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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (April 17, 2021)
4A | SATURDAY EDITION | APRIL 17, 2021 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 2021 © 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 Cathy Dietz Ron Annis For Advertising: ext. 318 Publisher, ext. 318 Editor, ext. 313 Office Supervisor, ext. 312 Production Supervisor For Classifieds: ext. 320 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 to the Editor policy LETTERS Voting for Martindale for school board I am thrilled that Larry Martin- dale announced his running for the Siuslaw School District Board of Directors. I have had the pleasure of work- ing beside Larry for approximately four years as a member of the Board of Directors of the Boys and Girls Club of Western Lane County. He holds outstanding leadership skills, is a great listener, outstand- ing problem solver and a very re- spectful man. Larry has no doubt seen a lot over his 38 years as a teacher, ed- ucational consultant and adminis- trator for elementary, middle and high school. I honestly feel he would be a great advocate for our district both for our students, teachers and staff — especially during today’s chal- lenging times. I will be voting for Larry Mar- tindale for Siuslaw School District Board of Directors position #6. —Pixie Center Florence Change course at WLAD According to a Guest Viewpoint in the Siuslaw News March 17 (“Am- bulance District Is At Financial Crossroads”) and in a paid adver- tisement in that same edition ti- tled: “What are you willing to pay for?” the Western Lane Ambulance District (WLAD) has constructed a goldplated special district, com- pliments of what some see as an unsatisfactory union negotiations. I do not cast dispersion at any employee at WLAD; all of whom I have seen or worked with have top- notch intentions and sincerity. However, in this day and age sin- cerity is a much overrated virtue! Having served on 13 budget committees through the years, in- cluding four elected positions, nev- er has any budget been operating in a deficit in the way that WLAD is and has been. This is a great dis- service to the citizens of Florence and the surrounding service area and those benefiting from the ex- orbitant salaries and benefits of the district will fight to keep “the good times rolling.” Why is the taxpayer being gouged for paramedics’ sick leave, vacation, training at overtime rates as dictated by the union and three supervisors getting a possible $122, 586 — even much more than our Fire and EMS Chief? I feel the WLAD board in some cases shill for union wishes and are really not trained in the all import- ant skill set of negotiation; after all, they are citizen volunteers and la- bor is well aware of those shortfalls. My recommendation is this: The citizens of Florence should vote a resounding “Nay” to any tax levy proposed by WLAD. Furthermore, it is now time to privatise ambu- lance service, possibly with the same employees at a much lower benefit package and more cost-ef- ficient service. I never imagined that Florence would repeat the irresponsible be- havior of the federal government’s spending spree. It’s time to reverse course drasti- cally or suffer the consequences. — Joel Marks WLAD Budget Committee Annexation coverage, presentations are misleading (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.) and future development, including some sent by Lane County Com- missioner Jay Bozievich that rec- ommended that no annexation be permitted until many problematic The April 7 article in the Siuslaw News regarding the Benedick Hold- ing LLC (BH LLC) annexation is misleading for a number of reasons. It unwittingly serves the purpos- es of the COF Planning Department — and ultimately the city council. This is mainly because there has conveniently and consistently been a selective presentation of this is- sue by Planning Department head Wendy FarleyCampbell (WFC), which has been skewed in favor of the annexation/zone change, as well as the openly proposed stated reason by BH LLC, which is for the future development of the property by them. The public has effectively been cut off from presenting its side. Remember: people in the county can’t vote on city matters such as for mayor and council members. As a result, limitations are placed upon them the public. There is only lim- ited 3- and 5-minute speaking times allowed by individuals or their law- yer, even though a 15-minute total time is allowed but can’t be utilized by any “single” speaker. Commenting individuals against the annexation have been repeat- edly cut off mid-sentence in their presentations. When last counted, there were well over 1,000 letters sent in protest over the annexation Guest Viewpoint By Jeff Talbot Florence issues are resolved. These issues include legal liability ramifications and financial and ju- risdictional responsibilities, among many others. Commissioner Bozievich is well versed in this matter being directly involved for over 10 years when it was on Lane County’s plate — this is a direct quote from a letter he wrote to the Mayor and City Council: “I believe the City should act with caution as it moves forward with any development of this property and require the developer to com- plete the process of upgrading the storm drain system in the previous phases of the development prior to annexation of lands that discharge to that system.” City of Florence Public Works Director Mike Miller is aware and has also raised similar concerns but his testimony has been truncated in WFC’s presentations. The Siuslaw News article stated that many of the concerns raised by the public were either irrelevant or exceeded the scope of the city council. However, the Siuslaw News Office Hours: Monday to Thursday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday: 8 a.m. to noon stated that FarleyCampbell “walked the council through a very detailed letter by BH LLC’s attorney Michael Farthing.” No “very detailed letter objec- tions” were ever allowed against the annexation/zone change proposal, though. This goes against the City’s own by-laws (the state’s also) that must include public involvement. Consider this: In a court of law, there is a presentation by one side or the other in which one side (A) presents its evidence to a jury on an unlimited continual basis but the other side (B) is not only limited in the amount of time of its presenta- tion but also whether its evidence is even deemed relevant by the other side (A), not even if that original side (A) brought up the matter in the first place. Simply in legal terms, that’s called “opening the door” for further dis- cussion, admissible evidence or cross examination. In effect, FarleyCampbell’s side or presentation had the power of judge, jury and executioner because there was not a comprehensive pre- sentation of all the facts and aspects of this issue to the city council — or actually to the public — as a whole. I submit that the City of Florence most certainly can be held legal- ly accountable for future liability problems (unlike City attorney Ross Williamson suggested) arising out of this annexation because it has “in the record” knowledge of such problems and has been warned by a government official of such. 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 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