4A | JULY 30, 2020 | 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
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ongress shall make no law respect-
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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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Political/Election Letters:
LETTERS
In support of police
When George Floyd died in
police custody, everyone was out-
raged and hoped for a swift and
harsh punishment to the officers
involved.
We initially supported the po-
sition Black Lives Matter took and
the peaceful demonstrations that
followed. Unfortunately, it seems
the BLM movement was hijacked
by radical elements of violent an-
archists, looters and overall bad
actors with connections to danger-
ous Antifa groups.
These rioters creating chaos
and mayhem, destroying property,
vandalizing national monuments,
attacking innocent citizens and po-
lice officers. They even murdered
two black teenagers in Seattle’s so-
called “autonomous zone.”
Some of them are very violent
rioters. Unfortunately, in some
Democratically-run cities, police
officers’ hands appear to be tied
and ordered not to do their jobs be-
cause politically appointed police
chiefs were told so by city mayors
or state governors.
Our own state’s city of Portland
has been a prime example of this
debacle.
I think President Trump is right
when stating that all this is most-
ly happening in liberal cities and
states run by Democratic leaders.
Most people want to be safe and
not calling for defunding our po-
lice departments.
So, next time you see your home-
town police officer, take a minute
and thank him or her and tell them
they are appreciated.
—George and Susan Zajic
Cottage Grove
Only call hospital if you
have patience of Job
I recently attempted to call my
doctor’s office at the Cottage Grove
Hospital. When I did so, I was sub-
jected to nearly an hour of robotic
announcements and elevator mu-
sic.
No one responded.
I was not offered an option to
leave a message or to speak to a
human being. As my blood pres-
sure spiked and my phone battery
drained, I opted to act in the best
interests of both my physical and
mental health and gave up.
Perhaps that’s what their phone
system is designed to accomplish
— or at least it seems so.
In order to get an answer to a
simple question, I drove to the
hospital, asked for my doctor’s re-
ceptionist, and out business was
transacted in less than a minute. I
noticed the receptionist had a tele-
phone right next to her and that it
was not ringing.
In fatc, I don’t recall hearing any
phones ringing anywhere while
entering or leaving. Perhaps their
phone system as it was designed?
After all, isn’t the corporate defi-
nition of “customer service” a tele-
phone system that disdains cus-
tomers and offers little if any hman
service?
To my fellow seniors, I offer this
advice: Unless you have the pa-
tience of Job and don’t suffer from
hypertension, don’t stay on the
phone line too long if you call the
hospital.
— John Galbreath
Cottage Grove
SLCFR Board needs to do
the right thing
for its citizens
As a resident of Cottage Grove, I
just wanted to voice my opinion on
Fire Chief Wooten’s statements on
social media.
I was very shocked and appalled
at his recent statement on social
media. To post how he would shoot
someone is disturbing to say the
least. At the very least, it shows
poor judgment, especially when
your job is to make critical deci-
sions that could cost lives if the
wrong decisions are made.
But to add on top of that that he
described in detail how he would
shoot another human being with a
sniper rifle exceeds just poor judg-
ment; it reveals a character trait
that is downright scary.
To have a chief of a fire depart-
ment who is responsible for saving
lives expressing in detail how he
would kill someone is unaccept-
able.
Though he says his social media
account was hacked, it seems to
be a fabrication made up after re-
alizing what he had said was very
wrong.
If so, then we can add dishonesty
to the bad decision-making skills
of the chief. If Facebook shows
proof that his account was actually
hacked, then great; I’m hoping that
this is the case because I would love
to eat my words and see this all go
away.
I’m sure we all agree that this is
very unfortunate. And sure, Chief
Wooten might be a nice guy, which
will make this a very hard and per-
sonal decision for the board. The
thing is, this is a public safety issue
— not a personal issue. I hope they
will keep that in mind.
When your job is the safety of a
city’s citizenry, a token disciplinary
action is not enough in this case. To
have him remain as chief without
any ramifications for his actions
will tarnish his department, the
South Lane County Fire Depart-
ment board of directors, and our
historic, peaceful city of Cottage
Grove.
We the citizens of Cottage Grove
don’t want a fire chief who talked
about how he would shoot us, that
is unacceptable and we deserve bet-
ter than that.
—Sam Stoufer
Cottage Grove
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) Ensure any information
about a candidate is accurate, fair and not from second-hand
knowledge or hearsay; and 3) explain the reasons to support
candidates based on personal experience and perspective
rather than partisanship and campaign-style rhetoric.
Candidates themselves may not use the letters to the editor
column to outline their views and platforms or to ask for votes;
this constitutes paid political 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 criteria.
Send letters to:
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
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