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
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Vol. 141, No. 23
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