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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 22, 2020)
4A | OCTOBER 22, 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 The First Amendment C 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) USPS#133880 Copyright 2020 © COTTAGE GROVE SENTINAL 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anonymous, libelous, argumentative, sarcastic or contain accusations that are unsourced or without documentation will not be published.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 A Message from Mayor Gowing As of Friday, Oct. 16, Lane Coun- ty was put on the Governor’s Watch List for COVID-19. As Mayor, I encourage everyone to follow state guidelines for facial coverings, physical distancing and sanitation. I do feel Cottage Grove is doing a great job, but we are also affected by the rest of the county. Please en- courage those around you to follow these guidelines as well. With Halloween approaching, I know many are wanting to cele- brate in some way. Please remem- ber to keep yourself and those around you safe as we try to get through this. The Cottage Grove Chamber of Commerce is hosting a drive- through Trick-or-Treat event on Main Street to provide a safe envi- ronment. For more information, contact the Chamber or Main Street Coor- dinator. Thank you. —Jeff Gowing Cottage Grove Mayor Kenneth Roberts has my vote for At-Large seat Cottage Grove City Council At- Large position is up this year. I’m voting Kenneth Roberts and I’ll try and explain why I feel he is the most qualified candidate. Councilor Roberts has the time, energy, dedication and knowledge to serve us. As far as I have experi- enced, Councilor Roberts responds to citizens politely and promptly and remembers that “they” are the real boss while at the same time valuing their contributions, com- ments and concerns. As a prior member of the city budget committee, I was able to see some of the inside operating prac- tices of city government and what I can tell what we really need are more like-minded folks who con- duct themselves as Councilor Rob- erts has, without agendas or a poor attitude. We need these types of folks to be seated with him for the council to effectively represent the wishes of the general population of our small city. Until then, he is only one man representing us and that does not work, but it is a start and I for one am not willing to start over with someone who has shown us zero proof in an official public ca- pacity who or what they stand for. As a matter of fact, whether it be on the radio or in print, his opponent constantly reminds us that she has to research many is- sues brought to her before taking a stand on the issue. Far too long have we had folks with business ties, special interests and poor attitudes running this town, while they are supposed to be serving us — as Councilor Rob- erts does each and every day. Other candidates have spoken and admitted they don’t have the time that Councilor Roberts has, they don’t have the experience that Councilor Roberts has and many candidates currently have ties to local government and/or local businesses that could conflict with the needs of the average citizen of Cottage Grove. Councilor Roberts has spent some time getting to know the ins and outs of our little city, evidenced by discussion I’ve had with him and with how quickly he responds to his constituents’ questions on Facebook and live on the daily local AM radio “Beeper” show. Councilor Roberts knows that the sewer treatment facility reeks; he lives downtown and knows the effects of rent increases when de- velopers create mid-income hous- ing in buildings that likely won’t withstand a large earthquake. Councilor Roberts is more like the average local citizen than any other candidate running this elec- tion season. Good Luck, Mr. Roberts — you have my vote, Sir! —Duane A. Taddei Cottage Grove Roberts represents us all Often the only time we miss someone is when they die or lose an election. In our community, with amazement, it’s been easy to see Ken Roberts planting flowers, sweeping sidewalks, pulling weeds — simply because it needs to be done. He does these things in addition to his other volunteers activities, for which I doubt he receives a sim- ple thank you. It’s apparent down- town that we never notice things that get done by him until they ha- ven’t been done. He speaks with pride about his adopted city, and has yet to try to advance an agenda for a developer or business. Often we’ve seen people who seek election to further a personal — rather than community-minded — agenda that benefits everyone. As he has grown knowledgeable with what makes our community work, he seeks to rise to the chal- lenge so our community can be prepared for the future. Mr. Roberts has shown by exam- ple that he will continue to repre- sent our community — both resi- dential and commercial — in ways that will benefit us all. —Su Rosenthal 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 S entinel C ottage G rove 541-942-3325 Administration Jenna Bartlett, Group Publisher Gary Manly, General Manager... Ext. 1207 gmanly@cgsentinel.com Gerald Santana, Multi-Media Sales Consultant... Ext. 1216 gsantana@cgsentinel.com Carla Skeel, Inside Multi-Media Sales Consultant... Ext. 1203 csummers@cgsentinel.com Editorial ‘Yes’ on Measure 108 protects children’s health (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.) the governor with our public poli- cy recommendations for long-term solutions. I’m proud to say that the end result of our combined work is something that I believe can provide real pos- billion per year for smoking-related healthcare costs. All money collected from the vape and tobacco taxes will be ded- icated to Oregon Health Plan and smoking prevention and cessation When I was invited to join Or- programs. OHP provides cov- egon Gov. Kate Brown’s Vaping erage for more than one mil- Public Health Work Group in lion underserved Oregonians, By Dr. Serena Black early 2020, I was honored to have Pediatric Hospitalist, PeaceHealth Oregon including seniors, families and the opportunity to lend my voice 400,000 kids. and the voice of PeaceHealth to Tobacco is the number one this important process. I have been itive change for our Oregon com- cause of preventable death in Ore- a member of PeaceHealth’s pediatric munities. Measure 108, which was gon, leading to nearly 8,000 deaths hospitalist team for more than nine written by a bi-partisan committee, per year. years, and I’ve seen firsthand the ef- establishes a 65 percent wholesale Our children are being led down fects of the youth vaping epidemic tax on nicotine vaping products and a dangerous path. One in four high — an epidemic that jumped 80 per- increase cigarette taxes by $2 per schoolers in Oregon are vaping, cent between 2017 and 2019. pack. Studies show that increasing which leads to a three times greater This increase is even more con- the vape and tobacco taxes will pre- chance to start smoking. cerning amidst a pandemic as vent more than 19,000 people from It’s time we act to protect our smokers/vapers are more vulnerable starting to smoke and nearly 12,000 children and provide them with a to serious cases of COVID-19. premature deaths. healthy future. For eight months our group met And, increasing tobacco taxes That is why I’m voting “yes” on — discussing the health risks of va- lowers healthcare costs for every- Measure 108. ping — and in August we provided one; currently Oregonians pay $1.5 Guest Viewpoint Ned Hickson, Managing Editor... 541-902-3520 nhickson@cgsentinel.com Damien Sherwood, Lead Reporter... Ext. 1212 dsherwood@cgsentinel.com Nick Snyder, Sports/Community News Reporter... Ext. 1204 nsnyder@cgsentinel.com Customer Service Meg Fringer, Office Manager, Legals, Classifieds... 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