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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 2016)
Polk County Voices Polk County Itemizer-Observer • September 21, 2016 4A LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Roads caused 27 flat tires for driver rations are not people. Fred Brown, Lt. Col., Retired, U.S. Army Dallas I’m writing to thank the Polk County Commissioners for giving us the worst roads in all the 16 years I have lived in Polk County. Over the past three years, your well-maintained roads have resulted in my family’s cars having a total of 27 flat tires, all caused by sharp rocks on the roads. Three of those tires were damaged beyond repair. The dust and damage to our cars from the miles of washboard roads are an added bonus that we can look forward to as a service from the county. Vote Whitlow for Polk County sheriff I grew up in Dallas, and then farmed in Polk County for 53 years. There have been approximately 25 times we have had to call the sheriff’s department for help. The sheriff is the chief administrator of law in rural Polk County. It is apparent that we have need for a strong administrator to set priorities and leadership for our deputies. Having researched the candidates and their past performance, I have deter- mined that Todd Whitlow has our support based on his current position and the leadership and approval he has shown in his position as a leader and administrator. Vote Whitlow. Michael Henich Independence Thank you for celebrating Rotary I want to thank Mayor (Brian) Dalton and all oth- ers who joined to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Rotary Foundation at the courthouse square on Sept. 13. Having the local recog- nition of the Rotary Foun- dation is appreciated, and is an encouragement to Rotar- ians and others who give to this important work. A little history: Rotarians met in Atlanta in 1917, and the international president, Arch Klulmph, proposed an endowment fund dedicated to “doing good in the world.” The Rotary Club of Kansas City provided the first donation of $26.50, and, since then, several billion dollars have been given. Rotary’s top priority is the global eradication of polio, and the objective is nearly met, with only 71 cases noted last year. Funds from the Rotary Foundation have returned to Dallas in matching grants to complete the tennis courts near the aquatic cen- ter and improve several parks. Also, these funds help in both incoming and out- going youth exchanges. The Rotary Foundation is unique in two ways. First, the administrative costs are funded over three years with earnings off the principal, then the entire donation is utilized to meet the mission. Few charitable enterprises have such a high percentage reaching the field. Secondly, Rotary clubs in the receiving country help manage the expenditure of the funds. Again, this maxi- mizes the investment to the targeted need. The Dallas Rotary Club invites those who would consider membership in Ro- tary to join us at the weekly lunch meeting at the civic center on Tuesdays. “Doing good in the world” may be 100 years old, but it is cer- tainly still a good objective. Bob Ottaway Rotary Foundation Chair Dallas Vote Gabliks for Dallas council seat Upon moving to Dallas, I met Kelly Gabliks. Kelly has become a great and valued friend. Her qualities include being a good listener, abounding energy, interest in others, community spirit, and a heart as big as Oregon. Kelly’s interest in the Dal- las community motivates her to give unselfishly of her time and energy. I urge all eligible Dallas voters to make sure Kelly Gabliks is re-elected to another term on the Dallas City Council so all residents can thrive in this growing community. Thank you, Kelly, for the many hours you have un- selfishly devoted to making Dallas an attractive commu- nity. Debra Nord Dallas Indy leaders fire before aiming Although several of the council members seemed to hear parts of what we had to say Tuesday night, most citizens who spoke were far more eloquent and fact- based than I, it was clear to me that the council and the mayor had an agenda to move forward as quickly as possible with their regula- tions, regardless of the qual- ity of their decisions, their own lack of knowledge, or the input they heard. Although there was some assigned investigative work for some city employees to perform, I am fairly certain that the council and the WANT TO WRITE A LETTER? letters to the editor are limited to 300 words. longer letters will be edited. Election-related letters of all types are limited to 100 words. Writers are limited to one election-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 must include the author’s name, address and tele- phone number. This includes letters submitted via the I-O’s website. Names and cities of residence are published; street addresses and telephone numbers are used for verification purposes only. For the complete policy: polkio.com. mayor have decided to dis- regard the written input and the oral testimony at the meeting. I think they have put themselves in a position in which they have made some commitments in ad- vance of fact-finding and now may be faced with legal action. It is certainly a fact that the city provided their working document that the council used in the meeting to provide a framework for decision-making, but the time line was so short that I suspect few council mem- bers had the time to take a look at what other commu- nities have done or used the input from the letters pro- vided by those who wrote to research for themselves what the possible options are. There was a real sense of “hurry hurry,” with the mayor pushing pretty hard. They do not appear to me to be taking the time to be deliberate in their actions. It felt like Ready, Fire, Aim. The mayor and the coun- cil need to stop, regroup and take a long, hard look at how they do business. They should suspend all deci- sions with long-term effects until the new council is seated. The mayor is way too eager to commit the new council to a path which will not include their input. J. Gail Hill Independence Bond would relieve cramped quarters If you want to visit one of the elementary schools in Central School District, avoid the cafeterias/gyms at lunch time. There is not enough room for the stu- dents, let alone more bod- ies. The same goes for Tal- madge. Space in the cafete- rias and gyms has been a problem since my children started school more than 20 years ago. We have the op- portunity to approve a new bond that won’t increase our tax rate. Passing the school bond in November is the right thing for our children and grandchildren, and the smart thing to do now. David Ritacco Monmouth Fed spending not responsible Americans think their taxes are high; they are right for the wrong reasons. People complain about money spent on foreign aid or welfare. But those programs are less than 1 percent of the U.S. budget. Defense gets the real money. Much of that money goes to weapons develop- ment so we can boast of the most proficient weapons anywhere. Trouble is; we are not get- ting our dollar’s worth. Ex- ample; the F-22 Fighter was canceled after 183 of planned 750 planes because it was incapable. The plane demanded 30 hours mainte- nance for every hour of flight. It was found to suffer a critical systems failure every 1.7 hours in the air. The pro- gram cost $62 billion. When the F-35 program ends it will have cost us $1.5 trillion. The weapons sys- tems are not fully function- al, the pilot's environmental system is deficient and the engines catch fire. Pierre Sprey, an engineer from Lockheed, who designed the A-10 and F-16, called the F-35 the “worst airplane ever designed.” The follow- ing aircraft have beaten the F-35 in simulated combat; the French Rafael, the Russ- ian Sukhoy 27 and the American F-16; a 1970’s de- sign. The Navy's new Littoral Combat Ship is a failure. There are two. Neither has made a cruise without major engine failure. The program’s been cut from 55 ships to 32. Total cost; $21 billion. Why are we being shafted with overpriced weapons that will kill our service peo- ple? Because our Congress is fully paid for by lobbyists for the defense industry. So long as we allow big corpo- rations to ply our Con- gresspersons with bundles of cash, we will continue to come out on the short end. We must get big money out of politics and move to pub- licly funded campaigns. Money is not speech; corpo- Vern Ratzlaff Monmouth School bond will help children thrive The school board, based on the research and recom- mendation of the Bond Ex- ploration Committee, voted to place a measure on the November ballot asking our community to continue supporting the district by approving a $26 million bond. This bond will be used to fund capital im- provements in our district. The timing is ideal, since there is no expected in- crease to property taxes, and potential of a $4 million state grant. This will provide safe and equitable learning environments for our chil- dren to thrive. If you’d like to learn more about Ballot Measure 27- 122, please visit http://cen- tral.k12.or.us/. Steve Love CSD Board Chair Monmouth Thompson works with all I moved to Dallas approx- imately two years ago, and I have had the privilege of meeting Jim Thompson. I am impressed by his in- depth knowledge of a wide variety of subjects, and I am most impressed by his will- ingness to work across the aisle with Democrats and Republicans alike to achieve a solution for Oregon. So my choice is clear; I am vot- ing for rational representa- tion, unlike the current in- cumbent who has stated he will never work with other parties. Clifford E Brown Dallas 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 to the Itemizer-Observer via email (ionews@polkio.com). — WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 21 • Monmouth Planning Commission — 7 p.m., Volunteer Hall, 144 S. Warren St., monmouth. 503-838-0725. • Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk Coun- ty Courthouse, first floor conference room, 850 main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173. MONDAY, SEPT. 26 • Dallas School Board — 6:30 p.m., Dallas School District of- fice, 111 SW Ash St., Dallas. 503-623-5594. TUESDAY, SEPT. 27 • Independence City Council — 7:30 a.m., Independence Civic Center, 555 S. main St., Independence. 503-838-1212. • Monmouth Senior Advisory Board — 1 p.m., monmouth Senior Center, 180 S. Warren St., monmouth. 503-838-0725. • Polk County Board of Commission work session — 9 a.m., Polk County Courthouse, BOC office, 850 main St., Dallas. 503-623- 8173. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 28 • Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk County Courthouse, first floor conference room, 850 main St., Dallas. 503- 623-8173. HOW TO REACH US Vol. 141, No. 38 (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
