Polk County
Voices
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • November 18, 2015 4A
EDITORIALS
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Words carry
responsibility
Be considerate,
quiet your dog
This past week has been a reflection of what it means to
live in the United States of America and to celebrate the
freedoms that we treasure.
Our veterans were remembered and honored on Veter-
an’s Day for their love of country and for protecting and
fighting for the rights that we so freely exercise on a daily
basis. Their sacrifice for our beliefs as a nation were carried
by them into battle during war time and continue to pres-
ent day as they fight terrorism that stealthfully finds its way
into our lives both here and across the world.
Freedom of speech and the right to assemble rose to the
forefront this past week with a written message on social
media by Micky Garus, Dallas city councilman and local
business man. He raised concerns about the reach of the
Muslims in the United States and shared his concerns
about what he sees as their beliefs. This became fuel for a
fire of words that cast the whole community under a mi-
croscope by media from all over the nation. People gath-
ered to share their beliefs and to ask for tolerance and un-
derstanding of both sides. Micky’s right to share is protect-
ed by our Constitution and one that we all freely take ad-
vantage of. As the newspaper that services our communi-
ties, we believe in freedom of speech and press, and we will
protect it and honor it as a precious right that we all share.
Freedom, though, comes with great responsibility and
the repercussions that can come from statements that are
made by any of us. Micky’s comments unfortunately paint-
ed the whole community of Dallas and surrounding area
with a broad brush of intolerance. None of us want to be
brought into a conversation that we didn’t invite or wish to
participate in, but it happened.
If we want the conversation to be different, it will be up
to the citizens of Dallas and our leaders, along with our
neighboring communities, to find a voice that speaks of
who we are, and work to live and reflect that feeling. There
is room for all at the table of discussion in sharing views
and concerns as long as we remember to honor one anoth-
er and listen with open minds and hearts. The conversa-
tion has begun; let us not walk away from it but learn from
it and educate us in who our neighbors are.
No country is perfect, but our forefathers worked dili-
gently to provide us with a Constitution that reflected what
they believed would provide all the citizens of the United
States a place of tolerance and safety. That we would re-
spect one another in our freedoms of speech, to bear arms,
religion, and honor life, liberty and the pursuit of happi-
ness. These are not hollow words for just a few — they are
for all us.
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 (ionews@polkio.com).
—
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 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.
• Polk Soil and Water Conservation Board Meeting — 6
p.m., USDA Service Center, 580 Main. St. Suite A, Dallas. 503-623-
9680 Ext. 5.
THURSDAY, NOV. 19
• Polk County Fair Board — 8 a.m., Polk County Fairgrounds
and Event Center, Main Building, Meeting Room No. 2, 520 S. Pa-
ciic Highway (99W), Rickreall. 503-623-3048.
• Dallas Economic Development Committee — Noon, City
Hall, 187 SE Court St., Dallas. 503-831-3502.
• Monmouth Independence Networks board of direc-
tors — 7:30 a.m., Volunteer Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth.
503-837-0700.
MONDAY, NOV. 23
• Independence Library Board — 4 p.m., Independence
Public Library, 175 Monmouth St., Independence. 503-838-1811.
TUESDAY, NOV. 24
• 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, NOV. 25
• Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk
County Courthouse, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173.
What’s the deal with peo-
ple who just let their dogs
bark?
Yes, any dog is going to
bark, some more than oth-
ers just by their breed; bea-
gles, Chihuahuas, etc. But,
to let your dog bark for no
reason other than you are
too lazy or clueless to train
them not to is just wrong.
I've had dogs. Did they
bark? Yes, occasionally, but
not to the point where it
disturbed my neighbors. I
trained them. It’s not that
hard. If you can’t train them
not to bark, there are hu-
mane devices that the dog
can wear to curb this bad
and annoying habit. This
seems to be another ongo-
ing problem in our society
these days. People are not
considerate of others.
Whether it be barking dogs
or noisy trucks and cars.
Please be considerate of
others. It’s not just about
you.
Ali Rion
Dallas
Thanks to support
of Veteran’s dinner
I can't begin to express
my appreciation to the
community for their sup-
port of the Independence
Elks Lodge No. 1950 Veter-
an’s Day dinner. So many
pitched in to make the
event happen. Thank you to
Minet, the Barb Mylnechuk
Insurance Agency, Marilyn
Morton, the Three Legged
Dog, and Arena Bar and
Grill for your financial sup-
port and to the many volun-
teers who gave their time
and energy to serve our vet-
erans and their families.
Thank you to the Polk
County community for
turning out to honor those
who have served. Your sup-
port means so much.
Kathy Martin-Willis
Independence
No room for
bigotry on council
Micky Garus was elected
by the voters of Dallas to the
Dallas City Council. The
Dallas City Council works in
the best interests of the
people of Dallas. There are
many topics to work on:
homeless families, hungry
children, disabled veterans,
personal and public safety,
safe roads for travel, and on
and on. There is no room
for racism or bigotry in that
chamber or any part of gov-
ernment.
The racist rant Micky
Garus posted on Facebook
and picked up by the media
shows his heretofore hidden
agenda. He should resign
immediately.
Ann Hurd
Dallas
Don’t let outside
groups influence
A city councilor from a
small Polk County city ex-
pressed his opinion about
Sharia law on his private
Facebook page. He was then
publicly attacked by an out-
of-state group calling his
viewpoint “bigoted,” “ex-
tremist and un-American,”
and “Islamophobia.” It is
unfortunate when an out-
Want to write a letter?
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ters will be edited.
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line to www.polkio.com.
side group intrudes on a
small community by using
misleading and untrue
clichés designed to crush
free speech.
George Irving
Dallas
Councilor stepped
over the line
Micky Garus, your recent
post defaming American
Muslims and their religious
beliefs was ill-advised, inac-
curate and serves only to
dangerously promote the
hate and fear so widely held
by many today. To single out
any minority as the target of
such hate and fear, which
your campaign Facebook
most outrageously did, was
not, we are sure, why the
citizens of Dallas elected
you. In so doing, you used
precisely the same tech-
niques employed by the
Nazis you warned your
readers about, to wit: prop-
agating lies, and promoting
hate against a small minori-
ty over and over until fear
overcomes reason. You
would benefit from a visit to
the Holocaust Museum in
Washington, D.C., to get
your facts on Hitler’s tech-
niques straight. While there,
take some time to visit
some of the many monu-
ments on which are in-
scribed the words of true
leaders reflecting the values
of this nation.
As a private citizen, you
are free to hold whatever
beliefs you wish and to ex-
press them freely; however,
you stepped over the line by
doing so as an elected offi-
cial. You have embarrassed
your council colleagues and
the community that elected
you. You owe them all a
deep and sincere apology.
Dallas has an old and,
thankfully, largely overcome
sordid history in relating
with minorities. Many have
worked hard to put this his-
tory of fear and hate to rest.
Your comments remind us
that the work is not over.
So now is the time to lay
aside your personal insecu-
rities, step up to the plate
with the dignity that God
freely instilled in you and
recognize the dignity that
resides in all people, includ-
ing those you chose to ma-
lign. If you are unable to do
this, have the courage and
integrity to step aside. The
rest of us have work to do.
James H. Beaird-Leeper
Beverly A. Beaird-Leeper
Monmouth
‘European method’
not good for U.S.
Those on the extreme
right are constantly touting
“American Exceptionalism”
and denigrating ideas and
processes as done in Eu-
rope.
Well, there is one area
where we surely do not
need to adapt to the Euro-
pean method. We do not
need to import foreign ter-
rorists to shoot, or blow up
our schools, theaters and
cities. We have plenty of
able Americans who are
perfectly willing to shoot
their fellow Americans to
pieces without any foreign
help whatsoever.
Fred Brown
Dallas
Councilor Garus
unfit to serve
I assume that I would
have heard about Micky
Garus’s views on Islam
when he ran for office on
the Dallas City Council, so I
think it’s fair to say that his
recent anti-Islamic rant on
Facebook was his coming-
out-of-the-closet as a Chris-
tian extremist. His deeply
held fear and loathing of
Islam is what one would ex-
pect from Christian fanatics.
What was more troubling
to me though was his con-
spiracy theory about Islam,
and his branding of all Mus-
lims as evil. Surely a man
who believes this is not ra-
tional, and before Politically
Correct thinking we would
have labeled him for what
he is — paranoid. He cer-
tainly isn’t capable of being
a public servant because he
cannot serve any of the
public he views as evil, this
would violate his beliefs. So
why did he run for city
councilman? Here’s an idea.
A few years ago I read an ar-
ticle describing a meeting of
the leaders of some of
America’s major evangelical
churches, like the Southern
Baptists. The meeting was
to plot a strategy to combat
“secularists” in the culture
wars. Their strategy was
simple, run people for small
town public offices, like city
council positions, or state
legislators. That way they
could take over local politics
and work their way into na-
tional politics with the ulti-
mate aim of making the
USA an official Christian na-
tion, and supplanting our
secular Constitution with
Biblical Law. Sound far-
fetched, certainly no more
lunatic than Mr. Garus’s
conspiracy theories.
Ted Gaty
West Salem
Comments danger
to trans youth
The recent comments by
Dallas council member
Micky Garus are deeply
troubling. Transgender
youth are misunderstood
and vulnerable. Because of
the lack of acceptance, dis-
crimination and violence,
40 percent will attempt sui-
cide. Councilor Garus’s
comments add to the cul-
ture of violence that many
transgender youth face.
As a Muslim mom, I am
also deeply concerned
about Councilor Garus’s
comments about Muslims.
Our country was founded
on the principles of reli-
gious freedom precisely be-
cause of the religious perse-
cution so many people
around the world have
faced. His statement is an
affront to the people of Ore-
gon and our values as
Americans.
Nancy Haque
Co-Director
Basic Rights Oregon
Portland
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Vol. 140, No. 46
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