4A |
SATURDAY EDITION
| MAY 8, 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
LETTERS
Voting for Miltenberger,
Sneddon for SSD
I am voting for Maureen Milten-
berger and Kady Sneddon for the
Siuslaw School Board because our
girls and young women deserve to
hear women’s voices representing
their interests and to see these suc-
cessful women as role models.
If all three open positions are
filled by men, the current incum-
bent, Diana Pimlott, will be the
only woman on our seven-member
school board.
Please vote for these two highly
qualified and dedicated women.
Ann Lathrop, retired educator.
—Ann Lathrop
Florence
(Retired educator)
Headline seemed
disappointing, misleading
I walked into a local business on
May 5, the stack of papers caught
my eye with the headline: “‘Ex-
treme risk’ doesn’t deter crowds
from Florence”, followed by several
pictures of people outdoor dining.
At a glance, this statement crim-
inalizes Florence business’ (and
patrons) who are doing their best
to keep heads above water amid
crushing regulations.
The article its self was fairly sup-
portive of the business’ plight, but
the headline framed the narrative
in a negative way which I found
disheartening.
Perhaps something to the tune
of: “Florence safely accommodat-
ing visitors amid rising regulations”
would have been better suited?
— Daniel Burgess
Florence
Think of our teens, think
of their future
I’d like to ask you, reader: How
would you like to be 17 again? But
stuck living at home, college plans
on hold for the duration of this
terrible season of caution and pan-
demic, wondering if you should
even try to plan a future or envision
your dreams at all.
In addition, those in power don’t
seem to care — or refuse — to do
all they can to help solve the cli-
mate crisis.
All the while, you see your future
plans slipping away; you’d likely be
depressed and hopeless.
Teen suicide is on the rise and
we have no time to waste. Please
join me and others in inviting our
mayor Joe Henry and others on
Florence City Council “in denial”
of the need to help rebuild the hope
in the minds of every local youth in
Florence today.
Call the mayor’s office, write
letters to him and city council
members encouraging them to be
more supportive of the creation of
a climate conscious subcommittee
within our local city government.
When you vote from here on,
choose candidates who prove to
be positively involved and not op-
posed to such a department. Let
Florence youths observe that we
haven’t given up on their future or
this planet.
Get involved.
What you do could even save one
or more teens from making that fa-
tal decision.
Richard Attenburough, author
of many scientific books and pages
about the topic of climate change,
still holds hope but believes we
must begin to act now. There are
new solutions to the problem being
discovered every day and our youth
has a right to this information.
—Wende Jarman
Florence
Quality education,
representation are key
Local elections are just as im-
portant as national elections, and it
is so important to be active in your
community.
Check OregonVote.org to check
and update your information in-
cluding ballot status and finding
more information about candi-
dates.
For local candidates, I encourage
my fellow community members to
learn more and vote for these out-
standing women who believe in eq-
uitable education for all students;
Kady Sneddon (Siuslaw School
Board), Maureen Miltenberg-
er (Siuslaw School Board), Holli
Johnson (LCC Director Zone 1),
and Rose Wilde (Lane Education
Service District).
Quality education is key to our
future. We are stakeholders in our
community, no matter who we are.
I love Florence.
You love Florence.
We all love Florence.
—Jo Beaudreau
Florence
Florence recycles plastic
with passion, patience
Some 252 patient people, 1,600
pounds of all types of plastic, more
than 20 dedicated volunteers and
an innovative, local non-profit with
a lot of passion: That was what cre-
ated the successful May 2 EcoGen-
eration Recycling Take Back Event
here in Florence.
Many thanks to the staff and vol-
unteers from EcoGeneration who
hosted the event and made it pos-
sible for the residents of Florence
to responsibly recycle their plas-
tics for re-use. A big thank you to
the local businesses and organiza-
tions that supported the effort with
funding to ensure EcoGeneration
can sustainably and fiscally process
the plastics.
This event wouldn’t have been
a success without the amazing en-
thusiasm and adaptability of the
volunteers, including many com-
mitted Master Recyclers, who
spent the day ensuring everyone’s
clean and dry plastics were sorted
properly.
And thank you, Florence resi-
dents, for your passion for recy-
cling and patience during the event.
In the future, we want to make this
process simple and straightforward
so we can continue to keep plastics
out of the landfill and out of our
coastal community.
EcoGeneration will be hosting
two more events on Sundays —
Aug. 1 and Oct. 3 — so, please mark
your calendars and start cleaning
and sorting your plastic now.
If you need more information,
have questions or suggestions or
want to volunteer, please contact
Nancy Rhodes at florence@eco-
generation.org.
Recycling is just part of the solu-
tion, reducing and reusing are al-
ways better options. But if these
events help us — as a community
— make an impact on decreasing
the amount of plastic waste in our
environment, then let’s keep up the
great work.
— Nancy Rhodes
& Britte Kirsch
Florence Master Recyclers
New school board needs equal representation
(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.)
As I contemplate the Siuslaw
School Board meeting on June 16,
which will end my tenure on the
school board, I am moved to ex-
press enormous appreciation to all
of you for the honor of serving in
this important position.
My reflections also move me to
consider, seriously, the qualities I
would hope those who are elected
to the board will bring to its work.
Being a school board member is
not a partisan position. Those who
serve are committed to “Motivating
and preparing all students to reach
their greatest potential.”
If you go on to read the guiding
principles all board members agree
to uphold, you will see that the lan-
guage is inclusive, collaborative and
focused on the needs of students.
Positivity and mutual respect are
also mentioned.
Based on this mission and these
principles, I am voting for Maureen
Miltonberger and Kady Sneddon.
Both these candidates are wom-
en. When I leave the Board, Diana
Pimlott will be the only remaining
woman, making the count 6 to 1. I
think the school board needs more
gender balance.
This is not sexism; this is balance.
Both Maureen and Kady come to
the positions with their own arrays
of experience.
Maureen has threads of a teacher,
Guest Viewpoint
By Suzanne Mann-Heintz
Siuslaw School Board
a nonprofit administrator, commu-
nity servant and a genuine depth
of commitment to children and
families woven throughout the tap-
estry of her life. She knows the in-
tricacies of school operations; she
understands the needs of staff; she
does her research to prepare herself
for whatever issues she is confront-
ed with.
Her language is tempered with
wisdom.
Kady has a life-long history of
connectedness to Florence. She
went to school here, she owns a
business here, her child goes to
school here. During these days of
COVID, she has had to get creative
to keep her business afloat, includ-
ing applying for grants and crunch-
ing numbers.
And it has survived.
She articulates the interconnect-
edness of the lives of our younger
working families and our retirees
and how a strong school system
supports both. Every one of the
members of her large extended
family gives time, energy and re-
sources to our schools — working
for the betterment of the lives of
students and families runs through
her blood.
I had long phone conversations
with Kady and Maureen to learn
from them their ideas about their
roles on the school board. Both ex-
pressed a clear understanding that
one school board member does
not change the school system; the
work of the board is collaborative.
The board speaks with one
voice, so skills of creativity, prob-
lem-solving, communication and
flexibility are imperative. Issues
that come before the board are
somewhat predicitable, but gener-
ally the board needs to bring hu-
mility and a willingness to learn
about issues to each board deci-
sion.
Board members are examples to
students, staff and the communi-
ty. We need examples of kindness,
inclusiveness, positivity, unity and
optimism. Kady and Maureen will
bring these qualities to the board,
thereby uplifting our students,
their achievements, their spirits,
their pride and strengthening the
fabric of community we cherish.
When you fill out your ballot for
the May election, please consider
voting for Maureen and Kady for
Siuslaw School Board.
Copyright 2021 © Siuslaw News
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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