4A |
WEDNESDAY EDITION
CHANTELLE MEYER , EDITOR
| JULY 28, 2021
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
| 541-902-3520 | CMEYER @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
Opinion
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
LETTERS
(Editor’s Note: View-
point submissions on these
and other topics are always
welcome as part of our goal
to encourage community
discussion and exchange of
perspectives.)
Taxing the wealthy
not the solution
Here are my thoughts
concerning Win Jolley’s
recent Letter to the Editor
(“Tax the Wealthy,” July
10) — Why don’t you give
91% of your money to the
government?
Most of the wealthy peo-
ple I know are the hardest
working people I’ve ever
met. I often hear about
“greedy
corporations”
and “corrupt executives.”
We have as many bad ac-
tors in government as we
do in business. Large gov-
ernment
bureaucracies
are just as dangerous as
“greedy corporations.”
Aren’t you being just
as corrupt and greedy by
wanting to take money
from the wealthy?
Who says that YOU or
people with your attitude
can spend it any wiser? It
is my opinion that your
tax solution is altruistic
and well-intended, but it is
socialism at its worst.
I don’t really have a
solution on how to jump
start the economy. But I
do know that we need a
strong capitalist society
and a strong democrat-
ic system of governance.
Most of all, we need di-
verse, hardworking and
moral citizens.
— Rory Hammond
Florence
Dangerous Traffic
Dear City of Florence
Council, and Planning
Commission:
Yesterday (a Saturday), I
walked my two dogs sep-
arately at a later time …
mid-morning instead of
early morning, and my ex-
periences as a pedestrian at
and near the intersection of
Oak and 35th Street are the
genesis of this letter.
There is a pedestrian
crosswalk at that corner,
it crosses 35th on the west
side of Oak. Typically on
the early walk, cars stop
and wait for us, even antic-
ipate our crossing and let
us go.
But not yesterday.
Why not? Because
there was so much traffic
coming — fast — east on
35th , and then turning
west off 101 onto 35th to-
ward Rhododendron, too.
There could have been at
least one major pile up if
someone had tried to slow
or stop.
So I want to say, despite
the findings of the traffic
impact study that was con-
ducted in the off season
a couple of years ago for
the big subdivision com-
ing in at 35th and Rhody
… Please plan for a traffic
light at that intersection!
Not so much to impact
what happens by the time
the cars get to Oak Street,
where many coming east
turn north to get to Fred
Meyer’s, but because if it
was this busy yesterday,
it’s gonna be worse by the
time that Burger King
opens soon at 35th and
101. And, oh yes, by the
time the subdivision is
completed.
Please be proactive on
this. Maybe Oak and 35th
needs to become a 4-way
stop, I don’t know, but
there are kids on bikes,
joggers, lots of walkers of
all ages with and without
dogs. It is really very short
sighted not to consider
safety on one of the main
streets in town, 35th, at its
main intersections of Rho-
dodendron Drive, and also
with Oak Street.
Thank you,
— Ivy Medow
Florence
Only in Florence do you pay 3 times for an ambulance ride
(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.)
Did you know that you and your
neighbors pay three times for an
ambulance ride? We didn’t know it
either until we joined the board and
budget committee of the Western
Lane Ambulance District, which
is the government-run ambulance
service in our area. As Florence
residents and taxpayers, we got
involved in the ambulance dis-
trict because it’s a big annual bill
for home and business owners in
Western Lane County.
As we began to look under the
hood, we discovered that this
government-run ambulance dis-
trict is an expensive boondoggle.
We’re asking you take action and
join us in demanding that the gov-
ernment officials in charge allow us
to vote whether we want to contin-
ue paying three times for an ambu-
lance ride.
Government-run ambulance ser-
vices are rare and expensive. Most
Oregonians aren’t forced to pay ex-
tra property taxes for an ambulance
ride. The vast majority of commu-
nities across Oregon use private
ambulance services.
The government-run ambulance
service in our area is too expen-
sive and managed poorly. We know
first-hand from serving on the
board and budget committee. This
special ambulance district is $3.4
million in debt to the State of Ore-
gon. Western Lane Ambulance Dis-
trict charges us two extra property
taxes on top of the normal charges
for a single ambulance ride.
The government officials in
charge of the ambulance services in
Florence and surrounding areas in
Western Lane County are promot-
ing a hasty government merger be-
tween our fire department and the
area’s government-run ambulance
service. It would lock in their abili-
ty to force us pay three times for an
ambulance ride.
The reason why the government
officials want this merger so badly
is pretty clear: it’s the money. Am-
bulance and fire district adminis-
trators and government employee
unions who want this merger are
banking on higher pay and benefits
— and taxpayers will foot the bill.
Here’s the dirty secret: ambu-
lance district personnel here in
Florence are paid the highest wages
and benefits in the State of Oregon
when compared to their peers. The
median salary for paramedics in
the State of Oregon is $45,747.
The starting wage at our am-
bulance service is $62,208, which
quickly increases to $81,689 with
six years of service. The ambulance
service has three shift supervisors
earning $122,000 per year, super-
vising four to five other EMS per-
sonnel. That doesn’t even include
their plush health care and retire-
ment benefits.
The government officials run-
Guest Viewpoint
By Larry Farnsworth,
RJ Pilcher & Joel Marks
ning our fire and ambulance dis-
tricts expect taxpayers will just pick
up the tab with no questions asked.
Not everyone uses ambulance
services. The most frequent users
of our ambulance services are local
seniors who are being nickeled and
dimed by our boondoggle ambu-
lance district.
Local seniors on fixed incomes
are forced to pay two extra proper-
ty taxes and then whatever Medi-
care won’t cover for a single ambu-
lance ride.
Marion Patton, a 93-year-old
Florence great-grandmother took a
four-mile ambulance ride this year
and was still charged $250 by the
government-run ambulance ser-
vice despite taxpayers paying two
extra ambulance taxes. That’s not
fair. The vast majority of Oregon
seniors aren’t forced to pay three
times for ambulance rides.
Small business owners in our
community who have been hob-
bled by COVID-related business
restrictions and financial woes are
forced to pay ambulance taxes too.
It is ridiculous to force our local
small business owners to fund ab-
surdly high salaries and benefits for
ambulance district employees that
they cannot afford for their own
employees.
If nickel-and-diming our local
seniors and small business owners
wasn’t enough, the extra ambu-
lance taxes we pay subsidizes out-
of-towners when they need an am-
bulance ride while visiting.
Government officials are trying
to pull the wool over our eyes. They
say that merging the fire and ambu-
lance districts will somehow make
our lives better and less expensive.
Last month, administrators spent
$14,000 of our taxpayer money on
a biased push poll to convince us
that this government merger is a
good idea. The poll, conducted by a
Salem lobbyist’s firm, did not con-
tain a single argument against the
merger. The administrators spent
$14,000 of your money on a “poll”
to tell them what they wanted to
hear.
The ambulance district and fire
district administrators also recent-
ly considered spending $60,000
of our taxpayer money to hire a
Washington State-based campaign
operative to convince taxpayers
to renew their ambulance tax
levy on the November ballot.
This irresponsible spending is
just another example why this
government-run
boondoggle
must end.
Push polls. Lobbyists. Campaign
operatives. Plush salaries and bene-
fits. Who knew that a rural govern-
ment-run ambulance service could
be such a sophisticated cash cow?
If this merger is such a good idea
for taxpayers, the government offi-
cials should welcome a vote on their
merger. But of course, we know that
if voters had a say, we would reject
their plan because it’s ludicrous to
pay three times for an ambulance
ride. Try to name a time when the
government delivered better health
care than private-sector health care
providers.
To avoid a merger vote, the gov-
ernment officials are proposing
a “consolidation” of the fire and
ambulance district operations that
would amount to a virtual merger.
This “consolidation” would lock in
their ability to force us to pay three
times for an ambulance ride. They
will do or say anything to prevent a
vote on this merger.
We have joined forces with local
seniors, small business owners and
taxpayers to demand that the gov-
ernment officials and the boards of
directors of the fire and ambulance
districts immediately halt “con-
solidating” operations and put the
merger to a vote this November.
That is the only ethical, legal and
fair path forward.
We encourage you to visit www.
stopambulancetax.com and sign
the petition to demand a vote, be-
cause the government officials
know that if voters had a say, we
would reject their plan to contin-
ue to pay three times for an ambu-
lance ride.
Together, we can support critical
emergency services in our commu-
nity that are focused on their mis-
sion and are fair to taxpayers.
Copyright 2021 © Siuslaw News
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