4A | WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2019 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Cottage Grove Sentinel
116 N. Sixth St.
Cottage Grove, Ore. 97424
NED HICKSON , MANAGING EDITOR
Opinion
| 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ CGSENTINEL . COM
The First Amendment
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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)
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Send letters to:
Finding common ground in your phone calls
On the one hand, I’m
never quite sure what to
expect when my phone
rings here at the editor’s
desk; on the other hand,
I do know it’s always an
opportunity to share an
exchange of viewpoints,
ideas or — sometimes
— a point of contention
with someone in our
community.
Many years ago as a
restauranteur, I learned
that when a guest wants
to talk to a manager
about a bad experience,
they aren’t seeking
excuses, or reasons as to
why you couldn’t meet
their expectations.
They want two things:
1) Some form of reso-
lution, and
2) To be heard.
My wait staff always
knew I was willing to
address issues at a table
because I viewed every
situation as an opportu-
nity to build a relation-
ship with a guest — the
kind that reaches well
beyond a meal and table
service.
If you can turn a dis-
satisfied guest around,
you build a certain kind
of loyalty though that
shared experience.
Did I always manage
that feat?
John had some very
good points that I took
to heart.
Though our view-
points differed, we could
agree that these kinds
of conversations are im-
portant ones and a nec-
essary part of our own
that seemed to be politi-
cally motivated.
Eventually, our con-
versation turned to our
joint concern about how
political affiliation has
begun to supersede our
affiliation as Americans,
within its citizenry as
well as within our gov-
From the Managing Editor’s Desk ernment.
It was clear that we
Ned Hickson
had supported different
candidates in the past.
However, the common
Of course not.
system of checks and
ground we shared about
But I always tried.
balances as a community our nation’s polarization
It’s the same approach — here in Cottage Grove went beyond election
I take to your phone calls and beyond.
results.
as editor.
It was through this
Naturally, not every
Each is an opportunity discussion that we also
phone call ends that way,
to build a relationship
found other common
any more than I was able
which, in this case,
ground, quite literally in to exceed the expecta-
reaches beyond Wednes- Atlanta, where we had
tions of every guest who
day’s newspaper pages.
both spent time.
ate at my restaurant.
This morning I got a
It was the kind of
But I also know that
call from “John,” who
conversation that left
for every conversation
wanted to know why we us both feeling heard
that didn’t take place, we
allowed one letter writer and, more importantly,
both lost an opportunity.
to use the phrase “admit- resolved in the sense
I want to thank the
ted anti-Semite Stephen of understanding one
“Johns” and “Sharons”
Bannon” on our Opinion another’s perspective.
out there who take the
page a few weeks ago.
A short time later, I
time to call and provide
This led to a discus-
got a call from “Sharon,” an opportunity to turn
sion about our differing who wanted to let me
things around — and
points of view on wheth- know about a troubling
build relationships that
er guilt by association is trend involving the
reach beyond these
or isn’t a proper indica-
destruction of certain
newspaper pages.
tor of intent.
“adopt-a-highway” signs
nhickson@cgsentinel.com
HOW TO CONTACT YOUR REPS
Oregon state
representatives
Oregon federal
representatives
• Sen. Floyd Prozanski
• Rep. Peter DeFazio
District 4 State Senator
PO Box 11511
Eugene, Ore. 97440
Phone: 541-342-2447
Email : sen.fl oydprozanski@
state.or.us
(House of Representatives)
405 East 8th Ave.
#2030
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: defazio.house.gov/
contact/email-peter
Phone: 541-465-6732
• Rep. Cedric Hayden
Republican District 7 State
Representative
900 Court St. NE
Salem, Ore. 97301
Phone: 503-986-1407
Website: www.leg.state.or.
us/hayden
Email: rep.cedrichayden@
state.or.us
• Sen. Ron Wyden
405 East 8th Ave., Suite
2020
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: wyden.senate.gov
Phone: (541) 431-0229
• Sen. Jeff Merkley
Email: merkley.senate.gov
Phone: 541-465-6750
S entinel
C ottage G rove
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