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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 23, 2021)
4A | SATURDAY EDITION | OCTOBER 23, 2021 Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 CHANTELLE MEYER , EDITOR | 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: Viewpoint submis- sions on these and other topics are always welcome as part of our goal to encourage community discussion and exchange of perspectives.) Reign Ends Raining Cats & Dogs in Old Town Florence has been sold. I would like to thank all of you for supporting me for the past 12 years and announce that I will be retiring at the end of October. The business has been sold to a local family and they will be taking over on Nov. 1. Raining has been in the same loca- tion since 1998 and this will be the fourth transfer of the business to new owners. It has been a real treat working with each of you. Exciting when new pets arrived and heartbreaking when they left way to soon. Each one of them has left a little piece in my memory, and I will miss being involved with you and your furry family. — Jackie Allen Florence portance, and could adversely affect us for decades. Planning claims that Ordinance #259 merely revises/updates old zon- ing and development codes. It does far more than that! The summary is 48 pages (condensed from a 258 page document). They’re charging .25 cents a page to print it. If passed, the ordinance will change many things benefiting the city, but not citizens. They can exponentially increase charges for permits/penal- ties as they see fit, expanding rights over homes and properties as never before. Ordinance #259 will expand their authority, giving them “legiti- macy.” Dunes City has kept few of the promises made after we were coerced into signing their petition for fear of the “big bad” national park. Why be- lieve them now? They don’t even care enough to wear masks. Call, email or write Dunes City Planning now with your thoughts. Stop them in their tracks. — Fred Beloin Westlake Beware Ye Who Live Here If you live in Dunes City, be aware! Dunes City is inviting us to a critical meeting while our region continues to battle COVID-19. On Oct. 9, the Siuslaw News reported that Lane County had experienced “an overall increase in COVID cases and hospi- tal admissions, with 912 total cases, 40 hospital admissions, and 15 deaths for the week of Sept. 29 to Oct. 6.” Why would Dunes City put us at risk to rush adopting Ordinance 259 now? Apparently, they’ve been work- ing on it for years. Do they care about our health and safety? No mention of masks is made on the public notice mailed to us. Dunes City Mayor Robert For- sythe and a couple council members stated in their Aug. 25 meeting that they will not be wearing masks. The city’s door signage explains how to avoid wearing a mask, while saying nothing about mask requirements. The meeting items are of great im- You get what you pay for Vote yes on Nov. 2. The majority of our community is retired, they live in gated communi- ties and flee to Arizona in the win- ter. They have voted down any levy to build a new school here, in some ways because the locals only serve them part of the year at stores and restaurants, and to provide health- care. But here’s the thing — when you have a health crisis, when your chest pain is unbearable, when you smell burning toast, when you’re lying on your back, gasping for breath, who do you want to respond? The highest trained EMTs in the state or the lowest bidder? Look, I understand if you don’t care for the youth of this community (although you should), but just out of self preservation, I would think you would be fine with paying a lit- tle more to have the best of the best saving you. You get what you pay for. Think about that when you vote, and choose wisely. — Edward Gunderson Florence Change to Lab Hours Affects Patients Some of us have learned the fol- lowing the hard way, and I hope this reduces that number for the future. I arrived at the PeaceHealth Peace Harbor Lab at 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 8 for a blood draw, only to find a big sign on the door stating they now close at 2 p.m. and are closed on Saturdays. I understand the reason for the change to a shorter workday and the elimination of Saturdays, but I don’t understand the lack of communicat- ing those changes to our community. The reason is a critical shortage of phlebotomists at the lab and we can’t expect those few remaining to do the workload of a fully staffed lab. To that point, I understand there is a new phlebotomist starting (as I write) and two more in training. Unfortunately, as I left the lab af- ter another blood draw on Monday, Oct. 18, a young man pulled up and turned around after reaching the locked door. My experience with this lack of communication from PeaceHealth to our community, is I searched the pa- tient portal (mypeacehealth) for any information regarding the change and found none. Nor do I recall see- ing any notice in the Siuslaw News. It seems to be left to the sign on the door, although I’m told the local pri- mary care clinic staffs are aware of it. That doesn’t help those of us re- ceiving blood work orders from out- of-town specialists, as both of mine were. So, until further notice, (as I un- derstand it), plan on the lab opening at 7 a.m. and closing at 2 p.m. (as in locked door) with no Saturday ser- vice. — Bob Horney Florence Western Lane Ambulance has a proven history on my years of experience, every- thing that I observed showed that WLAD provided a superior quality service to the citizens they served. The district’s financials revealed operational sustainability through I had the distinct pleasure of serv- a fixed tax base, a five-year option ing as the Interim District Manager levy and ambulance transport rev- of Western Lane Ambulance Dis- trict (WLAD) from 2016-17 and Guest Viewpoint would consider my time there By Brian Burright as one of the high points of my professional career. My career Former Interim District Manager spanned 34 years and included of Western Lane Ambulance all aspects of providing service as a first responder — ranging from enues. Wages, benefits and working positions as a volunteer firefighter/ conditions gave WLAD the valuable EMT, paramedic, company officer, benefit of employee longevity and and at conclusion a chief officer operational experience. The EMT’s/ responsible for EMS division of a Paramedics were professional, well fire district. Throughout the last 20 trained and community based. years of my career, I served as an District equipment was up to date, EMS chief and was able to gain valu- well maintained with an apparatus/ able appreciation of what best prac- equipment replacement policy in tices should be for EMS agencies place and practiced. The district’s across the State of Oregon as well as elected board of directors were ac- tively engaged in monthly public across our nation. After retirement, I had an addi- meetings that produced open spir- tional honor and privilege of assist- ited discussion resulting in the con- ing fire/EMS agencies as a consultant sensus decision making that was in with Special Districts Association of the best interest of the district and the patrons who elected them. Oregon (SDAO). Above all else, the overwhelming An invaluable lesson learned ear- ly in my career was the practice of support and positive feedback from observation when given the oppor- the citizens who lived, worked and tunity of a new position, especially recreated within the district bound- when working with an unfamiliar aries provided me the best evidence organization or discipline. I met that the agency was one of the best with all WLAD employees in Febru- in the state. Continued contact with ary 2015, and held true to the prac- current WLAD employees, friends tice of “watch and learn” while re- in the community and SDAO con- viewing the financials, policies and sultants assures me that this is still standards of operations that were the case. Recently, it has come to my atten- adopted by the district. In a very short timeframe, based tion that there is a small group of (Editor’s Note: Viewpoint submis- sions on this and other topics are al- ways welcome as part of our goal to encourage community discussion and exchange of perspectives.) citizens who have initiated a cam- paign with the intent of replacing the long-standing, well-run EMS response and transport services of WLAD with a private, for-profit company. First, let me state I have nothing against private for-profit ambulance EMTs and paramedics, as they provide life-saving care and serve their communities with professionalism and dedication. However, it has been my obser- vations over the years that when the underlying business model is governed by profit and not by ser- vice, there can be — and have been — some service degradation to com- munities served by private for-profit ambulance companies. Through my years of experience and witnessing similar scenarios, I can cite real ex- amples of why this is a questionable direction. In short, decisions of this magni- tude must be evaluated very closely by the elected officials or governing bodies to assure the levels of service proposed by any alternative provid- er would match and/or exceed that of the existing provider and I can with certainty that this would not be the case for your community. WLAD has a proven history of providing preventative and life-sus- taining services to the community in a fiscally responsible way. Why let a small vocal group with question- able motives threaten a proven orga- nization who is a vital component of the healthcare in your community? Supporting the option levy allows WLAD to maintain one of the high- est levels of care in the State of Ore- gon. This is what the community is voting on. 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. Siuslaw News Front Office For Advertising: ext. 318 For Obituaries: ext. 320 Jenna Bartlett Chantelle Meyer Misty Berg Jeanna Petersen Mark Brennan Zac Burtt 541-997-3441 For Classifieds: ext. 320 For Faxes: 541-997-7979 Publisher, ext. 318 Editor, ext. 314 Office Manager, ext. 320 Advertising, ext. 325 Lead Reporter, ext. 317 Sports Reporter, ext. 324 DEADLINES: Wednesday Issue—General news releases, Monday noon; Classified line ads, Monday 10 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, $84; 6-month , $61; 3-month subscription, $37.50; Out of Lane County — 1-year, $107; 6-month, $74; -month subscrip- tion, $50; E-Edition Online Only (Anywhere) — 1-year, $65; 6-month, $35; 3-month, $15. Ask about our senior discounts. Mail subscription includes E-Edition. 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All letters need to include full name, address and phone number; only name and city will be printed. Handwritten or typed let- ters must be signed. The newspaper, at the sole discretion of the publish- er and editor, reserves the right to reject any letter that doesn’t follow the above criteria. 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-303 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, H-476 Salem, Ore. 97301-4047 Salem, OR 97301 Message Line: PO Box 39000 Florence, OR 503-378-4582 97439 www.oregon.gov/gov 503-986-1409 Email: Rep.BoomerWright@ U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden oregonlegislature.gov 221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg Washington, DC 20510 Lane County Dist. 1 202-224-5244 | 541-431-0229 Commissioner www.wyden.senate.gov Jay Bozievich U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley 313 Hart Senate Office Bldg Washington, DC 20510 202-224-3753 | 541-465-6750 www.merkley.senate.gov U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (4th Dist.) 125 E. Eighth St. Eugene, OR 97401 541-682-4203 Email: Jay.Bozievich@ co.lane.or.us Florence City Council & Mayor Joe Henry Florence City Hall, 250 2134 Rayburn HOB Highway 101, Florence, 97439 Washington, DC 20515 541-997-3437 202-225-6416 ci.florence.or.us 541-269-2609 | 541-465-6732 www.defazio.house.gov