their political de-
cisions and not just the incon-
venience and revenue loss of
recycling.
Our community needs every
thoughtful vote for moving for-
ward into a clean and healthy
future.
—Judy Kinsman
Florence
Why I love Florence
I recently had the fortune
of listening to an interview on
KXCR (one of the best commu-
nity radio stations I’ve ever had
the fortune to live near) with
two City of Florence employees
talking about all the opportuni-
ties they had made available for
this community.
I was very impressed.
An hour later, I was out at a
favorite eatery, drinking a beer
under cover while I watched
four city workers put up the lo-
cal icon: the post with wooden
arrows pointing in all directions
marking off the mileage to ev-
ery other Florence in the world.
It was during what I would
call, for the coast, a soaking
rain. I worked outside every day
for 30 years, so I know exactly
what they were going through.
I was impressed.
Which is my point: I doubt
there is one of us that’s hap-
py with politics these days, but
there’s so many dedicated folks
out there who do amazing
things for little money and even
less thanks.
To the people who serve us,
who look out for us, who pro-
tect us, who deal with our sew-
age — please accept my humble
thanks.
Florence is lucky to have you.
I love Florence, you love Flor-
ence, we all love Florence
—Edward Gunderson
Florence
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WHERE TO WRITE
President Joseph Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
TTY/TDD: 202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
Email: Sen.DickAnderson@
oregonlegislature.gov
Oregon Gov.
Kate Brown
State Rep.
Boomer Wright (Dist. 9)
State Sen. Dick
Anderson (Dist. 5)
160 State Capitol 900 Court St.
900 Court St. NE
Salem, Ore. 97301-4047
Salem, OR 97301
Message Line:
503-986-1409
503-378-4582
Email: Rep.BoomerWright@
www.oregon.gov/gov
oregonlegislature.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
Lane County Dist. 1
Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
Email: Jay.Bozievich@
co.lane.or.us
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753 | 541-465-6750
Florence City Council
www.merkley.senate.gov
& Mayor Joe Henry
Florence City Hall, 250
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio Highway 101, Florence, 97439
(4th Dist.)
541-997-3437
2134 Rayburn HOB
ci.florence.or.us
Washington, DC 20515
Email comments to Florence
202-225-6416
City Recorder Kelli Weese at
541-269-2609 | 541-465-6732 kelli.weese@ci.florence.or.us
www.defazio.house.gov