4A |
WEDNESDAY EDITION
| JUNE 2, 2021
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
CHANTELLE MEYER , EDITOR
| 541-902-3520 | CMEYER @ 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)
A commitment to legacy
I
f there is one thing that
has been made clear in my
seven years with the Siuslaw
News, it is that there is some-
thing special about a news-
paper that has spanned more
than a century.
Through the “Looking
Back” series I put together
in 2020 in honor of the pa-
per’s 130th anniversary, I was
able to highlight the various
publishers of the newspa-
per and document the name
progression that brought us
from The West to The Siuslaw
News to the Florence Times to
The Siuslaw Oar, back to The
Siuslaw News and, now, to
Siuslaw News. I tracked our
progression from May 1890,
when Col. B.F. Alley estab-
lished The West, all the way
through 2000, when publish- and features editor (Septem-
ers Paul and Beverly Holman ber 2016 to May 2021), I have
sold the newspaper to News learned nearly every aspect
Media Corporation.
of putting together a com-
I’m not the first person to munity newspaper. There is
go back through our records still, of course, much more to
— I leaned heavily on past learn.
work — nor will I be the last.
Thanks to the staff at the
But it was an
Siuslaw
honor to dig
News and
through our
a
news-
old editions
room filled
and find
at various
Chantelle Meyer times with
treasure in
the form of
friends and
old stories and photos.
mentors, I feel prepared to
The whole series was a take on the responsibility of
chance to learn about the editor. This is not just due
community and newspaper to the writing, photography
I love. It was also an oppor- and graphic design skills they
tunity to learn about the en- have helped me develop. It is
during legacy of a newspaper also because each of my col-
that has been around even leagues have been dedicated,
longer than the city it serves. passionate proponents of
It’s also why Publisher Jen- journalistic ideals and com-
na Bartlett chose “news and mitment to truth.
views that define a commu-
These are the genes getting
nity” as our tagline.
passed down from the gener-
In my previous roles of ations in the newsroom be-
intern (summer 2014), city fore me. Not just the editors
reporter (January 2015 and reporters I’ve worked
through September 2016) with, but from those with
From the
Editor’s Desk
whom my team has worked.
Their legacy continues, too,
in the Siuslaw News of today.
As I begin my first week
as editor, I have with me
two people in the news-
room: Lead Reporter Mark
Brennan and Sports Re-
porter Zeahna Young. I am
so proud of them and the
work they do to write sto-
ries about our community.
Together, we make a pretty
great team.
In the coming years, some
things will be different. Af-
ter all, the world continues
to change at a rapid pace and
the news media both docu-
ments and reflects those
changes. But some things
will remain the same. For
example, the Siuslaw News’
dedication to truth, integ-
rity, hope and this commu-
nity. It is a legacy I proudly
embrace as I become editor.
To readers of the Siuslaw
News, thank you for 131
years. I and my team look
forward to this next part of
the journey with you.
LETTERS
Budget should be a concern
It is a concern and should
be a question for all fiscally re-
sponsible citizens of Florence
what their city budget consists
of and how their hard-earned
dollars are being spent.
Presently, the most recent
City of Florence biennial bud-
get is 19% higher than the pre-
vious budget — $65 million
to $72 million. The biennium
before that incurred an 11%
city government increase.
I am confident that with
councilors Woody Wood-
bury, Joe Henry, Maggie
Wisniewski, Bill Meyer and
Sally Wantz, there are at least
3 votes against the big budget.
Surely, we as citizens do
not believe in our times and
present history that govern-
ment, whether local or na-
tional, needs a larger than life
increase rather than a diet.
People are hurting and no one
is working; however, govern-
ment, like the mighty Missou-
ri, keeps on rolling.
Zero-based budgeting, a
“from scratch” means of de-
termining needs instead of
wants, would look closely at
privately funding arts, pri-
vately funding the Chamber
of Commerce, privately fund-
ing parks and public works
maintenance as well as some
public safety and commu-
nications services. Capital
equipment can be cut back
if more request for proposal
contracting takes place and a
good hard look at salaries and
benefits are in order. Does any
city really need an economic
development specialist to re-
place the free market?
The policymakers of any
city need more faith in Adam
Smith than Ted Kennedy.
One more possible step.
Let’s have a good old annual
budget and discontinue the
biennial budget, that way pol-
icymakers are more hands on.
It’s now time for our elect-
ed officials to take charge and
not let city hall be controlled
by city hall, but by city citi-
zens.
— Joel Marks
Budget Committee Member
for the City of Florence
Backing up beliefs
on climate change
I have read a number of
Michael Allen’s submissions
to our local newspaper con-
cerning carbon emissions and
climate change, including his
Guest Viewpoint on May 21.
He speaks more eloquently
than I can on this subject, but
he is not alone. He is backed
up in his belief that climate
change is based on human
activity by more than 90% of
the worlds’ climate scientists.
I would hazard a guess
that there are more than a
few Florence citizens who
also stand with Mr. Allen and
wish the current City Council
and EMAC would pay more
attention to the majority of
climate scientists and not just
a few dissenters.
In answer to two of Mr.
Spayd’s questions in his May
29 Guest Viewpoint, I don’t
know how Mr. Allen would
answer, but for myself, yes, I
do believe the carbon prob-
lem and climate change are
the most pressing issue of our
time, and yes, I do want the
City Council and Committees
to develop a Comprehensive
Climate Plan. The lives of fu-
ture generations depend on it.
Florence is on the front
lines of the warming oceans
to our west, and surrounded
by trees to the east that we
must keep healthy and safe
from fires (as we saw last
summer) to sustain human
life. We cannot be shortsight-
ed and bury our heads in the
sand.
It is our moral obligation
to our children and grand-
children to do all we can to
slow or (hopefully) reverse
the devastation to our Earth.
— Marybeth Marenco
Florence
At the library, we will start saying ‘soon’ and ‘yes’
(Editor’s Note: Viewpoint submis-
sions on this and other topics are always
welcome as part of our goal to encourage
community discussion and exchange of
perspectives.)
3,000 times and circulated more than
5,500 physical items.
It has been a challenging time. I have
hated not seeing patrons in person. It
has been hard to close our doors and
then to say “no” or “not yet.” There have
I started shelving books at the Salt been new cleaning and occupancy re-
Lake City Public Library while I was quirements that sometimes changed
studying to be an actor at the University faster than we could.
of Utah. I fell in love almost imme-
diately with working at the library,
and I knew librarianship, not theater,
By Meg Spencer
would be my career.
Director of the
I fell in love with my chosen career
for a second time when I moved to
Siuslaw Public Library District
Florence and became the director of
the Siuslaw Public Library District.
Now, however, things are improving.
In this community, I get to work with Case rates are declining and guidelines
the best patrons and the best staff in a are relaxing.
beautiful library that has been a gath-
I am proud that this library is offering
ering and learning place for our region in-person service without an appoint-
since 1915. In Mapleton, we have anoth- ment — one of just three libraries in
er gem that serves residents all the way Lane County offering that level of ser-
up the Siuslaw River to Deadwood.
vice. We are ahead of systems like Mult-
Over the past year and a half, nothing nomah County and Springfield Public
has changed, and everything has. I still libraries that just began offering in-per-
love my job (and patrons and staff!) but son appointments on June 1. Others are
COVID-19 dramatically altered how the open with hours nearly identical to their
library operates.
pre-COVID service. That is because li-
Since March 2020, the library has braries across the state are responding to
added services to respond to the new re- everything from local access to janito-
ality: curbside pickup; virtual program- rial services to liability insurance while
ming; purchasing additional download- adhering to recommendations from the
able books, magazines and reference State Library of Oregon and OSHA re-
resources; issuing temporary online quirements.
library cards; increased Wi-Fi access in
And while Oregon continues to open,
our parking lots; online story time and we aren’t back to normal. The last 15
take-home kits for kids; and in-person months have dramatically impacted or-
computer access.
ganizations and businesses throughout
On April 1, the library also reopened the community in ways that won’t be
for in-person browsing during limited erased when the county risk-level de-
hours at both library locations. In that creases and restrictions are lifted.
single month, we were visited more than
The historic labor shortage expected
Guest Viewpoint
with the retirement of Baby Boomers
has been magnified and sped-up as mil-
lions of lives were disrupted. Help-want-
ed signs around our region tell that sto-
ry. At the library, six of our substitute
and permanent employees have retired
or reduced hours. We are operating with
just a few of the more than 100 hundred
volunteers that generally re-shelve our
materials to maintain workplace safe-
ty.
As the new budget year begins on
July 1, and as our remaining staff has
capacity to train employees while
maintaining new services and proce-
dures, we will hire. We will welcome
volunteers back as we increase staffing
and guidelines ease. We will keep ex-
panding hours and services while ad-
hering to changing guidelines from the
state and recommendations from the
State Library of Oregon. We will start
saying “soon” and “yes.” It won’t be to-
morrow, but we are working hard every
day to serve you.
On a personal note, in March 2020
as the shutdown began, I wrote into
the Siuslaw News about how much I
loved the library and this communi-
ty, and how I was also in love and en-
gaged to an amazing man named Will
Yurman. When you read this, I will be
on a short trip to the Four Corners re-
gion to be married to Will. It feels like
another amazing step forward in my life
as COVID-19 slowly recedes. More than
anything, I hope you are having mo-
ments like that as well.
When I am back on June 9, please
stop in or call or email if you have more
questions. Until we get a chance to talk,
please take care, and please visit the li-
brary.
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
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Letters
to
Office Hours:
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Friday: 8 a.m. to noon
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
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space available and the volume of letters received.
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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
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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-
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Candidates themselves may not use the letters to
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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:
cmeyer@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