Polk County
Voices
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • August 10, 2016 4A
How to
Contact
Officials
EDITORIALS
We count on the mail
I got the mail today.
A couple of bills. A greeting card. Some catalogs. A news-
paper. One package that my wife grabbed right away.
(Wonder what that was?)
Lately, it occurs to me how completely I take for granted
that I will get the mail tomorrow.
I’ve had my share of gripes about the mail. As president
of the National Newspaper Association, I have fielded our
community newspaper members’ postal concerns all year.
The mail is slower than it used to be. The U.S. Postal Serv-
ice slowed it down by a day, at least, because of financial
problems. Newspaper subscribers are unhappy because
too often their papers are arriving late. Some local busi-
nesses have had problems with cash flow because of late
mail.
Still, I get the mail every day but Sunday. Bet you do, too.
If you follow the news, you know the U.S. Postal Service
is in trouble.
Because so many people and businesses use the inter-
net, there isn’t as much mail to deliver. But we still expect
the mail to come. At my newspaper, we look for it on Sat-
urdays, too, because weekend mail is extremely important
in small towns. (Congress considered ending Saturday
mail, but thankfully it has dropped that idea for now.)
Beneath the surface, however, we see seismic, economy-
rattling changes ahead unless Congress can pass legisla-
tion to lower the Postal Service’s cost of doing business.
It carries more than $50 billion of debt on its balance
sheet. Fortunately, there are bills by Reps. Jason Chaffetz,
R-Utah, and Elijah Cummings, D-Md, and several other
House members, and by Sens. Tom Carper, D-Del., Claire
McCaskill, D- Mo., Mark Warner, D-VA, Roy Blunt, R-Mo.,
Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, that
would do the job.
Passing these bills is easier said than done. You may
have noticed Congress is having a hard time these days
getting anything passed.
This is what the bills have to fix.
A 2006 law imposed a requirement to put advance fund-
ing into a federal retirement health plan for postal workers.
Other agencies don’t do advance funding. They are on a
pay-as-you-go system.
That requirement began to
cripple USPS within a year or two
after its passage. What the 2006
law didn’t do was relieve USPS of
also contributing to Medicare for
the same workers, which many
do not use. So there are two plans
for many workers, when only one
is used.
USPS has to double-pay, which
is another way of saying you dou-
ble-pay every time you buy
stamps — for a total of about $29
billion now paid into the Federal Treasury. The Chaffetz-
Cummings and Carper bills would end the double-pay-
ment.
Retirees would go onto Medicare like the rest of us do,
and the other plan would provide supplemental coverage.
The Postal Service would be relieved of the debt it is carry-
ing from the 2006 law because the funding will be com-
plete.
Sounds so reasonable, right? Why hasn’t it passed?
Because Uncle Sam likes keeping half of that double
payment. Somehow, some think tanks inside the Beltway
(and I say “think” with my tongue in cheek) believe by end-
ing the double payment, USPS would be getting a bailout.
But it isn’t a bailout.
This is stopping your postage money from being unfair-
ly collected and relieving a financial burden USPS did not
deserve if Medicare was used as intended.
Saving this money may not mean much to you at a few
pennies a pop, but to businesses, it is big money that could
be used to create jobs instead of lining the federal treasury.
Did you know that the mail is responsible for 7.5 million
jobs and $1.2 trillion in the U.S. economy?
Mail is important. But it has to be reliable and on time.
Unless this legislation gets through, mail will get slower
and eventually, we won’t be able to take it for granted.
If you get a chance this summer, email your members of
Congress a note asking them to pass these bills. Or better
yet, send a letter by mail. Bet Congress takes that mail for
granted every day, too.
By Chip Hutcheson
President/National Newspaper Association and
Publisher/The Times Leader, Princeton, KY
GOVERNOR
gov. Kate Brown (Dem.)
160 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-378-4582
Email: via website,
http://governor.oregon.gov/
—
STATE LEGISLATORS
Sen. Arnie Roblan
(District 5, Democrat)
S-417 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
sen.arnieroblan@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/roblan
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Thanks to all for
great teen dance
I would like to thank
Bank of America for use of
their parking lot. Also.
Courtney and Gabe for the
DJing and the other volun-
teers that worked the teen
dance. Hope you had fun.
See you next year.
Merlin Berkey
Squirrels Taxi Service Inc.
Dallas
Dallas spending
raises questions
I do believe that the city
council is long overdue for
reviewing the expenditures
of the city pool and how
they can streamline those
expenses.
However, not only do I
find the timing suspicious,
but after trying to stick the
community with a $10 mil-
lion bond, and another
bond 10 years from now to
repair the city streets, I find
it strange that now they
have the money to buy the
old Radio Shack property. I
have not attended city
council meetings to find out
why, but you bet I’m going
to start, and I would suggest
the community does as well.
For some reason we have
a governing body that feels
bigger government is better
government.
I would disagree. It needs
to grow with the rate consis-
tent with that of the growth
of local business.
Randy Wisnia
Dallas
Thank you World
War II veterans
I spent some time with a
World War II veteran recent-
ly; he was at the Battle of
the Bulge, fought across the
Rhine, saw friends injured
and killed. I thanked him for
his sacrifice and service, but
soon realized that we are
fast losing these special
people. During our conver-
sation, I saw a tear in his
eye and it became evident
that he truly appreciated the
recognition of his service.
I strongly support recog-
nizing all veterans, but feel
it is imperative that we rec-
ognize the WWII veterans
now before they are gone. If
you know or see a WWII vet-
eran, take a moment to
thank them. Whatever prob-
lems we have in the world
today would be a lot worse
if these special people had
not stepped up for all of us.
Thank you World War II vet-
erans.
Larry Bowen
Dallas
Past time to put
center on top of list
We have been on a long
journey.
At least 10 years, I have
been a member of the build-
ing committee. In our jour-
ney, we have had lots of de-
tours and many dead ends.
We have worked hard to
comply with the many rule
changes and site changes.
We have met them and now
have the grant from the fed-
eral government for nearly
$2 million.
The site must be owned
by the city. In our journey,
we have had four different
city managers and we are
still in a small room behind
the library.
I would like to appeal to
the people in power at the
city and the community de-
velopment department
(which will oversee the proj-
ect).
Move this project to the
top of the agenda. It is time.
Sen. Jackie Winters
(District 10, Republican)
S-301 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1710
sen.jackiewinters@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/winters
Sen. Brian Boquist
(District 12, Republican)
S-305 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1712
sen.brianboquist@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/boquist
Rep. David gomberg
(District 10, Democrat)
H-471 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1410
rep.davidgomberg@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/gomberg
Rep. Paul Evans
(District 20, Democrat)
H-281 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1420
rep.paulevans@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/evans
Rep. Mike Nearman
(District 23, Republican)
H-378 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1423
rep.mikenearman@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/nearman
—
U.S. CONGRESS
Sen. Ron Wyden (Dem.)
221 Dirksen SOB
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: 202-224-5244
Fax: 202-228-2717
Salem office: 707 13th St. SE,
Suite 285, Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-589-4555
Email: via website,
www.wyden.senate.gov
June Krause
Dallas
PUBLIC AGENDA
Public Agenda is a listing of upcoming meet-
ings for governmental 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 email
(ionews@polkio.com).
—
WEDNESDAY, AUg. 10
• Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9
a.m., Polk County Courthouse, first floor confer-
ence room, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173.
• Polk Soil and Water Conservation District —
6 p.m., USDA Service Center, 580 Main St., Suite
A, Dallas. 503-623-9680.
ThURSDAY, AUg. 11
• Polk County Fire District No. 1 Board — 6
p.m., Central Station 90, 1800 Monmouth St., In-
dependence. 503-838-1510.
• Falls City City Council — 6 p.m., Falls City
Community Center, 320 N. Main St., Falls City.
503-787- 3631.
MONDAY, AUg. 15
• Dallas City Council — 7 p.m., Dallas City Hall,
187 SE Court St., Dallas. 503-831-3502.
TUESDAY, AUg. 16
• Monmouth City Council — 7 p.m., Volunteer
Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0725.
• Falls City School Board — 6:30 p.m., Falls City
High School, 111 N. Main St., Falls City. 503-787-3521.
• Polk County Board of Commission work ses-
sion — 9 a.m., Polk County Courthouse, BOC of-
fice, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173.
WANT TO WRITE A LETTER?
Letters to the editor are lim-
ited to 300 words. Longer letters
will be edited.
Election-related letters of all
types are limited to 100 words.
Writers are limited to one elec-
tion-related letter per election
season. Election letters from
writers outside of Polk County
are not accepted.
Each writer is restricted to
one letter per 30-day period.
Letters that are libelous, ob-
scene or in bad taste will not be
printed. Attacks by name on
businesses or individuals will
not be printed.
Letters to the editor that are
obvious promotions for a busi-
ness, products or services will
not be printed.
The Itemizer-Observer does
not guarantee the accuracy of
facts presented by letter writers;
dissenters are welcome to re-
spond. Letter writers who dis-
agree with other published
letter writers should maintain a
civil discourse and address the
subject, not the author.
Letters, like all editorial mate-
rial submitted to the newspa-
per, are edited for length,
grammar and content.
Letters must include the au-
thor’s name, address and tele-
phone number. This includes
letters submitted via the I-O’s
website. Names and cities of res-
idence are published; street ad-
dresses and telephone numbers
are used for verification pur-
poses only.
Letters must be submitted
from individuals, not organiza-
tions, and must be original sub-
missions to the I-O, not copies of
letters sent to other media.
Letters of thanks to busi-
nesses, individuals and organi-
zations are limited to 10 names.
The deadline for letters to the
editor is 10 a.m. Monday. Let-
ters submitted may not be re-
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.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (Dem.)
313 Hart SOB
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: 202-224-3753
Fax: 202-228-3997
Salem office: 495 State St. SE,
Suite 330, Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-362-8102
Email: via website,
www.merkley.senate.gov
Rep. Kurt Schrader (Dem.)
108 Cannon HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: 202-225-5711
Fax: 202-225-5699
Salem office: 544 Ferry St. SE,
Suite 2, Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-588-9100
Fax: 503-588-5517
Email: via website,
www.schrader.house.gov
—
POLK COUNTY
Board of Commissioners
850 Main St.
Dallas, OR 97338
Phone: 503-623-8173
www.co.polk.or.us
—
CITIES
Dallas
187 SE Court St.
Dallas, OR 97338
503-623-2338
www.ci.dallas.or.us
Falls City
299 Mill St.
Falls City, OR 97344
503-787-3631
www.fallscityoregon.gov
Independence
555 S. Main St.
Independence, OR 97351
503-838-1212
www.ci.independence.or.us
Monmouth
151 W. Main St.
Monmouth, OR 97361
503-838-0722
www.ci.monmouth.or.us
HOW TO REACH US
Vol. 141, No. 32
(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. Box 108, Dallas, Oregon 97338
NEWSROOM
Emily Mentzer ..............Editor/Monmouth/Independence Reporter ....ementzer@polkio.com
Lukas Eggen..................Sports Editor......................................................................leggen@polkio.com
Jolene Guzman............Dallas/Falls City/Polk County Reporter ................jguzman@polkio.com
DISPLAY ADvERTISINg
Heidi Leppin .................Display Advertising Manager ....................................hleppin@polkio.com
Rachel Best ....................Display Advertising.............................................................rbest@polkio.com
Karen Sanks...................Client Services ...................................................................ksanks@polkio.com
CLASSIFIED LINE ADvERTISINg
Dawn Ohren.....................................................................................................................ioads@polkio.com
PRODUCTION
Kathy Huggins ..............................................................................................................iosales@polkio.com
Karyn Pressel .................................................................................................................iosales@polkio.com
The Polk County Itemizer-Observer assumes no financial responsibility for errors in advertise-
ments. It will, however, reprint without charge for the portion of an advertisement
Web: www.polkio.com
which is in error if the Itemizer-Observer is at fault.
Phone: 503-623-2373
Fax: 503-623-2395