Polk County
Voices
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • March 11, 2015 4A
EDITORIALS
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Public safety system
requires resources
People inside the city limits of Dallas, Monmouth, In-
dependence and West Salem may feel the May 19 county
public safety levy doesn’t affect them.
They may feel as though, as long as the cities maintain
and operate effective police departments, it doesn’t really
matter what happens on the county level — which is a
level of government, not a geographic reference.
This week, as we continue our coverage of the public
safety levy, we take a journey with three criminals, who
we label as Smash, Grab and Middleman.
On the journey, we see that county resources are used
from the start, with jail space, parole and probation, and
the district attorney’s office.
The fact is, county law enforcement workers finish
what city police officers start. Without the county jail,
criminals would walk free to commit more crimes. With-
out attorneys at the DA’s office, paperwork is not filed on
time or prosecution is delayed, hurting both the victim
and the suspect. The people in Polk County — city police
officers included — deserve better.
Deputies with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office do more
than just patrol county roads. They serve restraining or-
ders, court custody orders, eviction notices, property
seizures and foreclosures. They back up our fire districts
and city police when emergency responders may be in
danger of violent people.
If something bad has happened to a member of your
family who lives in another county, it’s the face of a Polk
County deputy you will probably see at your door deliv-
ering the news.
The people in Polk County deserve prompt justice for
criminals and victims, and quick response from a sheriff’s
deputy. The system doesn’t work if all the needed parts
aren’t there working together.
Both the DA’s and sheriff’s offices are running on bare
bones staffing. If a household was surviving on such little
income and needed more money, it would be time to get
a second job. But neither the DA’s office nor the sheriff’s
department can moonlight at another job.
PUBLIC AGENDA
Public Agenda is a listing of upcoming meetings for gov-
ernmental and nongovernmental agencies in Polk County.
To submit a meeting, send it at least two weeks before the
actual meeting date to the Itemizer-Observer via fax (503-
623-2395) or email (kholland@polkio.com).
—
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11
• Monmouth Library Advisory Board — 7 a.m., Monmouth
Public Library meeting room, 168 S. Ecols St., Monmouth. 503-
838-0722.
• Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk
County Courthouse, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173.
• Polk Soil and Water Conservation District Board — 6
p.m., USDA Service Center, 580 Main St., Suite A, Dallas. 503-623-
9680.
• Monmouth Park and Recreation Board — 7 p.m., Volun-
teer Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0722.
THURSDAY, MARCH 12
• Polk County Fire District No. 1 Board — 6 p.m., Central
Station 90, 1800 Monmouth St., Independence. 503-838-1510.
• Luckiamute Watershed Council — 7 p.m., Volunteer Hall,
144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-837-0237.
• Falls City City Council — 7:30 p.m., Falls City Community
Center, 320 N. Main St., Falls City. 503-787-3631.
MONDAY, MARCH 16
• Dallas City Council — 7 p.m., City Hall, 187 SE Court St., Dal-
las. 503-831-3502.
• Perrydale School Board — 7 p.m., Perrydale School, 7445
Perrydale Road, Amity. 503-623-2040.
TUESDAY, MARCH 17
• Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk
County Courthouse, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173.
• Independence Historic Preservation Commission — 4
p.m., Independence Civic Center, 555 S. Main St., Independence.
503-838-1212.
• Monmouth City Council — 7 p.m., Volunteer Hall, 144 S.
Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0722.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18
• Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk
County Courthouse, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173.
• Monmouth Planning Commission — 7 p.m., Volunteer
Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0722.
GOVERNOR
Gov. Kate Brown (Dem.)
160 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-378-4582
Email: via website,
http://governor.oregon.gov/
—
STATE LEGISLATORS
Sen. Arnie Roblan
(District 5, Democrat)
S-417 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
sen.arnieroblan@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/roblan
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Help make Polk
County safer place
The entire Polk County
Sheriff’s Department — pa-
trol deputies, sergeants, lieu-
tenant and the sheriff him-
self — work hard to keep our
county as safe as possible.
Staff shortages caused by se-
vere budget cuts have been
answered with increased ef-
fort and dedication.
We receive much from
these brave and devoted
public servants, but their
dedication is stretched to the
limit. It can’t go on this way.
Support the public safety
levy and give these folks the
resources needed to restore
24-hour patrol service. Re-
turn Polk County to the safer
and more secure communi-
ty that it once was.
Lynnette Henshaw
Dallas
Republican antics
are embarrassing
After the GOP election
victory, I wondered how
long it would take to renew
their push toward establish-
ing a plutocracy in America.
In the first legislation
passed, they attached two
riders. The first increases
substantially the amounts of
money the very wealthy may
donate to political causes.
The other item is legislation
making the taxpayers rather
than banks the guarantors
for Wall Street banksters
who gamble with fake finan-
cial instruments.
Of course the tried and
true GOP attack campaigns
roll on. There has been a fresh
outbreak of hatred of Presi-
dent Obama. Rather than
argue issues, they insult the
president with such idiocy as
doubting that Mr. Obama
loves America. There is never
any substantive debate; it is
always pejoratives and innu-
endo, hatred and insult.
Jon Stewart is a leftist po-
litical commentator on TV.
He recently showed several
clips of Fox News commen-
tators fawning over decisive,
strong and action-orientated
foreign leaders. Their exam-
ples were Vladimir Putin of
Russia, who just ripped
Crimea from the Ukraine;
Abdel Al-Sisi, the dictator of
Egypt who is killing protest-
ers against his rule; and King
Abdallah of Jordan, who is
an absolute ruler with an ex-
cellent repression of dissent
program. Their point was
“Why can’t Obama be like
that?”
Then Stewart showed a
series of clips where Fox
News folks are calling Mr.
Obama a tyrant, a dictator
and traitor. The segment
was a perfect example of
how the GOP will say any-
thing to make their point no
matter how illogical or un-
true it might be. How long
will moderate Republicans
continue to accept this
trashing of everything dis-
agreeable to the GOP?
Any Republican readers
who think you are moder-
ates need to take a closer
look at the rhetoric spewing
forth from your party. Then
you should be embarrassed.
Fred Brown
Dallas
Levy’s tax increase
would hurt us all
Increased property taxes
hurt homeowners, business-
es and renters.
Homeowners on fixed in-
comes are negatively im-
pacted by increased proper-
ty taxes. Businesses are hit
hard and need to increase
charges to consumers in
order to compensate for in-
creased taxes. Landlords
need to increase rent to
cover their costs from in-
creased property taxes.
The proposed property
tax levy will have a dramatic
financial impact on all.
Every year, additional taxes
are collected, yet it’s never
enough.
It’s time to be creative in
allocating tax monies and
make things leaner and
more efficient.
Vote “no” on 27-117 and
defeat the property tax levy.
Terri Parsons
Dallas
Festival’s food drive
effort appreciated
Willamette Valley Food
Assistance Program would
like to thank the Polk Coun-
ty Folklife Festival folks for
the canned food drive they
held during the festival on
Saturday at the Polk County
Fairgrounds.
They gathered more than
1,000 pounds of food for our
food assistance program in
Dallas.
Their mission is to pre-
serve and promote the cul-
tural and ethnic traditions of
the people in the Mid-
Willamette Valley. A good
time was had by all.
Thanks again.
Kathy Chiles
Willamette Valley
Food Assistance Program
Dallas
Sen. Jackie Winters
(District 10, Republican)
S-301 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1710
sen.jackiewinters@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/winters
Sen. Brian Boquist
(District 12, Republican)
S-305 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1712
sen.brianboquist@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/boquist
Rep. David Gomberg
(District 10, Democrat)
H-471 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1410
rep.davidgomberg@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/gomberg
Rep. Paul Evans
(District 20, Democrat)
H-281 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1420
rep.paulevans@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/evans
Rep. Mike Nearman
(District 23, Republican)
H-378 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1423
rep.mikenearman@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/nearman
—
U.S. CONGRESS
Sen. Ron Wyden (Dem.)
221 Dirksen SOB
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: 202-224-5244
Fax: 202-228-2717
Salem office: 707 13th St. SE,
Suite 285, Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-589-4555
Email: via website,
www.wyden.senate.gov
Know the law prior
to complaining
To the “gentleman” in the
sports vehicle on Uglow and
Miller in Dallas on Sunday
at about 12:30 p.m. who
shouted epithets at me
while I obeyed Oregon traf-
fic laws:
Please re-introduce your-
self to the laws of Oregon. It
is illegal to turn on a solid
red traffic arrow. Regardless
of how important you be-
lieve you are and how it is
your “right” to curse at an-
other driver you disagree
with, the law remains. ORS
811.260 clearly states there is
no turn allowed on a solid
red arrow.
Liz Thiessen
Dallas
WANT TO WRITE A LETTER?
Letters to the editor are lim-
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Election-related letters of all
types are limited to 100 words.
Writers are limited to one elec-
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Letters that are libelous, ob-
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Letters of thanks to busi-
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zations are limited to 10 names.
The deadline for letters to the
editor is Monday at 10 a.m.
—
Reach us at:
Mail: Editor, Polk County
Itemizer-Observer, P.O. Box 108,
Dallas, OR 97338.
Fax: 503-623-2395.
Email: ionews@polkio.com.
Office: 147 SE Court St., Dallas.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (Dem.)
313 Hart SOB
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: 202-224-3753
Fax: 202-228-3997
Salem office: 495 State St. SE,
Suite 330, Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-362-8102
Email: via website,
www.merkley.senate.gov
Rep. Kurt Schrader (Dem.)
108 Cannon HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: 202-225-5711
Fax: 202-225-5699
Salem office: 544 Ferry St. SE,
Suite 2, Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-588-9100
Fax: 503-588-5517
Email: via website,
www.schrader.house.gov
—
POLK COUNTY
Board of Commissioners
850 Main St.
Dallas, OR 97338
Phone: 503-623-8173
www.co.polk.or.us
—
CITIES
Dallas
187 SE Court St.
Dallas, OR 97338
503-623-2338
www.ci.dallas.or.us
Falls City
299 Mill St.
Falls City, OR 97344
503-787-3631
www.fallscityoregon.gov
Independence
555 S. Main St.
Independence, OR 97351
503-838-1212
www.ci.independence.or.us
Monmouth
151 W. Main St.
Monmouth, OR 97361
503-838-0722
www.ci.monmouth.or.us
HOW TO REACH US
Vol. 140, No. 10
(USPS) - 437-380)
The official newspaper of Polk County • Serving Polk County families since 1875
Winner of 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014 General Excellence Awards
from the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association
Periodicals postage paid at
Dallas, OR, Independence, OR and Monmouth, OR.
Published weekly at 147 SE Court Street
Dallas, Oregon 97338
Phone: 503-623-2373 Fax: 503-623-2395
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Polk County — One Year $27
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POSTMASTER:
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The Polk County Itemizer-Observer assumes no financial responsibility for errors in adver-
tisements. It will, however, reprint without charge for the portion of an advertisement
which is in error if the Itemizer-Observer is at fault.
NEWSROOM
Nancy Adams ...............Publisher ...........................................................................nadams@polkio.com
Kurt Holland..................Managing Editor...........................................................kholland@polkio.com
Lukas Eggen..................Sports Editor......................................................................leggen@polkio.com
Jolene Guzman............Dallas/Falls City/Polk County Reporter ................jguzman@polkio.com
Emily Mentzer ..............Monmouth/Independence Reporter ..................ementzer@polkio.com
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