Polk County
Voices
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • April 6, 2016 4A
EDITORIALS
Adams reflects on 42 years
In a blink of an eye, I went from zero to
42 years in a career I have loved, from news
reporter to publisher of my hometown
newspaper. I am just grasping the idea that
I will not be walking through the office
doors of the Polk County Itemizer-Observer
on a daily basis, as this is
the last issue that will
carry my name as pub-
lisher. The Itemizer-Ob-
server is a place I have
called home and where
my staff has supported
me and each other like
family. Where the com-
munities of Dallas, Inde-
Adams
pendence and Monmouth
have invited my staff and I into their homes
each week because they trust us and believe
in newspapers.
It is a responsibility I have taken seriously
all of my career, from society editor to pub-
lisher. Have I made missteps and caused dis-
appointment, yes, but never intentionally.
Sadly there are those who will never believe
that nor forgive me; I do understand. On the
other hand, there have been many others
who have been gracious and supportive,
and have become some of my best friends
and I-O newspaper supporters. A very emo-
tional gift to receive.
This newspaper staff always worked to
make sure the printed word is correct. We
know that this is your hometown newspaper
and work at having a level playing field for all.
That is why we set parameters for letters and
stories so everyone gets an equal chance to
share their message. Although we are your
strongest advocate in making sure there is free-
dom of speech — it is important to remember
we are a business. There are bills to be paid so
we can be in your home on a weekly basis.
It has been an honor and pleasure to have
worked on more than 2,184 weekly issues
including the Itemizer-Observer (29 years)
and the Molalla Pioneer (13 years) plus nu-
merous special sections, print projects and
telephone directories. I have shared the life
of our readership from birth to marriage, life
milestones, anniversaries, to the final life
statement in an obituary. I will miss having
these special ties with my communities.
I have enjoyed being able to work on
many boards of directors that include: Eagle
Newspapers Inc.; Dallas and Monmouth-In-
dependence chamber; president of the Dal-
las Area Chamber of Commerce (more than
once); Monmouth and Independence
YMCA; Western Oregon University commit-
tees; Dallas Area Visitors Center (past presi-
dent); West Valley Hospital; Sable House;
many committees and commissions includ-
ing chairing the Dallas Economic Commis-
sion for many years; Dallas School Board
committees; Polk County Relay for Life and
others that have given me the opportunity to
give back. These communities have opened
their arms wide to me, and there are many
who have the same heart in making these
communities the best that they can be.
I continue to marvel at how giving we all
are when it comes to making our neighbors,
friends and newcomers feel safe, secure and
wanted as part of our community. We all
have the same passion of creating environ-
ments that are welcoming, prosperous and
giving. This is what makes being part of this
newspaper such a blessing. Everyone cares;
and so it remains even more important that
the Itemizer-Observer is at the school board
meetings, the city council meetings, and the
commissioners meeting. Being your eyes
and ears and sharing with each of you what
is going on. Your newspaper is the key to
communicating. We are the watcher that
keeps the meeting open for all, and that all
business is done in public and not behind
closed doors. We are fortunate that our
schools, councils and commissioners are
diligent about being transparent, but it is us
who share their message.
A key part of why the Itemizer-Observer
remains a viable part of the community is
due to the ownership of Denny Smith and
his family and Eagle Newspapers Inc. They
are dedicated to community journalism. I
owe a great deal to Denny and the board of
directors who selected me in 1981 to serve
as the first woman publisher in the compa-
ny when I was named publisher at the Mo-
lalla Pioneer. Two former Itemizer-Observer
publishers also helped me recognize the
opportunities available and that I had the
ability to be successful in this business. I
had a strong mentor in Joe Blaha, who hired
me in 1973 as society editor and encour-
aged me to learn the whole business from
top to bottom, which I did. I also was fortu-
nate to work with Dave Weston, who en-
couraged and supported me in accepting
the publisher’s position in Molalla, as he
said he was only a phone call away.
My greatest thanks and appreciation
goes to my staff, both past and especially to
my current crew. These people are amazing
and have hung with me and the wild ride
here at the I-O. We have made adjustments
in staff numbers and jobs, along with the
sadness at losing longtime staff members to
economic cuts. The Itemizer-Observer is
also moving to a new style of business oper-
ation with a management team. The two-
member team includes Emily Mentzer —
she will serve as editor — and Heidi Leppin,
who will continue as sales manager. They
will be the dynamic duo who will lead their
staff into the future of newspapers. This
group of dedicated and loyal people are
what has made the Itemizer-Observer a
highly respected and award-winning news-
paper across the state. They have made my
job easy. They have let me be both silly and
serious, and I am sure they have wondered
how it is that I am authorized to sign their
pay checks.
You will not find a finer group of dedicat-
ed people who believe in providing their
communities and customers with the best
service and newspaper in the state. They
will need your support in the days and years
to come. There will always be a need for our
community newspapers. Communication
and the freedom to do so is a powerful and
important tool in how we, as communities,
will succeed. The Itemizer-Observer staff
does the research; we ask the questions; and
we print the answers and the background
and share it both in print and online.
Lastly I have been supported by my amaz-
ing family and friends through the highs and
lows of these 42 years. The successes and the
not-so-successes. I have enjoyed every
minute of my work and the opportunities to
share in making this a better place. I look for-
ward to being able to do my part in remain-
ing in service to these communities.
I look to what awaits me as one door closes
and a new one opens. In the words of my father,
Curt Lamb, who wrote a column for the Itemizer-
Observer for 45 years, “I will see you ‘round town.”
Dallas’streets are
in need of fixing
Anyone taking a hard
look at Dallas’ streets will
find that they are deteriorat-
ing.
We all have a stake in
keeping our infrastructure
in good working order. Busi-
ness depends on streets to
deliver and receive goods as
well as provide access.
Whether we drive a vehicle,
take a bus, ride bikes, or
walk, our streets need to be
safe and well maintained.
To save current and fu-
ture taxpayers from more
expense, we must act now
to contain and reverse the
ballooning street mainte-
nance costs. Help stop more
streets falling into poor con-
dition. Vote yes on the
street bond.
Willaim Harrod
Dallas
Street repairs in
Dallas necessary
Since 1998, our house has
needed repainting outside
and inside, three water leaks
repaired, annual gutter
cleaning and a roof repair —
typical repairs. My car needs
repairs, too: lube and filter
every 6,000 miles, replacing
engine and air filters, trans-
mission and radiator fluids,
and timing belt every 80,000
miles. Everything deterio-
rates over time and needs to
be repaired or replaced.
Drive around Dallas. There
are many streets that need
extensive repair or recon-
struction. Your street will
need small to major repair
in a few years.
Vote yes on the May
streets bond issue. Let’s fix
our streets.
Linda Christensen
Dallas
Fix streets now or
pay more later
Our streets are badly in
need of repair. The longer
we wait to make these nec-
essary repairs, the more it
will cost us — in fact, the
cost can increase up to five-
fold. So what would cost us
$100 now will increase to
$500 if we wait.
That is just one reason
why a group of Dallas resi-
dents, after studying the
issue and possible alterna-
tives, recommended that
the most serious street re-
pairs be addressed through
the approval of a street re-
pair bond. Please join me in
voting yes on the street
bond — it just makes good
(dollars) and sense.
Kelly Gabliks
Dallas
Re-elect Commish
Jennifer Wheeler
My name is Bill J. Kluting,
longtime Polk County citi-
zen. I have been involved for
decades in Oregon politics
and especially rural coun-
ties. We need more commis-
sioners like Jennifer Wheeler.
She has, along with the
other two commissioners,
worked tirelessly to move
Polk County through hard
times forward for the benefit
of all people living in Polk
County, including the new-
born, K-12 school kids,
young adults, working fami-
lies and seniors.
Polk County, like almost
all rural counties, face many
problems ahead. This is why
I’m voting for Jennifer, as we
need the experience to con-
tinue to move Polk County
forward.
Bill J. Kluting
Monmouth
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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.
SUPERINTENDENT’S CORNER
PUBLIC AGENDA
Public Agenda is a listing of upcoming meetings for govern-
mental 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, APRIL 6
Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk County
Courthouse, first floor conference room, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-
623-8173.
MONDAY, APRIL 11
Dallas School Board — 6:30 p.m., Dallas School District office,
111 SW Ash St., Dallas. 503-623-5594.
Southwest Polk Fire Protection District Board — 7:30 p.m.,
Rickreall Fire Station, 275 Main St., Rickreall. 503-831-3530.
TUESDAY, APRIL 12
Polk County Board of Commission work session — 9 a.m.,
Polk County Courthouse, BOC office, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-
8173.
Dallas Planning Commission — 7 p.m., Dallas City Hall, 187 SE
Court St., Dallas. 503-831-3565.
Independence City Council — 7 p.m., Independence Civic
Center, 555 S. Main St., Independence. 503-838-1212.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
It’s hard to believe, but
spring is here. It’s great to
see all the flowers blooming
and hear the birds chirping.
It feels like new beginnings
every year at this time.
Celebrations since my
last letter include naming
two distinguished educa-
tors: Deanne Harms, media
specialist at Whitworth, and
Stephanie Hofferber, first-
grade teacher at Lyle.
Both are outstanding ed-
ucators.
We are currently waiting
to see if we are successful in
receiving a $1.4 million
grant for seismic upgrades
to Whitworth.
We are working with the
architect on the multipur-
pose rooms for Lyle and Oak-
dale. Both
of these
projects
have been
slowed
d ow n a s
the Super-
intendent
Facilities
Commit-
Johnstone
tee looking
at our restrooms and locker
rooms makes recommenda-
tions to support privacy for
students.
Draft plans may need to
be adjusted to include rec-
ommendations from this
committee. Thank you for
approving bond dollars
We are beginning work
with advancing our Ca-
reer and Technical Educa-
tion (CTE) classes and
Science Technology Engi-
neering and Math (STEM)
classes.
We have had several peo-
ple, including our city man-
ager, city council leaders,
school board, administra-
tors, and teachers, visit the
CTE Center in Salem-Keizer
School District and the
Chemeketa campus in
Salem to begin gathering
ideas.
Our board, city council,
and administrators recent-
ly met to share ideas that
included welding, plumb-
ing, health services, electri-
cal, problem solving, and
creating business partner-
ships.
We will continue to gath-
er feedback through our
Dallas Chamber of Com-
merce, staff, students, and
families.
We welcome your feed-
back at CTE.feedback
@dsd2.org.
Michelle Johnstone
Dallas Schools
Superintendent
HOW TO REACH US
Vol. 141, No. 14
(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
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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
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