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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (June 19, 2021)
4A | SATURDAY EDITION | JUNE 19, 2021 Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 chAntelle meyer , editor | 541-902-3520 | Opinion cmeyer @ thesiuslAwnews . com The First Amendment Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibit- ing the free exercise thereof; or abridg- ing the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peace- ably to assemble, and to petition the Government 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 Chantelle Meyer Front Office For Advertising: ext. 318 Publisher, ext. 318 Editor, ext. 313 541-997-3441 For Classifieds: ext. 320 DEADLINES: Wednesday Issue—General news releases, Monday noon; Classified line ads, Monday 9 a.m.; Legal Notices and Display Ads, Friday noon. Saturday Issue—General news releases, Thursday noon; Classified line ads, Thursday 10 a.m.; Legal Notices and Display Ads, Wednesday 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 sub- scription, $65. Mail subscription includes E-Edition. Website and E-Edition: TheSiuslawNews.com Siuslaw News Office: 148 Maple St./PO Box 10 Florence, OR 87439 Office Hours: Monday to Thursday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday: 8 a.m. to noon LETTERS Letters to 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 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 Siuslaw News readership area will only be pub- lished at the discretion of the editor. (Editor’s Note: Viewpoint sub- missions on these and other topics are always welcome as part of our goal to encourage community dis- cussion and exchange of perspec- tives.) Tremendous honor Once again, it was a tremen- dous honor for members of the Oregon Dunes Chapter Daugh- ters of the American Revolution to assist with the flag retirement ceremony. Since last year’s event wasn’t possible, well over a thou- sand flags had been turned in for honorable retirement. A good dent was made and those left will be properly retired. Thank you to the Francis M. Yost American Legion Post #59, Grimshaw VFW Post #3232, DAV Chapter 23, Central Coast Women Veterans, American Le- gion Auxiliary, Siuslaw News, City of Florence Public Works, Siu- slaw Valley Fire and Rescue and the Landon Family for the use of their property. It was wonderful to gather in person and show re- spect for the symbol of our coun- try and honor those who protect and defend us. — Jacquie Beveridge Florence Regarding Florence Enterprise Zones I think the proposed changes to the Port of Siuslaw include some good ideas, but are aimed at the wrong locations. The current boardwalk and green space are a unique jewel pretty much the way they have been developed up to now. They are appreciated and utilized by both tourists and locals. In addi- tion, we should let the recently added amenities (benches, trash receptacles and picnic tables) marinate a bit to see what tweak- ing is needed prior to making wholesale changes that would for- ever change the character of the space. Use of the boardwalk and green space will only increase once word of the current improvements gets more widely disseminated. There are other spaces in the area that would benefit more from the type of changes being proposed than the Boardwalk greenspace. For example, The Blue Warehouse’s current use does not seem to contribute much to the port currently. Old Town could easily be extended for a ½ block just west of the Highway 101 bridge. Plus, the Lotus area on Bay Street is a diamond in the rough that could benefit greatly from the type of redevelopment being considered. Any loss of parking in the port area is of concern, since Old Town currently cannot handle the over- flow parking required for events such as Fourth of July, Rhody Days, and various car shows. If generating income is driving this proposal, making the port area parking a paid lot would ap- pear to be in order. — Craig Burns Florence Filling a gap in social contract history We can’t top Edward R. Gun- derson’s visceral comeback (“Be- fore You Judge A Person…” June 16) to Edward T. Monks’ June 12 “Government Not Helping With Employment Challenges.” How- ever, a gap in Mr. Monks’ social contract history needs filling, and filling it points to a different con- clusion than he reaches. The 1930s New Deal pub- lic works projects he admires brought workers and private sec- tor companies together under fair and productive rules as he describes. After WWII, corpo- rations grew, and the prospering middle class they employed grew with them. An employee might work decades for a single corpo- ration and in return receive ben- efits, bonuses and a pension. This business model made the Ameri- can dream real — owning a home and having enough money and time to raise a family and have a life outside of a dependable job. By the 1980s, the corporate model changed. Corporations became vehicles to amass huge amounts of personal wealth. Hostile takeovers, mergers and acquisitions proliferated. New owners consolidated, downsized, fired employees and reneged on pensions. Workers became ex- pendable and were forced out to compete with each other for good-paying jobs. Some relegated themselves to low-wage entry lev- el positions. Husbands and wives both went to work to make ends meet or took on second jobs. A labor force short on work is good for companies willing to exploit; they can hire cheap. But it’s bad for workers — they either work cheap or starve. As corporations went prof- it-mad, executive salaries soared. In 1965, CEOs in the 350 larg- est companies were paid about 20 times the wages of their workers. By 2019, they were paid 278 times as much. (www. cnbc.com/2019/08/16/ceos-see- p ay-g row-1000p ercent-and- now-make-278-times-the-aver age-worker.html) It takes a particular mindset of exclusive privilege to perpetuate such disparity in compensation. It’s a mindset that some people are not as deserving as others. It breeds arrogance at the top and resentment among workers. The New Deal-era social con- tract Mr. Monks reminisces about was done in not by lazy workers or the government, but by self-en- richment run amok within com- panies that ceased to be good cor- porate citizens. Finally, Mr. Monks’ compar- ison of New Deal construction projects to stimulus checks is false. There’s no equivalence. A fair comparison would be to Biden’s American Jobs Plan, the biggest public works project since Ike’s Interstate and Defense Highways Act in the 1950s and an ongoing national news story hard to miss. Republicans want it to be New Deal Lite. Democrats want it Full-Strength. Whatever form it takes, it remains to be seen whether the parties can cooperate under fair and productive rules as others did 85 years ago. — Rollin Olson & Madelyne Barnett Florence 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 perspec- tive rather than partisanship and campaign-style rhetoric. 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 polit- ical 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 reject any letter that doesn’t follow the above cri- teria. 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
