Polk County
Voices
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • April 22, 2015 4A
EDITORIALS
How to
Contact
Officials
SB 322’s death
provides hope
The Oregon Senate Committee on Education made a
wise choice when it allowed Senate Bill 322 to die in com-
mittee
The bill would have phased out what are called fifth-
year programs, referenced in recent stories including
“Fifth-year programs OK, for now” on Page 15A of this
newspaper, affecting 26 school districts in the state, in-
cluding three in Polk County.
We believe this was not because the concerns behind
the bill — the source of the funding for the programs, the
K-12 state school fund — were invalid or that the programs
couldn’t be improved to better serve students.
Our concern — and that of many school officials — is
that there was no guarantee of a replacement for what dis-
tricts were offering if they were forced to shut down in two
years. Legislation to create “free community college for all”
is working its way through the legislative process.
Furthermore, while an idea worth exploring, free college
may not offer one of the aspects that made fifth-year pro-
grams so critical: building a “bridge to college.” Extra sup-
port, counseling and college preparation classes gave stu-
dents who otherwise might have faltered in their first year
the help they needed, and more importantly, the knowl-
edge they could succeed.
Is that not among the goals education leaders have for
students in Oregon?
That made the efforts to end the programs as baffling as
it was worrisome before the committee took no action
Thursday.
Dallas School District invited anyone interested in pro-
moting — or ending — the programs to learn more about its
version, Extended Campus. District officials were willing to
share success stories and had statistics to back them up, in-
cluding the fact that nearly 80 percent of those enrolled in
their first year of college through Extended Campus contin-
ued into a second. Also, 130 of the 472 students who have
participated in the program were the first in their families to
attend college.
Dallas and other districts with fifth-year programs
weren’t given the opportunity to share those stories, if the
response at a March public hearing on the bill was any in-
dication.
Testimony provided at that hearing was heard — and
now with more school districts at the table, a better plan
can be created.
We hope the phase-out idea, supported by Hilda Rossel-
li, the college and career readiness director for the Oregon
Education Investment Board, doesn’t return.
For those students or former students who took the
time — and courage — to testify before the committee, in-
cluding two from Dallas, this was more than just a chance
to see how government works. It was proof that, though it
may be rare, not everything comes down to dollars and
cents. Your successes are important, your experiences do
matter and your opinions count.
In this case, it appears your elected officials and school
leaders are ready to roll up their sleeves to save programs
that are a proven avenues to higher education in Oregon.
We wish them luck.
PUBLIC AGENDA
Public Agenda is a listing of upcoming meetings for govern-
mental and nongovernmental agencies in Polk County. To sub-
mit a meeting, send it at least two weeks before the actual
meeting date to the Itemizer-Observer via fax (503-623-2395) or
email (ionews@polkio.com).
—
MONDAY, APRIL 27
• Independence Library Board — 4 p.m., Independence
Public Library, 175 Monmouth St., Independence. 503-838-1811.
• Dallas City Budget Committee — 6 p.m., City Hall, 187 SE
Court St., Dallas. 503-831-3502.
• Dallas School Board — 6:30 p.m., Dallas School District of-
fice board room, 111 SW Ash St., Dallas. 503-623-9664, ext. 2334.
TUESDAY, APRIL 28
• Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk
County Courthouse, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173.
• Independence City Council — 7:30 a.m., Independence
Civic Center, 555 S. Main St., Independence. 503-838-1212.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29
• Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk
County Courthouse, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173.
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
Sheriff services
helps system
Please support the public
safety levy. County officials
have not come to this deci-
sion easily.
Budget cuts have been
made for years to avoid ask-
ing for extra taxes. I have
closely reviewed the county
budget and I find no fluff or
hidden reserves. What the
county is asking for is truly
needed.
City residents might won-
der why the levy is impor-
tant to us.
Consider the criminal jus-
tice system as a car with the
county services being the
transmission. It will not
matter how powerful our
local engine is, without the
transmission we will never
get full performance from
our vehicle.
Vernon Wells
Independence
Stand up for
sheriff, vote ‘yes’
I read with interest Emily
Mentzer’s excellent article
on background checks.
Our sheriff has stood up
for our rights against those
who would destroy them.
We should stand up for
our sheriff and help him do
the job that we elected him
to do by providing him the
staff that he needs to get the
job done.
Vote yes for Public Safety.
Gary Weis
Dallas
Gun rights story
felt one-sided
A couple of heavily slant-
ed articles in the past
month — each article bi-
ased in favor of Second
Amendment gun ownership
and opposed to further reg-
ulation of firearms — are
beginning to make it appear
that the Itemizer-Observer
has taken to using news ar-
ticles as editorial columns.
Most recently (April 8) the
I-O ran an “article,” “More
background checks not the
answer,” in which not a sin-
gle opinion in favor of the
background checks pro-
posed in Senate Bill 941 was
even mentioned.
Any competent reporter
could easily have found
someone to offer a support-
ing position, but apparently
Ms. Mentzer decided that
was not important.
Compounding her edito-
rializing errors was the Page
5A, continued from Page 1A
headline, “New bill infringes
on Second Amendment.”
Besides merely being an
opinion, nowhere in the ar-
ticle itself is there any, even
the slightest, mention of the
Second Amendment.
How does the bill infringe
on the Second Amendment
which explicitly gives the
right to regulate firearms?
Ms. Mentzer apparently
thinks that just dropping
the term “Second Amend-
ment” in a prominent head-
line will suffice in making
what has become her argu-
ment.
To his credit Sheriff Bob
Wolfe offers a couple of
other ways to combat the
problem of gun violence in
the U.S.: “addressing ...
mental health issues and
crimes committed by indi-
viduals while using a gun,”
both of which, by the way,
will cost lots and lots of tax-
payer money.
Others cited in the article
offer rational — even if self-
serving from gun-shop own-
ers — criticisms of the bill,
to wit, that the new back-
ground checks won’t do
much to keep potentially vi-
olent and/or incompetent
persons from owning guns.
To some extent this is true,
but how true is certainly de-
batable.
A balanced, unopinionat-
ed article from the I-O
would be more helpful for
its readership’s understand-
ing of the bill.
John Mark Krenkel
Dallas
Gasoline prices too
high in Dallas
I like to spend my money
locally when I am able. I
drove through Salem and
the price at several stations
is at or below $2.38 a gallon.
I came back to Dallas and
checked prices and they
were quite a bit higher.
When the gas started
dropping last fall, Dallas
tracked Salem very closely.
Not this time. Shop around
and save some money. It all
comes out of the same
place.
John Engelien
Dallas
Public safety levy
no longer needed
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
I’m wondering if the
property tax increase is nec-
essary.
With increased property
tax collections due to
growth and what appears to
be some timber money
from Congress, it looks like
the county will have over
half the funds they need to
fund increased patrols. Join
me in voting no on the
property tax levy.
Debora Nearman
Independence
More LETTERS, Page 6 A
WANT TO WRITE A LETTER?
Letters to the editor are lim-
ited to 300 words. Longer letters
will be edited.
Election-related letters of all
types are limited to 100 words.
Writers are limited to one elec-
tion-related letter per election
season. Election letters from
writers outside of Polk County
are not accepted.
Each writer is restricted to
one letter per 30-day period.
Letters that are libelous, ob-
scene or in bad taste will not be
printed. Attacks by name on
businesses or individuals will
not be printed.
Letters to the editor that are
obvious promotions for a busi-
ness, products or services will
not be printed.
The Itemizer-Observer does
not guarantee the accuracy of
facts presented by letter writers;
dissenters are welcome to re-
spond. Letter writers who dis-
agree with other published
letter writers should maintain a
civil discourse and address the
subject, not the author.
Letters, like all editorial mate-
rial submitted to the newspaper,
are edited for length, grammar
and content.
Letters must include the au-
thor’s name, address and tele-
phone number. This includes
letters submitted via the I-O’s
website. Names and cities of res-
idence are published; street ad-
dresses and telephone numbers
are used for verification pur-
poses only.
Letters must be submitted
from individuals, not organiza-
tions, and must be original sub-
missions to the I-O, not copies of
letters sent to other media.
Letters of thanks to busi-
nesses, individuals and organi-
zations are limited to 10 names.
The deadline for letters to the
editor is 10 a.m. Monday. Let-
ters submitted may not be re-
tractable after this deadline.
—
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. 16
(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
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
Polk County — One Year $27
Other Oregon Counties — One Year $33
Outside of Oregon — One Year $38
POSTMASTER:
Send address changes to: Polk County Itemizer-Observer, P.O. Box 108, Dallas, Oregon 97338
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/Editor .............................................................nadams@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
DISPLAY ADVERTISING
Heidi Leppin .................Display Advertising Manager ....................................hleppin@polkio.com
Rachel Best ....................Display Advertising.............................................................rbest@polkio.com
Karen Sanks...................Client Services ...................................................................ksanks@polkio.com
CLASSIFIED LINE ADVERTISING
Dawn Ohren .....................................................................................................................ioads@polkio.com
PRODUCTION
Kathy Huggins ..............................................................................................................iosales@polkio.com
Karyn Pressel .................................................................................................................iosales@polkio.com
BOOKKEEPING
Pat Letsch ......................................................................................................................pletsch@polkio.com
Web: www.polkio.com
Phone: 503-623-2373
Fax: 503-623-2395