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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (June 8, 2016)
Polk County Voices Polk County Itemizer-Observer • June 8, 2016 4A LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Garden club thanks community abuse. I for one have no problem asking why is that dog around our food. Please contact your state represen- tative to stop the abuse. The members of the Monmouth Garden Club wish to thank community members who came to our annual plant sale, “From Our Gardens to Yours.” In addition to the sale, a free planting table was provided so children could plant and take home marigolds or beans to grow. Proceeds from this year’s sale will be put toward the club’s cur- rent community beautifica- tion project of providing funds for the landscaping in the new amphitheater area of Main Street Park. Kenneth Mayer Dallas Donation surprises Lion’s sight, hearing Margaret Johnson Monmouth Yamhill resident uses aquatic center I would like to respond to the Dallas City Council’s discussion regarding the closure of the Dallas Aquat- ic Center due to funding is- sues. While I believe that all levels of government should work to balance their budg- et, I also believe that these levels of government, espe- cially local, should invest in their municipality. From my perspective the Dallas city planners got it right in the design and implementation of the Dallas Aquatic Cen- ter. As a resident from Yamhill County I travel at least twice weekly to your aquatic center to take class- es. While my home town has a fine pool, they do not offer deep water exercise in a pool that is considered therapeutic. Believe me, I am more than happy to pay the fees to take the deep water exercise class in Dal- las. Having such a center benefits the residents of Dallas and others like my- self in two ways. The first and obvious is that its citi- zens of all ages have an out- let for exercise. Another ad- vantage is that having a fa- cility such as the Dallas Aquatic Center generates revenue for the community in that those employees of the pool pay local taxes, and they also support local busi- ness. Closing your pool would be a loss of that rev- enue. I urge your citizens and its City Council to reconsid- er the proposed closing of your pool for the simple reason that not having such a great facility, as you do, would diminish Dallas liv- ability greatly. Eric Lundeen McMinnville Homeowners have no money to spare One would think that the I-O would ask for comment from the majority voter’s side on the street bond issue. City manager is left won- dering why. I wonder how city management could possibly have not contem- plated that question. I’ll tell you why. Because there is a limit on what one can or chooses to pay in endless taxes to satisfy the government’s insatiable ap- petite for more. Endless, ever-growing taxes paid just because one has a home to live in. We already pay gas taxes dedicated to street maintenance and now you want to tax my home some more to fix potholes. You have made the gas tax rev- enue insufficient by spend- ing that money all these years on a department of wages, benefits, administra- tion, sidewalks and street- lights. If you had used the gas tax money for street re- pairs you wouldn’t have cre- ated a maintenance back- log. Two failed attempts at more money and yet ig- nored maintenance and de- terioration. Yet we see con- tinued raises, benefit in- creases, and superlative manager evaluations for what now appears to be mismanagement. The job of city manage- ment should not be to fig- ure out how to get citizens to give them more money. Management of the city should begin with a com- mitment to frugality. This includes providing services within the means given by the citizens. Instead it’s al- ways “give us more money.” When critical things need to be done and money is tight, waste, excess and unneces- sary expenses should first be eliminated. This never happens. Time for the city govern- ment to realize there is no more money: we expect you to do the job we ask, as fru- gally as possible. Charles Krogman Dallas Businesses help teach DHS students I’d like to thank the fol- lowing business for provid- ing work experience oppor- tunities to my students at the Daily Living Skills Cen- ter, Dallas High School’s post-high program, during the 2015-2016 school year. Students received on-the- job training while doing a variety of tasks for these businesses. This training is invaluable in preparing my students for paid work once they finish school. Many thanks go to: Dallas City Li- brary, Dallas Retirement Vil- lage, Dallas School District Office and Print Shop, Fu- ture Images, and the Devel- opmental Learning Center at Oakdale Heights Elemen- tary. Betsy Miller Dallas Jones thanks all for support Thank you so much to everyone who supported my campaign for state rep- resentative. During the past year, I met a lot of interest- ing people and was exposed to new ideas and industries. It was a challenging and ed- ucational experience my family will never forget. I’m convinced we live in the best piece of this world, and I look forward to continuing serving in our community. Beth Jones Dallas Don’t mess with aquatic center If you want to see the citi- zens of Dallas take to streets, the councilors only need to mess with our aquatic cen- ter. Apparently there is one council member who does not “recognize the impor- tance of the center to this community.” Remember this when you vote. Debra Nord Dallas Evans supports local veterans On May 31, House Rep. Paul Evans spoke at the Western Oregon University Memorial Day dinner. Dur- ing his talk, whether speak- ing of the Greatest Genera- tion or the latest generation to serve our nation, his ded- ication to our veterans was evident. On behalf of veter- ans and their families I would like to thank Evans for his efforts in supporting our veterans and keeping the promises made to those who honored their commit- ment to serve. I am proud to be represented by some- one whose passion drives his purpose and who stands up for those who have de- fended us and sacrificed so much. Thank you, Paul, for your service to our commu- nity. Kathy Martin-Willis Independence Aquatic center ‘only good thing’ I’ve been told that the mayor and city council want to close the aquatic center. That is the only good thing we have in Dallas and does attract business from other towns. I’ve used the pool three times a week since a car ac- cident and broke my back. I have to do these exercises in the pool. Many other people need the pool for the same reasons besides swim les- sons, classes, swim team, etc. There is no other place to go. I moved from Monmouth so I didn’t have to make three trips a week to use the pool. I’m 72 years old and can’t go any farther to main- tain my health. Therapy pa- tients from Dallas and Mon- mouth are sent here. The city of Dallas would be doing a great disservice to its community. It would be a disservice to the elderly and handicapped and to our veterans, of which my- self and my son who live here in Dallas are a part of. Nora Eaten Dallas Don’t take your dog shopping A few days ago I was in a store and watched a dog in a shopping cart do its busi- ness. Without a care in the world that person whipped out a plastic bag and picked up the mess that was sitting in the cart. This canine was not a service animal, you know it and I know it. Do you want to put your kids or food in that cart? I don’t know about you, but that little hand wipe the stores give you to clean the carts don’t cut it. This is a danger of your heath and welfare. According to the Ameri- can Disability Association, only canines can be service animal. The service dog must be well groomed, must be fully trained. I say it again, fully trained to service the needs of that one person. That leaves out puppies. The ADA also stated that a service dog must be kept on a leash or is held at all times or in private stroller, never in a shopping cart. As for restaurants, the canine is never to be in the serving area and never to be fed from your plate, should be calm and only attentive to its master. Everyone knows how a service dog should act. Look how well a guide dog for the seeing impaired behaves, this needs to be- come the standard in serv- ice dogs. I for one am sick and tired of individuals abusing the system, and it’s time our lawmaker set stan- dards for this out-of-control I believe it was the week of May 23-27 when I last emptied the Dallas Lions eyeglass / hearing aid dona- tion box at the Dallas Aquatic Center. I was sur- prised to find a $20 bill in the box. I gave it to the club treasurer with the instruc- tion to contribute it to the sight and hearing portion of the budget, explaining its source. I want to thank the person who donated it, and thought of the Bennie in Salem who leaves $100 bills in places for people to find. Thanks again, and re- member, we have tickets available for this year’s Dal- las Lion Duck Race to be held at 2:30 p.m. on July 30. Call me if you want to pur- chase tickets: 503-931-9860. Barb Chrisman Dallas Time to rethink oil pipeline project It is time to re-visit and change the federal govern- ment view of not building pipelines to carry oil and gas as in the Keystone Pipeline. I am not an Ore- gonian, but love the Colum- bia River Gorge and its beauty. Just now we have an oil train derailment near Mosier, and I saw on TV the fireball, black smoke the pollution in Columbia River. I grew up in Louisiana and our underground was laced with oil and gas pipelines taking product to and from the southern re- fineries to heat the homes and fuel cars in the mid- west, northern and western states. Sure, there was some- times a leak that caused an explosion and some lives were lost, but the damage to the area and environment was much less than when an oil train derails. We will continue to fuel vehicles with gasoline and heat homes from oil driven power plants. This govern- ment wants to rid us of coal fired plants as it is dirty and supposedly endangers the air we breathe. Get behind the oil com- panies that need to move their product and build more underground pipelines. Everyone wins: the farmers who allow ease- ments through their land and people that need the fuel, and it makes more jobs. Nelda Carroll-Allegar Dallas Rodriguez marks end of 27 years Sunday marked the end of an era for Dallas. It was the last day of duty for Sen- ior Officer Jim Rodriguez. Rodriguez proudly served our community for over 27 years. Along the way he made such a positive im- pact with the citizens in our community, from young to old, Jim is well-known and respected. Jim always ap- proached his job with pro- fessionalism; he took pride in patrolling our communi- ty to keep our streets safe at night, or working at our schools as a resource officer making sure our children were safe. More importantly, Jim was a positive role model and friend, always going above and beyond to help people in their worst times get their lives back on track. Twenty years ago, Jim gave me my very first traffic ticket. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t talk him out of it. Who would have guessed back then just how much I would end up re- specting him. Jim’s honesty and integrity is what I think I admire most. Dallas owes Senior Officer Jim Rodriguez a debt of gratitude; his ex- emplary years of service have been a blessing to our community. Thank you Jim, your love of community, your service, and your friendship is greatly appre- ciated. Enjoy your well-de- served retirement. This is not the end of your journey, merely the next chapter in your life. God Bless. Micky Garus City Councilor Dallas Aquatic Center worth every penny I am writing as a Polk County citizen and home- owner regarding the Dallas Aquatic Center possibly closing. If the chance of closing this facility comes to fruition, I will be relocating from Dallas. I have lived here for 18 years, and now that I am re- tired, the center provides me the opportunity for my chronic disease self-man- agement. Other seniors, the disabled and families use the facility the same. This is important to keep people self-sufficient and in their homes which is a priority for local, state and federal governments. It will save us all money in the long run. Dallas has lost many businesses, and downtown is almost a ghost town with empty buildings and pretty sidewalks. I find myself hav- ing to go in to Salem two to four times each week to do my shopping and other business. I would love to support locally, but we don’t have much. Those in charge of community development have done a poor job in the time that I have lived here with revitalizing Dallas, and I get very discouraged. I look at McMinnville and how progressive they are. Dallas needs to see what McMinnville is doing “right” for their community. It was voted once again one of the top 10 small cities in Ameri- ca. The aquatic center is a big draw for people coming to this city. I want my tax- payer dollars to support this. Judy Bowen Dallas What’s on your mind? Let us know with a letter to the editor. For the full letters pol- icy: polkio.com, or call 503- 623-2373. For public meetings, see online. HOW TO REACH US NEWSROOM Emily Mentzer ..............Editor/Monmouth/Independence Reporter ....ementzer@polkio.com Vol. 141, No. 23 (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 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Polk County — One Year $35 Other Oregon Counties — One Year $40 Outside of Oregon — One Year $45 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Polk County Itemizer-Observer, P.O. 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