Polk County
Voices
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • July 13, 2016 4A
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Evans represents
district in parade
The Fourth of July is a
time to celebrate our na-
tion’s independence with
our families and friends. In
Monmouth and Independ-
ence, the parade reminds us
of what community really
means. I was so glad to see
our state representative,
Paul Evans, in the parade.
He is an asset to our area
and has accomplished
much in Salem to benefit
those of us who live outside
major cities. Paul is a friend
to local farmers, small busi-
ness, and families. I am
proud of the work he has
done in our community and
in Salem.
Paula Baldwin
Monmouth
Americans must
regain freedoms
Apparently, certain mem-
bers of the political class
can be accused of a lack of
judgement when found to
be not complying with the
laws of the country, while
the rest of us have to make
bail or routinely pay exorbi-
tant fines for our indiscre-
tions.
We have allowed a privi-
leged political class to as-
sume a dictatorship posi-
tion and declare that our
free speech rights are sub-
ject to various degrees of
political correctness that
they determine and en-
force.
This political class has re-
fused to follow the rules
that this country was estab-
lished with, and routinely
ignores the will of the peo-
ple. The liberties established
in our Constitution and Bill
of Rights are being rational-
ized and whittled away on a
daily basis, and people who
protest these actions are
deemed to be dangerous to
the established society and
in violation of one rule or
another so that they can be
either ridiculed or penal-
ized.
The laws of the country
should be worded so that
the citizens can understand
them and know what the
penalties are for not obey-
ing them, or be allowed to
petition their representa-
tives to rewrite them so that
there is no question about
when a law is not being fol-
lowed.
And each law should
apply to all residents in the
United States of America.
There should be no privi-
leged ruling class, nor ex-
ceptions of any kind. All res-
idents of the country should
be made aware of the laws
and enforcement penalties
for not abiding by them.
It is time for Americans to
throw off the yoke of politi-
cal correctness and regain
their freedoms.
Richard C. Evans
Monmouth
Rodriguez sets
example to all
Courage permits one to
face extreme dangers and
difficulties without fear,
without a second thought,
and without question.
Those who possess courage
also possess selflessness,
heroism. They are great
hearted, and full of virtue. It
is rare to find a person who
displays all of these traits
every day. So we feel much
honor to know such a per-
son.
Our dad, Jim Rodriguez.
He diligently and faithfully
served this community for
27 years as a police officer.
However, he has been
much more to so many.
Whether he was handling a
serious crime or a simple
disagreement, he knew that
everyone goes through
hardships and makes mis-
takes.
He offered them under-
standing and often times an
open ear to listen or even a
shoulder to cry on. Most
importantly, he withheld
judgment and gave every-
one the respect they de-
served. He’s taken on many
roles as a police officer;
working as a school re-
source officer, acting as
problem solver and liaison
to the youth of this commu-
nity.
He was also a member of
the SWAT team for many
years, putting his life on the
line to ensure the safety of
this community. Never once
expecting a thank you but
just satisfied inside knowing
he did his part. Being a
bilingual officer, he has had
the ability to build trust and
rapport with all members of
our community.
He has given countless
hours wearing the badge,
patrolling the streets and
keeping the citizens of this
community safe. Whether
on or off duty, he would go
above and beyond the call
to serve people from all
walks of life, often times
leaving a lasting impression
on their lives. There aren’t
enough words to say about
how we feel. He’s our
biggest hero and we are so
proud of you dad!
Love, your kids.
Robert, Shane and Nikki
Rodriguez
Dallas
Fourth of July
celebrations were
special
Here in Polk County, we
live in small towns, and we
like it like that.
On Independence Day,
there were a number of spe-
cial events. The annual July
Fourth parade in Mon-
mouth and Independence
was, as usual, noteworthy.
The Monmouth-Indepen-
dence Rotary Club has been
sponsoring this parade for a
number of years, and they
had a very successful event
again this year.
Then in the evening in
Dallas, we were fortunate
to have a spectacular fire-
works show. Both events
were well attended by peo-
ple from not only Polk
County, but outlying areas
as well.
Thanks to the M-I Rotary
and to the city of Dallas and
the Dallas Fire Department
for making Independence
Day a special occasion for
all of us who enjoyed these
commemorations to a spe-
cial day. We all look forward
to more of the same, or
even better, in 2017.
Food bank thanks
community
The Dallas Food Bank
would like to thank the
community of Dallas for
your continuing generosity
and support. You enable us
to feed approximately 960
hungry individuals each
month.
The widespread support
ranges from Safeway, Wal-
mart, the Dollar Tree, Dallas
Community Foundation,
Dutch Brothers, the post of-
fice, The Itemizer-Observer,
local churches and local
businesses, to many private
citizens from our area.
With summer here and
the children home from
school, our food needs are
growing and challenging.
We are still unable to pur-
chase basics, such as body
soap, laundry soap, toilet
paper and dish detergent.
If you can help, please
call the Food Bank at 503-
623-3578, or bring dona-
tions to 322 Main St., Suite
180, Dallas.
Mona Ordonez
Food Bank volunteer
Dallas
Solution for
peacock problem
I read the recent letter to
the editor about relocating
excess peacocks from Mon-
mouth to some other loca-
tion outside the city. This
has been done in the past
and I am the recipient of
these varmints. Monmouth
has removed an irritant
from there and moved the
irritant to here, which is
Cooper Hollow. They began
to show up a while back
and soon outlived their wel-
come (sound familiar Mon-
mouth?). As Monmouth is
aware, these varmints are
loud, roost on cars (scratch-
ing paint), eat anything they
find such as gardens and
food for outside
cats/dogs/wild birds/chick-
ens. Then they do the natu-
ral thing: poop. Great piles
of the stuff lying around
waiting to be stepped in by
anyone that is not looking
at the ground at all times.
I am offering another so-
lution to this problem. Turn
it into an opportunity. My
uncle had a ranch outside
Reno many years ago and
had a lot of peacocks run-
ning around the place. He
often ate them — said they
tasted a lot like turkey. So,
how about offering the ex-
cess peacocks to, say
James2 for their meals? This
would solve the problem
and provide three pluses:
free meat for meals and re-
moval of the pest from
Monmouth and prevention
of further varmint invasion
of Cooper Hollow. Sounds
like a winner to me.
David Moellenberndt
Monmouth
Thank you for a
great Fourth
We want to thank all of
you that were a part of or-
ganizing and presenting the
fireworks display in Dallas
on July 4. It was terrific and
gets better each year.
We appreciate your time
and effort.
Al and Vi Mohr
Dallas
Leave peacock
population alone
In response to the fear
and danger of the peacocks
causing traffic jams, acci-
dents and disturbing the
peace of our neighborhood.
I have lived here for 13
Della Katon
Monmouth
Random act of
kindness
We would like to thank
the anonymous people who
paid for our lunch at Wash-
ington Street Steakhouse on
Sunday. This happened be-
cause we simply exchanged
tables with some other
guests that needed more
room. Thank you for being
so kind. We were blessed.
Sandy and Kevin Smith
Dallas
Sheriff grateful for
support
I would like to offer my
thanks to the citizens of
Polk County that have
dropped by or called the
Sheriff’s Office to show their
support for the men and
women of the Polk County
Sheriff’s Office after the re-
cent events in Dallas, Texas.
Your kind words and
thoughtfulness are impor-
tant to those in the Sheriff’s
Office and are very much
appreciated. The members
of the Sheriff’s Office were
enlightened and energized
by the support from the
community. Thank you for
letting the staff of the Sher-
iff’s Office know how much
they are appreciated and
cared for. Also, our thoughts
and prayers are with the
Dallas (Texas) police officers
and their families.
Mark Garton
Polk County Sheriff
Dallas
WANT TO WRITE A LETTER?
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
meeting date via email (ionews@polkio.com).
—
WEDnESDAy, July 13
• Independence Heritage Museum Commission — 4 p.m.,
Independence Heritage Museum, 112 S. Third St., Independ-
ence. 503-838-1212.
• Monmouth library Advisory Board — 7 a.m., Monmouth
Public Library, 168 Ecols St. S., Monmouth. 503-838-0725.
• Monmouth Parks and Recreation Board — 7 p.m., Volun-
teer Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0725.
• Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk
County Courthouse, first floor conference room, 850 Main St.,
Dallas. 503-623-8173.
Jerry Wennstrom
Dallas
years and the most enjoy-
able and happy times I have
had has been watching the
habits and behaviors of the
peacocks.
The mommies bring their
babies to my back door like
they are saying, look what I
have brought for you to
enjoy. My kids, grandkids
and now great-grandkids
have watched them and
taken pictures and clapped
their hands at the antics of
the young ones. People
from other areas come to
take pictures. The peacocks
are probably the most pho-
tographed item in Polk
County.
If you don’t like them in
your yard, spray them with
the hose. They don’t like
water. Granny 2 Toes was
the leader, and she kept the
kids in line.
After she had her last
chick and he was able to
fend for himself, she disap-
peared.
As far as I know, there are
two mating males and one
female in the adult range,
two young males and one
young female.
I would ask that you leave
them alone.
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Reach us at:
Mail: Editor, Polk County
Itemizer-Observer, P.O. Box 108,
Dallas, OR 97338.
Fax: 503-623-2395.
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Vol. 141, No. 28
(USPS) - 437-380)
The official newspaper of Polk County • Serving Polk County families since 1875
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