4A | OCTOBER 1, 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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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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Letters to the Editor Policy
The Sentinel welcomes letters to the editor as part of a
community discussion of issues on the local, state and national
level.
Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten or typed letters
must be signed. All letters need to include full name, address
and phone number; only name and city will be printed. Letters
should be limited to about 300 words. Letters are subject to
editing for length, grammar and clarity. Publication of any
letter is not guaranteed and depends on space available and the
volume of letters received.
Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumentative,
sarcastic or contain accusations that are unsourced or without
documentation will not be published.
Letters containing poetry or from outside The Sentinel
readership area will only be published at the discretion of the
editor.
Political/Election Letters:
LETTERS
Chalice best choice for
at-large position
I support Chalice Savage’s
challenge for the “at-large”
councilor position against in-
cumbent Kenneth Roberts.
Here we have two charming
people who are willing to make
a sacrifice of their time and en-
ergies to serve the community.
The only issue is who is best
qualified.
Kenneth has well-known face
recognition and has earned
a reputation for his efforts in
keeping the town looking nice.
Chalice’s work obligations
in a well-known Main Street
business have not given her the
same freedom to wander as disc
jockey Kenneth has had for the
duration of his incumbency.
The most important consid-
erations at this time are expe-
rience and the ability to make a
significant difference when the
city council needs to tackle real
and serious problems and build
for the future.
The physical and mental
health of the community, par-
ticularly the welfare of the new
generation, is of great concern.
Chalice’s achievements as a
mother of three and a career of
increasing responsibility in the
health industry make her well
qualified.
But her special qualification
in this contest is that, as a wom-
an in a male-dominated setting,
she can make a measurable dif-
ference.
The proof that this can hap-
pen is constantly demonstrated
at the highest levels of national
government and business.
She needs the support she de-
serves, especially from women.
—Alan Jackson
Cottage Grove
I’ll stick with DeFazio
Alek Scarlatos seems like a
nice young man. But he has no
qualifications to represent Ore-
gon in Washington, D.C.
He graduated from high
school, attended community
college, served in the national
Guard, was in a movie about his
heroic deed and performed on
Dancing with the Stars.
He ran for city commissioner
and lost. He never served on a
school board, city council or
county or state government.
No experience in govern-
ment.
He received many deserved
awards and praise for his brave
actions.
Peter DeFazio has served Or-
egon well. He heads an import-
ant committee, lives on a 1987
house boat and doesn’t use his
ads to create or tell lies and half-
truths about his opponent.
Peter DeFazio has voted
against the president on things
he believes in; will Alek Scarla-
tos do the same?
I can’t see anything that Alek
has done to deserve our vote.
I’ll stick with Peter DeFazio.
—Pat Couturier
Cottage Grove
Trump’s pre-existing
condition genius
Trump is steadfast. As virus
deaths rise, he continues his
historic Supreme Court suit to
eliminate health coverage for
pre-existing conditions and
other “socialist” aspects of the
Affordable Care Act.
A sensitive public can appre-
ciate his insight: Rebuilding
the old “wall” of health insur-
ance exclusions for pre-existing
conditions offers a truly great,
great outcome: Insurance will
be cheaper for those folks who
have not had such conditions.
At the same time, the Trump
administration is saying death
counts associated with the coro-
navirus now can be trimmed
back by over 90 percent, since
the majority of those dying also
have some element of a “pre-ex-
isting condition,” voted by mail
in the last election or wanted
the president’s tax returns pro-
duced.
If only American media could
properly understand Trump’s
genius. He will indeed make
America first in the world — in
coronavirus deaths, while elim-
inating health care for millions
who, should they contract the
virus, would likely be consid-
ered to have a pre-existing con-
dition
And while Mexico won’t
pay for this “wall,” those with
“pre-existing conditions” most
surely will.
—Randall Dobbins
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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