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 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. 314 541-997-3441 For Classifieds: ext. 310 DEADLINES: Wednesday Issue—General news releases, Monday noon; Classified line ads, Monday 10 a.m.; Legal Notices and Display Ads, Friday noon. 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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