4A |
SATURDAY EDITION
| MAY 29, 2021
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
| 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
Opinion
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Siuslaw News
Time to develop a plan to benefit all, not just placate a relative few
(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.)
I’m writing this Guest Viewpoint
in response to Mr. Michael Allen’s
submission May 22 (“Is Florence Es-
sential In the Fight to Curb Climate
Change?’)
Does Mr Allen actually think the
“carbon problem” facing our world
is “the most pressing issue of our
time?”
The world was formed 4.5 billion
years ago and has gone through
many changes and iterations in
that time. The latest major volcanic
eruption was in Iceland in March
2010 and, since its first spewing of
volcanic ash had, in just four days
negated every single effort that had
been made in the previous five years
to control CO2 emissions on the en-
tire planet.
The volcano in Iceland has totally
erased every single effort we have
made to reduce the evil beast — car-
bon. And there are around 200 ac-
tive volcanos on the planet spewing
out this crud at any one time, every
day. Notably, the wildfires in the
western U.S. and Australia this past
year alone will negate all the efforts
to reduce carbon in our air for the
next two to three years.
In 1991, when Mt. Pinatubo
erupted in the Philippines, it spewed
out more greenhouse gases into the
atmosphere than the entire human
race had emitted in all its years on
Earth.
Guest Viewpoint
By Sam Spayd
Florence
To quote Mr. Allen: “Disclosing
climate disruptions is the first step
to help cities understand their cli-
mate risks. After that, they should
develop a plan with short- and long-
term targets and a procedure for
regularly reporting progress.”
Do we want our local city council
taking time to develop a “Compre-
hensive Climate Plan” when there
are immediate problems we face in
our community? Time spent by our
city council would be better uti-
lized in dealing with the issues that
are right in our face and present a
definite challenge to the time our
city council has to deal with issues
which will have a direct impact
upon our lives.
How about dealing with the “dra-
conian edicts” dictated by the state
government which limit or restrict
the rights of individuals to free en-
terprise and allowing businesses to
determine their own fate in the free
market environment?
There are important issues con-
cerning housing and jobs within
our community that the city coun-
cil should spend time debating and
coming to positive solutions. They
should be dealing with the vital in-
frastructure of the city and discover
new ways to improve the quality of
life for the residents of Florence.
These are the things that the city
council should be spending their
valuable time deciding, not esoteric
issues that will have no long-term
impact on the citizens of our fair
town.
Now is the time for us to take
action to win back our city and de-
velop a plan that will benefit all the
people of our town and not just pla-
cate those who would think that our
actions will save the world.
As Mr. Allen said: “Time is run-
ning out. Florence must act now.”
Yes, we must act to stop the insan-
ity and make reasonable, intelligent
decisions that will have a long-term
impact on the livability of our “City
on Motion.”
Time to develop a plan to benefit all, not just placate a relative few
It’s time we practice the “Four
P’s” and Passionately, Professionally,
Productively and Politely share our
thoughts and ideas. The Chamber and
I have come under attack recently for
not taking a stand or actively repre-
senting our business community. It
is obviously time we shared a polite
perspective about what on earth we’ve
been doing.
1) Advocating legislatively for our
businesses.
I sit on the Oregon State Chamber
of Commerce where we passionate-
ly represent the business communi-
ty with a full time PAC Counsel that
work diligently to monitor, inform
and lobby for us. I share their week-
ly reports in the Chamber Blast and
many times offer an opportunity for
our local community to weigh in on
how we’re represented and use the
Voter’s Voice to reinforce the OSCC
position.
Many unfriendly pieces of legisla-
tion have been “killed” before making
the cut and then those that do get to
the floor are actively lobbied against.
This legislative season has been espe-
cially tough with COVID restrictions
and so much speculation.
2) COVID Advocation.
Yes, the Chamber has been at the ta-
ble consistently working with the city,
county and state to find ways to stay
safe and to keep our businesses alive.
We have multiple teams that meet
weekly and biweekly to create a strong
voice at every level of leadership. This
has been exceptionally innovative
as we’ve seen government agencies
working side by side with Chambers
of Commerce and other non-gov-
erning agencies for the benefit of our
businesses and communities.
I personally think this is some
COVID lemonade and hope this col-
laboration continues in our future, re-
sourcing our community deeper and
more effectively.
Guest Viewpoint
By Bettina Hannigan
President and CEO
Florence Area Chamber of Commerce
3) Economic Impact
Since the Chamber wears two hats,
one of economic development for our
members and community and the
second hat tourism development as
the marketing contractor for the City.
Many of our hospitality businesses are
struggling with occupancy restric-
tions and the staffing struggle that is
real. The Chamber, City, Lane Work-
force Partnership, Travel Lane County
and the Oregon Coast Visitors Asso-
ciation have all been working together
to assist in developing staffing to sup-
port our front-facing businesses as the
season is coming upon us.
On the tourism front, we’ve devel-
oped several new projects including
the highway banners (details on Flor-
enceChamber.com under the Events
Tab), the new LED sign, which even-
tually will be promoting events and
other tourism-related materials, and
most recently “Sandy Smiles.” Sandy
the Sticker will be at 100 locations
around town sharing 11 different im-
ages promoting “I found my smile in
Florence, Oregon”.
This campaign is free to host and
free to the customer. It is designed
to get people shopping and visiting
Florence area businesses, a map and
website page will be available for our
locals and visitors to have fun collect-
ing their smiles.
4) Education
The Chamber has hosted and
shared many free webinars to support
business. These webinars have been
helpful on many levels to assist busi-
nesses pivot and innovate through
this pandemic.
5) Communication
The Chamber’s email list is over
950 contacts; the weekly Blast is filled
with news and resources. This com-
munication provides the opportunity
for Chamber members to share their
news and events and provides legis-
lative updates and funding resources.
Many times, industry relevant in-
formation crosses my desk which is
shared privately with members, to as-
sist and resource them.
Obviously, this isn’t a comprehen-
sive list, but hopefully it will address
those who have chosen to attack an
organization which has consistently
worked to serve our community be-
fore, during and will continue after
this horrific pandemic has passed.
Florence, we need to stay kind.
Kind to our workers who are weary of
mean people and who are struggling
with their own COVID related chal-
lenges. Let’s support our restaurants
with patience and understanding. TIP,
not just money but a kind word. Let’s
overcome the mean-spirited behavior
with love and respect.
Office:
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87439
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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